Chapter 48
Zhou Yuan didn't care about this at all, but Chen Qing was so anxious that he didn't sleep well all night, and when he woke up the next morning, he had a blister in his mouth.
When Chen Qing got up to wash, he was wincing in pain. Zhou Yuan then noticed this and held Chen Qing's face in his hands for a long time.
He remembered what Aunt Sun had said: when Chen Qing had something on his mind, he couldn't eat or sleep, and he kept it to himself and wouldn't tell anyone.
He looked at Chen Qing with a serious expression: "What happened?"
Chen Qing stammered, "It's probably because I haven't been drinking enough water lately, and I'm getting a sore throat."
Zhou Yuancai didn't believe him; Chen Qing was a habitual liar.
"Are you thinking about yesterday? Afraid they'll cause trouble?" Zhou Yuan could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his eyes. "I've already told you, even if you make a huge mess, I'll help you fix it."
"But……"
Zhou Yuan cradled his head: "There's no 'but,' let's go eat."
After Chen Qing finished breakfast, Zhou Yuan was harnessing the oxcart in the yard. They were going to the yamen today because the land lease contract needed to be stamped by the yamen.
Chen Qing hasn't left the house for a while, so Zhou Yuan wants to take him out for a walk.
Just as they were about to leave, Zhang Ran's husband, Meng Bing, came to their door.
Yesterday, Zhang Ran ran home soaking wet, and many people in the village saw her along the way. After returning home, she threw a tantrum and gave her husband, Meng Bing, a thorough dressing-down.
Meng Bing pointed at his nose, cursing him for being indecent and shameless. Zhang Ran simply changed his clothes and glared fiercely at Meng Bing: "Then you have the guts to divorce me! If you divorce me, you won't have to be a cuckold anymore!"
Meng Bing looked at Zhang Ran: "Who pushed you? Go ask their family for money. You have a cold and need money for treatment!"
Zhang Ran scoffed: "Go find Zhou Yuan. His family is rich. His husband beat me up. If you don't go, you're a coward."
Meng Bing was in a difficult position, but after being provoked by Zhang Ran, he still went to the Zhou family's door the next day with a stiff upper lip.
Meng Bing didn't want to lose face right from the start, so he said loudly, "So you're the one who bullied my husband, right? He burned all night last night, you have to pay for it."
His voice startled Chen Qing, who realized that what he had been worried about all night had actually happened.
Zhou Yuan didn't even lift his eyelids: "It's your house. I didn't go looking for you, but you came to my house first."
He released the ox he was leading and strode up to Meng Bing. Meng Bing was already much shorter than him, and now that Zhou Yuan was standing in front of him, he seemed to be trembling.
"My husband got so many blisters on his mouth because of what happened yesterday. He couldn't even eat breakfast this morning. He's lost several pounds. I didn't even ask you for food to help my husband recover, but you're the one who's making false accusations and asking me for money?"
Meng Bing took another step back: "You, you're turning the tables on me!"
Just then, the courtyard gate was opened from the outside, and Li Xin came in carrying something. She was stunned for a moment when she saw Meng Bing, but then ignored her and went to Zhou Yuan's side: "Here, take this. Dad fixed it for you."
It turned out that what he was carrying was Zhou Yuan's long sword. Because it had several nicks, he had sent it to Li the blacksmith to be repaired. It had just been repaired today, and Li Xin had brought it over.
Zhou Yuan's eyes lit up. Ignoring Meng Bing, he drew his sword from its sheath and went to examine it.
Li the blacksmith's skills were indeed superb; the knife looked brand new, and the flash of its blade was sharp. Only then did Zhou Yuan turn his gaze away: "Please tell my father thank you for me."
"Alright, I'm going home. Are you heading out?" Li Xin looked at the oxcart they had harnessed. "If you're going to town, could you bring me back some things?"
Li Xin rattled off a whole bunch of things, then turned and left without looking back, completely ignoring Meng Bing standing to the side.
Zhou Yuan turned around: "You're still here?"
Meng Bing swallowed hard: "You want...you want compensation..."
Zhou Yuan suddenly flicked the blade, and the blade hurtling through the air was aimed straight at Meng Bing's face. He was so frightened that he sat down on the ground and ran away as fast as he could when Zhou Yuan sheathed the blade.
When Meng Bing returned home, Zhang Ran was sitting in the yard, looking at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. When Meng Bing made a noise, Zhang Ran merely glanced back, then scoffed, "They sent them back?"
Meng Bing kicked a jar by the door, and it shattered into pieces on the ground.
Zhang Ran suddenly felt extremely bored. Was he going to spend the rest of his life on this good-for-nothing?
He stood up: "Meng Bing, divorce me. I'm not going to stay with you anymore."
Meng Bing froze for a moment, then immediately rushed to Zhang Ran's side: "You dare!"
Zhang Ran slapped him across the face: "If you don't want people to know you're a eunuch, do as I say, otherwise by tomorrow, even the village dogs will know."
He left resolutely, leaving Meng Bing stunned and rooted to the spot.
On the other side, Zhou Yuan turned to look at Chen Qing and touched his face: "Someone like him can make you so anxious that you get blisters on your lips. You don't care about me at all."
Chen Qing thought for a moment and then defended himself: "When I was little, my other brothers and sisters bullied me. I was afraid of upsetting my father, so I endured it. Later, when I came to Luohe Village, my mother and I lived together. There was no man in the family, and I was afraid of causing trouble, so that's why I acted this way."
Zhou Yuan bent down and kissed his cheek: "Don't think so much in the future. Laugh when you're happy, cry when you're unhappy. If someone makes you angry, curse them. If someone hits you, be ten times tougher than them. If the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you. Our Aqing needs to have a temper too."
Chen Qing smiled, pursed his lips, and then nodded.
Zhou Yuan carried him onto the oxcart and saw Zhang Xu waiting by the roadside at the village entrance. Today they were going to sign the contract, and someone from their family was also going.
Zhang Xu was carrying a basket on his back. When he saw Zhou Yuan, he smiled shyly and put the basket on their oxcart: "These are some mountain products I picked before the New Year. I'm giving them to you."
Zhou Yuan didn't speak, but he glanced at Chen Qing.
Chen Qing forced himself to speak, "No need, no need."
Zhang Xu dumped everything from his basket into Chen Qing's basket, saying, "These are all things the children picked up. They insisted that I give them to you. I can't refuse a child's request."
Chen Qing looked at the basket on his back, which contained hazelnuts, chestnuts, and pine cones. It was a messy mix, but the sentiment behind it was heartfelt.
Chen Qing looked at Zhou Yuan, who nodded at him: "Alright, then we'll accept it. Thank you."
Zhang Xu then smiled genuinely: "Let's go then."
Zhou Yuan nodded, but then saw Zhang Xu walking forward with his head down. He called out to Zhang Xu, "Get in the car and sit down. There's a lot of space here."
Chen Qing sat next to Zhou Yuan. The entire oxcart only had one basket on Chen Qing's back, and there was still plenty of space.
Zhang Xu quickly waved his hand: "No need, no need, I can walk."
Zhou Yuan frowned slightly: "Hurry up, or we'll waste time."
Zhang Xu then climbed onto the oxcart somewhat embarrassedly and kept thanking Zhou Yuan.
Lu Zhouyuan chatted with him for a bit and learned that he had fled from a village near the battlefield.
“At that time, the village next to ours was basically slaughtered by outsiders. I thought it wouldn’t do, so I quickly took my wife and headed south.” Zhang Xu scratched his head. “The journey was relatively smooth. We were able to get here thanks to the occasional help from kind people.”
Zhang Xu rubbed his eyes again: "Being able to settle down in the village is already a very good thing, and meeting you all has given us land to cultivate."
Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "It's better for you to plant it than for it to lie barren. I don't know how to farm, and I don't want my husband and mother to work too hard."
"That makes sense, that makes sense."
As they were talking, they arrived at the yamen. The matter of leasing land was not complicated and did not require the involvement of the county magistrate. The clerk could handle it. However, the clerk still remembered Zhou Yuan, so he told the county magistrate about it.
While waiting for the yamen to stamp the document, the county magistrate arrived. Zhou Yuan, along with Chen Qing and Zhang Xu, bowed to the magistrate, who then called Zhou Yuan aside to speak.
"Don't you really want to consider working as a yamen runner?" The county magistrate knew Zhou Yuan's abilities; he was more than capable of being a yamen runner or constable.
"Thank you for your kind words, sir." Zhou Yuan had no desire to enter officialdom, even as a yamen runner or constable. If he truly had such ambitions, he should have stayed in General Xiao's mansion in the capital, or even stayed on the frontier.
When General Xiao left the frontier, he once said that if Zhou Yuan was unwilling to be his personal guard, he could use his influence to arrange for Zhou Yuan to join the Cui family's vanguard.
The soldiers under General Cui Chaoming are all promising.
Zhou Yuan didn't want to live like that anymore, which is why she chose to come to Luohe Village. After marrying her husband, she didn't want to get involved in these things anymore. She was happy just to be able to take Chen Qing around.
“If you have other ambitions, I will not try to persuade you anymore. I heard you want to start a security escort agency?” the magistrate said.
Zhou Yuan nodded and said honestly, "That's the idea, but nothing's certain yet."
"Do you know about the Zhenwei Escort Agency in the county town?"
Zhou Yuan nodded. Since he wanted to do this, he had of course done his research. With his skills, becoming a head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) at Zhenwei镖局 (Escort Agency) would be a very simple matter, but Zhou Yuan didn't want to be so restricted.
"I've heard that Zhenwei Escort Agency is going to change hands." The magistrate was, of course, very knowledgeable about the affairs of the county. "If you're interested, I can help you put in a good word for it."
Zhou Yuan was stunned. Zhenwei Escort Agency was the largest escort agency in the county. Why would it suddenly be changing hands?
"I cannot go into the specifics, but the two owners have a disagreement and are eager to make a move. If you have any ideas, I can mediate between them."
Zhou Yuanchao bowed to the county magistrate, his face full of gratitude: "Thank you, Your Excellency."
If we can really take over Zhenwei Escort Agency, it will save us a lot of trouble in the early stages.
"The results of the provincial examination will be released tomorrow. Do you have any acquaintances who participated?" The magistrate asked, remembering something else.
“There is one, he’s my brother’s husband,” Zhou Yuan replied.
"Then you can wait a day, check the list tomorrow, and then go back. It will probably be several days before the yamen runners bring the good news."
Zhou Yuan nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, sir."
"If there are any developments regarding the escort agency, I will have someone notify you."
Zhou Yuan thanked the magistrate profusely.
After they finished speaking, the contract was signed. Zhang Xu said he had some things to do and wouldn't go back with them, so Zhou Yuan took Chen Qing to the county town for a stroll.
This was Chen Qing's second time in the county town. The last time he came, he was kidnapped by the Sun family and came to the county government to ask the magistrate for justice. At that time, he was in a panic and had no intention of taking a good look at the county town.
The county town is an hour further from Luohe Village than the town. After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yuan said to Chen Qing, "Let's not go back tonight."
"Huh?" Chen Qing's eyes widened. "Isn't this a bad idea? Where will we stay if we don't go back?"
“Let’s stay at an inn,” Zhou Yuan said, taking his hand. “Let’s explore the town properly.”
"Stay at an inn? That'll be expensive, won't it?" Chen Qing looked up at Zhou Yuan. "Why don't we just go back?"
"I need to show you what it's like to stay in an inn." Zhou Yuan ignored his suggestion. "Also, the results of the college entrance exam will be released tomorrow, let's help Qi Shuning check her scores."
"Okay then."
Chen Qing had never actually stayed in an inn properly. He had been wandering around for a long time, and wherever he went, he would stay in either a dilapidated temple or in the wilderness. In winter, the manager would just tell the innkeeper to find a stable and let them make do.
He had never stayed in a good inn.
Zhou Yuan led him to an inn in the county town and asked for a medium-sized room, which cost 100 coins.
Chen Qing was worried about the cost and tugged at Zhou Yuan's sleeve, but Zhou Yuan ignored him. Chen Qing gritted his teeth and asked the innkeeper again, "Are there any cheaper rooms available?"
The shopkeeper kept smiling and said, "The cheaper option is a four-person room, which is mixed, but that might not be very convenient."
Chen Qing fell silent, watching Zhou Yuan hand over the money, his heart bleeding.
The county town was very lively at night. Zhou Yuan took Chen Qing for a walk around at night. After all, it was a county town with the county government in charge and yamen runners patrolling at night, so it was quite safe.
Chen Qing was reluctant to spend money, so he ate a bowl of noodles with Zhou Yuan for dinner. He only glanced at many things before giving up. Zhou Yuan went along with him, and after wandering around for a while, they returned to the inn.
Chen Qing was a light sleeper and couldn't fall asleep, so Zhou Yuan simply wouldn't let him sleep and stayed up with him until midnight. Perhaps because it was a different environment, Chen Qing was very sensitive and had a different feeling.
The next day, the two slept until 9 a.m. Chen Qing nudged Zhou Yuan a few times, and the two quickly washed up and headed to the yamen to post the notices.
By this time, the place where the results were posted was already surrounded by people. Some were crying with joy, while others were pounding their chests in frustration. Zhou Yuan put his arm around Chen Qing's shoulder and led him to the front. Then the two of them looked at the list and exchanged a glance.
...
Chen Qing was illiterate, and Zhou Yuan could barely recognize two characters, but even they couldn't see them clearly on the densely packed list.
Zhou Yuan asked the scholar next to him to help him look. The scholar was also good-natured and carefully asked them their names.
"Qi Shuning".
"Qi Shuning, found."
Zhou Yuan and Chen Qing both perked up their ears and listened attentively.
"Qi Shuning from Luohe Village, ranked third in the provincial examination!"
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