Chapter 20
After seeing Li Xin off, Aunt Sun went to see Chen Qing. As she looked at him, she said, "The rain is really heavy. Luckily, Zhou Yuan came to help me harvest the corn. I really couldn't have finished by myself."
However, Aunt Sun didn't want to say much to Chen Qing. She quickly urged him to take a bath and then talked to Zhou Yuan.
Looking at the basket full of mushrooms in the house, he said to Zhou Yuan, "Come over for dinner tomorrow? You picked some mushrooms last time, but they were all poisonous. These are much better; they'll taste delicious when cooked."
"I might not have time tomorrow; I have to go to town," Zhou Yuan said. "My aunt, you're thinking of me, so could you save some for me?"
Grandma Sun treated him like one of her own younger relatives and asked with concern, "What are you going to town for?"
"I wanted to do some work, so I went to take a look," Zhou Yuan said. "I'm really not very good at farming."
“Hey, you can learn if you don’t know how, but then all those acres of land will just be sitting empty?” Grandma Sun said with a pang of heartache. “It’s not worth renting them out.”
"We won't rent it out. We'll plant it normally, but we might need to trouble Auntie for help."
Grandma Sun patted Zhou Yuan on the back: "Don't talk about how troublesome it is."
Remembering something, Zhou Yuan said goodbye to Aunt Sun. As Aunt Sun saw Zhou Yuan off, Chen Qing also jumped out. His clothes were not neatly dressed and were a bit disheveled. Aunt Sun quickly helped him back into the room.
Unexpectedly, Zhou returned and slipped a medicine bottle into Granny Sun's hand.
It was getting late, so Aunt Sun didn't keep Zhou Yuan and went to apply the medicine to Chen Qing.
In the dim light, Chen Qing saw the medicine bottle in Aunt Sun's hand, which was exactly the same as the medicine bottle Li Xin had used to apply medicine to him last time: "Mom, where did this come from?"
"Zhou Yuan just gave it to me." Grandma Sun sat on the edge of the bed, warmed the medicated oil in her palms, and then slowly rubbed it onto Chen Qing's ankle.
Chen Qing stared at the medicine bottle, his brows furrowed. Was the medicine Li Xin had applied to his skin last time also given by Zhou Yuan? But Li Xin had said she didn't like Zhou Yuan. Was it all just Zhou Yuan's unrequited love? Was he trying to use Chen Qing, Li Xin's good friend, as a go-between?
After thinking it over, this was the only reason. Once he understood this, the ripples that had stirred in Chen Qing's heart disappeared silently.
Grandma Sun had kept some rice warm for him in the pot, and Chen Qing ate a couple of bites and went to sleep.
The next day, Chen Qing got up and thankfully he didn't catch a cold, but his feet were swollen very badly. Aunt Sun massaged his feet again before he went out.
With nothing to do at home, Chen Qing found his sewing basket, which he hadn't touched in a long time, by his bedside. He hadn't touched needle and thread since he sold handkerchiefs last time, mainly because the shopkeeper's words were a bit too difficult to understand. How could he embroider love stories if he didn't embroider landscapes, flowers, and birds?
He stared at the plain white handkerchief in his hand, at a loss for what to do. He started worrying about Li Xin, wondering if she disliked Zhou Yuan, but Zhou Yuan seemed to be deeply in love with her. Should he help Zhou Yuan? But Li Xin was his best friend. He was truly troubled.
From the 15th of July until now, two weeks have passed. In a few days, it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, taxes will be paid, and after that, preparations will be made for the new season's planting.
Farmers never seem to have a moment of rest. These past few days, Chen Qing has been particularly anxious because he sprained his ankle and can't do anything. All the housework is being done by Aunt Sun alone. He wants to help, but Aunt Sun always stops him, saying that if he moves now, it will heal more slowly and cause even more trouble during the autumn planting season. So Chen Qing doesn't dare to move anymore and just sits under the eaves of his house.
Li Xin arrived five days later, looking radiant. Upon seeing Chen Qing, she immediately began to complain, "I was supposed to recover in two days, but my parents wouldn't let me go out, so I had to stay home for a full five days!"
“Uncle Li is right, it’s good to let it rest for a couple more days, after all, it got rained on.” Chen Qing sat in the courtyard, holding a sewing basket in his hand, with a flower about to bloom embroidered on a white handkerchief.
Li Xin tilted her head and looked at it for a while before asking, "Why is this flower only half-open?"
"I don't know either," Chen Qing laughed it off. "Maybe it looks better this way."
"It is beautiful." Li Xin admired it for a while, but then felt it was boring. She wanted to take Chen Qing out to play, but Chen Qing's leg was inconvenient, so she had to talk to Chen Qing about things at home.
"My dad told Qi Shuning to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival at my house this year. What about your family?" Fortunately, his worries didn't come true; that sickly Qi Shuning wasn't sick at all.
Chen Qing replied, "It's just me and my mother. We don't have any other relatives."
Li Xin thought to herself that Zhou Yuan was an idiot. He should have said he was all alone and joined them for the reunion festival. What a fool.
"So you can't go to the market in a couple of days either?" Li Xin glanced at Chen Qing's swollen feet. "It's all my fault. I should have just told you not to go up the mountain."
Chen Qing tapped Li Xin on the head: "Don't talk nonsense."
In the following days, Li Xin came over every day to talk to Chen Qing for a while, until the day of the town's market day.
Every year on August 12th, there is a big market in the town, selling all kinds of things, and it is very lively. On that day, almost every household goes to the market to take a stroll, perhaps to buy things needed for the festival, perhaps to buy some snacks for the children, or perhaps just to join in the fun.
Chen Qing and Aunt Sun used to go together, but this year Chen Qing injured his foot, so Aunt Sun had to go by herself. Aunt Sun was a little worried that something might happen to Chen Qing while he was home alone. Chen Qing smiled and said that nothing would happen, and that he would stay at home and nothing would go wrong.
Just then, Aunt Liu was already calling her from the doorway, so she had no choice but to go with her.
After Aunt Sun left, Chen Qing hopped out of his room on one foot, sat down in the courtyard, and picked up his needle and thread to continue embroidering.
It seemed like everyone in the village had gone out. Chen Qing felt the surroundings were eerily quiet, and his heart was beating fast. He even pricked his finger while embroidering the handkerchief.
Feeling uneasy, Chen Qing leaned against the wall and went outside into the yard. He glanced at Zhou Yuan's house from afar. The cow that had been tied up next to the house had also gone out, probably to join the fun at the market.
Chen Qing returned to the courtyard and glanced at his ankle. The swelling had subsided, and it seemed to be fine, although it still hurt a little when he walked. He figured his foot would be fully healed after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The August sun was still quite intense, and Chen Qing sat under the eaves of his house, dozing off.
Just as Chen Qing was about to fall into a deep sleep, he heard noisy footsteps outside the door and the sound of his own door being violently kicked open.
Chen Qing suddenly opened his eyes and saw Sun Kang, who had been adopted on the Ghost Festival, walking in front of him, followed by several other people who appeared to be his family.
Remembering the unpleasantness of their last meeting, Chen Qing asked warily, "What are you doing here?"
“I knew the person who bought it had no manners at all,” Sun Kang said. “They don’t even know how to call me ‘uncle’?”
Accompanying Sun Kang were two other brothers from the Sun family, Sun Kang's son Sun Wei and Sun Kang's husband, and Sun Da Niu, the son of the second son of the Sun family.
Chen Qing stood up and took a step back: "Mother isn't home today."
“We’re not here to see your mother.” Sun Kang looked at Chen Qing’s somewhat frightened expression, then glanced at the five grown men and his husband who worked the farm all year round, and thought that things were bound to work out today.
He said to Sun Lao Er, "Go inside and find the indenture. You two boys, come with me and tie him up."
"good."
So all five of them rushed toward Chen Qing. Seeing that things were going badly, Chen Qing endured his foot injury and ran into his room, leaning tightly against the thin door panel.
Meanwhile, Sun Lao Er entered Sun Da Niang's room and turned her bed upside down. Finally, he found two documents under the straw at the bottom of the bed. Since Sun Lao Er couldn't read, he stuffed them haphazardly into his arms.
With this, it would be easier for them to sell Chen Qing.
Sun Kang's voice came through the door: "You were originally bought by my sister. Now that my nephew is dead, you still have the nerve to stay at my sister's house."
“I wore mourning clothes for Meng Tao; I am the husband of the Meng family.” Chen Qing’s voice trembled. “Mother will not sell me again.”
“She was deceived by you. You’re just after that little bit of Meng Tao’s compensation money that she has, aren’t you?” Sun Kang kicked the door. “Don’t worry, the place we’ve found for you is much better than this mountain village. I guarantee you’ll be treated like a young mistress.”
Chen Qingcai didn't believe him and stood firmly in front of the door, shouting, "This is my home, get out!"
"A husband we bought dares to tell us to get out!" The third son of the Sun family had a fiery temper. "Big brother, get out of the way."
Then the three men rammed the door together. Soon, the thin door panel could not withstand the strength of the three men. The door was kicked open, and Chen Qing, who was blocking the door panel, was slammed to the ground. He tried to run away, but Sun Wei stepped on his injured ankle.
The excruciating pain made Chen Qing break out in a cold sweat. Sun Kang's husband took a rope from his waist, tied Chen Qing up, and then grabbed a cloth to gag him.
"Hurry up and leave, it won't be good if someone comes."
Sun Lao Er had no intention of leaving. He turned Sun Da Niang's room upside down again, trying to find where Sun Da Niang hid her money.
“If we find the money, we’ll take it. People will only think that the husband ran off with the money, and no one will associate it with us.” After searching Aunt Sun’s room, Sun Lao Er went to search Chen Qing’s room.
They found nothing in Granny Sun's room, but found some copper coins in Chen Qing's room.
Seeing that things had already been delayed for quite some time, Sun Kang shouted, "Hurry up and go! It won't be good if someone comes back soon." He remembered the tall guy next door; if he returned, things wouldn't be able to get done today.
So several people carried Chen Qing out of his house. They walked very quickly, as if they had never been there before.
Chen Qing struggled incessantly, watching himself get further and further away from home. His heart was filled with sorrow. Since settling down, he had never thought of leaving this home.
How could he save himself? Chen Qing thought with some despair.
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