Chapter 44 (Additional update)
In April, the entire Luohe Village was bustling with activity.
The other villagers were busy harvesting wheat, and after harvesting the wheat, they were busy turning the soil over. After the soil was turned over, they had to plant corn seeds immediately. They were extremely busy.
Zhou Yuan simply hired people to help harvest his and Chen Qing's wheat, so they could focus on preparing for the wedding.
This was Zhou Yuan's first time, and although Chen Qing had been married once before, it was too hasty and he didn't know anything about it. The two of them seemed to be busy all day long, but they didn't know what they were busy with. They were like two headless flies running around aimlessly.
In the end, each of the two mothers took care of one person, which at least kept them calm.
With Zhang Yin by his side, Zhou Yuan finally became more organized and regained his former rationality.
His courtyard was quite large, big enough to hold a banquet. They didn't invite the whole village to their wedding, so the courtyard could accommodate everyone.
Tables, chairs, and benches can be borrowed; villagers are very willing to lend out their own for happy occasions.
Meng Qi, the chef who makes the banquet, helped him make the contact. He had invited Meng Qi when he got married. Zhou Yuan had eaten there before and thought it was pretty good.
He didn't trust anyone else to handle the purchasing, so he'd been going to town almost every day these days.
During the day, Li Xin and Qi Shuning came to help him decorate his home. Qi Shuning had just finished his college entrance exam, so Zhang Yin told him to stop studying all day and asked Li Xin to take him around the village so he could get to know more people there.
Although Li Xin couldn't do needlework, he was exceptionally good at paper cutting. He and Qi Shuning were working together. He cut out the character "囍" (double happiness) on one side, while Qi Shuning used the paste that Aunt Sun had cooked to paste the "囍" character on the other. Qi Shuning was very serious about his work, and he even pasted the character on the cowshed.
With the Li family helping Zhou Yuan keep things organized, Chen Qing seemed to have more free time.
This was the first time he hadn't been busy at this time of year, and he felt a little out of sorts. He had woken up at the first crow of the rooster, and only after groggily getting dressed did he realize that he didn't need to get up so early, as Zhou Yuan had hired people to do all the work in the fields.
He walked into the courtyard. It was still dark outside, but the weather was gradually warming up. Chen Qing lay down on a deck chair in the courtyard.
The events of the past year seemed like a dream to Chen Qing, who looked at the deep night.
Perhaps when dawn breaks, he'll wake up from his dream, and there will still be plenty of wheat waiting for him to harvest.
There were many sounds in my ears: the crackling of firewood, the barking of chickens and ducks, and the sounds of piglets that had been starving all night, seemingly eager to escape their pens.
Then a sound of footsteps approached slowly, and Chen Qing heard what he said clearly: "Why are you sleeping here?"
Chen Qing slowly opened his eyes and found that Zhou Yuan had walked to his side and was squatting down looking at him.
"I guess she's not used to not having to get up so early to work yet," said Aunt Sun.
She woke up early and saw Chen Qing asleep on the recliner. Thinking it was nothing, she didn't wake him. It was just a chilly morning, so she put a blanket over him.
Chen Qing blinked hard, and only then did he come to his senses.
Has he not yet woken up from his dream? Because Zhou Yuan is still by his side.
Zhou Yuan touched his face and said softly, "If you're still sleepy, go back to your room and sleep."
I could feel the thick calluses on his palms; they felt rough on my face, but they didn't hurt. However, I couldn't ignore the sensation.
Chen Qing looked at him; it turned out this wasn't a dream.
Zhou Yuan was much busier than Chen Qing. He came today to continue discussing the marriage with Aunt Sun.
Chen Qing has no relatives left. Originally, they were supposed to have lunch at his husband's house, but Sun Da Niang and Chen Qing don't have any relatives besides people they know in the village, so it doesn't seem necessary to have a meal at their house.
"So we decided not to have a separate banquet and just have it at my place tonight, so we don't have to go through any more trouble."
Grandma Sun nodded: "That's fine too."
When the topic turned to the route, since the two families lived so close to each other, the custom dictated that the way they came and went should not be the same. Zhou Yuan and Meng Qi had already found another route.
“Okay,” said Aunt Sun. “I’ll go put up the red paper in a bit.”
Zhou Yuan quickly said, "No need, Li Xin and Shu Ning will go." After all, Aunt Sun is old.
They were talking, but Chen Qing was lost in thought. Today was the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, and there were only seven days left until the fifteenth.
Their busyness seemed to have nothing to do with Chen Qing. The two wedding dresses had been embroidered long ago. Chen Qing's craftsmanship was excellent, and there were no flaws at all. Aunt Liu and the others had come to see them and said that they were even better than the wedding dresses they had bought.
Chen Qing hadn't really gone out much during this period. The things that Aunt Sun had worried about still had some impact on him. Although he had prepared himself mentally, he chose not to listen to them if he could.
He told Aunt Sun about his idea, but Aunt Sun didn't say anything to him. She just smiled and didn't say anything.
By April 11th, everything was ready. He had gotten into the habit of coming to her house every night to sit and talk about the progress of the preparations. But when he came to visit again today, Aunt Sun stopped him at the door.
Zhou Yuan was stunned, and then Aunt Sun said, "You can't see each other for three days before the wedding."
So Zhou Yuan returned home, looking back every few steps. His home had been completely renovated. Li Xin and Qi Shuning had taken good care of the small courtyard. Tables, chairs, and benches were piled up on one side of the courtyard, and the kitchen was also full of things. They were just waiting for April 15th.
Red gauze curtains were hung in the room, and a large red wedding quilt was piled on the bed. Zhou Yuan glanced at himself and realized that he hadn't slept in the bedroom for the next few days, making do in another room instead.
On the night of April 14th, Li Xin also came over to sleep with Chen Qing.
Like Zhang Yin before her, Aunt Sun also brought over a small booklet in a mysterious manner, without hiding it from Li Xin. After all, Li Xin was already a married man, so he naturally knew everything he needed to know.
Chen Qing was still shy, while Li Xin was already watching with great interest, saying as she looked, "Auntie, yours is too blurry. Luckily, I brought mine with me."
Li Xin jumped off the bed, reached into his clothes and found the item Zhang Yin had given him, and looked at it with Chen Qing. Chen Qing was still embarrassed.
"Hey, you're about to get married, what's wrong with looking at this?" He held up the booklet and shoved it in front of Chen Qing's face.
Helpless, Chen Qing could only take it, quickly flip through it a few times, and then put it down.
Grandma Sun looked at him and gently took his hand: "Zhou Yuan is a good man. Our Aqing has suffered for so long, it's time for our suffering to come to an end."
Li Xin nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, my adoptive brother is indeed a pretty good person. Auntie, you don't know, before..."
He recounted the events of the past in detail: "They've been using me as a cover, you know? I had no choice but to keep their secrets to myself."
Grandma Sun laughed too: "Eat and drink more tomorrow, don't skimp on their food."
Li Xin also laughed: "Zhou Yuan said before that I wanted to sit at the head table."
Grandma Sun coaxed him, "Yes, only you can sit at the main table."
After talking for a while, Aunt Sun went back to her room, leaving Li Xin and Chen Qing alone. Li Xin was quite talkative, and her chatter eased a lot of Chen Qing's tension.
When he woke up the next day, Li Xin's legs were on top of him again.
Helpless, Chen Qing could only wake him up. Meanwhile, Aunt Sun had already cooked a bowl of sweet soup with poached eggs for each of them.
Li Xin didn't stand on ceremony and slurped it down.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yuan's house next door was already bustling with activity. Many of Aunt Sun's friends were in their yard, and several tables were set up with dried fruits and snacks. These were all prepared by Aunt Sun. Originally, Zhou Yuan wanted her to buy them, but Aunt Sun said that she also wanted to do something for Chen Qing.
Chen Qing wasn't wearing his wedding attire at the moment. He went out to greet all the aunties. Those who came were all people who had some connection with Aunt Sun. Even if they had something on their minds, they didn't say anything.
They all knew Chen Qing's personality, and after offering a few words of congratulations with smiles, Chen Qing returned to his room.
The day passed quickly. As dusk approached, Aunt Sun finished her chores and went to Chen Qing's room. A dressing table had already been set up inside. Aunt Sun looked at Chen Qing's reflection in the bronze mirror, her eyes stinging with tears.
Chen Qing has been here for more than five years. Aunt Sun still remembers how thin and weak he looked when he first arrived. In the blink of an eye, he is about to get married.
She originally intended to comb Chen Qing's hair, but remembering what she had experienced over the years, she placed the comb on Chen Qing's dressing table instead: "I'll ask Aunt Liu to come and comb your hair in a bit."
Chen Qing grabbed Aunt Sun's arm: "Mom, I don't believe in those things. Why don't you comb my hair for me?"
Aunt Sun wanted to refuse, but Li Xin had already put her arm around her shoulder: "Auntie, please help him comb his hair, otherwise we'll miss the auspicious time."
She could only pick up the comb again and gently comb Chen Qing's hair, saying, "I hope our Qing will have a peaceful and prosperous future."
Chen Qing was in a daze all day, and didn't even know when Zhou Yuan arrived.
Chen Qing didn't have that many friends, and Li Xin thought about it and didn't want to block the door or anything. He felt that Chen Qing and Zhou Yuan should be able to get together without any obstacles.
The moment Zhou Yuan entered, Chen Qing's eyes fell on him. The bright red wedding robes he wore made him look even more handsome.
In Zhou Yuan's eyes, there was only Chen Qing.
This was the first time he had seen Chen Qing wearing red. His small face already made him look young, and he usually looked old-fashioned. But today, someone noticed that Chen Qing looked like this, which explained why Zhou Yuan had taken a liking to him.
Grandma Sun stood to one side, and Li Xin held her arm, wiping away her tears continuously.
After bidding farewell to Granny Sun, Zhou Yuan picked up Chen Qing and carried him horizontally.
Chen Qing had no brothers, so no one could carry him out. Zhou Yuan simply decided to do it himself. After all, he was his husband, and he didn't want an unrelated person to carry him.
Chen Qing was very small, and he nestled in Zhou Yuan's arms. Young men don't need to wear veils when they get married; they only need to cover their faces with a fan. The fan that Aunt Sun prepared for Chen Qing was for use when going out.
During the wedding ceremony, three memorial tablets were placed in the main room: one for Zhou Yuan's grandmother and the other two for Chen Qing's two fathers.
Chen Qing was stunned. The two memorial tablets even had the names of his two fathers written on them. He looked at Zhou Yuan, who smiled at him.
Chen Qing revealed the names of his two fathers on New Year's Eve while he was rambling on.
His father was named Chen San, and even Chen Qing himself didn't know his stepfather's name. At that time, the villagers called him Sheng Ge'er, and Zhou Yuan gave him the surname Chen.
Zhou Yuan looked at the few memorial tablets in the main hall and invited Granny Sun, Blacksmith Li, and Zhang Yin to sit there.
After the ceremony, Chen Qing was escorted to the bridal chamber.
It was very lively outside. Chen Qing kept fiddling with the tassels he had embroidered on his wedding dress until the noise outside gradually faded away.
As soon as Zhou Yuan entered the room, Chen Qing noticed the redness on his face, indicating that he had drunk quite a bit.
Chen Qing looked at him for a while, then looked away shyly: "Did you drink a lot?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head: "They shielded me from a lot of things."
After all, it was his wedding night; how could he drink too much?
"But now we'll drink one last cup." Zhou Yuan walked to the bedside, holding two cups of wine in his hands. "It's the nuptial wine."
Chen Qing took the wine glass from his hand and was about to drink when Zhou Yuan grabbed his wrist and then intertwined his wrist with Chen Qing's: "You have to drink it like this."
There wasn't much wine left in the glass. After finishing his drink, Zhou Yuan put the glass away, and Chen Qing also stood up.
Zhou Yuan patted his shoulder: "Sit down."
Chen Qing looked up at him, stood up, and saw that it was completely dark outside and everyone had left. He sighed and said, "I should go home too."
Zhou Yuan: ?
"What did you say? Go back where?"
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