Chapter Thirty
The villagers looked at each other, then started chattering amongst themselves.
"The boy in this painting is really handsome."
"A beautiful face, a venomous heart; otherwise, why would she be hunted down by the officials?"
"That's right."
"Ahem, has anyone actually seen this person?" the officer in charge asked, holding up the portrait.
The villagers all shook their heads, and Village Chief Mu said, "Sir, the villagers are all honest and law-abiding, and we would never dare to hide anything. There have indeed been no strangers in the village these past few days."
Upon hearing this, the officer in charge rolled up the portrait and said, "If you find anything, report it to the county government and you will be rewarded with fifty taels of silver. If you know something but do not report it, you will not be spared."
After he finished speaking, the officer in charge carefully observed the reactions of the crowd. He saw that they were eager to try their luck when they heard about the fifty taels of silver, and their eyes lit up. He figured that there must be no one hiding there.
Mu Jin's face remained impassive, but her heart sank. The soldiers had a portrait of Wen Liangzhao in their hands; what should she do?
A group of officers and soldiers arrived quickly and left just as quickly.
They weren't really interested in bothering with the boys at the brothel, and they wouldn't have come at all if the magistrate hadn't spoken up.
At noon, the three returned home, their faces looking somewhat somber.
"The soldiers have your portrait; everyone in the village recognizes your face now. Don't go out!"
Mu Jin reminded them that this time they were truly in the same boat as Wen Liangzhao.
Wen Liangzhao's face turned pale with fright. If he were caught and taken back, he knew exactly what would happen to him.
After thinking for a moment, fearing that Mu Jin and the others might not be able to withstand the pressure and would send him away, he spoke frankly and frankly: "My benefactor, there is something I haven't told you yet."
Mu Jin's expression was displeased. They had risked their lives to hide him, yet he was still concealing something from them and hadn't told them the truth.
Seeing this, Wen Liangzhao quickly said, "My benefactor, please don't be angry. You know my family is in the northern frontier, and you also know that there are occasional wars there. My parents were secret agents for the court before they died, so they had to hide their identities and live in disguise. When they return home in their old age, they can use their real faces without being recognized and causing trouble. My mother was a master of disguise, and I have been with her since I was a child. I have never shown my true face to anyone since I was a child."
Mu Jin, Zhou Lin, and Zhou Si were stunned when they heard this. They never expected to see such things as grudges, martial arts, disguise, and light-body skills in the stories told by storytellers.
Zhou Si was somewhat disappointed. Such a beautiful face was actually fake?
As Wen Liangzhao spoke, she fiddled with her face, revealing an even more beautiful face behind her beautiful one.
Wen Liangzhao revealed his true face for the first time, feeling somewhat ashamed. "This is what I originally looked like. When my parents were in danger, they sent me to my uncles' hometown. Unexpectedly, they took my parents' money and then sold me."
Looking at the even younger face before her, Mu Jin couldn't help but ask, "How old are you this year?"
Wen Liangzhao smiled, revealing a set of small tiger teeth, "My benefactor, I am thirteen years old this year."
It was so small, only a year older than the wooden boat.
Mu Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't go back. This is good. However, although your appearance has changed, you still need to be careful. You don't have a household registration now. You need to find an opportunity to get one so that you can go out openly."
Zhou Si was even more pleased to hear that Liang Zhao's original appearance was more refined, and laughed, "No wonder you don't even know how to water plants, you really aren't from a farming family."
Wen Liangzhao blushed slightly, and Mu Jin smiled gently, "If you don't know, just say so, and we'll teach you."
He nodded heavily. "My benefactor, I will definitely study hard."
Mu Jin said, "Don't call me 'benefactor' anymore. Just call me Brother Jin, and my husband Brother Lin."
Zhou Si quickly replied, "Just call me Brother Si."
Wen Liangzhao's narrow eyebrows curved into a smile. "Thank you, Brother Jin, Brother Si, Brother Lin."
Everyone laughed. To be honest, Mu Jin's head was buzzing the moment she saw Wen Liangzhao's portrait.
I've already planned to send him away once this storm has passed, to the capital or to Nanfu City; he absolutely cannot stay here any longer.
After all, one can't live a life of hiding.
Unexpectedly, things took a dramatic turn, and it turned out that Wen Liangzhao's true appearance and disguise were indeed unrecognizable as the same person.
Mu Jin and Zhou Lin were truly relieved.
After lunch, the group acted as if nothing had happened, going about their business as usual, and no outsider could tell anything was amiss.
Fortunately, the Zhou family's old house was surrounded by high earthen walls to protect it from wolves, and with the gate closed, no one could see inside from the outside.
Mu Jin, Zhou Lin, and Zhou Si went out at sunrise and returned at sunset. It took them more than ten days to clear all the stones from the five acres of land.
With spring plowing just around the corner, Zhou Wushi came again. There were twenty mu of dry land and ten mu of paddy fields at home, and the work was never-ending.
When Zhou Lin was there, he didn't realize there was so much work to do.
Wen Liangzhao, fearing trouble, hid in Zhou Si's room and didn't come out. Mu Jin welcomed her in with a smile.
"Mother, why are you here at this hour? Si'er and A-Lin haven't returned from the fields yet. I'm busy making lunch and will take it to them."
Zhou Wu snorted lightly, "What's the point of working on five acres of barren land? The harvest from the family's fields is the real business."
Mu Jin smiled but remained silent. Zhou Wu glared at him fiercely and called out to Zhou Lin, who was busy working in the wasteland outside.
"Boss, go home this afternoon!"
Zhou Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead, walked to the edge of the field, and said to Zhou Wushi in the yard, "Mother, wait a moment, let me sow the seeds."
Zhou Wushi glared at him and said, "What's so great about these few acres of land? There's so much work waiting for you at home. We'll bring you dozens of kilograms of grain after we harvest it. That's better than you working so hard for nothing."
Zhou Lin met the gentle-faced Mu Jin behind Zhou Wu's back. Thinking of Zhou Si's reprimand, she tightened her grip on the hoe.
"Mother, we've been feeding these few acres of land all year. I don't want the grain from home. If you and Father are too busy, use the few dozen kilograms of grain I don't want to hire a day laborer."
This was the first time Zhou Lin had refused Zhou Wu's request. He was so nervous that his palms were sweaty, and even on this cold day, a thin layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.
When Zhou Wu heard the word "no" from Zhou Lin for the first time, she was stunned for a moment.
He then retorted angrily, "Fine, then don't ever come home for the rest of your life! Your father and I were planning to give you a few dozen kilograms of grain this year, but it seems like that's like throwing meat buns to a dog—gone forever. We'd rather feed the dogs than give them to you!"
When Zhou Wushi returned in a rage, Mu Jin walked up to Zhou Lin, whose face was pale.
Seeing that there was no one else around, she put her arms around his neck and gently kissed his cheek. "Husband, you are so good."
Zhou Lin snapped out of his daze from Zhou Wu's angry outburst, his face slightly flushed. He nudged Mu Jin, "Ah Jin, we're still outside. Let's wait until we get back."
Mu Jin chuckled. Zhou Lin, a rough and tough guy, was actually more shy than her, a young man.
“Good husband, you have no idea how scared I was just now. If you had gone back with your mother, how could Si’er and I have managed to keep up with all this work? The few dozen catties of grain that your mother promised would only last for about two months. There is so much work to do at home, and you definitely can’t go to Uncle Heng’s place. Otherwise, our family will really be starving.”
Zhou Lin's heart tightened. What her husband said made sense. How could she let the husband she had finally managed to marry go hungry? Her parents and her younger brother were still there. She had managed to take care of them all by herself before, so she figured they could manage.
He should take care of things at home first before thinking about anything else.
Zhou Si walked past them carrying a hoe, chuckling, "Big brother, I saw it all. You two better watch yourselves in front of my unmarried son."
Zhou Lin's face turned even redder, and Mu Jin glared at him, "You're so talkative. Hurry up and go back, lunch is ready."
"Jin-ge'er, is that woman your mother-in-law?"
Wen Liangzhao took a bite of the dark pancake and asked in surprise.
Mu Jin nodded. "What? You know my mother-in-law?"
Wen Liangzhao said speechlessly, "She wouldn't have another son named Zhou Qiang, would she?"
Zhou Lin took a sip of radish soup and said, "Zhou Qiang is my fourth brother."
Wen Liangzhao sighed and said, “Zhou Qiang used to go to Yuemanlou with a few young men to listen to music with me. When your mother-in-law passed by, those young men called out to him. I took a look and that’s why he looked so familiar just now.”
Mu Jin glanced at Zhou Lin, then smiled at him and said, "My fourth brother actually has spare money to go to Yue Man Lou? Before my mother-in-law separated the family, she always said that there was no money in the house. Even when A Lin and I broke a hole in the window of our new house, we didn't have money to buy a replacement."
Wen Liangzhao caught Mu Jin's gaze and coughed lightly. "Ah? I really didn't realize that Zhou Qiang could come three to five times a month. Each time, even just drinking alcohol, he would spend more than one tael of silver. I thought he was a rich man's son."
Zhou Lin tightened his grip on the chopsticks, his face darkening, lost in thought.
Mu Jin's lips curled slightly, her eyes full of encouragement as she looked at Wen Liangzhao. She wanted him to talk more; he loved to hear it.
"I'm afraid my mother doesn't know about this. I'll have to tell my parents later. My fourth brother is going to study in town. How can he study if he likes to play around and frequent those brothels?"
Zhou Lin spoke in a hoarse voice, his brows furrowed.
Mu Jin, biting into her dark pancake, felt rather speechless. At a time like this, they were still concerned about Zhou Qiang's incompetent studies.
Wen Liangzhao said in surprise, "Brother Lin, you didn't know? I thought Auntie had told the family when she went back. Auntie knows, she even went to the building to look for Zhou Qiang before."
Zhou Wushi herself did not go in; instead, she called for someone to bring Zhou Qiang out.
Zhou Lin was speechless for a moment, and Mu Jin spoke up at the right time.
"A-Lin, stop thinking about it and eat quickly. The work in the fields can't wait."
Zhou Lin lost his appetite, while Zhou Qiang indulged in wine and women, able to afford more than an ounce of silver. Yet, Zhou Qiang, with his broken window, couldn't even produce a few copper coins.
Feeling bitter, Zhou Lin didn't speak again until after lunch.
Once the stones and weeds in the field are removed and the soil is turned over, spring plowing can begin.
The land belonging to the hunters was quite close to their house. They had a mule, and after the land was plowed, Mu Lingyun drove the mule to help.
These days, Mu Lingyun would occasionally send some things that the family needed urgently. Over time, Zhou Si realized that what she had heard in front of her eldest brother's and his mother's house that night was true.
Zhou Si couldn't help but have some thoughts. The Mu family only had two sons, and one of them had married off last year. Mu Mian had a good relationship with her eldest brother and seemed to be a kind and easy-going person.
It would be good if she married into the Zhou family.
Unfortunately, Mu Lingyun only helped with chores and delivering things; he didn't say anything else.
Zhou Si often doubted whether she was wrong, wavering between what was true and what was false.
It's truly exhausting and frustrating.
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