Zhang Fangyuan was full of anger, but before he could flare up, he lowered his head to glance at the hand in his palm, and it was like a basin of water was poured over a raging fire, and his anger immediately... disappeared.
His expression changed very quickly, and a bright smile appeared on his face. His attitude towards Fei Lian improved a lot instantly. "Congratulations to Fei Lang. It's really rare for him to pass the imperial examination. My mother-in-law asked me and He Ge'er to check the list for his second sister. Now I can go back and report the good news. From now on, I have to call Fei Xiucai my brother-in-law."
Fei Lian was already frozen in place by the shock of Xu He's actions, and after hearing what Zhang Fangyuan said, he automatically ignored the congratulations and focused on the word "brother-in-law".
He looked panicked, and after a while he opened his eyes and said, "You guys..."
"Yes, we are engaged. Mr. Fei may not know about the college entrance examination yet. Nineteen will do the work. Brother-in-law will come too."
Fei Lian felt that his chest was suffocating from being called brother-in-law by Zhang Fangyuan. He looked at Xu He and murmured, "How, how can you be with him...is it arranged by the family?"
"I was the one who went to ask for marriage." Zhang Fangyuan said.
Xu He nodded.
Fei Lian looked at Xu He and agreed, feeling bitter in his mouth. He did not think that Zhang Fangyuan was a good destination, and when asked to say congratulations, he could not utter a single word.
Men have a keen sense of smell, especially when they meet a rival in love, just like a woman can tell at a glance if she is being pretentious.
Zhang Fangyuan had noticed that Fei Lian was not interested in Xu He, and he had been unhappy with him before. But Xu He told him that the Fei family had taken a fancy to his second sister, and since he knew that there was no possibility for the two of them, he stopped dwelling on the matter and making others feel annoyed.
Looking at this man's posture today, he found it interesting.
Zhang Fangyuan looked at the scholar with interest: "Fei Lian, you are surprised that He Ge'er is getting engaged, but is it because you like He Ge'er?"
Faced with this abrupt question, Fei Lian's hands trembled noticeably. He didn't know how to refute. He didn't know whether to admit it or not. As a scholar, he was thin-skinned and his face turned red first.
However, what it meant was self-evident. Xu He opened his mouth slightly when he saw this.
Zhang Fangyuan was not very angry, after all, it was expected: "Your mother chose Xu Shaochun, and you chose He Ge'er. Are you going to go against your parents' wishes or give up what you want? Or now that you have passed the examination and have a reputation, you are a scholar that farmers and butchers like me can never reach, so you want both?"
His worries were exposed, and Fei Lian's face turned red all the way to his neck.
When Xu He saw this, he was not happy about Fei Lian's liking for him. Instead, he felt angry.
The Fei family was well off, and they had only one son, Fei Lian, whom they doted on. Fei Lian was also good-looking and a scholar, so the two had some interactions, but Xu He had never had any inappropriate thoughts. He did not expect that Fei Lian, who was always polite to everyone, would have feelings for him.
But he was not moved by this thoughtfulness. He already had his second sister, and the Fei family wanted two children. What could he do? He was not so foolish as to think that he could become someone else's legal spouse.
Xu He said coldly: "You want me to be your concubine? "
"I... I'm not..."
Zhang Fangyuan took the angry Xu He behind him and said in a protective manner, "Okay! If that's not you, then you only want He Ge'er. Today, as long as you can ignore your family's objections and only choose He Ge'er, I can give you a fair chance to compete."
Fei Lian took a deep breath and looked at Xu He for a long time without saying anything, as if he was waiting for He Ge'er's response. His eyes flickered continuously, and after a while, he said, "Since I entered school, my teacher has taught me that being filial to one's parents is the most important thing. Mother has taken a liking to Shaochun... I..."
"That's enough. If you can't do it, then you can't do it. Any more excuses are just to make yourself feel at ease." Zhang Fangyuan was a little disappointed when he saw him like this and interrupted him.
His voice turned cold: "Your Fei family wants Xu Shaochun to be a face, and you also want He Ge'er to live there. Do you think that all the benefits in the world should be taken by your Fei family?"
"I gave you a chance, but since you don't have the courage and the will, then you better take care of yourself and stay away from He Ge'er. If you say something unclear to He Ge'er again in the future, I don't care whether you are an unarmed scholar or a villain with a big knife, I will beat you up!"
After saying that, without waiting for anyone to say anything more, Zhang Fangyuan took Xu He and left, leaving Fei Lian standing there with his mouth open.
The two returned to the bustling street, and Xu He suddenly broke free from Zhang Fangyuan's hand.
Zhang Fangyuan knew that he was angry, and he immediately lost his momentum. He said aggrievedly: "I just wanted to test whether he had the courage. In fact, he didn't."
Xu He said, "What if he has the guts to agree? Then what are you going to do? Come to our house and cancel the engagement?"
"How could it be!" Zhang Fangyuan trembled in shock.
Then he added: "It's useless even if he agrees to compete. I'm a rogue to begin with. I'll just rob! Anyway, in everyone's eyes, I'm unreasonable."
Xu He pursed his lips: "You are just an asshole."
"Yeah." Zhang Fangyuan responded. Isn't he a bastard?
Zhang Fangyuan tentatively touched the back of Xu He's hand again. Xu He didn't hold his hand again, but he didn't refuse him either. He frowned slightly, and the two walked side by side again.
"I really didn't expect that he actually wanted to marry me... No, rather than marrying me, it would be more like wanting me to be a slave in the Fei family."
Xu He was a little dazed as he walked down the street, but he was not afraid of being bumped into. With Zhang Fangyuan holding his hand, he felt very safe.
"It may be true that he likes you, but it is also true that he dares not go against Madam Fei's wishes. Fei Lian has been studying since he was a child, and I'm afraid Madam Fei has never let him get involved in farm and family matters, so how could he dare not go against his mother's wishes. There is nothing wrong with filial piety, but it is not okay for a man to always obey his parents and not have his own opinions and responsibilities."
Xu He looked at his toes and knew that Zhang Fangyuan was right.
"There are two pieces of clothing. One is gorgeous and looks respectable, but it is thin and cannot keep out the cold. The other is coarse and ugly, but it is thick and can keep you warm. What would you choose? Fei Lian is a scholar who can read, write, and calculate. He wants to wear the warm one inside and the gorgeous and beautiful one outside."
It's so decent and it won't be cold. Xu He couldn't help but wonder, was there anything wrong with his choice? It's actually not a big mistake to do it for your own benefit.
Zhang Fangyuan felt distressed when he heard this: "He'er, it's not a good thing for me that he likes you, but it just shows that someone can see your goodness. You are no worse than your second sister. It's just that that person cares more about himself."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. In my eyes, you are better than anyone else."
Seeing that he was still silent, Zhang Fangyuan shook his hand and said, "Hmm?"
"good."
Zhang Fangyuan tightened his grip.
"Don't think about that grandson anymore. If you keep thinking about him, I'm going to beat him up!"
Xu He quickly pulled Zhang Fangyuan and said, "He is a scholar now, so you can't hit him. Do you want to go to jail?"
"We are about to get married, so it's not a good idea to go to jail now. If you don't want me to go to jail, then stop thinking about him."
Xu He glared at Zhang Fangyuan and kept saying that he was thinking about him. It seemed like he was saying that he had a deep affection for him and that he was magnanimous enough to let bygones be bygones: "I wasn't thinking about him."
Zhang Fangyuan smiled: "Come on, I'll take you shopping."
"Spending money recklessly again?"
"What are you wasting money on? You don't have to decorate the wedding room when you get married. There are things missing from this and that at home. We have to buy some. You can use them when you come here. Why don't you just come with me to choose. None of the things I choose are good."
It was only when Xu He followed the people to the door that he realized that Zhang Fangyuan wanted to buy a wardrobe, a dressing table, a quilt and other items. Even if he was thick-skinned, he could handle it and his face turned red when facing this matter. How could I buy these things with my husband before getting married? Besides, he doesn't have to choose these things. He doesn't have them at the Xu family anyway.
Zhang Fangyuan was very stubborn. He would not make any choices and would just let the waiter recommend things to him to buy. The waiter would even pick out expensive items for him to buy. He had no choice but to look for affordable options. Even so, a wardrobe and a dressing table with a small bronze mirror cost him five hundred coins. As for the quilt, he refused to buy it no matter what. Zhang Fangyuan promised to buy it himself.
Xu He felt sorry for Zhang Fangyuan spending money like water. Even if the money was spent on himself, he could feel that Zhang Fangyuan valued him. But the price of this value was too high. He spent so much on the betrothal money alone, and gave him a bracelet worth four thousand coins from his family. Now he was preparing these household items for him. He really felt that he did not deserve it.
Perhaps the village chief's son or daughter would receive such treatment when they get married, but how could he have deserved it?
"Even if you don't buy it now, you will have to buy it after you get married. You will need it anyway, so buy it early and enjoy it early. Don't feel sorry for the money."
Xu Hewei sighed and nodded.
After the two of them finished their shopping, Zhang Fangyuan breathed a sigh of relief, as it was one less thing to do. He originally wanted to take Xu He to a restaurant he used to go to when he was in the city, but Xu He said it cost too much money and wouldn't let him go. He had no choice but to end up ordering two bowls of noodles and a bowl of wontons at a street stall.
"The noodles here taste good, and the soup is made with pork bones."
The noodles came in a big bowl, and the wontons looked much smaller, since they were filled with pork filling. He picked up the wonton and put half of it into Xu He's bowl of noodles: "The shop owner goes to the meat market to buy pork bones before dawn in the morning. Twice he bought them from my stall."
Xu He took a sip of the noodles and found the soup indeed had the aroma of bone meat. He put the boiled noodles into a bowl of broth, sprinkled some chopped green onions and added a few slices of spring vegetables. It was hard not to taste bad. Xu He felt that he could make the same taste, or even better, but the same bowl of noodles tasted two different things when eaten at home and in a restaurant.
The small wontons are also delicious, but they are more like dough dumplings. Although they have pork filling, the meat filling is chopped very finely, and a lot of green onions are added to it. There is probably only a little bit of filling in a wonton, as small as a little finger, and you can't taste any meat flavor.
"tasty."
Seeing that Zhang Fangyuan was holding the chopsticks but not moving, and kept watching him eat, as if waiting for his comment, Xu He said these two words, and Zhang Fangyuan happily picked up his chopsticks.
He felt like laughing. This guy was like a child sometimes.
After they had eaten their fill, they drove back. It was already afternoon when they arrived at the village. The news that Fei Lian had passed the imperial examination had spread throughout the village. It was also said that the Fei family was going to host a banquet, which made the village even more lively.
Zhang Fangyuan carried the corn seeds that Xu He bought to Xu's house before returning. Liu Xianglan didn't dare to say a word to Xu He in front of Zhang Fangyuan. After the people left, her expression changed: "I spent most of the day buying seeds and looking at the list! I'm still waiting for your news, but others have already come back and told everyone. What can you accomplish!"
Xu He said calmly: "I have received the news anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's sooner or later."
Xu Shaochun got the news and became very proud again. She dressed up very smartly, waiting for the Fei family to come to her house at any time: "After He'er got engaged to the butcher, his words became more and more unpleasant. It seems that he has been with rough people for a long time and has become accustomed to rough talk. Mother, don't be angry. Fei Lang is humble and will definitely not make you unhappy like this."
Thinking about this good thing, Liu Xianglan's face suddenly became much rosier and more beautiful. She ignored Xu He, and the mother and daughter walked into the house arm in arm to discuss the marriage with the Fei family.
Although the village is very lively at the moment, the Fei family is not very happy.
Knowing that He Ge'er was engaged to Zhang Fangyuan and that their wedding date was imminent, he resented himself for not having the courage to fight for it. The joy of passing the imperial examination had been ruined by this bad news. He returned to the village in a daze, wanting to go home and make a big fuss, but he saw that his parents were listless and sitting in the house in a depressed mood, without a trace of joy on their faces.
Even if her son didn't say much, Madam Fei knew the reason for his depression. She thought her son would be unhappy when he knew the news, but she didn't expect it to be like this.
"Son, now that you have passed the examination and become a scholar, the court will give you 2,000 coins every month. For a peasant family like us, a middle-class peasant can only save this much money in a year, but my son can get it in a month, which is a great success. He will also be awarded 5 mu of good land, which can produce one stone more grain than ordinary poor land. It is really a blessing for our Fei family. My son has a bright future, and he can do any decent job he wants in the future. Why bother about a little boy like that? There will be plenty of them in the future."
Fei Lian rarely retorted loudly to his mother and said, "I have all this now, but I can't find the person I like. How can I be happy?" Isn't it just like the sadness of the people in the books who cannot be together? Today he can be said to have become a person in the book.
Madam Fei paused. Seeing her son in this state, she couldn't say anything bad about Xu He to comfort him. She could only say, "Shaochun is beautiful and tender. Your son will forget about him after he gets married. In life, not everything can go smoothly. Even so, we have to live a good life, right?"
Fei Lian was too weak to say anything more. He only hated his own cowardice and helplessness. He covered his face, went into the house, lay on the bed and cried bitterly.
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