CH 94

Apr 20 2023

“No, I’m just reflecting on myself.”

After listening, Li Changfeng reached out and touched Xu Qing’s head. “Then eat more, there’s plenty in the pot.”

Xu Qing rubbed his round belly, feeling full. He let out a burp, “I can’t eat anymore.”

Li Changfeng saw that Xu Qing didn’t seem to be angry, so he didn’t ask any more questions. He asked Xu Qing to sit down and rest while he cleaned up the dishes.

The night passed peacefully, and the next day, Xu Qing was surprised by the sight when opened the courtyard door, “Wow, there’s snow on the ground.”

He clapped his hands and exhaled a puff of white mist.

“Why don’t you sleep more? You didn’t even put on a jacket, it’s chilly outside. Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?”

Li Changfeng picked up a jacket and put it over the shoulder of Xu Qing.

“I slept early last night, so I woke up a little earlier this morning.”

Xu Qing extended his slender and fair hand to pull up the clothes on his shoulder. “It’s getting cold. The second child is probably going to be born next summer or fall.”

Li Changfeng smiled, “Isn’t that a good thing? It’s the harvest season.”

“It’s been almost a year since Tuan Tuan was born, time flies.” However, when he thought of Tuan Tuan still being so young, and that he was pregnant again, Xu Qing felt that his pace was too fast.

Li Changfeng gently embraced Xu Qing from behind, and the two of them shared an intimate moment for a while. They had chosen not to mention Xia Yu’s matter anymore.

Li Changfeng was making wooden tools on the side while Xu Qing was making shoes for Tuan Tuan. Tuan Tuan liked to walk by himself now, which wore out his shoes fast.

“Is third brother determined to separate from the family this time?” Xu Qing stood up and stretched lazily.

“I suspect it’s hanging by a thread, and you know about my parents. He is their most favored son. If he really pushes to split up from the family and irritate the old couple, he will have to deal with some unwanted consequences since he carries the title of a scholar.”

Xu Qing picked up Tuan Tuan, who just woke up, and carried him out.

“Ah, Ama ah.”

When Li Changfeng heard Tuan Tuan’s tender and soft voice, he helplessly put down what he was doing and took Tuan Tuan, rubbing his chubby little face with his big hands.

“Say ‘father’! I don’t know how many times I’ve taught you.”

“Ama! Ama!”

Tuan Tuan’s little face being rubbed by his father, he looked at Xu Qing with a pair of big teary eyes, the expression on his face was accusing Li Changfeng of his “crimes”.

“He’s only nine months old, it’s not bad that he can already say ‘Ama’.”

Xu Qing took Tuan Tuan, put his little feet on the ground, and Tuan Tuan immediately started kicking his legs and walking.

“Woof woof!”

Xiaobao, who was lying on the side, suddenly stood up and rused to the courtyard door, barking loudly.

“Is there someone outside?”

Only when there are strangers visiting, will Xiaobao become so excited.

Li Changfeng asked Xu Qing to sit down and walked to open the courtyard door, but found that there was no one around.

He walked outside and looked around, but still couldn’t see anyone.

“Who is it?”

After seeing Li Changfeng opening the courtyard door and walking outside instead of coming in, Xu Qing became curious and took Tuan Tuan with him to go outside, but found that there was no one outside except for Li Changfeng.

“Could it be Qiu Da?”

Xu Qing immediately thought of Qiu Da, who had followed them last time.

Li Changfeng was afraid that Tuan Tuan would struggle in Xu Qing’s arms, so he took Tuan Tuan over and told Xu Qing to go inside first.

Just as they were about to go back inside, Xiaobao came out of the courtyard and ran towards the river.

“You take Tuan Tuan inside, I’ll go see what’s going on!”

Xiaobao was very clever, so his sudden excitement must have a reason. Li Changfeng handed Tuan Tuan to Xu Qing and hurried towards Xiaobao’s direction.

By the time Li Changfeng heard Xiaobao’s bark and arrived at the scene, Xiaobao had already pounced on a person wearing a big straw hat. It turned out to be Qiu Da.

“Save me! Save me!”

Qiu Da’s leg was bitten off a big chunk of meat by Xiaobao, causing him to grimace in pain. However, Xiaobao still did not let go, trying to bite his throat. When Qiu Da saw Li Changfeng, he began to shout for help.

“Xiaobao, come back!”

Xiaobao heard Li Changfeng’s words, lowered his head to look at Qiu Da, and returned to Li Changfeng’s side.

Li Changfeng looked at Qiu Da, who was in a sorry state, and walked over to him expressionlessly. He crouched down and looked at Qiu Da’s face full of pain.

“You were following us in the street last time, weren’t you?”

“So what! Li Changfeng, don’t think I don’t know that it was all because of you that I was forced to leave my hometown and my affair with Luo Jiao was exposed. I have been subject to the ridicule of others and cannot even return to my own house.”

Qiu Da looked at Li Changfeng with hatred and malice in his eyes.

When confronted by Qiu Da, Li Changfeng did not panic. “Even if it wasn’t me, you would have been exposed sooner or later. Your affairs with those few widowers will also be revealed. I just gave you a taste of that feeling in advance.”

“Li Changfeng, we have no grievances or enmity between us, why did you want to harm me?”

Qiu Da gritted his teeth to endure the pain in his foot, sat up, and stared at Li Changfeng.

“Do you want to know? Come closer,” Li Changfeng asked Qiu Da to turn his head to the side and come closer.

As soon as Qiu Da turned his head, he felt a sudden sharp pain in the back of his head, and then he lost consciousness.

Li Changfeng looked at Qiu Da who had fallen to the ground, expressionless, and lifted him up. He walked along the road next to the creek towards the village.

Xu Qing had been waiting for Li Changfeng to come back home, but he had not returned for a long time. Just when he was about to go out and check, Li Changfeng came back.

“What happened to you? Why is there blood on your body?” Xu Qing noticed the bloodstains on Li Changfeng’s clothes at a glance.

“It’s not mine. Don’t come close. You might feel nauseous with your pregnancy if you smell blood.” Li Changfeng didn’t let Xu Qing get close to him. He took off his coat after he entered the yard. Xu Qing went inside the bedroom and brought out a clean coat for Li Changfeng.

Since Li Changfeng said he was okay, Xu Qing didn’t get too worried. “Hurry up and put it on.”

Li Changfeng put on the coat and then soaked his bloodstained clothes in the water to wash. Meanwhile, he told Xu Qing, “This is Qiu Da’s blood. He was bitten by Xiaobao.”

When he hear his owner called his name, Xiaobao obediently wagged his tail and spun around Xu Qing’s feet. Xu Qing reached out and patted Xiaobao’s big head.

“Indeed, it’s him. Where is he now?”

“I took him to the village head. He was forbidden to enter the village for life, but now he sneaked in. He got what he deserved. I also mentioned that they should try to ask him about Xia Yu’s whereabouts.”

Qiu Da didn’t kidnap Xia Yu. He just came here because he wanted to retaliate against Li Changfeng. After being scolded by the village head and the villagers, he was driven out of Xingfu Village and threatened to never show up again in the future. As for the incident where Qiu Da claimed that Li Changfeng’s dog bit him, no one in the village cared about it. However, more people later came to Xu Qing’s grocery store to buy things, just to catch a glimpse of Xiaobao.

Xiaobao who was surrounded three times a day by the curious villagers: “…….”

Since Qiu Da didn’t kidnap Xia Yu, where did Xia Yu go? The village head was anxious and afraid that Xia Yu had an accident.

“It seems that my thinking was wrong. Fortunately, I didn’t act recklessly, otherwise my old face would be lost.” Xu Qing lay on the bed at night, with his hands behind his head, as he spoke leisurely.

“What old face? You’re not old!”

Xu Qing: “…… That’s not the point, okay!”

The next day, Li Xiao’er, who had recovered from his illness, came to the Xu family’s house.

“Your complexion looks much better. Are you completely recovered?”

Xu Qing looked at Li Xiao’er, who had lost half of his weight despite his good complexion, and asked.

Li Xiao’er smiled, “Much better. I’m eating more, but I just can’t gain weight. By the way, congratulations to you, Second Brother-in-law.”

“And congratulations to me too!”

The prospective father sitting next to them spoke up, and Li Xiao’er quickly added, “Of course, congratulations to you too, Second Brother!”

Li Changfeng nodded in satisfaction, “Why didn’t Wang Lei come with you?”

“He dropped me off at the edge of the village. His shop is already busy enough, and I didn’t want him to come, but he’s a stubborn person.” Li Xiao’er’s eyes overflowed with joy as he spoke of Wang Lei.

Xu Qing and Li Changfeng looked at each other, “I’ll go pick some vegetables. You guys talk.” Li Changfeng stood up and walked out.

When Li Xiao’er saw Li Changfeng’s figure leave the gate, he sighed and said to Xu Qing, “Although he is my brother, he is still a man. There are some things that I can’t say in front of him.”

“What’s wrong?” Xu Qing was puzzled.

Li Xiao’er looked worried and said, “My body is already well, but why is there still no news? And how come you got pregnant so quickly?”

Xu Qing was at a loss for words, he was pregnant himself and didn’t know how to comfort Li Xiao’er who was having trouble for not getting pregnant.

Li Xiao’er saw Xu Qing’s expression and realized that he had said too much, so he quickly explained, “Brother-in-law, I didn’t mean anything else. I’m just too anxious.”

“I know, but there’s no need to rush. It will come.” Xu Qing said dryly, and the atmosphere became awkward.

“Is Tuan Tuan awake now? I’ll go check on him.” Li Xiao’er changed the subject, feeling that he had said something inappropriate.

“He should be awake, he’s in the room.” Xu Qing was eager for Tuan Tuan to wake up.

During lunch, Li Changfeng also noticed the strange atmosphere between Xu Qing and Li Xiao’er. He looked at Li Xiao’er’s slightly guilty expression and frowned. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, Xu Qing kicked him under the table.

Li Changfeng looked at Xu Qing and saw him shook his head slightly. Li Changfeng had to swallow the words he was about to say and brought up the topic of Xia Yu.

“Xia Yu?”

Li Xiao’er lifted his head when he heard Xia Yu’s name.

“Do you know Xia Yu?”

Li Changfeng looked at Li Xiao’er.

Li Xiao’er swallowed the food in his mouth and said cautiously, “There’s a boy named Xia Yu who works at the teahouse across the street from our shop. He’s thin and small, and looks like a ger, so I remember him more clearly.”

Li Changfeng and Xu Qing looked at each other, it seemed that Xia Yu really left by himself, and he was even acting like a man.

Besides the difference in physique, the only way to tell a ger from a man was the red mole between their eyebrows. Xia Yu must have covered it up with something. He claimed that he had escaped here during the famine last year, and the kind-hearted tea house owner, mistaking him for a young man, let him stay and work as a servant.

Thingyan: Thought I didn’t have to pay the annual wordpress subscription fee and would be able to get by. Turned out I was wrong. The website went down earlier and I received a lot of site access requests from the readers. I’m so sorry about that. It’s all good now though ಥ‿ಥ