Chapter 65 When men lose all shame, they'll say the most outrageous and lewd things.
Sheng An was a little tired from walking, so he pulled Zhang Zhaodi to sit on a large rock by the river.
Watching the gently flowing river and feeling the breeze caress his face, Sheng An unconsciously stretched out his arms and legs, lying relaxed on the stone, as if even his mind had gone blank.
Zhang Zhaodi imitated her, spreading her limbs out in a haphazard manner: "Ah, if only we could always be carefree like this, I especially miss the days when I played with you."
Although there is farm work and housework to do, and it is hard to have a moment of leisure all day long, it is precisely the moment of relaxation after being busy that makes people cherish and miss it.
“Now that you’re married, I don’t even have anyone in the village to confide in. Those gossipy women are always talking behind my back.”
As Zhang Zhaodi spoke, her mood soured: "Why do women have to make things difficult for each other? Instead of scolding the one who made the mistake, they mock me for being a girl the Liu family didn't want."
Sheng An frowned: "You didn't bring anyone to attack our door?"
Zhang Zhaodi raised her chin, her face full of pride: "Do you think I'm the kind of person who would suffer in silence? Of course I'd come knocking!"
At this point, she continued triumphantly, "Before, the Liu family dragged their feet and refused to break off the engagement. I took a few of my younger brothers and put a sack over Liu Yong's head, and clearly told him that if his family dared not break off the engagement, I would beat them every day until they did."
Liu Yong was shoved into a sack several times, each time ending up with a bruised and swollen face. He was so afraid of Zhang Zhaodi's shrewishness that he ran home and made a scene, threatening to hang himself, until the elders of the Liu family finally agreed to annul the engagement.
With things escalating like this, the friendship between the older generation is essentially over.
The two families no longer interact, and if they bump into each other on the street, they pretend not to see each other.
Liu Yong happily married his beloved cousin, while Zhang Zhaodi, the victim, was caught up in rumors and gossip.
The men the matchmakers introduced to her were either from extremely poor families, had health problems, or were widowers with children; in short, very few of them were normal.
Zhang Zhaodi naturally disagreed, and the matchmaker kept using the fact that she had been jilted to put her down.
"Anyway, I've come to terms with it, and so have my parents. If no good family will marry me, I'll stay at home and be an old maid. I'll take care of my younger brothers' children in the future, and I'll at least have something to eat when I'm old."
Zhang Zhaodi spoke with remarkable nonchalance, but only she knew what she was really feeling inside.
"Don't be discouraged, it's not that bad yet."
Sheng An patted her friend on the shoulder to comfort her: "There are no shortage of reasonable people in this world. A girl as good as you will always be appreciated by someone with discerning eyes."
Zhang Zhaodi waved her hand: "Don't worry, I've really thought it through. Luckily, I'm the youngest girl in the family, and my older sisters are all married, so the annulment of the engagement didn't affect them."
She was still lucky; at least her family loved her and didn't feel that her breaking off the engagement had caused them to lose face.
"Forget it, let's not talk about these unpleasant things. You've been gone for so long, there must be a lot of trouble in the village."
Not wanting her best friend to worry about her, Zhang Zhaodi quickly changed the subject and enthusiastically started talking about the latest gossip in the village:
"Last time, Kong Dazhu came to the city to cause trouble for you and got his leg broken by your neighbors. He's been cooped up at home for the past few months and can't do any work. That family is having a lot of fun every day."
It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone. Kong Dazhu broke his leg, and Peng Chunlan was reluctant to spend money on his recovery, so the results were naturally not very good.
During the busy autumn harvest, Kong Dazhu was forced to work in the fields with crutches. He accidentally fell and injured himself, forcing him to stay in bed, which infuriated Peng Chunlan.
Zhang Zhaodi glanced around, then lowered her voice and continued:
“Once, Peng Chunlan and Liu Huazhi were working in the fields when my brother heard them complaining that Kong Dazhu was a burden and that even after his leg injury healed, he wouldn’t be able to work for many more years. Liu Huazhi suggested kicking him out.”
Tsk tsk, no matter how awful Kong Dazhu is, he still treated her like his own daughter for over a decade. If Kong Dazhuang hadn't been a slave to the Liu family for over ten years, could Peng Chunlan, a single woman, have supported them, her brother and sister?
"That Liu Huazhi is both stupid and vicious. When Kong Dazhuang was able to work and earn money, she called him 'Dad' so sweetly, but now... calling her an ingrate is an insult to ingrates."
Sheng An remained unmoved, showing no sympathy for Kong Dazhu: "Whatever fate befell him, he deserved it."
Zhang Zhaodi warned, "If Peng Chunlan really kicks you out of the house, she'll probably try every means to cling to you."
Sheng An laughed and said, "As long as you don't reveal the address of my new home to anyone, he won't be able to cling to me. Besides, he and Peng Chunlan have a son, so it won't be so easy for Peng Chunlan to get rid of him."
Zhang Zhaodi immediately patted her chest and assured them, "Don't worry, I won't even tell my own family about anything concerning your family!"
Even when Xu Tongsheng became Xu Xiucai, she never thought of spreading the news, lest someone come knocking on her door to try and curry favor with her and disturb An'an.
Sheng An did not stay in the village for long. After saying goodbye to Zhang Zhaodi, he returned to the city with his grandparents.
Xu Jinnian is already home.
Upon learning that Tan Zhenlin and the other two had also successfully passed the provincial examination and obtained the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations), and that their rankings were quite good, Sheng An was happy for them.
“I told them about the housewarming party, and they all said they would go.”
Recalling the four pairs of eyes that suddenly lit up when he mentioned it, Xu Jinnian shook his head helplessly: "We need to prepare more food on that day; the teacher is quite a big eater."
He expected those three guys to come.
The fact that the Master accepted the invitation was quite unexpected, and even the three of them exclaimed that the Master was biased.
Sheng An said confidently, "No problem! The big kitchen has several stoves, so we can cook two more, and they definitely won't go hungry."
She's been here for several months and hasn't had a chance to really showcase her culinary skills yet. She'll have to give it her all and amaze everyone the day after tomorrow.
Looking at his radiant wife, Xu Jinnian wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and whispered in her ear, "An'an, do you remember what you promised your husband before we went to Jinling?"
A hint of confusion flashed in Sheng An's eyes. After thinking carefully for a moment, she finally managed to recall it from the corner of her memory: "Hmm, it was you who passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. I granted you a request, right?"
Xu Jinnian was in a good mood and kissed her ear with his warm lips as a reward: "Now, can An'an keep her promise?"
Sheng An felt an itch in his ears and subconsciously twisted his neck: "I can, but let me make this clear from the start, your requests can't be difficult for me."
Xu Jinnian's lips curled up, his eyes gradually deepened, and his voice became hoarse and low: "How could your husband bear to make things difficult for An'an?"
Perhaps lowered by the sweet talk of the past, Sheng An easily believed the man's lies: "Okay, go ahead and tell me."
As the words fell, the arms wrapped around her waist tightened, and a suggestive whisper reached her ear: "An'an, your husband misses you..."
Sheng An's pupils contracted, and a flush gradually rose to her cheeks, turning from pale white to pinkish-white and then to bright red, like a cooked shrimp.
Stiffly turning her head, Sheng An met the man's alluring eyes and unconsciously shrank her neck, afraid that the next moment she would be bitten hard by a ferocious beast.
Xu Jinnian stared intently at her, his eyes burning with an intensity that seemed almost scorching: "An'an, don't you want to be close to your husband? That wedding night, it was An'an who..."
"Shut up!"
Sheng An covered the man's mouth with her hand, and even though she pretended to be fierce, she couldn't hide the blush that wouldn't go away from her face: "Do you understand that some things can be done but not said?"
She's a virgin, and on her wedding night she takes the initiative to pounce on a man. Does that make any sense?
"I didn't understand before, but I do now."
Xu Jinnian gently pulled Sheng An's hand away, kissed it on his lips, and revealed his restrained yet unreserved emotions in his eyes: "From now on, I will do it. I am not afraid of what An An says."
Sheng An: "..."
When men become shameless, they'll say the most outrageous and inappropriate things.
That night, Sheng An's hands suffered terribly; the calluses on his palms that hadn't faded for a long time thinned out.
September 18th is an auspicious day, suitable for all activities.
Early in the morning, the Xu family's courtyard became lively as several people loaded all the items they wanted to take into the car.
Just as Xu Chenglin locked the gate to his yard, the gates of his neighbors on both sides opened.
"Old Xu, it will be difficult to meet again in the future. This is a small token of my family's appreciation. Please take it to your new home to eat."
The neighbor on the left handed over a basket full of eggs, at least thirty at a glance, which must have taken a long time to collect.
"Uncle Xu, you and the scholar have helped my family a lot over the years. I don't have anything good to give you, but you must accept this rooster."
The neighbor on the right handed over a tightly bound rooster, which looked like it had hatched this spring.
The meat of these young roosters is tender and has little gamey smell.
After the two neighbors finished speaking, more than a dozen people rushed in from all directions, vying to present the gifts they had prepared:
“My family doesn’t have much to offer, but this jar of pickled spring chives is quite good; it’s perfect for eating with porridge or rice.”
"These are dried mushrooms. My relatives from my hometown sent them to me. They're delicious in soups and stir-fries. Old Xu, you must accept them."
"These are dried plum vegetables that I made. They taste great stewed with meat or made into pancakes. They won't spoil even after half a year. You can take them to your new home and enjoy them slowly."
"..."
Looking at the warm yet sorrowful smiling faces, Xu Chenglin, who had experienced countless ups and downs and the coldness and warmth of human relationships, couldn't help but tear up at this moment.
"Thank you, thank you everyone! I appreciate your kind gestures. Please take the gifts back. I'll come back to visit you often when I have time."
The neighbors didn't move; they just stuffed the things into the car: "There's no reason to take back what you've given away. If you don't accept it, you're looking down on us!"
Having said that, Xu Chenglin couldn't refuse. He quickly wiped his eyes and bowed deeply to everyone, saying, "Thank you all for your care over the years."
The neighbors smiled and waved their hands, saying, "You and your son have taken better care of us. If you hadn't found a better place to go, we really wouldn't want you to move away."
Accepting the neighbors' kind gifts, the small car was piled up to the brim, even the handlebars were covered with them.
As everyone waved goodbye, the group slowly drove away in their donkey cart.
Even after walking quite a distance, you could still see their blurry figures.
Just then, an urgent shout came from behind: "Sister Sheng! Sister Sheng!"
Sheng An subconsciously turned around and saw Miao Ya'er running towards him from not far away.
She hurried over and noticed that Miao Ya'er was carrying a small cloth bag.
Miao Ya'er ran up to Sheng An, panting, and awkwardly handed her the bulging little cloth bag:
"Sister Sheng, I... I don't have anything good to give you, but I made these two pairs of shoes myself. If you don't mind, please accept them. I wish you a smooth and worry-free future."
Sheng An stared blankly at Miao Ya'er, then at the small cloth bag, a mix of emotions welling up inside him.
A bittersweet feeling, a sense of being moved, and a feeling of relief.
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