Yuncheng froze for a moment. Was that a reminder for him to repay the debt?
It shouldn’t be.
More likely, it was to draw a clear line.
Lowering his gaze, Yuncheng murmured, “I hear you.”
A fine drizzle was still falling from the sky. Ye Cunshan, sturdy and tall, strode directly through the rain.
Yuncheng held up an umbrella, wanting to shield him as well, but couldn’t keep up with Ye Cunshan’s long strides. He clenched his teeth and hurried after him.
To reach the county, they could follow the main road along the river, without detouring through villages.
By the riverside, a few villagers were fetching water. When they saw the two walking one after the other, and Yuncheng dressed in a coat that was clearly too big for him, the gossiping spirit in them lit up instantly.
After a few polite greetings
“Have you eaten?”
“Where are you heading?”
They cut straight to the chase.
Someone teased with a smile:
“You two together, eh?“
“Has young Master Ye gone soft-hearted again?”
They knew Ye Cunshan was Yuncheng’s benefactor.
Another voice chimed in, sharper, mocking:
“Brother Cheng, how come you’ve come down from the mountains? That coat looks way too big.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve latched onto the Ye family’s scholar now.”
These were the ones who always liked to sneer at Yuncheng.
Most of his friendships existed only online; in real life he lacked social experience and was awkward in dealing with people.
Their words stung, but he couldn’t snap back. Even if he did, it would only bring him a moment’s satisfaction.
Besides, he really had latched onto Ye Cunshan, he had no way to refute it.
But then, Ye Cunshan, walking ahead, suddenly stopped and answered the remarks.
“I lent Yuncheng some money a few days ago. He came to repay it this morning. I’m taking him to the county to see if he can find some work. If any of you uncles and aunties happen to know of something, please do lend a hand.”
Though he was educated, Ye Cunshan carried none of a scholar’s frail refinement. To Yuncheng, he looked more like someone with the straightforward air of a man of the jianghu, bold, decisive, lively.
He clasped his fists and thanked them warmly, his laughter open and hearty:
“I’ll be sure to pay a visit and thank you properly in the future!”
After three such sentences, even the whispers along the riverbank fell silent. The quiet was almost eerie.
Everyone remembered how, when Yuncheng’s father was dying, half the village had gone to Yun Renyi’s house to watch the spectacle.
Yuncheng had begged for help, but no one dared lift a hand, afraid he wouldn’t be able to repay.
As for jobs, those were even more impossible when farmwork was already back-breaking, who would introduce an outsider to a rare county job that even their own kin fought over?
Now that they’d been put on the spot, they could only praise Ye Cunshan in turn.
And the compliments, though genuine, carried more than a trace of envy.
After all, Ye Cunshan had saved Yun’s father, saved Yuncheng, given him money, and was now personally escorting him to find work in the county.
To them, this wasn’t just kindness, it was practically a living Buddha descending into the world!
By now Yuncheng had caught up to him. This time he finally managed to hold the umbrella over Ye Cunshan’s head, murmuring his thanks, though his face flushed with embarrassment.
So that reminder earlier, it had been for his sake after all. He had misunderstood.
Ye Cunshan glanced sideways at him.
At the corner of Yuncheng’s right eye was a birthmark, a thin red line trailing from the eyelid all the way into his temple. When he blinked, the streak of red seemed to flow like water, seeping straight into the heart.
Ye Cunshan shifted his gaze away and took the umbrella. “Let’s go.”
Yun Cheng pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile at the corners of his mouth, and followed with lighter steps.
As they walked off, the gossip at the riverside turned.
“Poor Brother Cheng! Hard luck, but at least he’s met a good man.”
“That Ye Cunshan really is remarkable. Generous in both words and deeds.”
“Generous? Hah! I’ve never seen him help anyone else. Look at Yuncheng—don’t tell me Ye Cunshan has his eye on him.”
Yun Cheng’s mother had been pulled from the river by his father. His father hadn’t been able to afford a proper bride, so the two simply made do with each other.
Even back then, there were whispers: such beauty was too much, surely she must have fallen from a pleasure boat.
When she died, the gossip quieted for a while. But as Yun Cheng grew up and grew more beautiful, such talk naturally surfaced again.
The original Yun Cheng had been timid and withdrawn, with no friends, never understanding.
Not until he was thirteen or fourteen, when hooligans began to harass him, did he piece it together from their filthy words: they were mocking his mother, and despising him.
Many people admired Yun Cheng’s looks, but because of those rumors, few proper families ever came with marriage proposals.
Otherwise, his father would have arranged something early, and their household might have been less burdened.
Nothing stayed hidden for long in the village. Soon enough, someone went to the Ye household to stir up trouble.
Ye Cunshan had a stepmother named Chen Jinhua.
Her first husband, Li the hunter, had died, leaving her with a daughter to raise at the foot of the mountain. Life had been hard.
The matchmakers who came knocking were always after her daughter. Everyone said that with a young maiden in the house, Chen Jinhua herself could never hope to remarry well.
She swallowed her resentment.
Though tradition said a widow’s second marriage should not be in red, when she married into the Ye family she insisted on wearing a bright peach-pink wedding dress.
Three taels of silver for the cloth and tailoring, unique in the whole village.
Within a year of entering the Ye household, she had split Ye Cunshan off from the family.
No land, just the dilapidated house left from her late husband.
She claimed the family was too poor to support a scholar, the household too small to feed eight mouths and yet soon after, her daughter was merrily married off.
Who in the village could see it and not shake their head?
And now, Madam Liu had brought such poisonous words straight to her door.
By the time they reached Chen Jinhua’s ears, the rumors had twisted into something even worse.
“Ay, Jinhua, I heard you promised Brother Cheng to your eldest son? Since his family has no one left, you won’t have to ask for a bride price, sure but his father just died. It’s not proper to hold a wedding right now…”
Chen Jinhua raised her hand to cut Liu Auntie off. “What?”
Liu Auntie winked slyly. “Still trying to hide it? This morning, Cunshan already took Brother Cheng into the county to buy things. If they really come back and arrange a marriage, folks will say you, as a stepmother, failed to teach him properly.”
“Brother Cheng! Do you mean that Yun Cheng?” Chen Jinhua asked.
Once she had confirmation, she set down her work, face dark and cold, and marched off to Yun Renyi’s house to stir trouble.
On the other side.
Yun Cheng and Ye Cunshan had boarded an ox cart.
In Jinghe Village, the Ye family was a large clan, and most people were kin one way or another.
The driver today was one of Ye Cunshan’s clan uncles, so the road began with pleasantries and idle chat.
Only when that died down did Yun Cheng finally get a chance to speak with Ye Cunshan.
“I sold my farmland to the village yesterday. Do you want to take it back? The village head said he’d hold it for me a few days. If I regret it, I can buy it again.”
If Ye Cunshan didn’t want it, Yun Cheng would let it go.
He couldn’t farm. The body he’d inherited was born and raised in the village, but weak from being premature and underfed.
At sixteen, he looked no older than a junior high kid, skinny as a bean sprout.
Even if he was willing to learn, he couldn’t raise enough grain to matter. After taxes, a year’s work would be for nothing.
Ye Cunshan could read his thoughts. After last night’s sleep, he was even more certain: this boy intended to cling to him.
He knew why too. He hadn’t been cruel enough to bully him or drive him away by force. Naturally, Yun Cheng had taken it as permission.
“Hold onto it for now. There’s not much work during the slack season,” Ye Cunshan said.
They could think about it next year.
Hearing the trace of concession in his words, Yun Cheng relaxed a little.
He pulled out the pouch of silver scraps from his chest and handed it over. “Take it. I might lose it later.”
Ye Cunshan of course refused. But with YunCheng’s wide, damp eyes fixed on him, his chest felt uncomfortably hot. At last, he grabbed Yun Cheng by the collar, dragging him close.
Under Yun Cheng’s increasingly alarmed gaze, Ye Cunshan deftly undid his coat, stuffed the money bag into the inner pocket near his chest, and tied it back up again.
The spot was right over his heart.
He even patted it firmly. “Keep it on yourself.”
YunCheng sat quietly for a while, cheeks burning. When the heat finally ebbed, he poked Ye Cunshan’s arm and muttered, “You just undressed me. You’ll have to take responsibility.”
The remark brought to Ye Cunshan’s mind the night beforewhen he had cornered Yun Cheng against the wall, pretending to play the rogue just to scare him off.
Sure enough, Yun Cheng had been terrified, eyes wide as bronze bells. And yet, even then, he had clung to his waist.
And now, here he was, blushing and shy.
“Do you even know what ‘undressing’ means?” Ye Cunshan asked dryly.
YunCheng shut his mouth.
Inwardly, though, he wanted to ask: do you even know what being a scholar means?
By the time they reached the county town, the rain had stopped.
Ye Cunshan arranged the return time with his uncle, so they’d have a ride back in the afternoon.
To Yun Cheng, Weixian looked simply like a bigger, slightly more prosperous village.
Because he had crossed into the real past, everything fascinated him. His beautiful apricot-shaped eyes were wide, darting everywhere, full of curiosity like a country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time.
The sight gave Ye Cunshan a headache.
He had already thought finding him work in the county wouldn’t be easy. Now, even if he did, he wouldn’t feel at ease leaving him.
This boy was a complete fool.
He carried money without hiding it, came into town without a hint of caution, treated everyone with simple trust. He’d probably even help count the money if someone sold him off.
Human conscience was fickle. If he really were sold, there’d be no end of trouble.
Thinking this, Ye Cunshan stopped in his tracks and changed direction, heading east.
The small county was neatly laid out, divided into four quarters.
The west was full of hawkers and porters; the east held the county yamen and the academy; the north and south split into rich and poor residential districts.
He had an old classmate there, Du Zhichun, a man fond of mocking and showing off, but easy enough to handle.
With a few self-deprecating remarks and a little flattery, things could usually be settled.
Normally, Ye Cunshan had little patience for him. But Du’s family ran a bookshop, and they had ties to the county magistrate. For this matter, he really would need his help.
On the way, Ye Cunshan gave Yun Cheng a warning:
“His father is a teacher at the academy. Strict rules. He himself is married, so he won’t mess around. If you can stay, the work he assigns you will be light. Mind your manners, and you can even pick up some literacy along the way. That’ll give you another path forward.”
The smaller the place, the rarer the scholars. Everyone was poor, few could afford to educate their children.
In Weixian there was a dock along the canal, the liveliest part of the whole county.
Some couldn’t even pass the basic student exam, but simply being literate let them keep accounts for dockworkers, earning two taels of silver a month.
As he spoke, Ye Cunshan kept sneaking glances at Yun Cheng.
The more he looked, the more unsettled he felt.
In his memories, Yun Cheng had always been a quiet, timid crybaby. The only thing that caught the eye was his face.
But since last night, that impression had shifted. His personality wasn’t so hopeless after all.
Still, he couldn’t even start a fire.
Wanting to make the later introduction smoother, Ye Cunshan asked directly, “Do you know how to do household chores?”
Yun Cheng honestly shook his head, face full of shame. “No…”
In his previous life, he had almost never done any.
Because of his asthma, his family had hired several housekeepers, diligent ones who never allowed dust to settle.
With so many allergies, even his meals were prepared from nutritionist-designed menus.
Now, though he carried the original body’s memories, his hands lagged behind his mind.
Like the night before he had tried to start a fire, followed all the steps, but it just wouldn’t light. He still had no idea what had gone wrong.
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(￣ω￣;) the translator is staring at the coffee button
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · I Shall Go With YouChapter 2 · You Are ResponsibleChapter 3 · Just make A DoChapter 4 · You Have To Hold MeChapter 5 · Live A Good LifeChapter 6 · Meet The ParentsChapter 7 · Lucky for My husbandChapter 8 · ThreatenChapter 9 · Turning Waste paper into NewChapter 10 · New Paper!Chapter 11 · He will look good in thisChapter 12 · Too HonestChapter 13 · Make Him HappyChapter 14 · WorshipChapter 15 · Feeling Sorry for moneyChapter 16 · I’m so reluctant to leave you.Chapter 17 · My feelings for him are no longer pure.Chapter 18 · Thinking about helping him in some wayChapter 19 · Buy one for my husbandChapter 20 · Cause troubleChapter 21 · Aftermath of the incidentChapter 22 · He led him home obediently.Chapter 23 · Why are you hugging me?Chapter 24 Part 1 · Sweet TalkingChapter 24 Part 2 · Sweet TalkingChapter 25 · You are my drean ManChapter 26 · I don’t fall for flirtingChapter 27 Part 1 · Teaching You How to Like MeChapter 27 Part 2 · Teaching You How to Like MeChapter 28 Part 1 · Picking up kid from schoolChapter 28 Part 2 · Picking up kid from schoolChapter 29 Part 1 · I Have a FriendChapter 29 Part 2 · I Have a FriendChapter 30 Part 1 · Pampering My HusbandChapter 30 Part 2 · Pampering My HusbandChapter 31 Part 1 · Don’t compare yourself with othersChapter 31 Part 2 · Don’t compare yourself with othersChapter 32 Part 1 · Come here and kiss me yourselfChapter 32 Part 2 · Come here and kiss me yourselfChapter 33 Part 1 · Let me explainChapter 33 Part 2 · Let me explainChapter 34 Part 1 · Little SecretChapter 34 Part 2 · Little SecretChapter 35 Part 1 · Going to the New Year MarketChapter 35 Part 2 · Going to the New Year MarketChapter 36 Part 1 · Please coax his little husbandChapter 36 Part 2 · Please coax his little husbandChapter 37 Part 1 · I want you to pamper meChapter 37 Part 2 · I want you to pamper meChapter 38 Part 1 · He wants to marry into the family!Chapter 38 Part 2 · He wants to marry into the family!Chapter 39 Part 1 · This is a separate priceChapter 39 Part 2 · This is a separate priceChapter 40 Part 1 · Husband, children, and a warm bedChapter 40 Part 2 · Husband, children, and a warm bedChapter 41 Part 1 · Biting SpringChapter 41 Part 2 · Biting SpringChapter 42 Part 1 · Isn’t managing you the important thing?Chapter 42 Part 2 · Isn’t managing you the important thing?Chapter 43 · Shameless!Chapter 44 Part 1 · Head of the HouseholdChapter 44 Part 2 · Head of the HouseholdChapter 45 · DatingChapter 45 Part 2 · DatingChapter 46 · You Were the One Who Got HookedChapter 47 · I Like Being Looked AfterChapter 48 · A Weighty AffectionChapter 49 · Go On, Say It AgainChapter 50 · There’s plenty of time in the futureChapter 51 · Karma and RetributionChapter 52 · Playing the “Villain”Chapter 53 · I’ll Be Very Gentle!Chapter 54 · Rural RomanceChapter 55 · Don’t CryChapter 56 · Unable to Afford TuitionChapter 57 · Coax MeChapter 58 · Do You Want Me to Keep You Company?Chapter 59 · You’re Not Good EnoughChapter 60 · WoofChapter 61 Part 1 · Are the Words “I Love You” Too Hot for Your Mouth?Chapter 61 Part 2 · Are the Words “I Love You” Too Hot for Your Mouth?Chapter 62 · My skin gets itchy if I don’t take care of it for a day.Chapter 63 · ClingyChapter 64 · Night TalkChapter 65 · Top Scholar TransmigrationChapter 66 · Imperial examinationsChapter 67 · Exams Over!Chapter 68 · You’re making fun of me as soon as you get back?Chapter 69 · Shameless!Chapter 70 · Truly unbelievableChapter 71 · One taelChapter 72 · Did you draw one for my brother?Chapter 73 · Bad LuckChapter 74 · Look like youChapter 75 · You’re so clingyChapter 76 · Careful your elder brother doesn’t beat you upChapter 77 · If you’re going to hit me, then just hit meChapter 78 · Cheng GegeChapter 79 · Thank you, DidiChapter 80 · Poor scholars from humble backgrounds usually have strong prideChapter 81 · Twenty two?Chapter 82 · Have you started preparing a new book yet?Chapter 83 · We’re PoorChapter 84 · I Still can’t believeChapter 85 Part 1 · But What happened in the end?Chapter 85 Part 2 · But What happened in the End?Chapter 86 · I’m a little kidChapter 87 · The person in this painting is my younger brotherChapter 88 · Yun Xiaocheng Even Has This SkillChapter 89 Part 1 · Preparations Before DepartureChapter 89 Part 2 · Preparations Before DepartureChapter 90 Part 1 · On the Road, a Transitional ChapterChapter 90 Part 2 · On the Road, a Transitional ChapterChapter 91 Part 1 · NarrativeChapter 91 Part 2 · NarrativeChapter 92 · Narrative, transitional chapterChapter 93 · Make you happyChapter 94 Part 1 · Burial and AdmonitionChapter 94 Part 2 · Burial and AdmonitionChapter 95 · Song Jin said she was very good to Cheng HuilanChapter 96 · She has a good older brother.Chapter 97 · Simplicity is the bestChapter 98 · HomecomingChapter 99 Part 1 · Going homeChapter 99 Part 2 · Going HomeChapter 100 Part 1 · AugustChapter 100 Part 2 · AugustChapter 101 Part 1 · How come you’re pregnant but still have such a slim waist?Chapter 101 Part 2 · How come you’re pregnant but still have such a slim waist?Chapter 102 · This is the love you have for me.Chapter 103 Part 1 · SeptemberChapter 103 Part 2 · SeptemberChapter 103 Part 3 · SeptemberChapter 104 Part 1 · Ye Xiaoshan, you’re so shamelessChapter 104 Part 2 · Ye Xiaoshan, you’re so shamelessChapter 105 · Ye Xiaoshan, what are you doing?Chapter 106 Part 1 · Daily lifeChapter 106 Part 2 · Daily lifeChapter 107 · The novel has many plotsChapter 108 Part 1 · Daily life + novel plotChapter 108 Part 2 · Daily life + novel plotChapter 109 · Monthly Exams and Daily RoutineChapter 110 · Mainly exams