Chapter 12

After Lin Wan finished speaking with Cui Pingzhou, she returned home. Jiang Ci was in the kitchen making wild chicken soup. “Mom, have you eaten yet? I saved some wild chicken soup for you on the stove.”

“Good, then let’s have some chicken noodle soup,” Lin Wan replied. She washed her hands and began to prepare the noodles. She felt uncertain about how to talk to her daughter; after asking that question, Cui Pingzhou had remained silent, saying he needed to think about it overnight and would give her an answer tomorrow.

But based on her understanding of that man, she believed he would agree.

After finishing her noodles, Lin Wan set down her bowl and chopsticks. “Xiao Ci, if I were to remarry soon, would you be able to accept it?”

“Marry who?” Jiang Ci asked, momentarily confused, her mind racing. It couldn’t be with Uncle Cui, could it?

“Cui Pingzhou.”

Seeing that her daughter didn’t oppose the idea, Lin Wan continued, “Cui Yuanshan refuses to call off the engagement with the Gu family and wants to adopt Duoduo as your Uncle Cui’s daughter. We discussed it, and this is the easiest solution. If we get a marriage certificate, Mom and your Uncle Cui would just be a nominal couple. You don’t have any objections, do you?”

Her daughter should be with someone she liked, not forced into a marriage like Lin Wan had been. She had known that Jiang Guozhu didn’t really like her at the time, but she was still arranged to marry him by her family.

Grandpa Jiang was good to Jiang Ci, but he would undoubtedly interfere in his eldest granddaughter’s marriage and would absolutely not approve of her being with Gu Qingchuan.

But if Lin Wan married Cui Pingzhou, then Xiao Ci and Brother Chuan would have an engagement. If Grandpa Jiang opposed it, they could use that engagement to silence him.

Jiang Ci felt that her mom was being too wronged. “Mom, don’t you want to find a normal man? Uncle Cui’s leg…”

“There are some men who seem normal but are actually emotionally disabled, like Jiang Guozhu. Your Uncle Cui may be physically disabled, but he is upright and has a much better character than most men,” Lin Wan replied.

She continued, “I’ve grown accustomed to taking care of him and don’t want to find another man. There’s no man who would agree to let me continue this work. It’s better to just get a marriage certificate with Cui Pingzhou and live this way for the rest of my life. I think it’s pretty good.”

Jiang Ci hugged Lin Wan tightly. “Mom, as long as you think it’s good, I have no objections.”

In the study of the Cui family, as the first rays of morning sunlight poured in, Cui Pingzhou ultimately followed his heart. “Sister-in-law, please run a trip to Qu Shui Qiao and invite Lin Wan and Xiao Ci to our home to discuss something.”

—o—o—o—

“You’ve made up your mind? You’ve decided to marry Lin Wan and accept Xiao Ci as your daughter?” Yin Qin asked, wiping away her tears with relief. Her second brother had been so depressed for too long, allowing Mei Baoying to become increasingly overbearing in this house. She had almost erased every trace left by her mother-in-law and now seemed intent on removing the living people as well.

“Yes.” Cui Pingzhou felt a sudden clarity in his heart and smiled faintly. “Thank you for making this trip, sister-in-law.”

“Little Jiang Ci here’s the money from selling the wild mountain chickens and rabbits yesterday,” Jiang Dasheng said with a yawn as he knocked on Jiang Ci’s courtyard door, handing her a stack of cash.

Jiang Ci counted it in front of him—twenty-five yuan, two more than they had agreed upon the day before. Jiang Dasheng was quite capable.

Noticing his bleary eyes, Jiang Ci understood that he probably hadn’t slept much after working late in the black market the previous night. “Why come so early? Why not just deliver it later?”

She glanced at her watch; it was only six in the morning.

“I just finished work. Brother Chuan asked me to bring you the money for the rabbits right away. I didn’t dare delay!”

“Did Brother Chuan work with you all night?” Jiang Ci noticed Jiang Dasheng’s evasive eyes and seized him by the arm. “Big Brother Dasheng, tell me, does Brother Chuan work at the Heishui River market every night until morning?”

Little Jiang Ci hinted at something, but Jiang Dasheng wasn’t for it. Brother Chuan had instructed him never to spill anything. “Aunt Wan, good morning!”

Lin Wan stood at the kitchen door, smiling. “Why not stay for breakfast?”

“No, no, I’m heading back to sleep. My mom has breakfast ready at home and is waiting for me”. Jiang Dasheng took the opportunity to make a quick escape.

When it came to being clever, no one could compare to little Jiang Ci. If he stayed any longer, he would definitely give himself away.

For breakfast, they had noodle dumpling soup. Jiang Ci had also made fragrant scallion pancakes and steamed large meat buns she had bought from the state-run restaurant yesterday. She carried a pot of noodle dumpling soup and picked up a few meat buns and scallion pancakes. “Mom, I’m taking some breakfast to Xiao Tingxiang and Grandma Miao.”

“Go ahead,” Lin Wan replied with a helpless shake of her head, then headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before eating.

Jiang Ci entered the kitchen of Gu Qingchuan’s house, where Tingxiang was busy starting a fire to cook. “Xiao Tingxiang, is your brother still sleeping?” She placed the small soup pot on the stove and showed her the meat buns and scallion pancakes. “Get a few bowls, will you?”

“Scallion pancakes and noodle dumplings!” Tingxiang turned off the fire on the stove, washed her hands, and took some bowls. She loved the noodle dumplings her sister made, and the scallion pancakes were even better than the meat buns.

“Brother just came back,” Xiao Tingxiang said, leaning over the stove to watch Jiang Ci scoop three bowls of noodle dumpling soup. “He’s taking a shower by the well in the backyard.”

Jiang Ci wiped her hands with a cloth from the stove, placed the breakfast she had prepared on a wooden tray, and said, “Take it to Grandma and eat breakfast. I’ll go check on your brother.”

“Okay!” Tingxiang nodded eagerly and hurried off to have breakfast with Grandma.

Jiang Ci pushed open the back door of the main room. Gu Qingchuan was standing by the stone-paved well, just pouring a bucket of cold water over himself. He wore only a pair of loose shorts, and the water droplets glistened on his lean, muscular torso, running down to the stone slabs beneath him.

Jiang Ci momentarily lost her focus, and just then, Gu Qingchuan looked over, their eyes locking.

Gu Qingchuan: “……”

He jolted, and the wooden bucket clattered to the ground. “Little Jiang Ci, your courage is growing! Is it okay to watch a man shower…?”

Jiang Ci went from shock to anger, frustrated that he didn’t take care of himself. What part of him hadn’t she seen before?

“Gu Qingchuan, are you trying to get yourself killed? Why are you taking a cold shower so early in the morning? Is it that hard to heat some water?”

Gu Qingchuan watched as the girl angrily ran off, shaking the droplets of water from her hair in confusion. Why was she still mad? It was just a cold shower.

He continued to draw water from the well to rinse the soap suds off his body.

After a moment, the girl returned, throwing a large cotton towel over his head. Gu Qingchuan pulled the towel from his forehead and glanced at it; it wasn’t from his home.

He wiped himself off haphazardly, put on his outer coat, and noticed the towel had a faint scent of soap. “This towel isn’t one you’ve used, is it…”

Jiang Ci paused for a moment. She wouldn’t let him use her own towel. Why did it seem like Gu Qingchuan had suddenly developed a scheming demeanor this year? He had been quite restrained since their marriage. She immediately replied angrily, “What I’ve used is cleaner than yours!”

By the time Gu Qingchuan leisurely walked to the front yard, Jiang Ci was already gone. He turned and entered his grandmother’s room, sitting down at the small dining table.

It had been a year since he had last eaten the noodle dumpling soup. He had tried several times that year to recreate the flavor, but each attempt failed, so he had simply stopped trying. Both his grandmother and sister liked scallion pancakes, while he preferred big meat buns. All three of them enjoyed noodle dumpling soup, but who would be willing to make noodle dumpling soup and eat big meat buns for breakfast?

His eyes felt unbearably sore as he quietly ate his breakfast.

His grandmother, half-asleep, suddenly said when he put down his chopsticks, “Do you want to get married?”

“Marry who?”

“Stop pretending to be confused when you know exactly what I mean.” Grandma raised her hand as if to hit him.

This time, Gu Qingchuan dodged, forcing a bitter smile as he said, “Grandma, in the eyes of the neighbors, I’m just a good-for-nothing troublemaker. Who knows when I might end up being sent to the countryside to tend to cows or be jailed for some complaint? How could I get married?”

Grandma had been feeling better each day for the past few days. She reached out to pull him closer, saying, “Why are you talking nonsense? What I asked was whether you want to get married or not.”

“I don’t want to.”

Grandma twisted his ear. “Say it again.”

Fearing that he might upset her, Gu Qingchuan decided to placate her. “Okay, I want to. If I say I want to, will that make it happen? I haven’t slept all night, and I’m dead tired. Can I please go take a nap?”

“What nap? You need to go to Old Cui’s house and cancel the engagement with Cui Yuanshan.”

Grandma had experienced the warmth and coldness of human relationships throughout her life; she understood everything in her heart. “Mei Baoying is pressuring Cui Yuanshan not to break off the engagement, wanting to find any woman with the surname Cui to throw into our family. She’s plotting to send both you and your future wife off to tend to cows, torturing you both to death. They’re hoping that when all our family is gone, they can occupy my so-called dowry, which is rumored to be worth ten miles of red wedding decorations.”

Gu Qingchuan’s expression darkened. Because of that rumored dowry, his father had died, and their family had been destroyed, yet they still would not give up.

He said, “Alright, I’ll go right now. No matter what, I have to cancel the engagement today.”

He picked up his coat and put it on, instinctively slipping his hand into the pocket. His fingers brushed against a small roll of bills. Without even looking, he knew it was twenty-five yuan in total—four five-yuan notes, two one-yuan notes, one two-yuan note, and two fifty-cent notes. He had personally rolled them up and had Jiang Dasheng deliver them to Jiang Ci.

She had just stormed home in anger, yet she still found time to slip the money from selling wild mountain chickens and hares into his coat pocket.

Gu Qingchuan felt like his teeth might shatter from clenching them so hard that he was choked up with discomfort. He truly wanted to slap himself: Gu Qingchuan, you’re being overly sentimental.

As he stepped out of the courtyard, he saw Jiang Ci talking to Aunt Cui from the Cui family. When their eyes met, he noticed her smile at him for a moment. Quickly, Gu Qingchuan turned his head and walked away briskly.

—o—o—o—

Yin Qin hurriedly rode her bicycle over, having skipped breakfast. “Jiang Ci, can you and your mom go to my house. Your Uncle Cui has something to say to you.” She didn’t dare to say it directly. Jiang Ci was grown up now, and Lin Wan had just divorced and was planning to remarry; she feared Jiang Ci might not accept it and would oppose the idea.

Lin Wan locked the courtyard gate and said, “I spoke to Jiang Ci last night. The child doesn’t oppose it. Did Cui Pingzhou agree?”

“He certainly has a thousand reasons to agree in his heart, but he feels like he’s a cripple who’s not worthy of you. However, he thought it through last night.”

Jiang Ci had just seen Gu Qingchuan leave the house after a long night without any sleep, and she quickly interjected, “Auntie, you and Uncle Cui can discuss their marriage. I have something to take care of; I’ll come by your house later.”

After saying that, she chased after Gu Qingchuan.

Lin Wan smiled and said, “She saw Chuan, so let her go. Maybe she’ll go home with him later.”

Yin Qin felt relieved and laughed, “Let’s see how Chuan reacts when he finds out Jiang Ci is now his fiancée. I wonder if he’ll still back out of the engagement.”

Gu Qingchuan walked quickly, and Jiang Ci couldn’t catch up. She wandered around the market at Heishui River but didn’t find him, which worried her. She ran over to knock on Jiang Dasheng’s door, but Jiang Dajiang opened the door and said that Jiang Dasheng wasn’t home.

Jiang Ci was taken aback. She had no idea what the two of them were up to, so she could only head to the Cui family’s house.

In the distance, Jiang Dasheng kicked the burlap sack at his feet. A man bound inside whimpered in pain, his mouth evidently gagged. Watching Jiang Ci walk away, Jiang Dasheng felt a surge of fear.

In the distance, Jiang Dasheng kicked the burlap sack at his feet with force, causing the man tied up inside to whimper in pain; it sounded like his mouth was gagged. Watching Jiang Ci walk further away, Jiang Dasheng felt a wave of fear wash over him.

“Caitou said that last night in his teahouse, he heard Cui Rang, that beast, say he wanted to… that old Jiang family had to marry Jiang Ci off to him to save face. If he marries Jiang Ci, then Cui Pingzhou wouldn’t have the face to marry Aunt Wan, and Cui Duoduo would still need to be adopted. Once you and Cui Duoduo get married, you’ll be sent off to the northwest.”

Cui Rang was the fourth son of the Cui family, the last child of Cui Yuanshan, and the half-brother of Cui Pingzhou.

After finishing his words, he kicked the burlap sack a few more times. “That beast is so vicious.”

Beside him, Gu Qingchuan’s expression darkened ominously. “Make sure to treat him well; don’t kill him.”

“Don’t worry, we know how to control our strength,” Jiang Dasheng said, bold enough to block Gu Qingchuan’s path, teasing him, “Chuan, you said you were going to the Cui family to cancel the engagement. Now that Jiang Ci has become Uncle Cui’s daughter, I’m waiting to see if you’ll actually back out.”

He wore a smug grin.

Gu Qingchuan glanced at him coldly, and Jiang Dasheng immediately sensed the intense killing intent and quickly jumped aside. “I won’t ask… You better hurry, or you’ll miss Jiang Ci.”

Gu Qingchuan hadn’t expected Uncle Cui to marry Lin Wan, and he quickened his pace in the direction where Jiang Ci had disappeared.

He chased all the way to the entrance of the family courtyard, sighed, and called out to the girl in front of him, “Jiang Ci…”