Back to the Countryside

Chapter 62: 搬家

(House Moving) 

Part I

Translator: Little Yen

Zheng Yue Feng shivered violently and moved two steps to the side, once again rejoicing in his heart that the first time he met He Ling, he only went up to him and said a few words, but did not do anything excessive, otherwise he would not be this 'intact' right now!

        He suddenly missed his Hua Ge'er and wanted to go back and give him a good hug. Staying next to such a terrible person (QY) was something he could not bear.

        "You poisonous woman! Why did you do this to my son?!" When she thought that her son would become a cripple in the future, Qian could not wait to scold Zheng. 

        Zheng, who was tied up and placed in a corner, met her eyes, although her mouth was gagged but a dull laugh escaped from her throat. Her whole body shook with it, while the expression in her eyes was full of madness. Her entire person's madness was somehow terrifying. 

[五花大綁 wǔ huā dà bǎng: to bind a person's upper body, with arms tied behind the back and rope looped around the neck]

Seeing her like this, Qian remembered the time when she chopped someone of with the knife in her hand. Qian was somehow frightened, therefore she turned her face away from her and hugged her son, crying again.

        When Kang Yuan returned with the constables, it was already late in the morning. When the constables heard about the incident, they were shocked that such a thing could happen in this small village.

        Zheng had been confirmed as guilty. From two people, one was killed and the other one was injured by her.They had to take her away, untie the ropes and replace it with shackles before they removed the cloth from her mouth so that she could say a few last words.

        "You all will not die in peace! All of you will die a horrible death!Ha ha ha ha ha ha ..." Zheng looked like an evil spirit that had crawled out of hell,laughing sinisterly at He's family.

        Seeing that she was clearly out of her mind, the constables gagged her mouth again before they pulled and dragged the person out of the house. Her blood-filled eyes staring at each and every one of them until her figure disappeared, went outside the door.

        He Tian fell back onto the stool and closed his eyes in despair. He didn't know what had happened to his family. One disaster after another, two of his sons, one was crazy and one was crippled. The two daughters-in-law, one was dead, the other one would probably end up in jail for the rest of her life! 

        The only ger, who managed to marry the rich family was the main culprit of this tragedy and couldn't be counted on! Now the family's member, the old ones were old and the young ones were still too young. How could they live in the future?

        The village headman patted him on the shoulder, not knowing what to say. If he wanted to sympathise, the He family had brought this on themselves, to be in this kind of situation, but if he wanted to say they deserved it, that wasn't the case either, so he left with the words "Take good care of yourself!" and took his son, Feng Zheng with him.

        The village chief had left, so naturally Qi Yue and Zheng Yue Feng did not stay any longer. Qi Yue took one last look at the miserable state of the people and left the house in a very good mood.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this is the legendary 'bearing the disastrous consequences of one's own misdeeds' ba!" Zheng Yuefeng was twirling his fan in his hand while he was walking next to Qi Yue. He said in a very sloppy manner, "I've seen it all (experiencing it myself) today!"

[This phrase is from Mencious, which is a book to record the thoughts and strategies of Mencious and his followers on government administration.

Tiān zuò niè yóu kě shù, zì zuò niè bù kè huó.

天作孽犹可恕，自作孽不可活。

If a natural disaster happens to someone, he/she can be forgiven; but if it’s of one’s own making, he/she deserves the punishment.

自作孽不可活 could also mean the evil we bring on ourselves are the hardest to bear']

        "Then I hope you will take this as a warning." Qi Yue looked ahead and curled his lips, "Don't be impossibly stupid like these people! "

[引以为戒 ( 引以爲戒 ) : yǐn yǐ wéi jiè

to take sth as a warning (idiom) / to draw a lesson from a case where things turned out badly]

        The fan in Zheng Yue Feng's hand was spinning before it fell into the ground with a clatter. Thus, he bent down awkwardly to pick it up and smiled apologetically, said, "How could I? I know how to behave and I have a sense of propriety. I also understand the gradation of etiquette with social status. I would never offend the person that I shouldn't offend like they do!"

        Qi Yue raised his sideways eyebrow at him and said admiringly, "Zheng Gong zi coming to a realization like this, you are indeed a wise man. My little Fu Lang has been talking about eating 'Ma tuan' (Fried Glutinous Rice Balls with Sesame) from the town, so don't forget to bring it tomorrow."

        "Sure, sure! It's just Ma tuan, isn't it? It's a piece of cake!" Zheng Yuefeng's mouth was quick to agree, but in his heart he threw his fan down. He was a young master of the Zheng family but he was asked to buy street snacks? Did he think he's an errand boy?

        Just after he finished his silent curse, he looked up and met Qi Yue's like smiling yet not smiling eyes. He hurriedly smiled a curry favor smile. He silently picked up the fan he had dropped in his heart. Buy it then I'll just buy it ba! Anyway, his Hua Ge'er likes to eat it too. He'll buy more even if needed he'll buy the whole stall. Hmph! 

        The summer weather was so hot that Liu's corpse could not be kept for long. Within a few days, the house would be filled with the stink of corpses. The He family did not even prepare a coffin for her; they just wrapped her in a straw mat and buried her. At least, a grave was set up for her.

       He Zhen in the Shang Zhuang Village was stunned for a moment when he received the letter that they sent her. Then he laughed out loud, shaking his shoulders. He really didn't expect that the seed he had planted would bear such a fruit!

        He laughed for a long time, until the corners of his eyes were filled with tears. Only then did he wipe them with a silk handkerchief before he instructed his maid to send back a few Guan of money, so that no one would say that the married ger was cold-hearted and heartless.

        When Qian received the money from him, she threw it to the ground, "Does he think he bestows an alm to beggar?

        His sister-in-law had died and his brother was crippled but he didn't even come back to see him. Even if he had a big grudge in his heart, it should have subsided by now, right?Not to mention the amount of silver he needs.At the very least, help him find a good doctor to see if his brother's leg could be saved!

        He Gui, with a walking stick, bent down to pick up the money and put it back into her hand, "At least it's money, don't waste it, save it!"

        Looking at him, Qian couldn't help but shed tears again, crying and hugging him, "My poor Ah Gui, you'll be living on this walking stick for the rest of your life.But, what can I do?"

        He Gui's whole left leg had no feeling left in it, his heart was also very upset, but what could he do? It was a fact that could not be changed anymore. He used to think he was smart, but he never thought he would fall into the hands of a ger!

        "Grandma, where's Mummy?" The little three-year-old child didn't know anything. Sucking his fingers and tugging at Qian's coat. The child asked where her mother whom she hadn't seen for days? 

Chapter 62: 搬家

(House Moving) 

Part 2

"Grandma, where's Mummy?" The little three-year-old child didn't know anything. Sucking his fingers and tugging at Qian's coat. The child asked where her mother whom she hadn't seen for days? 

"Don't mention that mother of yours! She'll never come back, never come back!" Qian's heart was saddened and she did not want to mention this matter at all.

        When she yelled at him, the child was so frightened that he cried out and shouted 'I want to find my mother!'.

        "Why are you being mean to a child?" He Tian, who had become more and more silent recently, saw his precious grandson crying in fear, glared at her, and took the child in his arms, pat and coax him. 

        The family was in such a state that they didn't know if He Gui would be able to get another wife in the future therefore this might be his only grandson, so he had to treasure it.

        After yelling, Qian also regretted it, wiping her tears and crying even harder.

        "Mother, I'm tired. I'll go back and rest!" He Gui was even more annoyed by her crying and moved back to his room with his walking stick, one step by step at a time.

        The adults were crying, so were the children, causing a headache for the neighbours who lived next to them. They felt that the He family had been in trouble; they were having trouble one after another, making their lives also unsettled by it.

        People in the village now walk around the house for fear of getting into bad luck. If they did (get bad luck),they wouldn't be able to find a place to cry!

        Qi Yue and his family didn't care what happened to the He family. They were busy helping the Xu family move their things since the new house had been built.

        The new house has been built. Since the only person who will be living here regularly is Father Xu, it was not built too big, as it would have been too empty and would have made the house more and more lonely.

        The house was built with two additional rooms, the front yard was enlarged and a backyard was added. The walls were built high with bricks, just like the Qi Yue's house so that no one could see what was going on inside the house. 

 In order to make Father Xu more convenient in taking and using the water, Zheng Yue Feng also hired a well-driller to open a well in the backyard. From now on, the water for the house will be drawn directly from here.

        In addition to the new rooms, he also ordered a brand new set of furniture, the old ones were all thrown away, since the old ones made a creaky sound and might fall apart one day!

        Looking at the new home, Father Xu smiled as his eyes red. He felt that those days of hardship were a long time ago. Now that he's well enough, he can walk energetically. As he thought about it, he's not even forty yet, this should be the kind of spirit he should have at this age. Previously he thought he was an old man because he was suffering from his illness. 

        "How is it Uncle Xu, are you still satisfied with the courtyard?" Zheng Yue Feng smiled and came up to take the credit for his achievement. 

    "Satisfied, naturally satisfied!" Father Xu patted his shoulder. His heart pleased; the boy was showing filial respect to him. All because he cared about his family's ger. He was relieved that his ger had found such a good man.

        Xu Hua saw that the courtyard had everything he needed; he knew that Zheng Yue Feng had gone to a lot of trouble to make his father's life better and also to give him peace of mind.

        He Ling, who was standing beside him, took his arm and came up to his ear and said, "How is it? Do you feel that you've been completely captivated by Zheng Gong Zi?"

        "Why are you getting naughtier nowadays!" Xu Hua's face felt hot as he reached out and pinched the soft flesh around his waist.

        He Ling was tickled by the pinch, so he let go of his arm and took a few steps back to avoid it, but ran right into Qi Yue's embrace.He was caught from behind, Qi Yue's breath was in his ears, whispering: "I'm so happy that my Fu Lang is very passionately to throw himself at me like this."

        Now it was He Ling whose face was blushing. He was so ashamed that he tried to break away from the hand that was wrapped around him but to no avail, the hand resting on his waist did not move at all.

        Although Xu Hua didn't know what he (QY) had said, since He Ling's face was as red as a completely ripe fruit therefore he knew that he had been teased. Xu Hua smiled and rejoiced in other people's misfortune, who told him to learn to be bad? Now it was his (HL) turn to be teased. 

        Moving to a new house,of course Xu Hua needed to celebrate it a little. Zheng Yue Feng had prepared a big table full of food as they sat down to enjoy this lively moment of eating meals together. They also opened a small jar of wine that Zheng Yue Feng had brought with him. Everyone drank some of it. 

    He Ling was drinking wine for the first time, although it was only a small cup, but his cheeks also smoked red, his pair of slightly provocative eyes sparkling like a pool of water, hooked Qi Yue's heart tickled, then he lowered his head to kiss his eyes.

        Zheng Yue Feng looked at the scene with envy before he glanced secretly at Xu Hua, wondering when the other party would be like this and accustomed to being close (intimate) with him. 

        As he was thinking this, there was a sudden weight on his shoulders. He turned his head sideways to see Xu Hua leaning against him with his eyes closed. Could it be that he was drunk? It seemed that he had drunk several cups. He reached out and touched the other party's face, which was slightly warm.

        Zheng Yue Feng curled his lips and kissed him lightly on the forehead. Xu Hua did not move, so he must have fallen asleep. He secretly laughed and kissed him again. Only when he was asleep, Hua Ge er would not avoid him all the time.

        He Ling, who was sitting across the table, was being held in Qi Yue's arms. He saw the curvature of Xu Hua's mouth and curled his eyebrows in a smile. Didn't he say that Hua Ge er ah, had been completely charmed by Zheng Gong Zi!

        In the middle of the day, these children didn't even know how to refrain themselves, as the eldest, he was still sitting here ne! Father Xu smiled as he shook his head then he got up to leave the table. He was still quite old, when he's full, it was easy to get sleepy. He's going to take a midday nap. He'll leave this place to them!