LW chapter 26

Aunt Sun’s voice became tense, and she was unable to finish her meal. It took her a while to find her voice again. “Ah Qing isn’t right for you.”

She set her bowl aside and walked straight out to the fields without waiting for Zhou Yuan to respond. Zhou Yuan froze for a moment, then put down his bowl and chopsticks and followed her out to work in the fields. For now, he needed to focus on work. He could find time to be with his aunt later.

Chen Qing didn’t go back either. He stayed to help, but his leg was still bothering him, so he moved slowly. Li Xin stayed close by and chatted with him from time to time.

It took them nearly half a month to plant several mu of land. Over the past few days, Chen Qing’s leg had nearly recovered, and he could work more quickly. First, they planted Chen Qing’s land, and then they helped with Zhou Yuan’s.

While they were working on Zhou Yuan’s land, however, Meng Qi and the others arrived to help.

So, the work went faster.

By the time they finished planting, it was early September. The weather was starting to cool down in the mornings and evenings as the autumn rains began.

One piece of clothing had been made for Zhou Yuan. It only needed a little more stitching to finish the hem. The other piece would be a winter jacket, for which they still needed to buy cotton.

After the autumn planting, there wasn’t much fieldwork left to do. Aunt Sun wanted to talk to Chen Qing about Zhou Yuan, but she was too busy to do so.

Aunt Sun stood at the door, looking toward Zhou Yuan’s house, which was not far away.

He liked Ah Qing, and she had noticed the signs a long time ago. However, she thought that Zhou Yuan was just following Meng Tao’s instructions, which explained why he treated them so well.

She glanced at Chen Qing, who was sewing in the courtyard, and sighed. She had once wanted to find a good match for him, but honestly, who was better than Zhou Yuan?

Of all the unmarried ger and women in Luohe Village, so many had their eyes on Zhou Yuan. His house was well-built; he was modest, capable, and good-looking. He didn’t have any elders at home, so there was no need to worry about in-laws. If he didn’t mention having a plan, people would be lining up at his door.

However, someone with such good conditions might not be right for Chen Qing.

Of course, it’s not that she thought Chen Qing wasn’t worthy. Her Ah Qing was good in every way.

However, if someone like Zhou Yuan fell for a widowed ger in the village, imagine what people would say about Chen Qing.

Chen Qing was like a quail. Whenever there were too many people, he wanted to bury his head in the ground. She couldn’t bear to see him end up in a situation where everyone was pointing fingers at him. The most painful wounds are always caused by gossip. This was especially true after Chen Qing told her about his little father, who couldn’t handle life’s pressures and jumped into the river.

Although neither family ever said it out loud, everyone knew that Blacksmith Li intended to marry Li Xin to Zhou Yuan. The two had known each other for a while. In hindsight, Chen Qing was always present when they interacted. However, to the villagers who didn’t know the full story, Zhou Yuan was clearly going to marry Li Xin, and Chen Qing was merely Li Xin’s friend.

What would people say if it got out that Zhou Yuan wanted to marry Chen Qing?

They’d call him a shameless widow who stole his friend’s suitor. Chen Qing would be scolded to death. In the villagers’ eyes, he’d deserve to be drowned in a pig cage.

Some people didn’t care about the truth. They couldn’t stand seeing others live well, especially those who didn’t seem as good as them. All they wanted was to bring others down.

Aunt Sun had been thinking about this every night lately. In the end, she decided that she couldn’t allow this marriage to happen.

She walked over to Chen Qing. “Is it finished?”

Chen Qing nodded. “Almost done.”

Aunt Sun looked at the garment in his hands. It was embroidered with green bamboo. He had clearly put a lot of time into it. She said, “Ah Qing, why don’t you let Aunt Liu finish the rest?”

Chen Qing looked up at her, confused. “Huh? Why?”

“Don’t you have to make your own clothes?” Aunt Sun handed the garment to him. “Aunt Liu has good eyes, and she has lots of experience making winter clothes.”

Chen Qing nodded, then asked worriedly, “Alright, but do we have to pay her?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.” She seemed anxious. “I need to go out for a bit.”

Chen Qing hummed in acknowledgment. When he looked up again, Aunt Sun had already left the house.

At first, he’d thought that when they made the winter coat and padded jacket, he could stuff some dried chicken feathers into the cotton for extra warmth. But since his aunt mentioned it, he gave up on that idea.

Chen Qing didn’t expect Aunt Sun to go looking for Aunt Hua. She had asked Aunt Hua to help find someone for Chen Qing before, but everyone had been busy lately, and she wasn’t sure if Aunt Hua had followed up.

So she went to her house again.

When Aunt Hua saw Aunt Sun coming, she immediately got up to greet her. “Sis, I was just about to come find you, and here you are.”

Aunt Sun took a breath. “Have you made any progress on what I asked you to do last time?”

Aunt Hua nodded. “It’s been busy lately, right? I finally got a day off yesterday, so I rushed to take care of it for you.”

Aunt Sun sat on the stool in Aunt Hua’s house and listened as she spoke.

“There’s a family in town. Their last name is Yuan. Their eldest son is 28 years old.”

Aunt Sun frowned. “That’s seven years older than Ah Qing. He’s still not married at 28?”

“Of course not. The eldest son of the Yuan family is a widower with three kids.”

Aunt Sun stood up. “How could that be?! If Ah Qing marries him, he’ll be a stepfather right away!”

“Listen to me, Sis. Chen Qing is a widow, too. Isn’t it good for the two of them to be together?” Aunt Hua tried to reassure her. “I told their family about Chen Qing’s past, and they said they didn’t mind.”

Aunt Sun was stunned. Seeing that she was hesitant, Aunt Hua added, “Their family is well off. The old lady is kind, and the man is the eldest son. If Chen Qing marries him, he’ll be the head of the household.”

Aunt Sun frowned. “Why would people in town be interested in Ah Qing?”

Aunt Hua opened her mouth and started talking nonsense with a serious face. “Well, even if Chen Qing is a widow, at least he’s a virgin, right?”

Aunt Sun’s brows furrowed tightly. She didn’t like hearing others talk about Chen Qing like that. In the end, she sighed. “No need. It’s not appropriate. Ah Qing is still just a kid. How can he raise three children?”

She stood up and took a handful of copper coins out of her pocket. “Thanks for running around. Let’s forget about it.”

“Huh? Isn’t that a shame? Or, I can help you negotiate a better deal.” Aunt Hua took the money and chased after Aunt Sun to the door. “The main thing is, it’s hard to find someone willing to marry a widow.”

Aunt Sun shook her head. “Just drop it.”

Aunt Hua watched her leave, sighed, and then turned around and saw a young boy passing by her house. She squinted. Wasn’t that Blacksmith Li’s youngest son?

She didn’t think much of it and went back inside. If this match didn’t work out, she could arrange others.

When Aunt Sun returned home, Chen Qing was still sewing with his head down and fully focused. In Aunt Sun’s eyes, however, the garment already looked well-made.

She sat beside him. At first, he didn’t react. Then, he looked up when he noticed her watching him. “Mom?”

Aunt Sun smiled. “You’re really focused on this embroidery.”

Chen Qing also smiled. “Just a few stitches left. Where did you go?”

Aunt Sun wanted to talk to him, so she said, “I went to see Aunt Hua.”

Chen Qing’s smile disappeared almost instantly. He set the garment in the basket. “Mom, I don’t want to get married. I just want to stay home.”

Aunt Sun replied seriously, “But I can’t protect you forever. What will you do if I die one day?”

Hearing her speak so seriously frightened Chen Qing. His eyes turned red. “I hope you live a long life.”

Aunt Sun raised her hand and touched his hair. “I just told Aunt Hua not to look anymore.”

Chen Qing was confused and didn’t know what to say.

“A few days ago, Zhou Yuan told me…”

Chen Qing’s heart started pounding. He immediately said, “Mom, I have nothing to do with him. I really don’t.”

“How do you know I was going to talk about that?” Aunt Sun chuckled. “You’re the one who brought it up.”

Chen Qing’s face flushed red. After looking at Aunt Sun for a long time, he said, “He said something weird to me that day, but I didn’t… I didn’t do anything inappropriate.”

From his tone and the way he struggled to explain, Aunt Sun could tell that Zhou Yuan hadn’t been subtle.

“I just want to tell you the truth.” Aunt Sun sighed. “Honestly, I wasn’t really considering the two of you.”

Chen Qing’s fingers unconsciously brushed over the needle and thread as he lowered his head to listen.

“I’m not saying he’s not a good person or that there’s anyone better out there, but Ah Qing, have you thought about the consequences?”

“What consequences?”

“Do you know what you’d face if you two really got together?” Aunt Sun asked. “What would the villagers say? You’re a widow involved with a man whom everyone in this village thinks is the perfect match. From then on, whenever you go out, people will point fingers. And what about Li Xin? How will you face him?”

Chen Qing stayed silent. He wanted to say something, but no words came out.

“I know your personality. You try to avoid people when you go outside. Could you really handle being the target of gossip like that?”

Chen Qing lowered his head, looking downcast. “I…I don’t know.”

“I went to see Aunt Hua today, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to help find someone for you. I think we should just let things take their course.”

“Mom, I’m not getting married. You wanted me to marry because you were afraid the Sun family would cause trouble. But after what happened that day, they won’t come anymore. So I don’t need to get married.”

He placed a hand over his heart. “I’ll just stay here and live with you. I really don’t need to get married. Like Li Xin said, why should someone have to rely on a man to live?”

Aunt Sun nodded. “But if he can handle all this well, then I think he’s someone you can entrust your life to. What do you think?”

Chen Qing shook his head again, but Aunt Sun gently held his hand. “I want to give you a choice. Our Ah Qing has worked so hard. His future should be a happy one.”

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