Chapter 83
Second Aunt helped Zhou Wushi up, fed her some water, and helped her calm down.
Looking at this farce, I couldn't help but shake my head.
Who would want to take on this hot potato?
The second grandfather of the Zhou family sighed, "It's just for show to outsiders. On the surface, she is the concubine of one of you two brothers, but in secret she is still with Qiang'er. You don't need to raise someone else's child."
Wow, good heavens! Others will bear the bad reputation, but Zhou Qiang has beautiful wives and concubines in his arms. How can he expect all the good things to be his?
Zhou Ming couldn't stand it anymore.
"Second Grandfather, a real man should be brave and responsible. Fourth Brother doesn't even dare to have his own child. That's really not the behavior of a man."
The second grandfather of the Zhou family glared at him and said, "Whoever agrees will receive thirty taels of silver from the clan."
Zhou Ming was stunned for a moment, his face showing a mixture of emotions.
Zhou Lin remained unmoved, feeling utterly disappointed in his fourth brother.
Mu Qing's eyes flickered; with thirty taels of silver, the family's life would be a little easier.
Anyway, I don't have to support that guy, and it's just a matter of having a title, so why not take it?
You can't sleep in the same bed with two different kinds of people, and Zhou Ming clearly thought so too.
Just as he was about to speak, a small, thin man who was usually not very noticeable in the clan stepped forward.
"Uncle, Third Uncle, Father, I am willing to marry him and raise the child in his belly."
Mu Jin was surprised; she recognized the man who spoke.
The Zhou family has lived in Mujia Village for many years. Although the family is not as large as the Mu family, it is still quite big.
The man who spoke was Zhou Fengnian, the youngest son of Zhou's second grandfather.
She was in her thirties when she married a man before, but she suffered a difficult childbirth and severe bleeding, resulting in the loss of both her mother and child.
Zhou Fengnian was a dull and honest man, and neither of his sisters-in-law nor his brothers liked him.
A few years ago, after the family separated, he was assigned to the village entrance alone, along with a few tattered quilts and some pots and pans, where he built two thatched huts.
He barely makes ends meet by doing odd jobs in town and on the three acres of meager land he was allocated.
Upon hearing him speak, the second grandfather of the Zhou family pondered for a moment. He had originally planned to find a man from his third brother's lineage to take on this matter.
Unexpectedly, his unremarkable youngest son snatched it away.
Thinking about it carefully, Zhou Fengnian is not young anymore. Over the years, he has been asked to marry several people, but none of them came to fruition.
With more children in the family now, the money earned from the harvest in the fields is barely enough to get by, and we can't save much money to marry him off to a good family.
Looking at the kneeling young man, although he has lost his virginity, Zhou Fengnian will probably only be able to marry a divorced, older woman in the future.
Moreover, he had already discussed it with his elder and third brothers, and he would receive an additional thirty taels of silver, so why not?
The more Grandpa Zhou thought about it, the more likely it was to succeed.
After glancing at Zhou's eldest grandfather and grandfather, the three old men exchanged a look, and the matter was settled.
Seeing this, the young man, tears streaming down his face, grabbed Zhou Qiang's sleeve and looked at him, "Zhou Lang? You..."
Zhou Qiang turned his head away, not daring to look at him.
He had studied the classics for so many years, and although he wasn't very ambitious, he didn't want to ruin his promising future and the chance to achieve fame and fortune for a moment of pleasure.
If that boy were Zhaozhao, he might accept it.
The young man's eyes immediately darkened, and the light that had been in them vanished.
Mu Jin felt a pang of pity watching this.
Although Zhou Fengnian was thin, he had worked hard all year round and was quite strong. He lifted the boy off the ground.
He said to the second grandfather of the Zhou family, "Father, give me the money, and we'll go back first. In a couple of days, we'll take him home to serve tea to our parents."
The boy stood up with the help of his strength, and laughed and cried for a while, staring straight at Zhou Qiang, who was still kneeling on the ground, with tears in his eyes.
"The Moon Goddess often told us that most unfaithful men are scholars, but I didn't believe it. Now I do... I believe it. It's my fault for not daring to covet the unseen and intangible glory."
After saying that, with a resolute expression, he followed Zhou Fengnian out of the house without looking back.
After the matter was resolved, Mu Jin felt as if a wad of cotton was stuck in her chest, making her feel stuffy and extremely uncomfortable.
Zhou Wushi, who slowly woke up, was overjoyed. "My little one, get up quickly, don't kneel and hurt yourself."
Zhou Qiang glanced at Zhou Laosan and Zhou's grandfather, both of whom had grim faces, and dared not move.
Mu Jin sneered. Zhou Qiang's current state was mostly due to Zhou Wu's spoiling.
If they had known beforehand that he was going to a brothel, they would have kept an eye on him and made arrangements with him, and this would never have happened.
Zhou Lin was deeply disappointed. The admiration he once held for scholars was gone from his eyes when he looked at Zhou Qiang.
Such an irresponsible man has truly wasted all those years of studying.
Grandfather Zhou sighed, “Qiang’er, you must remember this lesson. You’re getting on in years. Before the New Year, Third Brother, you and Wu should take a look and arrange a marriage for him beforehand, so that he won’t be unsettled. Qiang’er, don’t go to Yue Man Lou again. If you go again and cause trouble next time, no one will be able to help you.”
Zhou Qiang nodded hesitantly, "Grandfather, I dare not do it again."
Grandfather Zhou nodded, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened today. If Qiang’er passes the imperial examination next year, our Zhou family will benefit.”
Everyone nodded, and the matter was considered settled.
For some reason, Mu Jin harbored a burning anger, and she didn't give Zhou Lin a kind look all the way home.
This made Zhou Lin afraid to make any noise while doing chores at home, for fear of upsetting Mu Jin again.
With the wheat harvest just finished and winter wheat planted, the villagers have much less work to do.
The Zhou family's affairs have been the talk of the village these days.
Some believe, some don't, and there are all sorts of opinions.
"When that young man came, he asked me for directions, saying he was looking for Zhou Lang. I thought it was Zhou Qiang, that scholar, who had gotten into a romantic entanglement. I never expected it to be Uncle Zhou. You really can't judge a book by its cover."
"You didn't even ask for their names before leading them to the Zhou family's place?"
“In our village, among the Zhou family, the only ones with men of marriageable age left are Zhou Laosan’s family.”
"That's true. If it were me, I would also think of Zhou Qiang."
"If you ask me, it's quite possible. I always felt that Uncle Zhou wouldn't do something like that."
A woman nodded in agreement, "Speaking of which, the husband of Brother Fengnian was from the same Wangjia Village as me. The couple had a very good relationship, it's a pity."
“I think that’s possible. Zhou Fulang has been gone for so many years, it’s understandable that Brother Fengnian couldn’t help it.”
"That's right. Speaking of which, the Zhou family has announced that they're going to arrange a marriage for Zhou Qiang."
"Oh, speaking of which, my niece from my mother's side is getting on in years."
Although Zhou Qiang's reputation was somewhat tarnished, he was still a good son-in-law in the eyes of most villagers because he was good at studying.
On his way home after delivering the dyed fabric, Bai Qiqiu overheard this and couldn't help but purse his lips.
These men who frequent brothels are definitely not worth having.
I felt that breaking off the engagement back then was the wisest thing I could have done.
"Ah Lin, what kind of person is your cousin?"
Mu Jin helped Zhou Lin cut off the branches of a cypress tree that had just been cut down from the mountain, and asked in a low voice.
Seeing that he was no longer angry, Zhou Lin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ve barely spoken a few words to my uncle since I was a child, but I’ve seen him go to town with my sister before. He looked at her with a very gentle gaze back then.”
Mu Jin nodded, it seemed she was someone who would cherish her husband.
Wen Zhaoran moved the cut branches aside to dry, saying, "Brother, that young man also came from Yuemanlou. What does he look like? I might recognize him."
"She's pretty and delicate; you'll see when you meet her."
Wen Zhaoran smiled and said, "Brother, you don't need to feel too sorry for that young man. It's already lucky that he came out of the building unharmed. That young man is by no means weak; he has his own way of surviving."
Hibiscus nodded, cut off the last small branch, got up, brushed the sawdust off her clothes, and went back to the kitchen to cook lunch.
Early the next morning, the heaviest autumn rain of the year began to fall.
Zhou Lin didn't have to work at the timber frame today, and he took a rare nap on this rainy day.
Hibiscus sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the rain, cutting the freshly dyed indigo cotton cloth into pieces.
The basket next to him was filled with cotton. He took advantage of the spare time to make Zhou Lindong's clothes.
Zhou Lin lay back, quietly watching his little husband, whose eyes were lowered and who was carefully sewing clothes for him. He felt peaceful and serene.
He never dared to dream that one day he could live such a good life.
With enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, and a husband in his arms, who knows, next year there will be a little one following him around calling him "Dad."
Thinking this, Zhou Lin reached out and touched Mu Jin's belly.
Hibiscus gently patted his stomach, her calloused, rough, fan-like hand causing trouble.
"Stop fooling around."
Zhou Lin raised his head, his sharp eyebrows revealing a hint of gentleness.
Have you felt nauseous lately?
He didn't know much about what would happen if his son was pregnant. He only knew that Mu Qing had vomited and felt unwell last year, which was when he found out she was pregnant.
Mu Jin understood, and suddenly felt a little amused and exasperated, her ears unconsciously turning a faint red.
"What are you thinking? How could it be that fast?"
Zhou Lin was not disappointed upon hearing this, only thinking that he would have to work even harder that night.
However, the two had been married for less than a year. It's common for a man to have a child only after two or three years of marriage.
Thinking of this, Mu Jin sighed, "Your fourth brother has probably been having an affair with that boy for a long time, otherwise, how could he have a child so quickly?"
However, some boys are very fertile. There was an old man in the village who had one child after another, having nine children in ten years.
This caused his husband to avoid touching him at night, and the constant crying of the children was truly a headache.
Because of this, his son was very easy to get engaged.
Zhou Lin sat up and shook his head helplessly.
Previously, he had taken on the responsibility of being the eldest brother and father, and he had also told Zhou Qiang not to go to brothels anymore.
Unfortunately, Zhou Qiang hardly listened to Zhou Wu's words, so why would he listen to him?
Bai Qiqiu was bored all alone in the room, so she took her sewing basket and went to Wen Zhaoran's place.
"Sigh, Mu Zhaoye insists that I give him shoes as a token of our love. But we don't have any real feelings for each other, so where am I supposed to get them?"
Wen Zhaoran watched as he complained, but his hands never stopped sewing shoe soles, and shook his head with a smile.
Bai Qiqiu was also a hypocrite.
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