Back to the Countryside

Chapter 49: 问题 (Problem) 

Translator: LittleYen

 

At night, there was a knock on the door of the He family's house. The person who answered the door was He Gui, who was just about to undress and go to bed when he heard the knock.

        They had searched all over Gu Shui village today but could not find any sign of He Zhen, so when they heard, he had been seen going to town, they were so annoyed that they planned to go to bed early today therefore tomorrow, they could take the Zhao family's oxcart to the town in order to look for him!

        When he opened the door, he saw a middle-aged ger in cotton clothes standing outside,he was puzzled, "Who are you?

        "Is this He Zhen's house?" The middle-aged ger's face was expressionless as he asked directly.

        When he heard that name, He Gui's heart jumped, as he thought that probably He Zhen had provoked someone, so he nodded his head.

        The middle-aged ger didn't say anything else, so he turned to the side and saw two younger gers get out of the carriage behind him,they dragged a person out from the carriage. As He Gui saw the person, he exclaimed, "He zhen?"

        The two gers pulled him over then they pushed him down to the ground by his feet, then immediately backed away.

The middle-aged ger looked down as he gave him a disdainful look, after that, he looked up and said to He Gui: "Keep an eye on your family! if you let him mess with our Zheng family again,next time it won't be so easy to end it just like this."

        After saying that, without waiting for him to ask more questions, he led his people to the carriage and left.

        He Gui watched the carriage disappear into the night, his heart wondering, he dared not think any more, dragged the pale face of He Zhen from the ground, took him to his room, closed the room, headed and knocked on He Tian's door.

        "What's the matter at this late hour? Who was just here?" He Tian, clad in a shirt, opened the door at the same time Qian followed in confusion.

        He Gui had a sullen face and said, "Someone just sent He Zhen back."

        "What?" Qian was startled and asked, "Who was it?"

        He Gui told them what had happened just now, in detail, "He must have gone to the town to look for the young master of the Zheng family."

        After hearing him out, He Tian's face became very ugly, this ger of his was a troublemaker! He pushed He Gui away, with a black face, headed for He Zhen's room.

        In his room, it was pitch black since he didn't light the lamp, only a vague figure, sitting on the bed.He Tian sidled up to Qian and said, "Light the lamp!"

Qian fumbled around,went inside, she went to the table, lit the candles,suddenly the room was lit up with a warm yellow candlelight.

        He Zhen sat there with a pale face, not even looking at them, his head bowed, wondering what he was thinking.He Tian walked over to him and slapped him across the face, knocking him off onto the bed. 

        "What kind of character is that of the Zheng family, how dare you mess with them! It's going to involve the whole family!" He Tian was so full of anger that he just wanted to beat him to death.

        He Zhen looked up at him, his eyes red with rage, "Family? You're all going to sell me to a lousy old man, what else do I have to fear!"

        "What? Not satisfied with this marriage?" He Tian recoiled a little, he took a few steps back then he sat down on a stool near the table, "With your current condition, who else do you want to marry?"

        "Marrying anyone is better than an old man who is 60 years old!" He Zhen yelled, then softened his tone, "Father, he's even older than you, how can you marry me to him?"

        "Hmph, at least if you marry a landlord, you can eat and drink without worry, do you think your medicine money is affordable for ordinary families?" He Tian asked him rhetorically, "You've also gone to see Qi Yue and Zheng Gong Zi's family today, are any of them willing to marry you?"

He Zhen pursed his lips, unable to speak, his hands clutching the bedding tightly. Those two not only did not want to marry him, they simply treated him like a plague, avoiding him.

        Seeing that he had nothing to say, He Tian gave another cold snort, "Since you all understand, why make a fool of yourself."

"If they can't, there are others! Father, give me some time! I'll be able to find a better family!" He Ling was doing so well, how could he lose!

        "Time? He Zhen, all the money in the family has been lost. When your medicine is finished, do you think our family will have any money left to buy the medicine for you? When you have a rotten face, even a beggar on the roadside won't want you, let alone a good family!" When he saw that he was still stubborn, He Tian slapped his hand on the table in annoyance.

        He Zhen hung his head down and said nothing. Although his heart was not willing, He Tian's words struck him in the heart. He only hated God for being unjust and letting him have that strange disease that had made him so miserable.

        "Think about it yourself!" It was too late in the evening,He Tian was not happy to be here with him,since the marriage was on the cards anyway, he had to marry whether he liked it or not!

        He got up, went out the door, saying to He Gui, "Lock the door of his room for the next few days, also ask your wife to keep bringing him food."

        He Gui nodded in response, "I understand father, I won't let him run away again."

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        "To the town?" Xu Hua turned his head and looked at He Ling who was helping him mend his clothes.

        The injuries on his hands had basically healed, but he was unable to do some delicate work for the time being.

When He Ling came over then saw him sewing,but his right hand was still a bit clumsy, so he took over the work.

        "Yes, I promised Young lady Zheng last time that I would go and look for her!" He Ling was used to doing this, so he was very quick with his hands. "Xiang Gong said there's a gathering in town in a couple of days, so we should go and join in the fun."

"Yes,you did promise but…." but he didn't think to go there so soon, he thought they would talk about it later.

        "Just think of it, as you keep me company!" He Ling looked down and bit off the thread, unfolded the clothes. After he saw that there was nothing wrong with it, he put it into his hand, " Didn't you have some silver now? Buy two pieces of cloth for you and Uncle Xu, to make new clothes."

        The thirty taels of silver had not been touched by Xu Hua, he had kept it well, so when he thought about his father's worn out clothes, he felt that the other party had a point, he was second best, but he definitely make a new one for his father, "That's fine, we'll go together then."

        He Ling's eyes bent with laughter.

"That's why we should all go together, that's what makes it fun!"

        Xu Hua smiled along with him, now that his father was getting better every day, the big stone in his heart was finally gone, and he was happy to do the things that young gers love to do, after all, he was only seventeen.

        He Ling looked at him carefully, he found that Xu Hua's smiling face very attractive, and after looking at him for a long time, one could not take one's eyes off him.The good looking were not the soft and beautiful types that everyone loved, he was a bit more handsome, like a teenage young boy, but he was undoubtedly attractive, at least he thought, he was good looking!

        When Xu Hua turned his eyes, he saw He Ling staring at him intently, he subconsciously wiped his face, but he didn't see anything, so he said suspiciously, "What are you doing staring at me?"

        He Ling imitated Qi Yue's usual way of pinching his face, reaching out his hand to pinch the other person's face, feeling quite good in his hand, "I was thinking about how Hua ge'er's looks so good like this!"

        Xu Hua covered the spot he pinched, and a red cloud appeared on his face, "What are you talking about? You're the one who looks good, okay?"

"I do think Hua Ge'er looks better!" 

Zheng Yue Feng would like him, not without reason. Thinking of this, He Ling rolled his eyes and asked, "Hua Ge'er,do you think… what kind of person,is this Zheng Gong zi?"

        "Zheng Gongzi?" Although he didn't know why the other party was asking him, Xu Hua still thought seriously and said, "Although he is a young master of a rich family he has never been arrogant, a good person, but sometimes he always makes people puzzled, also very strange."

        "What do you mean by very strange?" He Ling inquired curiously, he thought it was quite normal.

        "Hn..." Xu Hua recalled carefully, "his attitude was always inexplicably eager and sometimes flustered and he talked in incoherent speech so I was unsure of what he was saying."

        He Ling was happy to hear this, this is not strange at all, right? clearly because he likes him, but he is not qualified to make fun of Xu Hua,because previously he was also didn't realized it at all, really stupid, "Then would you like a man like him?"

        "Like?" Xu Hua was stunned by his question, then laughed and said, "What kind of joke are you talking about, I'm not good enough for him!"

(I'm not good enough for him, in the original Xu Hua said something similar but in english it sound really weird so basically Xu Hua do not feel inferior or having any feeling about Zheng Gong zi yet, since he just say it casually that considering their status,he is not to be paired with him) 

      "What's with this not good enough?" He Ling thought he was very nice, he asked in a different way, "So what do you think if he's not some rich young master, but just an ordinary man, with this kind of  personality,will you like him?"

        Xu Hua lowered his eyes and thought about it, If the other party was just a very ordinary man in the village, he would be such a good person with that kind of temperament, right? He was good to his friends, loved his sister dearly, and had no bad habits, so he curled his lips into a smile, "Maybe I would ba! "

        Then Zheng Yue Feng is not completely without a chance? He Ling thought to himself, if these two could make it work, it would be a good marriage, but now it was up to Young Master Zheng, if he was persistent enough.

What he had asked, of course Xu Hua would not put in his mind at all. Zheng Yuefeng is not an ordinary country man,so  he definitely would admire a beautiful and cultured lady from a wealthy family. The encounter and interaction between them would be simply and uneventful just like now. 

The town's so-called fairs, where some outsiders would bring in fresh things to sell and buy some of the region's specialties, usually for three day so the town was particularly lively!

        When Qi Yue arrived in town, the area for parking the carriages was almost full, so you can imagine how many people from the eight villages had come here to join in the fun.

        "It's the town after all, it's so lively!" Xu Hua helped his father walk down the street with them, feeling that his eyes were not having enough to see.

        "Even though it's usually busy, it's not as crowded as today!" He Ling was being protected by Qi Yue so that he wouldn't be touched by the people coming and going, he stood on tiptoe, looking into the distance,full of people's heads.

        "Be careful, don't get knocked over!" Qi Yue pressed his shoulder and shielded him while turning his head to urge Xu Hua, "You and Uncle Xu should be careful too, don't get separated from us!"

        Xu Hua nodded and moved closer to them. He was unfamiliar with the town and it would be a problem if he got separated from them.

        Qi Yue took them to his own medical clinic first. After an hour's carriage ride, he was afraid that Uncle Xu's body would be tired, so they went over there to have a cup of tea and rest. It was not too late to go out again after resting. 

He arranged for the three to sit down first,then he went to find one of the shop's assistants, gave the assistant a few words of explanation before entering the inner room to look for them.

        "Doctor Qi is really talented and successful to even have a clinic in town at such a young age!" Father Xu looked at him as he sat down and spoke in admiration.

        "Uncle Xu has praised me, it's just a small shop." Qi Yue lifted his cup and took a sip of tea, not knowing whether it was intentional or not, he said, "It's not as good as Zheng Gong zi's, nearly half of the shops in this town belong to the Zheng family."

        Father Xu was stunned, he had mixed feelings in his heart, how could such a family be so high and unreachable!

高攀不上 : be unworthy to seek connections with ...; [marry sb.] of a richer [more influential] family

        Xu Hua was also a bit surprised, he only knew that Zheng Yuefeng's family was rich, but he didn't expect him to be this rich!

        He Ling tapped him lightly on the leg under the table, but the other man reached out to hold his hand. He gave him a displeased look and said, "It's rare to find a gentleman like Zheng Gong zi, with such a family background but his nature is so simple and easy-going!"

        Qi Yue squeezed his soft hand as a smile appeared at the corners of his lips, his A Ling seemed to want these two to be in a relationship, "Yes, apart from being a bit out of box (unique) once in a while, he is very easy to get along with!"

        Father Xu knew that they were saying this for him to hear, he understood their intentions,moreover it wasn't that he didn't like that child, he was just afraid that his Hua Ge'er would have a difficult time.

This matter was 'too far is as bad as not enough', just a little bit every now and then,if you talk too much, the other side will also think too much, so Qi Yue changed the topic of conversation and discussed with them where to go after this! 

[过犹不及: too far is as bad as not enough (idiom, from the Analects); Overdoing things is inappropriate]