Chapter 140 That Night in the Mountain Village
At that time, everyone looked at Huo Qingqing. The fifth wife, Liu Chunyan, who was sleeping on the other side of them, let out a "puff". When Han Jianwu gave her a sharp look, the woman quickly shut her mouth and continued to feed her son.
Han's mother said, "You are not a child anymore, so don't be impulsive and let others use you like a donkey." Anyone could understand what Han's mother meant.
Han Jianwu said, "No, Qingqing is still young."
Han's mother said, "Young? The children of a woman raised by her can run around everywhere. In a few years, they can earn work points. Look at how old you are, and you are still like a bachelor."
Han Jianwu, "Mom, it's New Year's Day, I know, please don't say anything."
During that period, Han Jianwu treated Huo Qingqing even better. He stayed with her all the time, always talking and laughing. In everyone's eyes, the couple had a very good relationship. Only Huo Qingqing felt that what should she do if this continued?
There was a heavy snow and we couldn’t go out, so we all stayed on the kang to keep warm! Huo Qingqing and Han Jianwu were no exception. Huo Qingqing was sitting on the kang knitting a sweater, while Han Jianwu was reading a few picture books that Huo Qingqing had placed on the head of the kang.
Han Jianwu asked Huo Qingqing, "What do you want to eat? I'll cook for you."
Huo Qingqing smiled and said, "No need, I'll eat whatever everyone else eats." There were all kinds of snacks in her box, so she wouldn't starve to death. If the food tasted good, she would eat more, and if it didn't taste good, she would eat less.
Han Jianwu said, "We are the ones cooking today anyway, so I will secretly cook for you and no one will know."
Huo Qingqing glanced at Han Jianwu and said, "You don't have to be so nice to me, really."
Han Jianwu said, "You are my wife, so of course I have to treat you well."
Huo Qingqing said, "You clearly know it's fake, there's no need to waste your time on me."
Han Jianwu stared at Huo Qingqing for a long time. Huo Qingqing lowered her head to knit, pretending not to see him looking at her. Suddenly, Han Jianwu said, "Aren't you really worried that I might do something to you one day and make the fake thing real?"
Huo Qingqing then raised her eyes and looked at Han Jianwu. They both looked at each other without saying anything. She didn't seem to have really worried about this.
After a long while, Huo Qingqing said, "I know you are not that kind of person."
Han Jianwu asked, "What about me makes you dissatisfied?"
Huo Qingqing shook her head, "I'm not dissatisfied with you."
Han Jianwu, "Then why don't you want to really marry me? Why don't you like me?" Of course he knew the reason, the difference in status. She was a big lady in the city and would leave here one day, while he was a genuine farmer, a mud-legged peasant, and had been one for generations. But he just wants to spend his whole life with her, he just likes her! The one who is overestimating his own abilities is Han Jianwu.
At that time, Huo Qingqing simply put down the work in her hands and looked at Han Jianwu. She felt that he was indeed good-looking. Apart from being thick-skinned and thick-fleshed, he was no different from the boys in the educated youth center. He was even more handsome and masculine than most of the male educated youth. His masculine temperament was something that the male educated youth could not compare to at all.
Huo Qingqing smiled and said, "Brother Han, that's not how you say marriage or love."
Han Jianwu, "What do you mean?"
Huo Qingqing blinked and said, "I can't explain it clearly, but it's not what you think." In fact, she was also confused. If she hadn't been reported, how could she have married him? Why are you still sitting on the same kang with him at this moment to discuss such complicated matters?
After a moment, Han Jianwu asked again, "Don't you miss your family?"
Huo Qingqing said, "I do want to! But everyone is doing this and that, so what does it matter whether you want to or not?"
Han Jianwu said, "Didn't you tell your family about our marriage?"
Huo Qingqing said, "It's fake anyway, so I'd better not tell them to avoid trouble in the future." She was mainly worried that her family would be worried if they knew she married a farmer.
On the fifteenth day of the Lantern Festival, Han Jianwu brought back a watermelon lantern and lit a red candle at night. Huo Qingqing thought it was very fun and couldn't let go of it. Han Jianwu said, "Come on, I'll take you to the village to tour the lanterns." The most lively event of the Lantern Festival in Hanjiagou is the lantern tour on the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth nights. Although it is for children, teenagers and young couples also join in the fun.
Huo Qingqing shook her head, "I don't want to play with kids."
Han Jianwu, "I'll take you out to play, come on, it's a lot of fun."
Han Jianwu and Huo Qingqing carried lanterns and walked out of the Han family's yard. The aunties and grandmas they met along the way would ask the young couple, "Hey! Jianwu is taking his wife to tour the lanterns? When will you have your full moon banquet? Hahaha..."
Huo Qingqing was so angry that she wanted to turn around and go home, but Han Jianwu said, "It's almost done..."
The next night was the 16th. The moon was particularly round and the stars in the clear sky were particularly bright. Han Jianwu was dragged out for a drink by several young people in the village who were on good terms with him. Huo Qingqing was afraid of being alone with the Han family, so she closed the door, lit a lantern, and leaned against the window to look at the stars and the moon.
Liu Chunyan came back from the lantern tour with her child, knocked on Huo Qingqing's door and said that someone was looking for her outside.
Huo Qingqing asked her who it was.
Liu Chunyan said, "How would I know who it is? You can find out if you go out and take a look."
Huo Qingqing got up, put on her shoes and went out. There was no one she knew at the gate. Not far away were villagers who were taking a night stroll and chatting in groups of three or five. The children were also still parading the lanterns. Not seeing anyone familiar, Huo Qingqing turned around and went back, only to find that the door of the west wing was bolted from the inside. They lived under the same roof with Lao Wu's family. Behind the entrance was a shared living room, with their respective bedrooms on both sides. However, Liu Chunyan had actually bolted the shared entrance door.
The lights in Liu Chunyan's room were off, and no one paid any attention to Huo Qingqing no matter how she knocked on the door and window.
At this time, people in other rooms of the Han family had either turned off the lights and gone to sleep, or took their children to the village to watch the lantern parade and the folk performances. The men went to various idle spots to play flower cards, listen to jokes, or perform folk performances.
The village became increasingly quiet; the laughter and children's noises outside gradually died down, leaving only the faint sound of gongs and drums from the distant folk performances.
Huo Qingqing was so cold that her face was numb. She stopped knocking on the door and paced back and forth outside the window of her room, rubbing her hands to avoid freezing. She knew that Liu Chunyan did it on purpose. The eldest family and the old lady in the north room also heard it, but she just ignored it and let her freeze.
It was almost twelve o'clock when Han Jianwu came back. He found Huo Qingqing standing under the eaves, looking up at the sky, rubbing her hands and stamping her feet.
Han Jianwu sobered up instantly and walked to Huo Qingqing. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Huo Qingqing's lips trembled from the cold, and she said, "I can't get in the door. Someone has locked it from the inside."
Han Jianwu didn't even bother to knock on the door and just kicked it and broke it.
The fifth son went to a relative's house and didn't come back. Liu Chunyan was frightened awake. When she heard that Han Jianwu was back, she didn't dare to say a word. She hugged her son, pricked up her ears to listen to the noise next door, and continued to pretend to be dead.
As soon as Han Jianwu entered the room, he hugged Huo Qingqing in his arms. He was frozen like an ice cube and cursed a few times in anger. Huo Qingqing said, "Don't curse in the middle of the night."
Han Jianwu picked her up and put her on the kang and covered her with two quilts. He then simply washed himself, climbed onto the kang, got into the quilt and held her in his arms, warming her for a long time.
It was on that night that the two of them hugged each other and somehow everything happened naturally.
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