Back to the Countryside

Chapter 54: 答应 (Promise) 

Translator: LittleYen

He Zhen was picked up by a palanquin sent by the landlord of Shang Zhuang Village, which He Ling heard from Fang's mouth when he visited the Lin family's house.

        For a while, he was in a trance. The insufferably arrogant He Zhen had married an old man whose age could have been his grandfather. 

        In fact, if Qi Yue had not appeared, this would have been his fate,ba? He had no right to decide, to be married to someone he didn't even want to marry for the rest of his life.

"He Zhen, how could he be willing?" Wu Yulan was a little surprised and stopped her needlework. She was making a little bib for the baby in her belly, she had to do it early, so that she wouldn't be rushed and muddled. 

        "Impossible!" Fang put another stitch into the soles of the shoes she was making before she said, "I heard that when He Gui carried him to the sedan chair, his whole body was weak, so I guess he wasn't entirely sober!"

        He Ling touched the rabbit he had just embroidered, recalling the medicine he had been tricked into drinking by Liu the night before he got married, He Zhen was probably being fed that too. 

        "Humph, then he deserved it too!" Wu Yulan snorted coldly, "This is also considered evil having its own retribution!"

[恶有恶报: evil has its retribution (idiom); to suffer the consequences of one's bad deeds / sow the wind and reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7)]

        "Who says it's not? It's not just him, those guys will get their retribution sooner or later too! A family that lacks moral senses would carry the fumes with rage!" Scheme this one, scheme that one, sooner or later, scheme would all come back to haunt themselves. 

        When Wu Yulan saw that He Ling had not said anything, she asked, "Ling Ge'er are you unhappy?"

      He Ling stopped his hand and smiled slightly, "There is nothing to be happy or not happy about, their affairs have nothing to do with me anymore, whether it is good or bad is their business.I 'll just live my own life."

"If you can think like that, we are relieved!" Fang was afraid that this child wouldn't be able to let go of his worries and would keep thinking about those things that bothered him, thus adding to his worries for nothing.

        Knowing that they were always worried about him, He Ling naturally would not let those irrelevant things sway his emotions anymore.Now that there are so many people who genuinely care about him, he should put his mind on them.

Wu Yulan's heart is also very pleased to see the person who was previously afraid to raise his head, but now, he changed into this cheerful look, she is happy for him.

Not wanting to mention those bad things again, she created another topic of conversation and asked something she was very curious about recently, "Ling Ge'er, what is the matter with that gentleman surnamed Zheng? I've heard from Zao Ge'er, he keeps running to Hua Ge'er's house every day!"

He Ling couldn't help but be happy at the mention of him, beaming with a smile and said, "What else could he be up to? He just wants to marry a Fu Lang."

"Hah?" Fang also stopped her hand and became curious, "He has a crush on Hua Ge'er?"

"But isn't he? Before, Hua Ge'er didn't really understand, he (XH)only thought that he (ZYF) had a strange attitude, but now, he (XH)understands it clearly. I think something good is coming!" Thinking about how he had behaved in the town last time, He Ling felt that he (XH)was not completely indifferent to Zheng Yuefeng.

"That's good, if they become a couple, you and Brother Qi can be considered as matchmakers!" If it wasn't for the two of them, a rich young master from the town and a poor ger from the countryside, how would they have had the chance to meet each other? 

When He Ling thought about it, he was even happier to find 'a good home' for the two of them because of them (QY &HL). It could not be any better. Then he joked, "Then I'll have to ask him for matchmaking money later!"

At that moment, Zheng Yuefeng, who was being talked about by them, was happily grabbing Xu Hua's bundle of firewood and carrying it on his back, "Hua Ge'er, let me do this kind of rough work, you take a break!"

Xu Hua looked at him speechlessly, this man had followed him into the mountains and soiled his robes, now he was carrying a bundle of firewood, where is the appearance of a pampered young master? "Zheng Gongzi, your body is delicate and your status is noble, I'd better do it myself."

"It's not noble, it's just carrying firewood, I can do it!" Zheng Yuefeng avoided his hand and insisted on carrying it by himself.

"Then if you get tired, just tell me!" It wasn't very nice to fight over bundles of firewood, so Xu Hua let him go.

The two of them walked through the village, attracting a lot of sideways glances from the villagers, who said in their hearts that you can't judge a person by his appearance, Xu Hua had gotten himself a good man. They had often seen this gentleman with him recently.

"Hua Ge'er,what are we going to have for lunch?" Zheng Yue Feng enjoyed the sight of the villagers, he wanted everyone to know that he had a special relationship with the person beside him.

Xu Hua did not look away, staring at the road ahead, "What do you want to eat?"

"Well ......" Zheng Yuefeng cupped his chin, thought for a while before finally smiling, "I like whatever Hua Ge'er makes."

"Zheng Yuefeng!" Xu Hua stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at him, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Zheng Yuefeng was a little surprised to be called by his full name in such a serious manner,not only that, when he heard the question that followed, he was stunned again. Then he changed his expression into a serious one and said, "Because my heart is pleased with you."

Although he had already guessed this in his heart, hearing his words in person, Xu Hua could not help but feel his heart pounding, he lowered his eyes to avoid his gaze, his fingers quietly pinching the corner of his shirt, "Wh..Why?"

"I don't know." This question Zheng Yue Feng himself did not know the answer, he also asked himself countless times, "Your smile, your eyes, your strength, your strong-willed spirit and stubbornness, I don't know which point I am attracted to you, I only know that you are different from everyone else, I just adore(戀慕)you!"

[戀慕 liàn mù: to be enamored of / to have tender feelings for / to be sentimentally attached to (a person or place)]

        Xu Hua's hand clenched tighter and the panic in his eyes increased, not knowing how to react.

"Hua Ge'er ..." Zheng Yue Feng reached out to hold his shoulders to made him look up at himself, "I'm a young master, I don't know anything, I may not be the kind of husband you want, but I really like you, it's never, It's not a momentary, novelty at all!"

He looked earnestly at Xu Hua, his eyes reflecting his silhouette, full of only him, and there was nothing else in his sight.

Xu Hua was too busy to look away, not daring to look again, he took a step back to break away from his hand, "That, I... I'll go back and make noodles for you."

Zheng Yuefeng saw his messy pace followed by his ears turning red, he pursed his lips and smiled. The fact that he was shy meant that he didn't completely have no feelings for himself, right? When he thought about it, he instantly felt more energetic and was able to carry two more bundles of firewood. "Alright! Since I like noodles!"

When they arrived home, Father Xu was sitting on a small bench in the courtyard, sunbathing, when he saw them enter, he said, "You're back!"

Xu Hua lowered his head and gave a "Hn." before hurriedly entering the kitchen, as if there were some kind of 'severe floods and fierce beasts' behind him. 

[洪水猛兽 ( 洪水猛獸 ) : hóng shuǐ měng shòu : lit. severe floods and fierce beasts (idiom) / fig. great scourges / extremely dangerous or threatening things]

Even though he had only given a short answer to him, his red face was visible to Father Xu, when he looked at Zheng Yuefeng's mouth which was almost at the corners of his ears, his heart had a suspicion.

        "Uncle Xu!" Zheng Yuefeng called out attentively before placing the bundle of firewood in the corner of the courtyard.

        "Tired, aren't you? Follow Hua Ge'er to collect firewood from the mountain!" Seeing that he was sweating, Father Xu patted the stool beside him and asked him to sit.

Zheng Yuefeng sat down and took out a handkerchief to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead, saying, "I'm not tired, I'm just going to the mountains as if for fun, moreover I don't have such opportunities in the town."

Father Xu looked at the dirty hem of his clothes, which were covered in mud, and the few leaves in his hair. He felt that it was funny, reached out his hand to take the leaves off, "Next time, don't wear such expensive clothes! It's a pity that it's ruined!" (Tl: Father Xu, I'm now your fans ) 

Zheng Yue Feng was stunned by his action, but his heart was warm, although his father wasn't exactly strict, he rarely showed him this kind of affectionate gesture, which felt quite good, "Thank you Uncle Xu!"

When he saw him sitting still and letting himself take the leaves off, Father Xu felt relieved and patted him on the shoulder, "Our Hua Ge'er's personality is stubborn, I need you to be more tolerant!"

"Not at all, Hua Ge'er is very good! "Zheng Yuefeng felt that Xu Hua was more tolerant to him, after all, he had made a lot of stupid mistakes recently.

Originally, Father Xu had always thought that Zheng Yuefeng was a young master who had been brought up well and would not be able to bear hardships, but he had been running to his house every day recently. Whenever he saw Hua Ge'er doing heavy work, he would snatch it up from him. His eagerly attentive and curry favor manner made Father Xu amused and deeply gratified at the same time. This man really cared about his ger.

"Later, ask your parents to get a matchmaker to come over!"

Zheng Yuefeng jerked his head up, unable to believe what he had heard, "Uncle Xu, you mean..."

Earlier in the Ban Yue Restaurant, Master Zheng had approached him to discuss their children's matters. He was happy about their marriage and would be glad see it happen, he also respect Father Xu, knowing that he might still have doubts in his heart, that they will give the children some more time to get along, when he felt comfortable to hand over his ger to his son, then the Zheng family will find a matchmaker to send over the engagement letter.

        At that time, Father Xu's heart was surprised. He did not expect that the other party would calmly discuss the matter with him.When he came along, he was already prepared to be reprimanded and ridiculed, but he didn't expect that it would turn into such a result!

Master Zheng was so sincere in his words, he himself also had such a high opinion of this child,Zheng Yuefeng, of course he would not have said no. Until Master Zheng finished talking to him, he felt he was dreaming.

Father Xu turned his head to the side, looked at Xu Hua who was busy in the cooking room and said, "I can see that Hua Ge'er's heart is also interested in you, but he is introvert and not good at expressing himself, if you can become his 'final destination', I will be in ease."

Zheng Yue Feng followed him, turned his head to look at that person, then he suddenly stood up, lifted his robe to knelt in front of him, "Uncle Xu, don't worry! If Hua Ge'er is married to me, I will treat him well and not let him suffer even for a bit!" 

"Good boy! Good boy!" Father Xu's eyes reddened as he received this salute from him.

Xu Hua, who was cooking in the kitchen, was unaware that his father had placed him in the hands of the man who was now making him feel unsettled(unquiet state of mind) and that from now on, this man would love and spoil him for the rest of his life!

Translator Note: I kind of think, maybe one of the topic of this story could also be described in these two words '归宿' (It means 'place to return to' / home / final destination / ending)