"Mom, why are you scaring An Jin? I didn't think this through. Go talk to An Jin later and don't make him feel bad."
Now that things have come to this, Yang Anchen could only hold back the bitterness in his heart. Although he was well-educated, it was not without considerations. He had to consider not only himself but others as well.
Zhang Lanzhen's motherly thoughts were very serious. Seeing Yang Anchen suffer made her feel bad too. She sighed and said, "Don't be too sad. There are so many good girls and boys in the world. If Fang Chu is not suitable, there are others. Wait for the next two days and I will find you a good one. I guarantee that she will be handsome. How about that?"
Yang Anchen returned to his previous uninterested attitude, nodded with a stiff neck, and did not say whether he was willing or not.
The sound of sobbing gradually rose in the room. Yang Anchen rubbed his temples and said helplessly: "Mom, go in and comfort An Jin. He is young and can't stand being scared. Don't worry about this anymore."
Zhang Lanzhen looked at him worriedly, and wanted to say something several times but stopped herself. Finally, she shook her head and listened to him and went into the inner room.
The meal ended hastily. Before entering the house, Zhang Lanzhen turned around and said, "Don't touch the dishes on the table. Leave them there and I'll clean them up later. The sun is too scorching outside. I've laid out the mat in your room for you. Come in and get some sleep."
"Yeah, I understand."
The unfinished red wedding dresses were still piled up at the end of the bed. Yang Anjin lay on the bed crying sadly. He covered his head with the quilt with both hands and didn't even look up when Zhu Cuilan came in.
Zhang Lanzhen patted his back. Seeing that the person on the bed didn't move, she whispered, "That's enough. Stop crying. It's so hot, you're covered up so tightly, and you're not afraid of the heat. Come out quickly."
Yang Anjin buried his head in the quilt, and spoke in a muffled voice, crying: "You are biased!"
"Hey, you little ungrateful bastard, come out and tell me again who I am partial to." Zhang Lanzhen forcefully pulled the quilt off his head. The sweat soaked the hair on his forehead and made it stick to his skin. His whole face was red, not sure if it was from crying or holding it in.
"You are partial! Partial to my brother."
"When did I become partial? I've raised you for nothing. How come you don't remember how good I was to you? Since you were little, you said you didn't have anything you wanted. I had less food, drink, clothes, and other necessities than you. You have everything your brother has, and you also have everything your brother doesn't have. Apart from his fame and honor, what else does your brother have over you?"
Zhang Lanzhen was actually getting a little angry as she spoke: "Your brother's academic achievements were earned through hard work. Didn't I send you to study with your brother when you were little? You can't blame me for your inability to continue your studies. You didn't take the good things I did for the past ten years seriously, but only remembered this angry remark, right? Saying that you're partial hurts your mother's feelings. Okay, you're great."
She stood up and said, as if she was about to leave: "Be angry, I wonder how long you can be angry. I, as a mother, am worse than Fang Yuqin, whom I have only met a few times. I can't control it and I don't care. You two brothers can do whatever you want. I can't make the decision, so why not just not do it?"
Yang Anjin stopped crying and opened his eyes a little to observe his mother's expression. When he saw Zhang Lanzhen was about to leave, he immediately turned over and sat up: "Mom."
Zhang Lanzhen turned a deaf ear and walked out the door. Yang Anjin was so anxious that she got up and pulled Zhang Lanzhen's sleeve. She wiped the tears from her face and said coquettishly, "Mom, I was wrong. Don't be angry."
"Didn't you just say that I was biased? Now you're not angry anymore? You little ungrateful bastard, you're really infuriating." Zhang Lanzhen slapped his arm.
After Yang Anjin came to his senses, he felt that he had overreacted. He stuck out his tongue embarrassedly and tried to coax Zhang Lanzhen with some nice words.
Growing up with him, she never entrusted her care to anyone else when she was most tired. Zhang Lanzhen looked at Yang Anjin acting coquettishly and foolishly in her arms, and thought that her brother would soon become someone else's family, and her caring little cotton-padded jacket would have to warm others, and she felt a little jealous.
After the two of them coaxed each other out of the inner room, Yang Anchen had already gone somewhere unknown. Zhang Lanzhen even went to his room to take a look, but there was no one there.
She sighed helplessly and cleaned up the dishes with Yang Anjin.
The Zhao family had no idea what was happening in Yang Anjin's house. Yang Donghu and Zhao Fangchu had just arrived home, put down their baskets, and had just taken a sip of water when a head popped out from outside the yard and called out to them.
"Brother Dong, this is Fang Chu." Shen Ran showed a pair of smiling eyes. He didn't mind the sun in the hot weather. He rolled up his sleeves tightly, exposing his arms, which were still stained with water droplets. It looked like he was going somewhere to play in the water.
He and Zhao Fangchu are good brothers from the same village. They grew up together. Although they sometimes like to compete with each other, their relationship has always been good. Last time, Zhao Fangchu gave him the peach blossom cake.
The freshly picked plums were full of fragrance. On the way back, Yang Donghu came across a pond and picked a few lotus leaves to block the sun, and put one in the basket.
Yang Donghu waved at him: "Ranran, come quickly, there are plums to eat."
"Why."
Chen Ran slipped out from behind the wall, walked into the yard, picked out a slightly soft plum from the basket and put it in his mouth. After the sour taste of the plum wore off, only the fragrance remained in his mouth.
"What are you doing here now? Don't you feel hot?" Zhao Fangchu saw that he was eating with relish. He started to crave it again after eating all the way, so he pinched one and put it in his mouth.
Shen Ran swallowed the plum in his mouth and spat out the pit: "My father, Brother Dachuan and Brother Fangyu are fishing in the lotus pond. I was watching. Brother Dachuan asked me to come and see if you two have returned from the mountain. If you have, I want you two to come and play too."
Last time, Zhao Luochuan said that as long as you don't go into the lotus pond, you won't encounter toads. Yang Donghu doesn't often go out of the house, and now he really wants to join in the fun. Zhao Fangchu is even more so. He stood up and was about to leave when he heard it.
The old lady and Zhu Cuilan disliked the hot weather and were unwilling to go with them. Yang Chunxiao was also unwilling to go because it was inconvenient for him to go out. There was no need to lock the yard door since there were people watching at home. Yang Donghu picked up the lotus leaf that had just been used to block the sun and put it on his head again.
The lotus pond is also at the outermost end of the village, not far from the Zhao family. It can be reached by walking half the way around the village along the main road outside the village.
The village has always been quiet, and it is not easy to see something new. There are many people gathered around the lotus pond in groups of three or four. Fortunately, there are many sturdy trees beside the lotus pond, and it is cool under the shade of the trees and people don’t feel hot.
The water level in the lotus pond dropped a lot. The strong man rolled up his trouser legs to avoid getting stained with mud. His upper body was naked and he tied a sweat towel loosely around his waist.
Yang Donghu could see his man at a glance even though he was not close to him. Zhao Luochuan was tall and was very conspicuous when walking in the crowd. Now that he was shirtless, his muscles were tighter than those of others.
The three young men chose a place under the shade of a tree a little away from the crowd. When Zhao Luochuan bent down and looked up, he saw his husband standing on the shore with his cheeks sunburned, staring at him. He felt so happy that he smiled to himself. He waded across the river and walked to the shore where Yang Donghu was standing. He picked a lotus pod and handed it to him.
"Is it hot? Try this, it tastes quite sweet."
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