Chapter 28 Jinjiang First Release Chapter 28 Just Do One Thing Well...
Yu Qingjia and Yu Qinglong first escorted Fang Shu home and returned the mule. They thanked Wu Sheng for a long time before leaving Xiaxi Village.
As for the wooden barrel that was previously used to hold the rice dumplings, it was already empty, so it was not difficult to carry it. The two men declined Fang Shu's offer to send them back in an ox cart and walked home instead.
Both families slept late that night.
Yu Qinglong was already very tired on the way, but since he had promised Fang Shu today, he had to tell his family about it.
"Little brother, are you saying that if the Fang family came to propose marriage in advance, we should just accept it?" Yu Qingye asked, "How did you suddenly come to your senses?"
"I just think he's trustworthy and has good character. Besides, since I've already decided I'll get married if they agree to let me continue my medical studies, there's no need to drag it out for another ten days."
"Great! Then we'll just wait for Matchmaker Zhou to come and propose marriage. Have you agreed on a date?"
"That's not the case," Yu Qingjia said, "but I think someone from the Fang family will be here soon."
Seeing how happy Fang Shu was once his younger brother agreed, this matter couldn't be delayed for too long. I just didn't know how early it would be.
But Fang Shu's house was also lit. Fang Dingman and Fang Wushi were still awake. They left the lights on and the door open for Fang Shu. They only had one son, so they were worried about him not knowing if he would come home at night.
They also wanted to know what happened that day, but when their son returned, he was even more excited than the day he passed the imperial examination: "Father, Mother! I can go to the Yu family and ask for your hand in marriage!"
Fang Dingman sat up quickly: "Really?"
Fang Shu said, "Yes, father, it is absolutely true."
Fang Wu looked at her son's happiness, which didn't seem fake. She was just a little puzzled: "How come he can suddenly go and pick it up?"
Fang Shu said, "Long'er originally set the one-month deadline because he was worried that he would be unable to continue his medical studies after marrying. Now that father and mother have agreed that he can continue his medical studies after marrying, there are no major obstacles. I would like to trouble father and mother to help me propose to the Yu family."
"Can you guarantee it will work?" Fang Wu said. "If you want to go formally, you must prepare gifts before going. If it doesn't work out, it will be a huge joke."
"It'll be done, don't worry." He felt that Yu Qinglong wasn't the type to go back on his word. When he suddenly said he didn't want to sell more than ninety zongzi, it was probably a final test. Now that he knew he was sincere in his request, he naturally wouldn't make things difficult for him.
"Then I'll start making arrangements when it's daybreak. Since you've decided to keep this Long Ge'er, our family must give him the respect he deserves. We can't let people think we look down on him."
Although she was indeed not very satisfied with her son-in-law, whether she was satisfied or not was her business and she couldn't let outsiders tell her.
Fang Shu bowed to his parents and said, "Thank you, mother."
Fang Dingman said, "Go to bed quickly. It's late. We can discuss this in detail in the morning."
Fang Shu walked out briskly. Fang Wu frowned, "If he's like this, won't he be completely dominated by Long Ge'er after he gets married?"
Fang Dingman laughed and said, "So what? Haven't I been completely dominated by you? I've already spent half my life here!"
Fang Wu pinched him and said, "Go to sleep!"
The next day was one of Yu Qinglong's rare late rises. He saw his father cooking tea eggs on the earthen stove in the yard, so he squatted over to help watch the fire. "Dad, Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Where are the eggs?"
Zhou Yuehua said, "Someone gave it to me. Eating eggs on Dragon Boat Festival is good luck. Do you want to go to Doctor Mo's house later?"
Yu Qinglong said, "I have to go, but I don't need to go too early today. Master said that Mo'er and I should have two days to rest and relax. I can just go see him in the afternoon."
Zhou Jianer came out from the alley with a basket of fresh vegetables. Seeing Yu Qinglong getting up, she smiled and said, "Good morning, little brother."
Yu Qinglong said, "Good morning, sister-in-law. Where is my brother?"
"Your eldest brother went to fetch water," Zhou Jian'er said. "We're using a lot of water today. Dad, I cut some leeks. Shall I blanch them and mix them with the salad?"
"Okay, mix more, okay? It's rare for everyone to have breakfast together today." In the past, either one person would go out to work or the other would go out to study. During the busy farming season, they were all in a hurry, often leaving with just two pancakes and some water. It was hard for the whole family to be together. Zhou Yuehua closed the wooden pot lid. "Long'er, go hang up the mugwort. I thought of asking your father to do it this morning, but I forgot."
"Okay, Dad. Is my father out too?"
"Well, you and your eldest brother came home late yesterday, so I didn't have time to tell you. Your second aunt came over when you were not home during the day, and she brought this pot of eggs. She said that we should visit each other more often in the future. If the third branch is unkind, that's their business; the second branch doesn't want this to happen. Your eldest sister-in-law and I felt it was not right to hit someone who was smiling, and she was quite sincere, so we accepted the eggs."
"So father went to the old house?"
"I went to your second uncle's house. There's been a big fight between your second uncle's family and the third branch of the family lately. I heard that your third uncle even broke down the door of your second uncle's house. Your second uncle is good at farm work, but not so good at housework. He didn't know how to fix the problem, so he asked your father to go and help."
"Second Aunt is a shrewd person. But isn't Second Uncle's house just an old house?"
"They say the two ends have been separated by a fence, and now they're not firing at the same place, but each going their own way. Didn't they used to eat with the old lady? Now the second branch is eating alone."
"Who is the old lady with?"
"you guess?"
"I guess it hasn't been decided yet. The old lady will definitely use the money to talk the two families out of splitting up the family property."
"I've got you guessing right. The old lady said that if we have to divide the family, she will no longer support Qingxi's studies, nor will she give money to the third wife."
"No wonder..." Yu Qinglong added a handful of firewood. "My Second Aunt asked about me when she came yesterday, right?"
"She asked if you were home. I told her you went to town early in the morning. She felt sorry for you, but she didn't say anything else."
Without saying anything else, Yu Qinglong understood why Ye Meihua had come. She now knew how much he was beating around the bush, so she must have come to ask him if there was any good way to get the old lady to stop being so critical of Qingxi's studies.
Zhou Yuehua said, "I heard from your Aunt Zhang that the old lady's constant muttering these days is 'Brothers never grudge against each other overnight.' But your Third Uncle and Third Aunt are constantly quarreling, and they're even asking your Second Aunt to pay for Qingfa's medical treatment. The quarrel is getting more and more serious, and the two branches are saying they want to split up completely."
Yu Qinglong said with a smile, "It's quite lively. But if brothers don't hold grudges overnight, it depends on who the brothers are from. Only a family like ours, where brothers are so friendly and respectful to each other, can we avoid holding grudges overnight, right, second brother?"
Yu Qinglong saw Yu Qingye coming out of the woodshed on a crutch. He stood at the door, squinting to adjust to the light and rest his eyes. He asked, "Second brother, what did you do?"
Judging from this, he must be working on the wood again. But at this time, he probably didn't want to use the oil lamp, so he tired his eyes.
Yu Qingye waved to his younger brother.
When Yu Qinglong went over, he heard him whisper, "Your business is almost done. Second brother wanted to get you some things to take back with you."
Yu Qinglong also said quietly: "Don't give me a dressing box or anything like that, I can't use it."
Yu Qingye asked, "So what do you want? Anyway, the marriage has been decided after the proposal, and it will take some time before the wedding, so there's time to prepare. Second brother was thinking, why don't you make you a cabinet or something? The craftsmen in the workshop and the owner have treated me very well. If I go and buy the wood, I can save a lot of money. Don't worry, there are a few things that Second brother can't make now, but he can make most furniture."
Yu Qinglong said, "We have to wait until it's settled. Besides, you're not fully recovered yet, so don't worry about it yet, or your brother Qiu'er will be worried."
"You little brat!" Yu Qingye was so embarrassed by what he said that he slapped Yu Qinglong. It wasn't a heavy blow, though.
"I'm telling the truth. I'm taking a break, so I have to go see Brother Qiu when I have time, so he doesn't miss you and get angry again."
"Well, it just so happens that I have something I want you to bring over for me."
"Okay, just pack your things."
"What are you two whispering about? Long Ge'er, go get Dad a big bowl."
Yu Qinglong hurried to do it, taking the bowl and hanging the wormwood. He then went to check on the chickens in the chicken coop, seeing that they had been fed, and swept out the chicken manure to be used as fertilizer later.
Today was the Dragon Boat Festival. Logically, no matter how desperate the Fangs were, they wouldn't choose this day to propose marriage. He guessed it would be three to five days later. After all, a formal proposal here required a goose. Ancient rituals used geese, but geese weren't readily available, so geese were more common. Some families used chickens instead, but he had a hunch the Fangs wouldn't use chickens.
Back at Fang Shu's house, however, Fang Shu was the complete opposite of Yu Qinglong. Perhaps overwhelmed with excitement, he barely slept that night. The next day, he woke before dawn. He didn't even bother reading, but instead, after getting dressed, he drafted a letter of engagement.
After revising the content again and again, he finally satisfied himself and went to find his parents: "Good morning, father, good morning, mother."
Fang Dingman said, "It's true that when people are happy, they are in high spirits. Even if there are dark spots under their eyes, they won't stop your eyes from shining. Are you so happy?"
Fang Shu smiled a bit foolishly: "Father is right, I am happy. And there is one more thing, I want to go to town today, I wonder if there is anything I need to bring back."
Fang Wu asked, "What do you want to buy?"
Fang Shu said, "Buy wild geese."
Nowadays, many people use geese instead of wild geese because wild geese are not always available. However, geese do not have the loyalty of wild geese, so he still hopes to use wild geese to propose marriage.
"Then there's no need to go." Fang Wu said, "We have it."
"Your mother has bought you eight wild geese," Fang Dingman said, "and they are at your Aunt Zhou's house."
“Why buy so much?”
"Originally, I bought two, but you never found someone you liked, so you kept them. When someone else asked you to buy one, she would buy you two new ones to keep for later, just in case you needed them and couldn't find them. So, you bought eight in total."
"Thank you, mother, for your consideration. But I still have to go. I need to buy some red paper to write the engagement letter."
"Yes," Fang Wu said, "I'll get it out for you in a moment."
"...Then I also want to make a hairpin for Long Ge'er."
Boys cannot wear many jewelry like girls, but hairpins are something they can use frequently, so he wants to make two more, a pair.
Fang Wu said, "Yes."
Fang Shu was stunned: "...then what else is missing from our family?"
Fang Dingman said, "We have everything we need, except a husband. But today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and it would be inappropriate for us to go and ask for marriage if the family is celebrating the festival. Let's choose a good day soon."
Fang Wu said, "Shu'er, just do one thing well. I beg you to do it."
"What's the matter, mother?"
"Pick up all the unused things in your room. At least you can make room for Long Ge'er. If you don't clean it up properly, he might be scared away by all those things in your room when he comes. What scholar's room looks like a place for wild people? Also, you need to repair the kang in your room and replace the cabinets with new ones. You have so many stones and wood in the room. Don't let them trip up the workers who come to visit."
Fang Shu thought, is it really that serious? But just in case, he decided to listen to his mother and clean up properly.
However, when he really started to build it, he found that he couldn't bear to throw anything away. This one was picked up when he was seven years old, that one was made on his ninth birthday, and the big rock he was sitting on was moved by him and his son Long Ge'er together.
And the little wooden stick on the pen holder on the table, that was pulled from the field path in Long Ge'er's village...
These are all beautiful memories, how could he bear to throw them away?!
Fang Shu decided not to clean up. He wanted to wait until Qinglong got married and shared everything with his brother Long before deciding what to keep and what to throw away!
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Author's words: Fang Shu: Working with my husband is so beautiful just thinking about it [shy]
Qinglong: ...Do it yourself! Who else will be left to do this?! [rolls eyes]
Fang Shu: Today I will also beg for food from the aunts, asking for some nutrient solution as a betrothal gift [rainbow fart]
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