"Your sister-in-law's cooking is really good," Lai Zi said, serving himself another bowl of rice. "Qian Qing should really come and learn from her."
The atmosphere instantly became strange upon hearing this.
Qian Qing, isn't that Widow Qian's name?
Instantly, everyone's eyes turned to him.
Lai Zi, realizing what he had said, wanted to slap himself twice.
Huang Xiaosi, the most impatient of all, asked, "Brother Lai, I've always been curious, what's your relationship with Widow Qian, why..."
Before he could finish speaking, Huang Yi stomped on his foot hard.
"Shut up already. How can you say such things at the dinner table?" Huang Yi said, putting a piece of braised pork on Xiao Si's plate. "Just eat and listen, don't say anything."
Lai Zi, who was already feeling uneasy under everyone's stares, blushed as red as a boiled shrimp upon hearing Huang Xiao Si's words.
"No, it's nothing," Lai Zi said, wishing he could bury his head in the ground. "You guys, you guys shouldn't overthink it."
“Brother Lai,” Xie Shi always spoke her mind, “you’re making it impossible for us not to overthink things!”
She blushed before she even started talking, just like a young man in the throes of first love!
These words made Lai Zi bow his head even lower.
"Tell me about it," Jiang Nuan chimed in, "You're not getting any younger, it's time to get married and have children."
At twenty-four, in this day and age, one could be considered an old bachelor.
"Auntie," he said softly, "it's really nothing, don't overthink it."
"Brother Lai," Huang Lao Er urged with exasperation, "what's the point of hiding this? If you really like her, just ask a matchmaker to arrange the marriage. What's the point of dragging this out?"
“She, she doesn’t want to,” Lai Zi said, his face falling. “She’d rather be entangled with me without a proper title or status than marry me.”
"What's going on?" Huang Lao Er really couldn't understand. "She's a widow, is it beneath her to marry you?"
"Don't talk nonsense," Jiang Nuan gave her son a warning look, "Listen to what your brother Lai has to say first."
There must be something going on here.
She doesn't think that this era is full of oddballs like herself who want to be alone and carefree.
“I think so too,” Huang Yi chimed in. “Widow Qian is a very good person. Don’t be fooled by the villagers’ constant talk that she seduces men. In reality, she only has Lai Zi as her confidant.”
“Huang Yi,” Jiang Nuan’s forehead veins throbbed when she heard the word “paramour,” “How can you talk like that, you little brat? You’re not the kind of person who can use the word ‘paramour’.”
"If not this, then which?" Huang Xiaosi blinked. "Your lover?"
“You two,” Jiang Nuan pointed to the corner of the wall, “you two, stand facing the wall and reflect on your mistakes. Silently recite ‘Do not look at what is improper, do not listen to what is improper, do not speak what is improper’ a hundred times.”
Those two brats really need to be disciplined.
The two looked at Jiang Nuan with pitiful expressions, and after realizing that she wouldn't change her mind, they walked slowly to the corner of the wall.
“Let’s continue,” Jiang Nuan said, her expression softening as she steered the conversation back on track. “What is Qian Qing thinking? Why would she rather follow you without any official status than marry you?”
This is so unusual! What is she thinking?
“Auntie,” Lai Zi had been thinking about this for a long time and wanted to talk to someone about it, so he decided not to hide it from her, “she was afraid of dragging me down.”
“She is three years older than me, and the villagers call her a slut. She is afraid that if she marries me, I will be laughed at, so she has been unwilling to agree.”
“I don’t care about these things, but she’s too stubborn. No matter how I try to persuade her, she won’t listen. If I push her too hard, she threatens to kill herself. I don’t dare to push her too hard.”
“She’s been with me for five years without any official status, and now I can’t even give her a home…”
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