Chapter 277 278. The child will take your surname, and I will marry into your family
"no!"
The two fathers said in unison.
It's okay to just try and see if you feel anything, but kissing is certainly not an option. His Zhou Zhou is only fifteen years old and still a minor (Zhou Yi's adult age is eighteen)!
Zhou Yi was worried that Zhou Zhou would be fooled by Lin Zhong in the name of trying it out, so he asked him to make three rules with Lin Zhong.
"First, emotions must be expressed within the bounds of propriety. Do not engage in behavior that goes beyond the boundaries of ordinary friendship, including but not limited to hugging or kissing. Do not be alone in a room with yourselves."
"Second, there can't be any forced behavior. As long as Zhou Zhou feels that she doesn't want to, can't, or shouldn't, you can't be forced to do something or go to a certain place."
"Three, you can't go out alone. If you go out, you must report to Daddy and Grandfather, bring guards with you, don't go too far, and you must be back before dark."
Lei Zhouzhou nodded in agreement and told Lin Zhong the next day that he could give it a try, but he had to abide by three rules.
"good!"
Lin Zhong agreed immediately, fearing that Lei Zhouzhou would go back on his word. His light-colored eyes sparkled with joy, and his lips curled up.
"I won't do anything Zhou Zhou doesn't want to do, and I don't want to offend Zhou Zhou."
"OK."
Lei Zhouzhou nodded and thought for a moment. "For... three years? How about three years? If I fall in love with you within three years, we can get married when I'm twenty."
"good."
Lin Zhong agreed immediately.
Although he was a little surprised and didn't quite understand why they had to wait another two years to get married if they were in love, as long as it was Lei Zhouzhou and as long as Zhouzhou had him in her heart, he would be happy to wait for ten or twenty years.
"Come to my house when the time comes..."
Lei Zhouzhou paused, then changed the subject, "No, you can't come to my house to propose marriage."
"Why?"
Lin Zhong noticed the change in Lei Zhouzhou's attitude and felt a surge of anxiety. He feigned composure and asked, "Is it because you're not yet of the right age? Should I wait a few more years before proposing?"
"Not age."
Lei Zhouzhou shook his head and said apologetically, "I promised my father that I would marry into your family. I forgot to tell you that I want to marry into your family and you want to get married. We are in conflict. Let's just be friends again."
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt much lighter.
He no longer needed to think about how to like Lin Zhong. He didn't need to like Lin Zhong because he would never marry Lin Zhong, nor would he marry anyone else.
“……?!”
Lin Zhong's pupils suddenly shrank, as if he had fallen from the clouds into the eighteenth floor of the abyss. "You want to marry into the family?"
"yes."
Lei Zhouzhou said briskly, "After leaving Qingyuan, I promised my father and father. But I can't marry a son-in-law until I'm twenty. My father and father said that if the girls and boys in our family get married too early, they will die early."
"You should find someone you like..."
As he spoke, he suddenly thought of a possibility, "Could it be that you like me because you have too few friends and we often hang out together?"
Lei Zhouzhou felt that this was very possible.
Because when he was studying in the village, some of his friends were in higher grades. While he was still picking bird eggs, catching fish and shrimps, and practicing swordplay, his friends had already begun to fall in love and fell in love with their classmates or brothers and sisters from the same village.
He also has some friends who are children of businessmen. They follow their family elders or go out to make a living on their own. Apart from the arrangements made by their parents and matchmakers, most of the girls and boys they fall in love with on their own are from other places.
For example, cousin Huaer and her husband, Uncle Mengyao and Aunt Yu, Uncle Mengluo and Aunt Mei, and his father. His father is not a native of Qingmi County. He was picked up by his father after fleeing here.
Of course, there are also childhood sweethearts, such as his brother and sister-in-law.
Before Lin Zhong confessed his love, Lei Zhouzhou had no idea that he liked her, so he guessed that Lin Zhong was just beginning to fall in love and she was the closest person of the opposite sex to him, so he mistook friendship for love.
Lei Zhouzhou, the slow king, thought so and said excitedly, "I have a lot of friends. Can I introduce some to you? If you hang out with them more, you might fall in love with them."
"You like guys but not girls. Can I introduce you to some guys?"
Lei Zhouzhou felt that Lin Zhong was a good person with good looks, and there must be a boy who liked him.
“…”
Lin Zhong was so angry that he was fuming. He stared at Lei Zhouzhou with a gloomy face and red eyes, as if he was about to cry.
“……?”
Lei Zhouzhou felt uneasy when he stared at her. "Did I say something wrong? I apologize."
"You still..."
Lin Zhong squeezed out these two words from between his teeth, realizing that his expression was too fierce. He was afraid of scaring Lei Zhouzhou, so he took several deep breaths to calm himself down.
"Do you really want to marry into the family?"
"Um."
"Then I..."
Lin Zhong clenched his fists and unclenched them, his light-colored eyes staring at him, "Then what about me?"
"What?"
Lei Zhouzhou was stunned for a moment.
"Marry into the wife's family."
Lin Zhong looked at him and spoke slowly, "Others can do it, but not me? Or do you already have someone you want to marry into your family?"
"No."
Lei Zhouzhou shook his head. "I don't have anyone I like, but you're the youngest son of Duke Su. You can't marry into the family, right? I promised my father, my father, that the child would have my last name."
"With your last name."
Lin Zhong swore in a very solemn tone, "The child will take your surname, and I will marry into your family."
“…”
Lei Zhouzhou didn't know how to answer.
His original intention was to reject Lin Zhong, not to let Lin Zhong marry into his family. And even if he agreed and Lin Zhong was willing, the Duke of Suguo's Mansion would not agree, right?
After thinking it over again, he still shook his head, "No. You can't marry into my family."
"Why?"
Lin Zhong couldn't believe it.
He thought he must have heard it wrong, but Lei Zhouzhou's words were so clear that he heard every word clearly, which made him subconsciously ask again.
"Why not?"
"If you marry into the Changning Marquis's Mansion, the Suguo Duke's Mansion will become a laughing stock in the entire capital."
Lei Zhouzhou said seriously, "This isn't just a matter between the two of us. It also concerns the Duke Su's Mansion and the Marquis Changning's Mansion."
"If you marry into the family, Duke Suguo will become a laughing stock, and my father will become the target of public criticism, targeted by the Duke Suguo's faction. You know better than me which is more important, the Marquis of Changning's Mansion or the Duke Suguo's Mansion."
"You once analyzed the situation in Kyoto with me, telling me which family we shouldn't offend easily, and which family..."
"Zhou Zhou."
Lin Zhong couldn't help but interrupt him and stared at him. Only Lei Zhouzhou was reflected in his light-colored pupils, and his tone was cold and sad.
"I just want to ask you one thing. Would you rather let someone you don't know marry into your family than give me a legitimate status?"
“……?”
Lei Zhouzhou was stunned for a moment before explaining, "Why are we talking about status now? If I were to marry into a family, I would definitely get to know him better. I'd look for someone with a clean family background, good character, and good looks..."
"Zhou Zhou."
Lin Zhong couldn't control himself and interrupted him again, his tone a little aggressive.
"My family background is not clean?"
"Blue and white..."
"Am I a bad person?"
"Okay..."
"Am I not good-looking?"
"nice."
Lei Zhouzhou nodded without hesitation. Lin Zhong was one of the young men that unmarried noble ladies and noble men in Kyoto most wanted to marry. Whether in terms of family background or appearance, he was first-class.
Especially with that appearance, even if he was not the son of the Duke of Suguo, but just a scholar from a poor family, there would be noble ladies willing to marry him and support him.
"Then why would you choose to look for someone else instead of me? Do I disgust you so much?"
"I don't hate you..."
Lei Zhouzhou said quickly, "We are just friends. How can friends be husband and wife? Friends are friends. If we become husband and wife, we can't drink and ride horses like before..."
"No, this is also possible, but after becoming husband and wife, our relationship has changed. It doesn't feel like that of friends...it's not as pure anymore."
Lei Zhouzhou has seen couples who love each other deeply, such as his own father and grandfather. They are very happy, very much in love, and almost inseparable.
But Lei Zhouzhou has also seen couples who are not living happily, like the uncles, aunts, uncles and women in the village, who always have endless quarrels and arguments, and even fight over trivial matters.
Being friends is much simpler. When you are free, you can hang out together. If you are not free, you can make an appointment next time. If you have any difficulties, you can talk about them and solve them together.
Moreover, Lei Zhouzhou has seen far fewer friends who quarreled, cried, and finally parted ways unhappily than couples. When those couples quarreled, they always wished each other to die, but they had to continue living in the same house and raising their children.
Lei Zhouzhou felt a little scary and sad.
Furthermore——
You can have many friends, but you can only have one husband. Sometimes you have to choose between friends and husband. For example, some of his friends are busy taking care of the family after they get married and no longer come out to play with him.
Whenever this happened, Lei Zhouzhou couldn't understand why people got married. Why did they have to be tied to someone?
Is it because you like it?
Lei Zhouzhou thought that it was because of love that two people who had no relationship with each other would get together and want to get married and have children, just like his father, aunt and uncle.
But……
Lei Zhouzhou still doesn't understand what love is.
So when he understands, he might be willing to get married. If he never understands in his life, his father and grandfather said it doesn't matter if he doesn't get married, because he still has a family.
"But……"
Lin Zhong was so grief-stricken that he didn't even notice he was crying. He stared blankly at Lei Zhouzhou, his eyes red and pitiful. "But I don't want you to be so close to anyone else, anyone other than me. I don't want you to be close to anyone else."
"Zhou Zhou..."
"Please pity me and don't be with others, okay? I don't want to be the young master of the Duke of Su's mansion. I'm just a commoner and I'll marry into your family. Is that okay?"
"I can wait until you're twenty to get married, or thirty, or forty. Even if... even if you never get married, I'm willing to stay with you forever. Please don't be with anyone else, okay?"
"I……"
Lei Zhouzhou didn't quite understand why it turned out like this, he just wanted to be friends with Lin Zhong.
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