At the foot of Qingshan Mountain lies Qingshan Village. As the daylight breaks through the clouds, the village, encircled by jade-like mountains, awakens from its misty slumber. Starlight sneaks through the cracks in the walls, casting a gentle glow inside the house, instantly brightening the once dim room.
On the bed, where light and shadow intertwine, Qiao Yue turns over and continues to sleep soundly, the sunlight warming his back.
By the time the sun is high in the sky, there is finally some movement inside the house.
After a while, Qiao Yue lazily walks into the courtyard and calls out to the two figures, one tall and one short, not far away, “Little Dad, Yuan Yuan.”
“Hey, Shan Zi is up,” Xia He responds, “Breakfast is kept warm in the pot.”
“Yuan Yuan knows where it is, Yuan Yuan will help big brother!” Qiao Xiaoyuan says loudly.
Qiao Xiaoyuan is just four years old this year, a little brother. The winter after Xia He gave birth to Qiao Yue, he accidentally slipped into the river and fell ill. Although he recovered, he didn’t conceive again until Qiao Yue was fourteen.
Xia He pats the soft little bottom. “Then go ahead.”
“Okay!” Qiao Xiaoyuan quickly stuffs the green worm he caught into a bamboo tube, runs to the chicken coop with the tube, opens the lid, and pours the worms onto the ground. Four or five chickens rush over, making Qiao Xiaoyuan laugh heartily.
After feeding the chickens and washing his hands, Qiao Xiaoyuan hops and skips to the kitchen.
Standing on a small stool, he tries to climb onto the stove.
Seeing this, Qiao Yue says, “…”
He reaches out and scoops him up with one hand, using the other to lift the pot lid and take out breakfast.
“Big brother, today’s wild vegetable buns are so good!”
After the spring rain, wild vegetables and bamboo shoots are in abundance. Bamboo shoots, whether pickled, dried, or sold, are a good choice. Wild vegetables are fresh and tender, though they can be sold, they aren’t as valuable as homegrown ones. Wild vegetables don’t fetch a good price and aren’t plentiful, so Xia He doesn’t bother with them.
Since it’s his turn to cook today, he makes wild vegetable buns. Each bun is the size of a fist, and everyone gets four. The men in the family each take a few, grab their hoes, and head to the fields.
Qiao Xiaoyuan sits on a chair, resting his chin in his hands, watching his big brother take a big bite out of half a bun, and can’t help but swallow.
Qiao Yue pats his belly, breaks a piece off, and hands it to him, “Eat up.” Qiao Xiaoyuan takes the bun, happily snuggling up to Qiao Yue and munching away.
Despite the age gap, the two brothers have a good relationship.
Xia He watches his two sons from afar, smiles, and bends down to continue hoeing the ground.
“Second Brother’s wife…”
A slightly sharp voice breaks the quiet courtyard. Xia He looks up to see a woman in blue clothes coming out of the main house. Her clothes are new, and she wears a silver hairpin. “Sister-in-law, are you going out?”
Zhou Shi nods, indeed planning to visit her family, “Didn’t you dig up a lot of bamboo shoots yesterday? I’m just coming from my family, so I’ll go to the county and bring some to Xingsheng.”
Xia He shakes his head, “The bamboo shoots are gone, only some wild vegetables left.”
“Gone? We didn’t have bamboo shoots this morning, how could they be gone?”
She wouldn’t have taken them back to her family, would she?
Zhou Shi heads straight to the kitchen.
The Qiao family still lives together, so any movement is hard to hide. She saw Xia He bring back so many bamboo shoots yesterday afternoon, and she had planned to take half, some for her son and some for her family.
“Big Aunt…” Qiao Xiaoyuan calls out to Zhou Shi as she enters, then continues munching.
Qiao Yue quickly finishes the remaining wild vegetable buns, gets up, and washes the bowl clean, “Big Aunt, what you said… those bamboo shoots were dug up by my little dad, how he handles them should be his business, right?”
“How is it not my business? Eighty percent of the money from selling them goes to the public fund, so it is my business!”
“That’s for the public fund, not for you,” Qiao Yue places the bowl down, “When you do embroidery, you don’t even let us take a look…”
The head of the Qiao family is still Qiao Laohan, and he holds all the family’s money, carefully budgeting to support Qiao Xingsheng’s exams. Usually, when the first and second branches earn a little money, they have to hand over eighty percent, keeping only the rest for themselves.
Zhou Shi spreads her hands, “Sell the bamboo shoots and hand over the money, and when I tell Dad, you’ll still have to hand it over. I’ll take it to Dad.” She plans to buy some brown sugar to take back to her family.
“What money…”
“These spring bamboo shoots are hard to deal with, I can’t handle them, so I gave them away.”
He really finds dealing with bamboo shoots troublesome, but giving them away is a lie. Although he doesn’t like farming, he wouldn’t throw away something that can make money. Qiao Yue has hidden all the bamboo shoots.
In the end, they’ll be taken to the market to sell. A load of bamboo shoots, fifty to sixty pounds, but in their second branch’s hands, it’s worth less than twenty coins.
What can twenty coins do?
“Gave them away?!” Zhou Shi’s voice sharpens, pressing, “Gave them to whom?”
“Shan Zi, I’m not saying you, but you need to change your ways. We don’t even have enough for ourselves, how can you just give them away! Look at you, nineteen years old, not working the fields, just lazing around…” Zhou Shi says, frustrated.
As she speaks, she picks up the wild vegetables by the stove and puts them in a basket. No point in wasting prepared wild vegetables.
Qiao Yue grins, “Isn’t there still my brother Xingsheng?”
“Didn’t you always say our Qiao family relies on brother Xingsheng to uphold the family? He’s the eldest grandson, now that he’s passed the scholar exam, he should help his younger siblings, right? My marriage depends on brother Xingsheng. He has so many classmates, surely some have marriageable brothers or sisters…”
Zhou Shi frowns, why should they introduce someone to you?
If there really is a marriageable girl, they should introduce her to their Zhou family first, not to Qiao Yue.
As the saying goes, “Marry a man, wear clothes and eat,” who would dare marry a lazy man like Qiao Yue who doesn’t do farm work! It might even tarnish Xingsheng’s reputation!
Zhou Shi can’t be bothered to search further, quickly replying, “You’re a grown man, relying on your cousin for everything, how does that work! People will laugh at you.”
“What’s there to laugh about? They don’t have a cousin who’s a scholar, I should be laughing at them. Besides, we’re brothers, brother Xingsheng will definitely help.” Qiao Yue pats his chest.
“You…” Zhou Shi is speechless.
Should she say that if he doesn’t help, they’re not brothers? She dares to think it but doesn’t dare to say it. Back then, to make the second branch willingly support Qiao Xingsheng’s exams, she said this inside and out. If the villagers knew, they’d criticize her.
“By the way, when will brother Xingsheng introduce me to a job at the yamen?”
“A job! At the yamen, you…” Zhou Shi wants to scold him but remembers her son’s advice, changing her tone, “I’ll ask, but you know, your cousin is busy now, maybe…”
It’s not time to completely fall out with the second branch yet.
Recently, it’s a crucial time for her son’s future and marriage, and she can’t afford any mistakes. Otherwise, his teacher won’t marry his daughter to Xingsheng.
Zhou Shi says, “Since there are no bamboo shoots, I’ll go dig some myself.” With that, Zhou Shi goes to the storeroom, grabs a basket and a small hoe, and heads out.
“Big Aunt, don’t go yet, let’s talk more about my marriage…”
Zhou Shi turns and leaves. Xia He sees her leaving in such a hurry and asks, “Sister-in-law, what’s the rush?”
“Nothing, it’s getting late, I should head to my family.”
“Go early and come back early.” Xia He nods.
Qiao Yue follows behind, “Big Aunt, remember to tell brother Xingsheng, I don’t have any other requirements, just that she should be pretty, tall, gentle, and preferably from a family with some money…”
“Uh… I’ll ask, I’ll ask…” Zhou Shi runs off!
Ugh!
A lazy man who wouldn’t even pick up a fallen oil bottle, if someone takes a liking to him, he should count himself lucky, yet he dares to have so many demands.
Zhou Shi doesn’t dare to meddle in Qiao Yue’s marriage, lest it causes trouble instead of matchmaking.
After Zhou Shi leaves, Xia He takes the straw sandals to the well to wash, thinking about what his son said earlier, “Shan Zi, if you really want to get married, I can check at Xia Village?”
“No need, Little Dad, I was just saying.”
Qiao Yue quickly shakes his head.
“Really not getting married?”
“Really not! Why get married, I’m fine as I am now.”
Seeing that Xia He is about to start lecturing him again, Qiao Yue leaves Qiao Xiaoyuan behind and runs off.
Xia He sighs.
Qiao Xiaoyuan sighs too, “Sigh…”
Xia He chuckles, “You little bean, what are you sighing about at such a young age?”
Qiao Yue runs a few steps outside, then slows down. The early spring air is still a bit chilly, a cool breeze brushing past.
It’s getting late, many villagers have gone to the fields, and at the village entrance and stone steps, people gather in small groups, chatting while working.
Fang Chuyue went to the bamboo forest early to dig bamboo shoots, planning to make pickled fresh bamboo shoots to sell at the dock tomorrow morning. Selling pickled fresh bamboo shoots at the dock is more profitable than selling raw bamboo shoots, three coins for a scoop, five coins for two scoops. With more bamboo shoots and just a few slices of cured meat, it has oil and soup, making it a popular choice with workers who bring their own buns or buns.
After digging a basket full of bamboo shoots, Fang Chuyue hurries home.
Meanwhile, Qiao Yue looks at the birds in the trees and the wildflowers on the ground.
Turning his head, a figure suddenly crashes into his arms, “Ah—”
Screams overlap, making it hard to tell who hit whom.
One holds his chin, “It’s you?”
The other holds his forehead, “So what if it’s me?”
Qiao Yue winces in pain, what bad luck. Just out the door and bumped into Fang Chuyue, what bad luck.
Fang Chuyue, with a red forehead, looks up at the sky, today is not a good day to go out.
Qiao Yue sees his actions and the obvious eye roll, “You walk without looking, bump into me, and roll your eyes at me?!”
Huh, if either of them had been looking, they wouldn’t have collided.
Fang Chuyue smirks, “You’re overthinking, I’m just checking if it’s going to rain.”
Qiao Yue says nothing, just looks at the clear blue sky and laughs at Fang Chuyue.
Fang Chuyue follows with a fake smile.
“By the way, sorry for mistaking you before, I didn’t expect you and your cousin to look so alike!”
Actually, he can’t tell them apart, he just said it to annoy Qiao Yue.
How long has it been, and now he remembers to apologize? Qiao Yue fake smiles again, “It’s fine, it’s normal to mistake us. My cousin’s future in-laws saw us and said we look alike too.”
Qiao Yue suddenly strikes back, hitting Fang Chuyue’s sore spot.
Fang Chuyue’s eyes redden, looking at Qiao Yue speechless.
“No…” Qiao Yue, being tall, sees his red eyes and steps back, hurriedly explaining, “I was just talking nonsense, my cousin hasn’t even been looked at, he doesn’t have in-laws, and no one said we look alike! Don’t worry.”
You still have a chance…
He can’t say the rest.
Fang Chuyue wipes his eyes, “I’m not red-eyed over a man.”
He’s purely angry.
Last year, by chance, he saved the second son of Shopkeeper Li. That young master promised to marry him, making him happy for a long time. But unfortunately, he turned out to be a coward. Once back at the Li family, Mrs. Li sent someone to dismiss the life-saving favor, warning him not to have delusions.
Thinking of that scene makes Fang Chuyue angry, especially since they’re lowly, even a shopkeeper’s servant can step on them.
Too bad for his two pouches, fifty coins each!
Without Young Master Li, Fang Chuyue set his sights on Qiao Xingsheng, who had just passed the scholar exam and was unmarried. Having a beautiful husband to manage the household would be even better.
If not, he could only settle for the Lin landlord’s family, but he must become a city person!
Qiao Yue sees he’s not crying, half-believing, “If you say so.”
“I do!”
Fang Chuyue glares at him angrily.
Qiao Yue immediately glares back, why glare at me, I’m still mad!
Fang Chuyue: “…”
At this moment, a streak of light flashes across the clear sky, like a drop of water merging into the sea, heading straight this way—
Fang Chuyue: “Move, go home.” He’s in a hurry to prepare the pickled fresh bamboo shoots, no time to argue.
“You say move…” and I move.
Qiao Yue steps aside, the streak of light, carrying a breeze and leaves, silently arrives.
[System 009 requests binding, binding target is q… binding target error, withdrawing request… withdrawal failed.]
What was that sound?!
Qiao Yue, with a look of horror, raises his hand to touch his ear.
[Retrying withdrawal request… withdrawal fa… fa… success.]
Qiao Yue suddenly feels dizzy, colorful rings spinning before his eyes, his mind feeling like it’s being drilled painfully.
Fang Chuyue’s delicate figure gradually blurs.
In the next moment, he collapses to the ground like a noodle.
Fang Chuyue looks at the man who suddenly fell, “…”
“Hey,” he steps forward, lightly nudging with his toe, “Qiao Er, Qiao Yue, I’m going to report to the authorities, get up.”
No response.
Fang Chuyue squats down, looking left and right, then up and down, “…”
No way, is this for real?!