Chapter 47
The next morning, Zhou Yuan drove the oxcart to town, leaving breakfast for Chen Qing before he left.
Chen Qing lay in bed, looking at the porridge and steamed egg custard that Zhou Yuan had cooked on the bedside table. He felt that he had been a bit too indulgent these past few days.
He quickly got up, dressed, and washed up before eating the breakfast Zhou Yuan had left for him.
After finishing his meal, he swept the yard, tidied up the house, and then noticed that his clothes needed washing. He tidied them up and prepared to go to the river to wash them. Zhou Yuan had said that the Zhang family would arrive around 9:00 AM, so he figured he could still make it in time to wash his clothes now.
When Chen Qing passed by Aunt Sun's house, he went inside and looked around, but couldn't find her. So Chen Qing went to the riverbank by himself.
He usually chose to do his laundry around noon when there was no one by the river. Today, because he had something to do at noon, he had to go earlier. On his way, Chen Qing hoped that there would be no one by the river.
Unfortunately, there happened to be someone washing clothes by the river at that moment. Although Chen Qing had been in the village for five years, to be honest, he didn't recognize many of the people there, but he did recognize the person by the river today.
He is the husband of the former village chief's youngest son, I think his name is Zhang Ran. He had asked Zhou Yuan about the former village chief's family before, and Zhou Yuan only said that Aunt Wang wanted to introduce her nephew to Zhou Yuan.
Because Zhang Ran's act of drugging him was too sordid, Zhou Yuan didn't go into details.
Chen Qing didn't go to his side. Instead, he found another place to squat down. His basin contained both his and Zhou Yuan's clothes. Chen Qing wanted to finish washing them as quickly as possible.
Just as Chen Qing finished wetting his clothes, Zhang Ran stood in front of him. Chen Qing was startled, but then steadied himself and nodded to Zhang Ran.
Ever since the previous incident, the villagers have been avoiding Zhang Ran. Everyone is talking about why Meng Bing hasn't divorced him after all this, and why the two of them are still living together as before. According to others, anyone with backbone would have already drowned Zhang Ran.
Zhang Ran looked down at Chen Qing from his elevated position.
Chen Qing had a rosy complexion, and you could see several marks on his neck, some new and some old, which showed how well he was living. Zhou Yuan was strong and didn't look like a pretty face.
Zhang Ran glared at Chen Qing with hatred. He was clearly a widow who pretended to be well-behaved on weekdays, but who knew what tricks he used to seduce people in private.
She's not good-looking, thin and small, what's so attractive about her?
Chen Qing was a little puzzled as to why he hadn't left yet, since the two of them weren't familiar with each other and there was no reason for them to exchange pleasantries.
Just as Chen Qing was wondering if he had taken up too much space and was about to move away, he heard Zhang Ran say, "He's pretty good in bed, isn't he?"
Chen Qing's eyes widened, and he even thought he had misheard. Chen Qing didn't want to get entangled with him, so he picked up the clothes in the basin and wanted to wash them somewhere else, but Zhang Ran stopped him.
He looked Chen Qing up and down: "What's so good about you? You have a skinny body and a skinny face."
Chen Qing frowned, mentally cursing out every curse word he could think of. He stood up and looked at Zhang Ran: "Are you crazy?"
Zhang Ran knew Chen Qing's personality. He couldn't understand what Zhou Yuan saw in such a taciturn person, who could only weakly say, "Are you sick?" when he was angry.
Maybe Zhou Yuan just likes his identity as a widow? Well, I can have that too.
He grabbed Chen Qing's hand again. Chen Qing didn't want to get entangled with him, but Zhang Ran's grip was very strong. As Chen Qing struggled, the basin in his hand overturned, and a piece of Zhou Yuan's clothing fell out of the basin and floated away with the water.
Chen Qing broke free from Zhang Ran's hand and tried to pick up his clothes, but Zhang Ran pushed him into the water.
The Luo River wasn't deep, only reaching up to a person's calves. Chen Qing lost his footing and fell into the river, getting completely soaked.
He was panting heavily when he first picked up Zhou Yuan's clothes and then looked at Zhang Ran.
Zhang Ran looked at him calmly, seemingly unmoved by the fact that he had pushed him into the water.
Chen Qing was furious. He came out of the water, dripping wet, and walked to Zhang Ran's side. Zhang Ran was not afraid and only said, "Let me think. Did you serve him together with your widowed mother?"
Before Zhang Ran could finish speaking, Chen Qing kicked him in the knee. Caught off guard, Zhang Ran was pinned down by Chen Qing, who then pushed his head underwater.
Zhang Ran was completely stunned. He never expected that Chen Qing, who always seemed honest and docile and could be bullied by everyone, would actually dare to fight back!
Although Chen Qing was short, he had actually done farm work for five years and was quite strong. He was furious. No matter how much he mocked him, it didn't matter, but now he was verbally insulting his mother and Zhou Yuan!
He held Zhang Ran's head underwater for three or four rounds, and then the two of them started fighting. Chen Qing's initial surprise attack gave him the upper hand, and he straddled Zhang Ran and grabbed his hair.
When Li Xin arrived, Chen Qing pushed Zhang Ran into the water again. Li Xin joined the fray, ignoring who was right and who was wrong, and only sided with Chen Qing.
Zhang Ran couldn't beat the two of them, so he ran away. Chen Qing and Li Xin were left sitting by the river, catching their breath.
After catching her breath, Li Xin laughed. She first looked at Chen Qing and smiled, then burst into laughter: "Qing! You can fight now?"
Chen Qing's mind was still a bit fuzzy, but stopping now felt incredibly liberating, and he laughed along with Li Xin.
"How did you end up here?" Chen Qing asked.
"I came to do the laundry." Li Xin looked over there; his laundry basin was still lying on the roadside. "I saw you fighting, so I rushed over. What happened?"
Recalling what had just happened, Chen Qing frowned again: "He just said something to me that wasn't true, and then he grabbed me and wouldn't let me leave. My clothes fell into the river, and when I tried to pick them up, he pushed me into the water."
"No, is he sick?" Li Xin said speechlessly. "The villagers don't like him, so why would he cause you trouble?"
Chen Qing looked at Li Xin and said, "I think he's taken a liking to Zhou Yuan."
He then remembered that the husband who came with them when they collected taxes last year was Zhang Ran. While Zhou Yuan was helping them move things, his eyes were glued to Zhou Yuan, and today he was saying all sorts of random things...
"Huh? No way!" Li Xin's eyes widened. "He's married."
Chen Qing sighed. A gust of wind blew by, and he shivered. He was soaked to the bone. Li Xin noticed and quickly went to get his own basin, which contained his dirty clothes. He draped the dirty clothes over Chen Qing and then they went home together.
As they passed by Granny Sun's house, Granny Sun was startled: "Has Aqing fallen into the water?"
Chen Qing shook his head: "Mother, I'll go back and change my clothes first."
Grandma Sun quickly followed behind them. Seeing Chen Qing go into the room to change his clothes, she asked Li Xin, "What happened?"
Li Xin: "I don't know either, let's wait for Aqing to tell us later?"
Chen Qing quickly changed his clothes and then told Aunt Sun what had just happened, omitting the part where Zhang Ran spoke ill of Aunt Sun and Zhou Yuan.
Chen Qing was now somewhat frightened. He had been cautious ever since he arrived in Luohe Village, afraid of causing any trouble for Granny Sun. He could tolerate the men who gossiped about him and made lewd remarks in front of him, but today Zhang Ran had spoken about Granny Sun and Zhou Yuan.
Chen Qing looked at Aunt Sun somewhat timidly: "Mother, will nothing bad happen?"
Grandma Sun smiled and said, "I can't control you anymore, you've even learned to fight."
Li Xin laughed and told Aunt Sun about Chen Qing's bravery earlier: "Auntie, you don't know, Aqing is really brave."
Seeing the two of them teasing him like this, Chen Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then Aunt Sun said, "Zhang Ran has a bad reputation in the village, and he was involved in an incestuous affair. No one will say anything bad about you."
Grandma Sun and Li Xin comforted him for a while. Seeing that it was getting late, Li Xin went to do the laundry, while Grandma Sun went home to cook.
Although she now lives alone, the number of poultry and livestock she raises has increased, especially the piglets, which eat a lot.
"Come home for dinner in a bit," Grandma Sun said before leaving.
Chen Qing didn't want her to leave. The people who rented the land would be here soon, and if his mother were here, she could put in a good word for him. He was really bad at dealing with people.
But Aunt Sun ignored him; Zhou Yuan must have told her this before he left.
Chen Qing watched her leave dejectedly. A short while later, Zhang Xu and his family arrived, accompanied by the new village chief.
Zhang Xu was a man with dark skin. His wife was with him. Although her clothes were patched, they were clean and tidy. Beside her were twin girls. Behind the girls were a boy and a son, who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old.
“We heard from the village chief that you can rent out your land to us to farm.” Since Chen Qing lived alone, it wasn’t Zhang Xu who spoke, but his wife.
Chen Qing nodded and said dryly, "That's how it is."
"What about the rent?" The woman rubbed her hands together, seemingly a little uneasy, yet with a glimmer of hope hidden beneath that unease.
Chen Qing glanced at her and then said, "I've discussed it with my family. We'll rent these few acres of land to you. Every year when the harvest comes, you'll pay our family's taxes and give us 20% of the profits from the land."
When Zhang Xu heard his words, his eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but ask, "Really? You only want 20%?"
Chen Qing stepped back a little: "Yes."
Zhang Xu remembered that Zhou Yuan was a veteran who had retired from the battlefield. His taxes were reduced or exempted, but they did not intend to recalculate the reduced portion, which was already a huge bargain.
Zhang Xu's wife covered her eyes and said, "Thank you, thank you all."
Chen Qing quickly shook his head: "It's alright, it's alright. If we've reached an agreement, shall we go to the yamen to get the paperwork done in a couple of days?"
They thanked Chen Qing profusely. Their family was large and paid heavy taxes. If they couldn't pay taxes with grain, they could only give money. But money wasn't so easy to earn. Zhang Xu worked odd jobs everywhere and had developed a chronic illness.
His wife did embroidery all day and went to town to wash clothes. In the dead of winter, her hands were covered with chilblains. The children ran into the mountains every day just to find cicada shells and simple medicinal herbs to exchange for some money.
Now they can farm, which is wonderful, and the conditions aren't harsh at all; they even have surplus grain.
Zhang Xu was practically begging Chen Qing to kneel down. Chen Qing was really bad at handling these situations, so he quickly said, "No need to thank me, just focus on farming."
The village chief was only there to witness the agreement; once they reached a consensus, he led his men away.
Chen Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. But before leaving, the twin sister slipped something into Chen Qing's hand. Only after they left did Chen Qing see that it was a wild fruit in his hand.
Chen Qing held the wild fruit to his nose and smelled it, feeling very happy.
Zhou Yuan returned shortly afterward. Chen Qing hadn't cooked yet, so the two of them went to Aunt Sun's place, where Aunt Sun had already prepared a meal for two.
During the meal, Aunt Sun told Zhou Yuan about what had happened to Chen Qing that day. Zhou Yuan was stunned at first, and then he burst into laughter just like Aunt Sun and Li Xin.
"Aqing has learned to fight!"
Chen Qing was teased by them all day, as if fighting was a glorious thing.
On the way back, Zhou Yuan held Chen Qing's hand, and Chen Qing was still a little worried: "Will something happen?"
Zhou Yuan put his arm around his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'll hold the sky up for you if it falls. Besides, you definitely didn't cause trouble on purpose. It must have been him who did something."
Chen Qing thought for a moment, then said, "He might like you."
Zhou Yuan stopped in his tracks: "I'm innocent. I don't even know who that person is. I swear to God."
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