CH 8

“No, since he married my third brother, I stopped thinking about him. It’s already been so many years.” Li Changfeng drank another cup of wine; “I hope they would live comfortably. How can I still think of other stuff?”

In the second year of his military service, he got a letter from his third brother saying that he and his ex-fiancée, who had not yet passed through the door, got married. What good was it to even tell him that? He spent the whole year constantly keeping himself busy. He took all the chores that others didn’t want to do. All just to prevent himself from thinking about things.

In the third year, he continued to work hard and gradually calmed down. The peacefulness in his heart made him realize that he had already let go and forgiven his brother and his former lover. Two years later, without any distractions, he returned to the village. He, the person who was the most wronged, was not received well. His third brother quarreled to split the family, and the reason was that he felt Li Changfeng still have feelings for Wang Li.

When butcher Liu heard the answer he wanted, and he put down the stone in his heart. He picked up the wine jar and filled Li Changfeng’s cup again. The wine was not too strong so, he was not afraid that they would drink too much.

“I’m not gonna hide it from you’” butcher Liu stretched his neck and looked at the place where his wife was. After making sure that there was no one, he approached Li Changfeng and said, “someone asked your aunt Liu to see if you were willing to be a recruited husband.”

Li Changfeng didn’t really expect this was the case, “Me? Recruited?”

“Yes, are you willing? If you are interested, I will tell you who that person is.” Butcher Liu shrank back and took a sip of his drink.

“I’ll tell you a little bit; it’s someone from the village next door.”

Li Changfeng was a little moved. He was already 25 this year. If it hasn’t been for the military service, he would have been married.

A man who has reached the age of 24 has to accept the match assigned by the government. Since he was in the military, he could delay getting married for half a year after returning to his hometown. Moreover, in the village next door, no one would be talking about their family’s affairs at all. He could live peacefully, and his family would be more comfortable.

“I am willing. If the other party is OK with it, we can things started as soon as I separate from the family.”

“Then what do you want to know about that person? Huh? Don’t speak foreign words to uncle and just say it straight.”

Li Changfeng isn’t a person who doesn’t know what is good or bad, “I’m a stupid person. I don’t know much. As long as the other person has good character and not lazy.”

Butcher Liu thought about Xu Qing‘s face and hurriedly  asked, “What about the appearance? Are there any requirements?”

“No!”

Li Changfeng’s answer was so quick that butcher Liu couldn’t even react.

Li Changfeng thought that butcher Liu didn’t understand so, he explained “as long as they are good in nature, even the ugliness will make you feel comfortable. What good is it if they look good but have bad character?”

After listening to Butcher Liu, Li Changfeng felt that this was the reason. Brother Wang was also one of the best looking gers in the village, but he was not…

“Let me tell you, I know him. He’s a generous person and does things neatly, but he has some pimples on his face, which is a bit obtrusive, but he is really good. He’s already 20 this year but hasn’t gotten married because of those red bumps. And there are no elders in the family so, he wants to recruit someone for support.”

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“Uncle Liu is talking about brother Qing from Xingfu village?”

Butcher Liu was shocked, “how do you know? Or have you heard others calling him the ugly ger?”

Li Changfeng shook his head, “I’ve never seen him before but, I heard about him from my younger brother at home.” At that time, he also taught his younger brother not to spread those reputation damaging words like others do. He just didn’t expect the person to be him.

“Then, are you still willing?” Butcher Liu asked nervously. Second Li wouldn’t become unwilling and back out, right?

“I am willing, but I will have to wrong him. I am separating from the family, and I don’t have much savings.”

“Hey, what’s the matter? As long as you are sincere, your life will get better sooner or later.”

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Xu Qing just fed the piglet in the morning, and when he was about to go to the mountains again, Aunty Xie came.

“Come here. I found someone for you. He’s from the Li family of my natal village. His name is Li Changfeng. He is 25 this year. He had a marriage contract before, but it was canceled due to military service. If you are satisfied, I will continue. If you are not, we can also continue looking. I won’t waste time and look for another one immediately.” Aunty Xie looked at Xu Qing.  This is Xu Qing’s own life event, and he has to decide for himself. Xu Qing thought for a while. Those in the village next door probably didn’t know the original owner. Even if they did, it wouldn’t matter too much since they live far from each other. And the age, he thought it was fine. “OK, then we can continue to talk about it.”

Aunty Xie immediately smiled and said, “he is the second child in the family; he has an elder brother, and two younger brothers. Except for the youngest and himself, everyone else is already married. He also listened to your situation and said that as long as you don’t dislike him for not having much, it’s OK.”

Hearing that, Xu Qing was a little moved. Aunty Xie hurriedly explained what Li Changfeng said to Xu Qing, as well as the reasons why Li Changfeng was separating from his family. After all, you cannot hide such matters, lest there be any misunderstanding in the future.

“Can I see him secretly?” Xu Qing had a good first impression of Li Changfeng after hearing Aunty Xie’s description, but he still wanted to see him with his own eyes.

“I knew you’d want to see him.” Aunty Xie said proudly, “so I let Li Changfeng help butcher Liu drive the piglets to the market tomorrow. Early morning, we’ll go near Liu’s shop where we bought the piglet last time and take a look from a distance. If you like him, let the matchmaker officially go to the door for the marriage and then, you both can meet each other.”

Traditionally, in order to recruit a husband, the wife-to-be has to find a matchmaker who will go to the man’s house and ask for the marriage.  When other person gives consent, the two can meet in private and determine the date of the wedding. On that special day, the man will come to the bride’s home by himself, dressed in the groom’s attire, whether by riding a donkey or bull cart. After performing a simple ceremony, the process is over. 

“Alright. Then I’ll come to your house tomorrow morning.” Xu Qing was satisfied to be able to see the other person this fast.

“By the way, here are the clothes I made with the fabrics you gave. You have to wear them tomorrow to look good.” Aunty Xie took out the clothes made of the fabric Xu Qing bought when they went to the market last time and handed them to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was dumbfounded by the three neatly folded clothes in front of him, “so fast? You wait a minute.” Xu Qing ran into the room and took out 45 copper coins from the space. The money was wrapped in a rag. He would not let Aunty Xie leave without accepting the payment for the clothes he made.

“This is your wage. If you don’t take it, then I will not wear this dress.  I will not wear such new and beautiful clothes tomorrow, and maybe, Li Changfeng will accidentally see me and will not want me.”

“What nonsense!” Aunty Xie hurriedly interrupted Xu Qing’s absurdity, took the money from him, and stuffed clothes into Xu Qing’s arms. “Remember to get up early tomorrow morning; I’ll wait for you.”

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“Ok, thank you, thank you, thank you.  See you tomorrow.”

After Aunty Xie left, Xu Qing tried on all three clothes, “hey, just by this skill alone, this man is not much worse than the women in the previous life.”

Xu Qing folded the three new clothes neatly and put them in the cabinet. He took out a patched dress and prepared to go to the mountains. Since his wife-to-be has suffered so much grievance in the marriage regard, he has to do something. Make some money and have a beautiful wedding at least.

This time, he was going to the mountains mainly to find medicinal materials. The more precious the medicinal materials are, the more valuable they are.

From time to time, some small animals bounced around him. Seeing that he didn’t hurt them, they stopped hiding from him, but because of the nature of animals, they still stayed a distant away from Xu Qing. Very few people came this far before anyway. It was deep in the mountains, so the animals’ sense of crisis was not strong.

This time Xu Qing did not only venture around the outskirts of the mountain. He went straight to the depths of the forest. There were many old trees here. The forest was full of pristine timbres. When he occasionally met wolves and bears on the road, he would enter the space and wait for the other side to leave before coming out.

He would accidentally find herb seedlings that could stop bleeding or prevent the cold. He would move them into the space. They must be carefully cultivated, so he would not have to come back to this deep in the forest in the future. Keeping them in the space could also prevent them from any unwanted exposure.

“Whoa, what good thing.” Xu Qing discovered an absolutely precious medicinal material; it was a little small – a single Ganoderma Lucidum. It was also known as Lingzhi, Chi-zhi or Rui-zhi. Ganoderma is a fungus. Based on the color and luster, there are six main types of Ganoderma: G. lucidum, G. tsugae, G. applanatum, G. curtisii, G. colossus, and G. meredithae. Ganoderma Lucidum, or lingzhi, is the most precious one. 

(T/N: The machine translated raws wrote the names of the six Ganoderma species weirdly so, I researched them and use the ones I found in my translation instead.)

“I shouldn’t sell this thing; it’s better to keep it.” Even if it is sold in this small local town, he is afraid he would be criticized, which is not what he wants.

Later, Xu Qing found a wild ginseng which could nourish kidney, replenish qi and blood, and strengthen the spleen and the stomach. Ginseng root has the properties to maintain blood homeostasis, reduce swelling, promote vitality, and relieve pain. He would use just a little bit. It’s from the public domain and it’s free.

He also picked some fresh and tender Bracken from the forest. The large coarse fern has the properties of heat reduction and detoxification. Additionally, Xu Qing, who has been eating meat in the past two days, wanted to eat some vegetarian dishes. Being able to eat meat but, still complain about wanting to eat vegetarian, Xu Qing, who was being fussy and yearning to eat wild plants, would be scolded to death if others learned of it. 

When Xu Qing got home, he did not rush to cook. Instead, he went inside the space. He chose a small plot of land in the space for the herbs dug in the forest. After they were planted, he came out of the space.

He had a simple dinner that night.

Xu Qing then used the spring water to take a bath, wash his hair, and cleanse his face. Yes, that’s right, he washed his whole body using the spring water. After a while, his body felt a lot lighter. He sighed comfortably; he needed to make his image better quickly. Only then can he find a good wife.

Now he doesn’t care about the pimples on his face at all; they will all heal in about 10 days.