Chapter 3
After finishing planting the crops on the mountain, Chen Qing was so exhausted that he couldn't speak. He leaned against the door, panting. Over the past five years, Aunt Sun had helped him recover, and he could handle these farm chores without any problem. However, he hadn't rested much last night and had been carrying water and climbing mountains, so his body was still a bit overwhelmed.
"Let's take a break tomorrow and go to the neighboring village," said Grandma Sun, who was also catching her breath.
Chen Qing nodded: "Okay."
Chen Qing quickly cooked a meal, ate with Aunt Sun, and then went back to his room to rest.
When he woke up, Aunt Sun was already busy again, sweeping the yard and feeding the chickens and ducks. When she saw Chen Qing get up, she waved to him and said, "Qing, let's go to the carpenter's place."
Going to the carpenter was naturally to buy a coffin. Back then, Chen Qing sold himself because he couldn't afford a coffin, so he could buy one for his uncle.
On the way there, Aunt Sun told him her plan: "Buy a good coffin for Taozi. There's a family in the neighboring village that does a good job with funeral banquets. They should also have people helping with funeral arrangements there." She was very familiar with this process; many years ago, she had sent her husband off in the same way.
Chen Qing listened in silence, and soon they arrived at the carpenter's house.
After Aunt Sun explained her purpose, the carpenter said, "You've come at a bad time. I originally had two sets, but two families suddenly bought them, so I don't have any left. If you want to make them, it will take at least a month."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Sun was stunned: "Does it really take a whole month?"
The carpenter nodded: "If you're in a hurry, you can go to town and take a look, but it will be more expensive." After saying that, he asked them to leave their address, saying that he would notify them if there was any change in their situation.
After arriving at Xie's place, Chen Qing helped Grandma Sun walk home. Grandma Sun's eyes were a little red: "I just wanted to give him a grand and proper send-off, why is it so difficult?"
Chen Qing didn't know how to comfort her. When he looked up at the sky, he felt that even though the sun was high in the sky, it still made his heart feel heavy.
Back home, neither of them was in the mood to do any work. They sat down in the yard, staring blankly at the sky.
"Aqing."
Chen Qing turned his head and looked at Granny Sun.
"From now on, we'll just live our lives as usual," Aunt Sun said, lowering her eyes and sighing.
Since she hadn't done any work in the afternoon, she naturally wouldn't cook dinner. Instead of rushing back to her room, Aunt Sun lit an oil lamp and went to Chen Qing's room to help him organize Meng Tao's old clothes.
Grandma Sun found a garment and told Chen Qing about the story behind it: "This is a garment I made for him on his birthday. At that time, my eyesight was still good, so I could make clothes quickly and well."
Chen Qing smiled and said, "The stitches are so fine, much better than mine."
"This one was altered from his father's old clothes. Back then, the family was poor, so they could only use his father's clothes to alter it for him."
While they were talking, they had already gathered a lot of Meng Tao's clothes. Some of the fabric was still new. Grandma Sun didn't plan to bury all of these clothes; some could be altered for Chen Qing to wear.
They were all poor people, so no one cared about these things.
They packed up the clothes to be buried with them, and Grandma Sun went back to her room. The night in the mountain village was not quiet; the chirping of insects was incessant.
Before going to sleep, Aunt Sun arranged the itinerary for the next day. She asked Chen Qing to go to the carpenter in town to see if there were any coffins ready, while she herself went to the neighboring village to ask families who were preparing funerals when they would be available.
The distance from Luohe Village to the town is not very close, so Chen Qing set off quite early. Grandma Sun made him some dry pancakes to eat on the way.
The next day, Chen Qing got up and went out at the crack of dawn. Before leaving, he prepared some hot water for Aunt Sun. He was young and fine, but Aunt Sun was old and should avoid contact with cold water as much as possible.
Although Chen Qing was short, he was fast on his feet. He arrived in town by sunrise. The shops in town didn't open that early. He also had some handkerchiefs he had embroidered earlier, intending to exchange them for some pocket money.
This job was secured for him by his friend Li Xin in Luohe Village. Li Xin was lively and not at all shy when discussing these matters. She quickly found the job and set a price for him with her silver tongue.
Chen Qing waited at the entrance of the cloth shop. When he saw the shopkeeper open the door, he didn't rush in to sell handkerchiefs. When doing business, one always hopes that the first sale will be a sale, not a purchase. So, Chen Qing waited until the shopkeeper happily saw off a customer before entering the cloth shop.
"Shopkeeper, I've finished embroidering a few more handkerchiefs here." Chen Qing took out the handkerchiefs he had embroidered from his bundle.
The shopkeeper's smile faded slightly. Chen Qing's embroidery was excellent; a bird and a clump of grass were lifelike. However, while the embroidery was superb, it lacked originality. The shopkeeper said, "Your embroidery is impeccable, but it's always the same style, so it won't sell very well."
Chen Qing blushed and stammered, "So what styles are popular now?"
"Hey, young girls and boys, what do they like about love and romance? You're a married man, how could you not understand these things?"
Chen Qing was unsure how to respond, and simply said that he would go back and study it later.
The shopkeeper still accepted his handkerchief and paid him the same price as before. Chen Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know how he would have argued if the shopkeeper had tried to lower the price.
At this time, he especially missed Li Xin, but Li Xin had gone on a long trip some time ago, saying that she had gone back to her maternal grandfather's house, which was far away, with her mother and would be staying there for a while.
Holding a string of coins, Chen Qing left the cloth shop. It was getting late, and the carpenter's shop should be open by now.
Just like in the village, the coffin shops in town didn't have any in stock. The shopkeeper said that a family in the next town had been wiped out, and all the coffins had been bought up. All he had left was a coffin made of Phoebe zhennan wood for thirty taels of silver, which Chen Qing definitely couldn't afford.
Chen Qing had no choice but to give up and planned to go back and tell Aunt Sun.
On his way back, he encountered many villagers. Chen Qing kept his head down, afraid of being recognized. He was just not good at dealing with people, but there were always some people with good eyesight who recognized him: "Chen Qing, so early."
Chen Qing nodded helplessly: "Something came up, so I went back." He didn't hear what anyone else said, and as if he were being chased, his pace quickened considerably.
Chen Qing felt a little relieved that he hadn't encountered anyone from the village again. He walked quickly, but soon he heard the sound of an oxcart behind him. The road wasn't wide, so Chen Qing instinctively moved to the side to make way for the oxcart.
The oxcart slowed down as it passed him, and Chen Qing tried to shrink himself towards the mountainside. He then heard the driver say, "Going home?"
Chen Qing raised his head, but immediately lowered it the moment he met Zhou Yuan's gaze, and then nodded slightly.
"Come on up, I'll give you a ride."
Chen Qing immediately shook his head: "No need, no need."
"Anyway, it's on the way." Zhou Yuan frowned when he saw Chen Qing avoiding him like a monster.
Chen Qing shook his head again: "No need, it's inconvenient."
He was, after all, a married man. Although his husband was gone, he couldn't just sit with a man like this. Chen Qing lowered his head and waved to Zhou Yuan, signaling him to leave quickly.
Seeing that he didn't even glance at him, Zhou Yuan drove the oxcart away.
Chen Qing finally breathed a long sigh of relief, slowed his pace, and wanted to wait for the oxcart in front to go further away.
But his peace of mind didn't last long. A while ahead, he saw an oxcart parked by the roadside.
Chen Qing: ...
The only difference from before was that Aunt Hua was now sitting on the oxcart.
Aunt Hua was a matchmaker; she arranged many marriages in the village and town.
She grabbed Zhou Yuan, beaming as if she'd found a hot commodity, but Zhou Yuan remained indifferent, only occasionally replying with a word or two.
No matter how much Chen Qing dawdled, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and move forward. When he reached the oxcart, Aunt Hua saw him and quickly called out, "Chen Qing, are you going back so early?"
Chen Qing nodded, wanting to quickly pass by the carriage, but Aunt Hua wouldn't let him go: "Xiao Zhou's oxcart is also going back to the village. Xiao Zhou, would you mind giving Chen Qing a ride?"
Zhou Yuan nodded: "I don't mind."
Chen Qing declined again: "No need, really no need, we'll be there soon."
Zhou Yuan said in a deep voice, "Then give me one coin."
Chen Qing breathed a sigh of relief and took out a coin from his embroidered purse. He remembered that the oxcart fare from town back to the village was two coins, and he had already traveled almost halfway, so giving a coin was reasonable.
He stretched out his hand in front of Zhou Yuan, who reached out to take it. But Chen Qing immediately withdrew his hand slightly, and finally the two hands were far apart. The copper coin fell from Chen Qing's palm into Zhou Yuan's hand. In that instant in the air, the warmth of Chen Qing's palm on the copper coin disappeared.
Aunt Hua hissed and looked at Chen Qing with some displeasure: "Then do I have to give it to you too?"
It was clearly someone else's good deed, but Chen Qing insisted on making everyone feel awkward.
Zhou Yuan shook his head: "No need. I'm unfamiliar with the village and will need to rely on my aunt for help in the future."
Aunt Hua then smiled again, but her expression towards Chen Qing was noticeably less affectionate. Chen Qing didn't seem to mind, and tried to minimize his presence while sitting on the oxcart. He even jumped off the oxcart as soon as they entered the village.
"I'm leaving now, my mother is still waiting for me. Thank you."
Zhou Yuan tightened his grip on the whip as he watched Chen Qing run away in a panic.
Aunt Hua sensed his displeasure and quickly said, "That's just how Chen Qing is. He's never one to utter a word, and sometimes he's a real downer. Don't mind him, Xiao Zhou."
Zhou Yuan nodded: "It's alright, Auntie."
He dropped Aunt Hua off at her destination before driving the oxcart to the village chief's house. The village had offered him several plots of land for a house, and Zhou Yuan finally chose one. Looking at the place Zhou Yuan had chosen, the village chief frowned: "Do you want to choose this place?"
Is there a problem?
The village chief then said, "It's a good place, but the neighbors aren't very nice."
Zhou Yuan looked at him.
"The house next door belongs to Sun Cui and her widowed husband." The village chief added, fearing Zhou Yuan might not know, "It's the house of that old woman who was crying so hard at the village entrance the other day."
"so what?"
Seeing that he insisted on hearing his explanation, the village chief didn't hold back: "This Sun Cui, she brought bad luck to her in-laws as soon as she entered the family, she brought bad luck to her husband in middle age, and she brought bad luck to her son in old age. She also has a widow living with her. You know, I'm afraid they'll bring bad luck and affect you."
“I’m not afraid of that,” Zhou Yuan said. “It’s quiet there, and I just need a quiet place.”
Zhou Yuan's complexion was not as good as before: "The day after tomorrow is an auspicious day, and I plan to break ground on that day."
The village chief nodded: "Of course, of course. But you said you'd provide one meal, but are you cooking it yourself?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head: "I can't do it, I'll go find someone."
The village chief slapped his thigh: "Why bother looking for anyone else? Your aunt is a great cook. If all else fails, I have plenty of people in my family."
Zhou Yuan glanced at the table full of dark, uneaten dishes from the village chief's family, which they hadn't yet eaten: "I don't think it's good to just randomly choose someone. Let's draw lots; that would be the fairest way."
The village chief saw him to the door. Before leaving, Zhou Yuan said, "The village chief's words just now were biased. Aunt Sun's son died in battle to defend his country. I don't agree with your statement that he was cursed to death. The battlefield is a very dangerous place, and every soldier should be respected."
He didn't show any particular expression when he said this, but the village chief inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately said, "Yes, yes, that's how it is."
Zhou Yuan then left. Not far from the village chief's house, Chen Qing overheard their conversation and felt a strange, inexplicable emotion welling up inside him, leaving him somewhat at a loss.
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