Because both sides were intentionally cooperating, the atmosphere between them remained relaxed and friendly.
Lin Qu knew his reputation in the village might not be the best. While many sympathized with him and recognized the validity of his grievances, others saw his repeated attempts to fight for himself as unruly and making a fuss over nothing. After all, his status was merely that of a young ge’er. Many were unwilling to marry off their sons to such a troublesome wife.
Aware of this, Lin Qu didn’t want Xu Qiu to have the same impression of him. Seizing the moment, he explained himself: “Actually, I don’t want to be this noisy every time. If I could live a peaceful life, who wouldn’t want that? But you’ve likely heard about the situation in my family. Sometimes they go too far, and that’s the only reason I act that way. I’m not someone who enjoys picking fights; usually, I just endure it. I don’t necessarily demand things to be perfectly fair with everyone.”
“After all, human nature is always biased, but when it becomes too biased, that’s when it’s wrong.”
Xu Qiu nodded in agreement.
After speaking, Lin Qu looked at Xu Qiu with a hint of embarrassment. “I was actually talking about my third uncle and aunt. Is it inappropriate to say these things in front of you?”
Although he said that, Lin Qu didn’t truly feel that way. He knew that although Lin Qiong was Xu Qiu’s long-term betrothed, Xu Qiu didn’t actually like him. This was entirely expected; with Lin Qiong’s personality, no one in the village dared to marry him. Xu Qiu had simply had the misfortune of being betrothed to him since childhood and couldn’t shake him off. Secretly, everyone thought Lin Qiong was incredibly lucky.
Lin Qu desperately wanted Xu Qiu to despise Lin Qiong even more; ideally, he wanted him to hate Lin Qiong enough to dissolve the engagement immediately. Given his resentment toward the third branch of the Lin family, how could he possibly be happy about Lin Qiong marrying the person he loved?
He continued, “Actually, although Third Uncle and Third Aunt are lazy and unwilling to work, maybe they will change once you marry Lin Qiong?” He sounded hesitant. “After all, they love Lin Qiong so much. When you marry, if your health prevents you from doing heavy labor, they probably won’t want Lin Qiong to do it either, so they might help you out. Even though they haven’t really done much work over the past dozen years, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?”
Everyone in the village knew that Xu Qiu would be responsible for supporting the third branch of the Lin family after marrying Lin Qiong. Zhao, being the boastful person she was, certainly wouldn’t keep such a thing secret. She flaunted it every other day. Even though she only had one ge’er, she had someone to support her in old age.
While that was the logic, it felt strange to Xu Qiu. He hesitated but decided to speak up: “Lin Qiong and I have already dissolved our engagement.”
“Ah!” Lin Qu’s eyes lit up suddenly, staring intently at Xu Qiu. “What did you just say?”
Xu Qiu felt a bit uncomfortable under his intensely bright gaze. Seeing this, Lin Qu hurried to rein in his emotions. “I… I was just shocked. How did you manage to dissolve the engagement?”
Generally, once a marriage was finalized, it wouldn’t be dissolved unless something major occurred. It was bad for the reputation of both families, and messy cancellations could easily turn the two families into bitter enemies.
He asked with a cheerful tone, “Did something happen? Wouldn’t Lady Li have objections? I remember she was very fond of Lin Qiong.”
Could it be that Xu Qiu had initiated the breakup himself? There hadn’t been any rumors in the village about this. Was it possible that Xu Qiu’s mother disagreed and they were still at a stalemate? That would make sense.
Previously, Lin Qiong had claimed both families intended to hold the wedding this year. Since Xu Qiu had never liked Lin Qiong, it would be normal for him to reach his limit and break it off at the last minute.
“If Lady Li doesn’t agree, actually, I once saw Lin Qiong acting intimately with a man exiled here. It’s just that he’s my cousin, and our relationship has always been poor; we didn’t catch him in the act, so no one would believe me even if I spoke up. That’s why I never told anyone.”
“If you really want to dissolve the engagement, you could observe him. No matter how close your mother is with the third branch, she wouldn’t insist on you marrying such a ge’er,” Lin Qu said, maintaining a composed facade.
Xu Qiu’s mouth twitched. He really wanted to say, “Your schadenfreude is way too obvious.” The joy was already spilling onto his face. And I haven’t even told you why we broke it off, yet here you are, pinning the blame on Lin Qiong! He didn’t believe for a second that Lin Qiong would have any truly intimate interactions with an exiled man.
He had read the plot; the interactions between Lin Qiong and Gu Chenxiao were characterized by appropriate distance. Before Lin Qiong snatched the marriage, the two hadn’t even held hands. They only felt a mutual psychological attraction. Lin Qiong liked Gu Chenxiao’s type, not a weakling like himself.
Actually, Lin Qu hadn’t seen Lin Qiong being overly intimate with another man at that moment; they had been at a normal distance. It was just that Lin Qu felt something was off. He sensed that Lin Qiong’s enthusiasm toward Xu Qiu had recently waned, and he seemed quite interested in that man.
Originally, he had planned to observe for a while longer and act when the opportunity arose, but he hadn’t expected Xu Qiu and Lin Qiong to have already canceled the engagement! His heart was thundering with excitement; he felt like he could sprout wings and fly to the heavens.
Xu Qiu replied, “There’s no need. It was my mother who proposed the breakup; we just haven’t decided on an excuse to tell the public yet.”
Lin Qu stared at him with eyes full of curiosity.
Xu Qiu: “”
Xu Qiu had no choice but to continue: “My mother accidentally overheard Lin Qiong’s parents speaking poorly of me. They think my health is poor and that I might not live long, so…”
His words were cut off by Lin Qu, who looked furious. “How could you not live long! Your health is just fine. It’s just the environment here that’s bad, making you prone to colds. You will certainly live a long and healthy life!”
Xu Qiu froze, feeling an indescribable sensation in his chest.
He smiled and said, “It’s fine. I don’t take those words to heart. I’ve been hearing them since childhood; it’s nothing.”
Looking at Xu Qiu’s gentle smile, Lin Qu felt pained. “Your health will be fine. We don’t have good doctors here, but if you go to the capital in the future, I hear the doctors there are amazing, they will definitely be able to heal you.”
Xu Qiu couldn’t resist touching his cheek, suddenly feeling that this wasn’t something he should have done.
Lin Qu was stunned, his entire face turning bright red as he dodged his gaze.
Xu Qiu quickly pulled his hand back, eyes darting everywhere, until he accidentally glanced down and met two pairs of wide, clear eyes. Lin Qu’s two younger brothers were chewing on candy, staring at the two of them with unblinking gazes.
Xu Qiu: “”
Lin Qu soon realized the situation and hurriedly waved his hand. “Go away, what are you staring at?”
Xu Qiu couldn’t stay any longer. Awkwardly, he said, “I’ll head back first. I’ll bring you dinner tonight; my mother said she’d have me deliver your meals for the next few days.”
Lin Qu whispered, “Okay.”
Xu Qiu hurried away.
Actually, the reason he told Lin Qu about the dissolved engagement wasn’t to string him along or make him want to marry him more. It was because he feared that if Lin Qu remained ignorant, he would follow the plot of the book, scheming to fall into the water or create some accidental physical intimacy to force them into marriage.
Now that he had told him, Lin Qu wouldn’t have to resort to such measures out of resentment toward Lin Qiong. After all, since Lin Qu liked him, if things went well, he wouldn’t do such a thing just to avoid making Xu Qiu hate him for being forced into marriage… right?
But now, he had actually touched the young ge’er’s cheek. Xu Qiu was speechless at his own idiotic behavior. Even for a stranger, that gesture would be extremely ambiguous, let alone for someone who already liked him. Wasn’t he just adding fuel to the fire?
Xu Qiu walked home quickly. Seeing him return, Lady Li asked, “How did it go? Is Qu-ge’er okay?”
“He’s doing fine.” Xu Qiu ducked into his room, wanting to pretend that nothing had happened.
As time passed, Xu Qiu delivered dinner to Lin Qu in the afternoon. They didn’t say much, and Xu Qiu left immediately after dropping off the food.
Around midnight, a scream pierced the air in the village.
A cacophony of cursing came from the Lin family next door, and candles and torches were lit. The commotion grew louder and showed no signs of stopping.
The Xu family was woken up. Lying in bed, Xu Qiu listened to the noise outside. It seemed people from nearby houses had also gone over to the Lin house, and his mother had gotten up to see what was happening. He lay there for a while, but since he was already awake, he gave up on sleeping and got out of bed.
In the room, his father was still sleeping, but his two brothers were already in the courtyard.
“In the middle of the night, what’s going on over there?” Xu Qiu asked.
His eldest brother said, “Lin Qiong’s mother fell into the latrine.”
Because Lin Qiong used to visit their house often to look for Xu Qiu, the two brothers were more familiar with him, so they referred to Zhao as “Lin Qiong’s mother.”
“Huh?” Xu Qiu said in disbelief. “Fell into the latrine?”
“Yeah,” his second brother replied, his voice barely suppressing a laugh.
Xu Qiu commented, “That’s awfully careless of her.”
His second brother added, “Maybe not. Lin Qiong’s mother has been shouting that someone pushed her, and now she’s making a scene over there, insisting that Lin Qu was the one who pushed her.”
Xu Qiu was silent for a moment. Fine, I believe it’s highly possible.