CH 76

Back to the Countryside

Chapter 76 : 寻来

[Seek for and coming over]

Because of the cold weather, people in Gu Shui Village rarely go out and walk around, it seemed that the village was extremely quiet and uninhabited. 

“I’m afraid, this is not an empty village, right?” Yun Su put down his hand holding the curtain of the carriage. His eyebrows were tied into a knot,  “As far as my eyes can see, I can’t even see a shadow of a person. Is there really someone living here?”

“The cold weather and frozen ground everywhere, people naturally stay at home and will not come out to wander. In these past years aren’t you also the same?” Shen Juming’s gaze did not leave from the scrolls, he only raised the corner of his mouth and thought it was funny. 

Seeing him focus on his own, Yun Su discontenly glared at him, the person who lowered his head and read the book however did not see him so Yun Su reached out and pressed his book down, “Do not look at it again! Now there is no one here, who are we going to ask for directions?”

“Who said there is no one?” Disturbed by him, Shen Juming also stopped reading. He looked sideways towards the car, “Someone is already here!”

After hearing what he said, Yun Su lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw a middle-aged man picking up a load of water on his shoulder, one foot deep and one foot shallow, walking to this side, stepping on the snow on the ground ‘gē zhī gē zhī’  (creaking) sound, no wonder he could hear the movement.

“You stay here, I’ll go down and ask.” Shen Juming put his book into the small drawer in the carriage and stretched out his body to let the driver stop the carriage, and jumped down nimbly. 

The middle-aged man saw him and stopped his step, looked up and down a few times, with a clear surprise on his face.

Shen Juming faced him and arched his hand in greeting and asked, “May I ask this uncle, is there a person named Qi Yue living in this village?”

Hearing his question, He Tian frowned.

This rich and nobly dressed gentleman was a friend of Qi Yue? He secretly sighed in his heart, if it were not for there had been so many wicked tricks had been used, he would have been able to say proudly that he was his nephew in law, right? How dignified it would be to get involved with such a person! As for now, he could only hope to be treated as a passerby and not to mention himself in front of him, “There is such a person.”

Shen Juming’s heart was happy, he did not expect that Shi Xiong was really here so he immediately said: “Can you tell me where his house is?”

“Turn north at the fork on the road ahead, the fifth one with the greenish black brick house in front of you, that’s it!” He Tian lifted his frozen hand and pointed the direction to him, without waiting for him to ask anything else, he picked the water and hurriedly went away.

Why was he in such a hurry? Shen Juming took a puzzled look at his back, thinking he was a bit strange. However, he only thought about it and did not pay much attention to it anymore. Perhaps that uncle’s family was in a hurry to use the water.

“How is it? Have you inquired about it?” Before he returned to the carriage, Yun Su already stared at him and asked, “Is Shi Xiong here?”

Shen Juming told the driver the address first, only then he got into the carriage and said to him, “There is indeed a person named Qi Yue living here, mostly (in 8 or 9 cases out of 10) it is Shi Xiong.”

“He is really here?” Yun Su was also in a joyful mood. After working so hard all the way, it was not a waste of effort, “After all, to what extent he took things so hard that he chose such a small and remote village to settle down!”

“If you do not want to be disturbed, this place is indeed quite good!” Although the place was remote, it had a pleasant country scenery, if you compare it to those bustling cities; it was much better here, at least he did not have to pay attention to those turmoil mundane worlds. 

“Then we came to his house so rashly, will Shī Xiōng get angry ah?” Close to the front door, only then Yun Su began to feel weak. He had always been fearless, fearing nothing in Heaven or Earth, but only afraid of the ‘all day along, the smiling Shī Xiōng’. Having a good temper, that was all a facade, since his methods of punishing people were in an inexhaustible variety!1层出不穷 céng chū bù qióng : more and more emerge / innumerable succession / emerge in an endless stream; be continuing without end; come out in an unending flow; come out thick and fast [one after another]; emerge one after another]

“Only now you know to be afraid, isn’t it a little too late?” Shen Juming knew what was in his mind when he looked at his flickering gaze, “When you’re making a fuss about coming with me, you should think deeply about it first!”

Yun Su clutched tightly his hand-warmer and shrunken his body without saying anything. This foolish man who only knew how to study, completely did not understand what he thought about in his heart? He endured the cold to come here and yet he did not understand his reason at all! 

The carriage soon stopped in front of a courtyard, the two people got out of the carriage and raised their heads to look at it up and down. Their heart was slightly comforted, at least the place where he lived was much better than those mud houses in the village. Shī Xiōng still treated himself well.

Shen Juming step forward, knocked on the door and waited for a long time but no one answered, just when he was about to knock on the door once again. The sound of footsteps came from inside the door, which seemed to be very slow and somewhat heavy. He frowned, ‘Shī Xiōng, could it be that you are injured?’

But nowadays, there are just a very few people in Jianghu who can hurt Shī Xiōng, let alone in this small village. If this was not the case, then they were looking for the wrong person. Did this person just have the same name as Shī Xiōng?

“Who is it?”

Before he could ponder about it clearly, an unfamiliar voice rang out from inside the door. The other party was very careful not to open the door directly.

“Does Qi Yue live here?” Shen Juming asked in a clear voice, adding some words after some thought, “We are his old friends.

The person inside did not utter any words for a long time and then they heard him remove the door bolt, the tightly closed wooden door was pulled open, revealing a thickly wrapped ger with a beautiful and alluring face full of curiosity and confusion.

Shen Juming and Yun Su were stunned at the same time, but did not expect that in such a countryside to have such a good-looking ger. They were only surprised for a moment, before then came back to their senses. After all, they have seen a lot of remarkably beautiful people, the person in front of them was not the most outstanding one.

He Ling was also looking at these two people up and down, looking at their luxurious clothes and appearance, he was a little nervous in his heart, precisely at this kind of time, Xiang Gong was not here. 

It should be because the weather was too cold, the village chief’s grandson caught a cold and had a fever. Feng Zheng was so anxious and all sweaty when he came to their house and invited Qi Yue to come over. After all, in this cold weather, Doctor Li was old, ‘the full of snow road’ was not easy to walk on. 

Before leaving, the other party warned him again and again to stay well in the house and not to come out and walk around. Although the snow in the yard had been cleared, there was also a layer of frost. He was going to be heartbroken if he accidentally slipped or fell.

When he heard the knock on the door, he was sitting in the hall room roasting something on the stove and embroidering something. As one wishes, his husband had ordered him not to move randomly, since he could not ignore it, he could only move over carefully step by step.

Xu Hua and the others usually directly  shouted at the front door when they came to the house, but this time there was only a knock on the door. He was the only one at home and with his body’s condition which was not convenient, so he asked some questions first.

Who would have thought that the other side would say they were Xiang Gong’s old friends? After a moment of hesitation, he still opened the door. If they were really his old friends, people came all the way here. Moreover, the weather was still so cold, he could not always keep them standing outside ba! 

“Is this Qi Yue’s house?” Shen Juming saw a ger come out, his heart was more in doubt, he cupped both of his hands in greeting and confirmed it again.

These two people gave him a really similar feeling to Qi Yue when he just first knew Qi Yue. Their outstanding presence was out of place with this village. He Ling nodded as he held the door, “It’s here, you guys know him?”

“Exactly! We have known each other for many years.” Shen Juming faintly looked behind him, it did not seem like there was still people, “He is now…”

The two of them did not look like bad people; that ger seemed to be very cold. His nose was red from the cold wind. He Ling then pulled the door open some more, moved aside to make way and said: “You guys come in first and sit down, Xiang Gong go out and he will be back very soon.”

The two people who had already raised their feet and planned to go inside stopped moving and raised their heads at the same time to look at him and cried out: “What did you say?”

He Ling looked at their exactly the same expressions and was dumbfounded, ‘Did he say something wrong?’

Seemingly realizing that he was a bit rude, Shen Juming coughed lightly and set his face straight, “Sorry, we get a bit excited. Just now, you said Xiang Gong?”

He Ling suddenly somehow understood something. He and Xiang Gong’s marriage matter, they surely didn’t know about it, therefore that was why they were so surprised, he nodded a bit shyly, “We’ve been married for almost half a year.”

That was how long he had been missing, wasn’t it? Shen Juming and Yun Su looked at each other and at the same time they saw the word ‘unbelievable’ on the other party’s face. They couldn’t help but wonder once again, was this Qi Yue really their Shī Xiōng?

“Uh, are you guys going to keep standing here?” Seeing that they seemed to be in deep thought, He Ling couldn’t help but remind them and said, “The weather is cold, why don’t we go inside first?”

Hearing his words, Yun Su couldn’t help but shiver. He felt that he had a point, they couldn’t keep freezing here while at the same time he was giving Xiao Yu Heng a mark in his heart, no wonder that guy said we will be shocked when we come but when we asked him what it was, he kept us in suspense and refused to say, so that’s how it is!

When He Ling took them in, he walked very carefully and the speed was very slow. Only then, both of them found out that he seemed to be pregnant. The other side wore a lot of clothes so previously they actually were not even aware of it. 

They exchanged another look, Yun Su stretched out his hand that had been hidden under the fox-fur robe and held his own arm and said, “Let me help you walk then!”

No matter what, if this person was really their Shi Xiong’s Fu Lang then the child he conceived in his belly was Shi Xiong’s child so they also must not let this person fall down.

With support on his arm, He Ling felt a lot more at ease while walking. He turned his face sideways and smiled, “Thanks a lot.”

The door of the hall was hung with a heavy and thick cotton curtain. Inside, the stove was lit and very warm. As soon as Yun Su entered the room, he felt like coming to life and breathed a long sigh of relief.

There was a small earthenware pot simmering on the stove, inside was the boiled white fungus and lotus seed soup Qi Yue made for him so he could drink some, when he craved for delicious food. He Ling served two bowls and put them in front of them and said, “Drink it to warm your body!”

The taste of the soup was already good, and a bowl of it at a time when the body was cold, even as picky as Yun Su, he also drank a mouthful of it to warm his body, he then felt a lot more comfortable.

For a while, He Ling used the stick in the stove to pull it, and a baked sweet potato rolled out of it. He wrapped it in a handkerchief and broke it open. The sweet smell immediately entered his nose as he handed it to them,”Be careful, it’s hot!”

Yun Su grew up with brocade garments and jade meals, living a luxurious life. He had never eaten the roasted sweet potato. That thing smelled good, but the outer skin was roasted in black colour. He did not know if it would taste good or not, but it was also not good to refuse it so he received it. Seeing Shen Juming eat it, he took a small bite too, immediately his eyes lit up, it tasted sweet and hot, it was really good to eat it at this kind of time. 

Seeing that they did not dislike it, He Ling was relieved. He was now pregnant so Qi Yue made a lot of such snacks for him to eat. Giving it to entertain guests, he was still afraid that they would not like it.

Staying in a warm room, drinking soup and eating sweet potatoes, Yun Su felt sweat coming out of his body so he took off the fox-fur robe that had been wrapped around his body and put it on the side. He had a few good feelings about the person he had just met for the first time. 

Looking at his appearance, he knew that he was in a good mood, Shen Juming smiled, then he put his attention on He Ling and said: ” This humble one name is Shen Juming. He is called Yun Su. We have known Shi … Qi Yue for many years. This time we especially came to look for him. I hope we don’t disturb you.”

Without being sure of the identity of the other party and Shi Xiong’s wishes therefore he still decided not to say too much.

“Not at all, this is the first time friends of Xiang Gong have come. My name is He Ling. You guys can call me Ling Ge’er.” He Ling felt that Xiang Gong’s friend had the same general poise as him and was still quite good to interact with.

“We separated from him more than half a year ago. Has he always been in this village?” Although his heart was already sure that he was here, he still could not help to confirm it once more.

He Ling touched his stomach and nodded slightly, “Xiang Gong came here in the spring and has not left since then.”

Now the time was basically correct, Shen Juming heart no longer in doubt, his Shi Xiong was truly always beyond people’s expectations , not only living in seclusion here, but also married a Fu Lang. 

Although this ger from all aspects, also counted match well with his Shi Xiong but there were actually many better options than him. Shi Xiong’s way of thinking always made them unable to guess it.