CH 6

“Uh! Thank you”

Xu Qing, who was finally pulled back to reality by Aunty Xie‘s voice, hurriedly got dressed, combed his messy hair, and ran out bracing the cold morning breeze.

As soon as Xu Qing open the courtyard door, he saw Aunty Xie, who was dressed in Tsing Yi (T/N: a Chinese clothing style) standing in front of the door with the vegetable basket he sent last night. He noticed that the hem of Aunty Xie‘s clothes was still a little damp. He came so early that the clothes were wet by the grass covered with morning dew on the side of the road.

“Come in Aunty Xie. Is something wrong?”

Xu Qing was a little embarrassed; he scratched his messy head, pulled Aunty Xie into the house, and carefully looked at the sky outside. It’s just after 6 o’clock in the morning. Aunty Xie came so early; he didn’t know what was going on.

“Oh, it’s nothing serious. Come and sit nice to aunt.” Aunty Xie looked at the appearance of Xu Qing who hasn’t had time to even properly dress and knew that he just got out of bed.

“Brother Qing, I say, where did you get this rabbit meat? Don’t try to lie, be honest with me.”

Xu Qing, who originally looked at the basket and thought that Aunty Xie was just coming to return it, saw the rabbit meat inside, and his eyes suddenly bulged.

“Why? You tell me. I couldn’t figure out how you got this delicacy from the mounting and the sea. I won’t be able to eat it if I don’t know the truth.” Aunty Xie, who was talking seriously, said more, “You don’t know, when your uncle and I opened the basket and saw it was rabbit eat, we were very shocked. It’s been so many years since your father passed away, we have not received such rabbit meat. Let alone the portion is not small. So tell me.”

Although the common people live and work in peace and contentment, their lives are still very difficult. This amount of rabbit meat can be sold for 30 coppers a catty in the town. If someone is lucky to catch it, not everyone can eat it. Aunty Xie cannot eat it casually like Xu Qing, but sell it in the town and save some money for his family in case of emergency.

[Please read from Hololo Novels]

“Oh, I was lucky enough to catch it in the mountain yesterday and I couldn’t finish it by myself so, I give you and uncle to have a taste.” Xu Qing finally figured out the whole story so, he vaguely talked about the origin of the rabbit. He didn’t lie though; he just omitted some information.

“You entered the mountain? You hunted it yourself?” Aunty Xie’s expression was of shock. “Are you kidding me?” Aunty Xie asked again.

It made Xu Qing a little confused, “Yes, it was me. What’s the matter?”

Aunty Xie, with a serious expression, looked at Xu Qing’s messy hair and unkempt appearance. He then carefully looked at Xu Qing’s small face full of red bumps, umm, it’s still the same person.

“Hey, brother Qing, the pimples on your face don’t seem to be that red anymore.” Aunty Xie, who discovered this phenomenon, called out in surprise.

Xu Qing stretched out his fingers and touched the red bumps on his face following Aunty Xie’s words, “Well, they are a little less than before.”

The spring water has already exhausted the toxins accumulated on his face for many years. Even if he doesn’t need to wash his face in the future with the spring water, as long as he doesn’t eat too much spicy food, he will be fine after a while. So, he is more excited than Aunty Xie to discover this phenomenon. But, compared to Aunty Xie, he was much calmer.

Aunty Xie was so happy that he didn’t even realize it. In his eyes, as long as brother doesn’t have those scary red bumps on his face, he would look much better than other gers in the village. You should know that when brother was young, he looked the most outstanding in the entire village; no worse than others.

“By the way, I almost forgot. Brother Qing, I’m asking you. Tell me honestly.” After calming down, Aunty Xie didn’t forget what he came to ask in the first place.

“You, this rabbit, did someone give it to you? Huh?” Aunty Xie asked Xu Qing in a mysterious and gossipy tone.

Xu Qing was even more stunned. He had not taken into Aunty Xie‘s thoughts at all. “No, I went to the mountain to hunt yesterday afternoon. No one gave it to me. Besides, except you and uncle in this village, no one likes to give me things.”

Seeing Xu Qing who didn’t understand what he was trying to say, Aunty Xie was a little awkward. It’s also a bit unreasonable for someone his age and a young ger who has not yet married to talk about these things. Aunty Xie just decided to be straightforward and say it out.  

“Ah, what aunty means is that … do you have someone you like?”

After listening to Aunty Xie’s words, Xu Qing was chocked by his own saliva. “Cough, cough, cough.”

“What are you talking about? How could it be?” Xu Qing‘s face turned into the color of a lobster in an instant, “I really hunted it myself. I went inside the mountain and used my father’s bow and arrow. No, look. It’s still hanging on the wall. If you don’t believe me, look at it yourself. I wiped it clean before I used it yesterday.”

[Please read from Hololo Novels]

In order to prove that he wasn’t lying, the poor child hurriedly jumped up, grabbed the bow and arrow hung on the wall in front of Aunty Xie, and showed him the clean bowl.

Aunty Xie looked at it with suspicion, “You really want inside the mountain yesterday afternoon?”

“Yes, yes, I did.”

“Ok, you are really good. A ger dares to enter the mountain by himself huh?” Aunty Xie stressed out his hand and pinched Xu Qing’s ear, who was still proving his innocence, and shouted loudly.

Ugh, he really couldn’t hide from others. Xu Qing’s face wrinkled like a chrysanthemum in pain, “Ahh, I was wrong. I was wrong. Please.”

“Will you go again, huh?”

“Won’t go. Won’t go again.”

As soon as Aunty Xie let go, Xu Qing immediately reached out and rubbed the ear that Aunty Xie just pinched. How could this person be so strong?

“Really? You know, you’re a ger. Running into the mountain alone, I don’t know if it is …” Aunty Xie paused, “You’re the last descent of the Xu family.”

Xu Qing stopped rubbing his ear, walked to Aunty Xie‘s side, and pulled him to sit down, “I know. Thank you, aunt.”

“Ok, let’s not talk about this anymore. That’ll be it from now on. I also want to remind you that you’re almost 21 in two months. Tell me, what are your thoughts?”

Xu Qing looked at Aunty Xie who suddenly thought of the official marriage arrangement. Xu Qing had no idea about such things at all.

“What’s wrong with being 21? I don’t want to marry anyone.” If he was to get married, he has to see the person first and like the other before anything else. Xu Qing thought arrogantly.

“Oh, so you want to recruit a husband. That’s not bad either; Xu family name can be retained then. You are still thoughtful.” Aunty Xie really didn’t expect Xu Qing to think of recruiting a husband. He was worried. What would happen to Xu family’s fields and the house after brother Qing gets married? It seems he doesn’t have to worry about these things now. 

Xu Qing could almost stuff an egg inside his wide-open mouth. Aunty Xie looked at Xu Qing’s expression and knew that he thought wrong. His face darkened a little bit, “Do you mean neither marrying nor recruiting?” Before Xu Qing could reply, he was even more shocked by what Aunty Xie said afterwards, “Don’t you know that if you’re not married by 21, you will be matched by the officials on your 21st birthday? The men matched by the officials are either old bachelors or good-for-nothings. If you marry this kind of person, you’ll be ruined for a life time.”

[Please read from Hololo Novels]

OFFICIAL MATCH??? Dammit! Who the hell set such a perverted rule? Xu Qing only felt thousands of horses ran past in his heart. 

See Xu Qing’s sad expression, Aunty Xie instantly felt distressed. After all, he is still a child. Even if he is 21, his body looks like that of 15 or 16 years old.

“Alright, don’t be too afraid. I asked someone to quietly looked into the situation yesterday. The men who just came back from the military are the most sought after every year. Tell aunty, what kind you like? I will look for one.”

Xu Qing lowered his head and fell silent. He did a lot of calculations, but he didn’t realize that there were such things in this world. Forget it, in fact, it is quite lonely to be all by himself.

“I want to recruit.” Xu Qing looked up at Aunty Xie and said firmly, “He must be a few years older than me. Must never married before.” He has a feeling of cleanliness (T/N: it was literally written like that in the raws).

“Must have good temper,” otherwise how could they get along?

“Must have a technical skill.” You can’t just eat plain rice.

“And have an appearance I like …”

“Stop, stop!” Aunty Xie was a little dizzy, “I can understand what you said earlier, but this appearance thing … what do you like then?”  

Xu Qing was stunned. What he liked? He was still single in his previous life, and he has never even dated before. “Anyway, it has to be someone pleasing to my eyes,” Xu Qing, who was blushing and rubbing his neck, stammered distortedly.

Aunty Xie was happy. He was afraid Xu Qing was waiting until officially matched by the officials. This time he can proceed with confidence. 

“Alright. Then I’m leaving. There are corn buns I made this morning in the basket. Eat when they’re still hot. I’ll make sure to pick a good one for you.”

Xu Qing was no longer ashamed when he heard that Aunty Xie was leaving. He grabbed the basket and stuffed it in Aunty Xie‘s hand, “If you don’t accept the rabbit meat, I won’t recruit.”

“What are you talking about? Ok, ok, didn’t I say that I haven’t had rabbit meat in years? If it wasn’t for not knowing the origin of the meat, your uncle and I would have finished it paired with a drink long ago. Thank you. Now go away. Don’t send me off. Go wash and clean up. Just wait for the good news.”