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What happened involved Ji Yan’s biological older brother, Ji Qian, who had been beaten up again.
The person who beat up Ji Qian was none other than his wife, Song Qiao’er.
Ji Qian was born good-looking, handsome, had a well-proportioned body, and was tall. He was a famous and beautiful man in Jade Creek Village, but he was very lazy, uneducated, and unskilled. He’d become infamous in the villages around All Water County, most importantly, for his lechery. Last time, he messed around with a beautiful married woman in the village. This matter was later exposed, and he was beaten by the husband until an issue came up with his leg. Eldest Ji and his wife—Ger Yan’s mother and father—specifically had Ji Qian marry Song Qiao’er to cure him of his lustful and playful problems.
Song Qiao’er was the daughter of a hunter. Ever since she was a child, she had killed chickens and pigs or gone hunting in the mountains. Although she was an eighteen year old woman, she was even more manly than a man from a farmer’s family. She wasn’t exactly ugly, but her face was very chubby, with a round waist. Her body was thick enough to be two of Ji Qian’s. If Ji Qian was like a weak willow swaying in the wind, she was a giant pine tree that stood tall.
No matter how anyone looked at it, the two of them didn’t match together. Ji Qian especially hated her ugliness and roughness. Since the two of them got married, their relationship hadn’t gotten better at all. They would have a big fight every three days and a small one every two days, making the Ji family a mess. They fought so much it made Eldest Ji and his wife very anxious. Although they fought verbally, it didn’t get physical because—even though Ji Qian didn’t like Song Qiao’er, Song Qiao’er liked Ji Qian.
When the Ji family was looking for marriage partners for Ji Qian, it was the Song family who took the initiative to reach out.
Song Qiao’er was born strong and acted as rough as a man, but under that rugged appearance, she also secretly had a little girl’s heart. She liked good-looking and beautiful men. She had never seen a man more beautiful than Ji Qian. Two years ago, when she was delivering pork to Jade Creek Village, she saw Ji Qian talking to other girls. In that instant, her heart was stolen. Even if she knew that Ji Qian had a bad reputation, that he was lazy and lustful, she was still willing to become his wife.
Ji Qian was really good looking. If she could have such a handsome husband, Song Qiao’er would feel like she was dreaming. Even if Ji Qian disliked her and fought with her every day, she still felt that Ji Qian was incomparably beautiful. Even his limp, when she saw it, she felt like she was a dog wagging his tail when the dog saw a flower on the way down the mountain.
So why did they get physical? It was also a coincidence. That evening, Ji Qian was walking with a limp on the ridge of the field and saw a few . young girls who had come to visit relatives in Jade Creek Village. His restless heart couldn’t resist, so he took the initiative to go talk to the girl. It was this girl’s first time here, so she wasn’t aware of his reputation. She saw this handsome man coming to talk to her, so she chatted with him with a blush on her face.
Ji Qian had the ability to coax women. It was a talent he was born with. With just a few words, her cheeks turned crimson as she smiled. The two chatted up a storm. Just as they were talking about their mutual interest, Song Qiao’er, who was carrying a hoe and on the way home, bumped into them.
Song Qiao’er couldn’t watch it. She walked over and said a few sarcastic words that scared the girl until she started panicking. She didn’t know this handsome man already had a wife. Ji Qian was put in an awkward situation as well, feeling as if he had lost face in front of outsiders.
Marrying such an ugly wife, it didn’t matter if he usually behaved vulgarly at home or if he got embarrassed, but now he was being embarrassed to outsiders, in front of several girls, it was unbearable. Ji Qian was full of criticism for Song Qiao’er, who was sturdier than a cow, behaved more vulgar than a pig, and was stupider than a donkey. He spit all these words out. The more he spoke, the uglier the words became. They really were hard to hear. Song Qiao’er had an impulsive personality. After getting all these criticisms, blood rushed to her head. The right hand that could kill a rabbit with one hit shot forward before she could stop it…
“Mother and Father are at home coaxing our big brother. Sister-in-law also admitted she was wrong,” Ger Yu said. Lin Lixuan was on the side, feeding him candy he bought from the county town. The golden color was sweet osmanthus candy.
The autumn rain came down outside. Ger Yu’s clothes got wet on the way to the Lin residence. Ji Yan found some of his clothes to put on him. It was getting colder. It wouldn’t be good if he didn’t pay attention to his body. Ger Yu held the old porcelain bowl, with a chip on the edge, and drank his brother’s newly boiled ginger water in small sips. The ginger water mixed with the osmanthus sugar in his mouth melted on the tip of his tongue, dispelling the cold in his body.
Ji Yan shook off the old clothes. He wiped Ger Yu’s hair as he asked, “Is big brother gravely injured?”
Ger Yu shook his head. “The doctor said it’s not serious. He’ll be better after applying some medicine, but his face is very swollen and bloody.” He stretched out the tip of his pink tongue and licked his lips, letting the sweetness in his mouth spread.
Although their big brother wasn’t gravely injured, he had been losing his temper at home. Not only did he scold their sister-in-law, Song Qiao’er, whenever Ger Yu followed their mother, Li Yue’e, he would also be yelled at. Their parents were the peacemakers between their brother and sister-in-law, but their big brother kept making a fuss about divorcing her. Nobody could persuade him. Their cousin, Ji Xuan, fanned the flames from the sidelines, saying that he’d embarrassed their scholar family, making him unable to hold his head up… Later, it was their grandmother who came to calm things down.
Their big brother wasn’t making trouble now. The family was a mess, and their parents were under pressure, so where did they have time to care for him? Ger Yu also saw his mother secretly wiping her tears.
“But…big brother’s leg was injured again.”
“How is it?” Lin Lixuan asked. He thought Ji Qian was only slapped in the face.
“After big brother was beaten, he wanted to grab the hoe from sister-in-law, but the hoe was too heavy. Big brother didn’t stand firm after snatching it. When he fell, he just so happened to fall on the head of the hoe…”
“…”
“…”
That was karma for that evil man, Lin Lixuan thought in his heart.
Ji Qian was still Ger Yan’s biological brother. After learning this, Lin Lixuan took Ger Yan to the Ji residence to visit Ji Qian. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the Ji residence, Ji Qian had made trouble again. Ji Qian’s right half of his face was swollen like a tumor. It was purple, red, and large. His leg was inconvenient to use, so he could only lie in bed and not move. He used the bronze mirror to look at himself, then blurted out more verbal abuse. He was angry at his own parents for forcing him to marry such a vicious wife.
Li Yue’e was busy comforting her son, and Eldest Ji wasn’t home. Nobody was there to mind them, so Lin Lixuan left the bruise medicine he brought, then took Ger Yan back.
When they arrived at the Ji residence’s courtyard, they saw Ger Yan’s cousin, Ji Ya and his Shuang’er wife, Zhao Qingqing “whispering” to each other. As he looked at the delicate flushed face of his beautiful Shuang’er, he promised that he was honest and diligent and would never hook up with another woman. He tenderly caressed his abdomen, leaned into his man, then sighed with relief that he’d married the right man…
As the two spoke, the louder they got. The sound of heavy objects falling on the ground had them stopping.
What was this! Lin Lixuan pulled his Shuang’er right out of the Ji residence. The Ji residence was messy, and he didn’t want Ger Yan to get involved.
It was just the pitiful Ger Yu…
But a wise man minded their own business.
After the little donkey officially moved into the Lin residence, things became a lot more convenient. They now had manpower to grind the soybeans, and they didn’t have to take the ox cart to the county town anymore. Lin Lixuan found a craftsman in the county town to make a cart shaft. Their family was a family that now owned an ancient car. Besides, driving a donkey cart carried a distinctive style.
The little donkey swayed. Leaves floated on both sides. The autumn breeze carried coldness. The wild chrysanthemum was bright and yellow, hiding the withered grass. The frost and dew were shallow, the coldness of the fall became stronger. The number of pedestrians in the county town didn’t decrease. There were many villagers and village women picking melons and fruits and setting up stalls on the streets to sell them.
The hard-working little donkey not only had to carry people everyday but also had to pull the grinding disc. Fortunately, they had to grind beans everyday, and the bean dregs that were filtered out went into the mouths of the little donkey, chickens, and ducks at home.
The little donkey was raised until he glowed, making Lin Lixuan feel ashamed. He put in so much work to raise Ger Yan to be healthy, but even he wasn’t this plump yet. Wasn’t he (the donkey) the most energetic one in the entire family?
In the cold and bleak autumn, sweet tofu pudding wasn’t as popular as savory tofu pudding. The red clay stove boiled water along with the yellowish white tofu pudding. When the guests ordered, they would pour the sauce, then scatter some green onions on top. The savory and soft tofu pudding warmed the body.
With the autumn wind getting stronger, more and more silver gathered in their pockets. Selling food was always one of the most profitable ventures. Now that they had capital, Lin Lixuan planned to lease a shop in the county town. This would also save him and Ger Yan the pain of running back and forth.
“I heard the villagers say that the houses in the county town are very expensive. It costs a few taels a month just to rent one.” Ger Yan couldn’t imagine this. Lin-dage actually planned on opening a shop in the county town. He never thought that Lin-dage would continue doing business. Zhao Liniang said that studying and taking the imperial examination was the correct path. He thought all the money they earned was to be saved for Lin-dage’s studying and to buy land.
Zhao Liniang thought the same way. “Opening a store costs a lot of money. I heard you also need to commit to half a year for them to agree to rent to you. It cost several taels a month to rent a shop. Can we even afford it?” Making money was hard. They couldn’t just spend it in vain.
