Chapter 38 Entering the house

　　Tang Chunming still kept himself busy, even if he was completely idle, Li Feng could only look at him trembling with fear. It was more dangerous than going to the battlefield to kill barbarians. How could this ger be so defiant?

　　Tang Chunming was completely unaware of Li Feng’s nervousness and watched with satisfaction as the several cherry trees planted in the yard were watered thoroughly. These were not the saplings Li Feng had brought back, They were replaced by him long before they were planted. Some of the other fruit trees in the space have also been replaced, the ones in the space are all high-quality fruit trees. In this way, the fruit produced will be delicious.

　　Grape vines were planted the earliest. They were wild grape vines brought back from the mountains, they had already begun to climb. Tang Chunming gestured to the area and said, “It’s time to build a shelf here. The weather is warm and the grape vines will climb quickly.”, maybe it will even bear grapes in the summer.”

　　Li Feng accepted the task without hesitation. As long as this ger could settle down, he could do anything. As for the abnormality discovered by his sharp eyes trained on the battlefield, he could just ignore it.

　　”Hey,” Tang Chunming sat down with Li Feng’s support, kicked Li Feng’s legs, and said, “How much will it cost to buy the mountain behind? There shouldn’t be an owner yet, right?”

　　Li Feng didn’t mind his ger’s little gesture and even thought it was a sign of intimacy in his eyes. However, it was time to raise the issue of how he calls him so he corrected him with a straight face: “A Feng, or Brother Feng.”

　　”What?” Tang Chunming didn’t react for a moment. Wasn’t he talking about buying the mountain?

　　Li Feng mustered up the courage to hold Brother Ming’s hand, and there was a slight blush behind his ears. It was not that he had no physical contact before, he had even carried him. However, that time he was panicking for his ger’s body that he couldn’t understand his current mood. When he touched his hand, he felt a tingling sensation like an electric shock. Don’t ask him how he knows the feeling of being shocked by electricity. During thunderstorms, he has also been struck by lightning.

　　Tang Chunming stared at this man in a daze as he held on to his hand desperately, and then watched him explain with a straight face: “I’m older than you, you should call me Brother Feng.”

　　Tang Chunming suddenly burst into laughter. Now he saw that the man was blushing, and his eyes were dodgy, from time to time, they returned to his face as if he wanted his opinion. Tang Chunming opened his mouth and said: “Okay, Brother Feng.” He shouted, anyway he wouldn’t lose a piece of flesh, it wasn’t painful or itchy, and he could still see the man’s blushing expression, so it was worth it.

　　”Okay” The corners of Li Feng’s mouth turned up, and the arc was very clear. He liked the refreshing energy of his Ger, so he thought for a while and added: “Brother Ming.”

　　Oh, they really needed to find a way to address each other, otherwise, he would call him “hey” just like that. When he heard him calling him like this, his hand fell into a wide, strong, and warm palm. Tang Chunming tasted the taste of love, although it was ordinary, there was a sense of solidity and peace of mind.

　　Thinking of this, Tang Chunming couldn’t help but tickle Li Feng’s palm with his fingertips. Li Feng almost jumped up as if he was burned, and his ears and neck turned redder, but he couldn’t bear to let go. His ger is too bold and he must not let outsiders know. It can only be known by him alone.

　　The two of them just sat under the unfinished grape frame, one with a smile on his face, the other with a stern face pretending to be calm. Two newly grown white geese swayed and squawked over beside them, and Ah-Lin chased them all over the yard. Holding the little flowers, giggles could be heard from time to time. Xiaodai would fall from time to time while following behind, but now he has learned to struggle to get up on his own.

　　The small courtyard is warm and cozy.

　　Zhao Laosan came back from Anping County and sat on the bullock cart. From time to time, people greeted him and called him Zhao Xiucai, which made him extremely satisfied.

　　”Hey, Zhao Xiucai is back. We are all waiting for a wedding wine.”

　　”There will be, don’t worry, I will definitely invite everyone.” Zhao Laosan clasped his fists and smiled.

　　”That’s right, the Zhao family is now wealthy, and the Shen family will not be short of extravagance. Zhao Xiucai has to put up a rotating table for us to drink to our heart’s content.”

　　”Who…” Zhao Laosan, who was acting modestly, suddenly heard someone mention Shen Dahu. His face immediately froze and he asked tentatively, “Shen Dahu’s family?”

　　”Yeah, the marriage is set already and you’re still embarrassed to hide it from our fellow villagers? Zhao Xiucai, don’t be embarrassed. This is the first-class marriage in our Pingshan Village. Haha, Zhao Xiucai, please go back quickly. Grandma Zhao can’t wait.”

　　On the way back, people in the village discovered that Zhao Laosan was no longer smiling, but looked a little gloomy. When he sat still with a sullen face and lowered eyelids, he did look a bit like Grandma Zhao. they are mother and son? If he had been in a different mood, he might have looked up when he passed by Tang Chunming’s house. Now that the business of Jinji Restaurant has been terminated, that ger should be more honest, but now he has no time to care about this.

　　Did he not tell his mother before he left that he wasn’t in a hurry to get engaged? Or did others mishear that he had the intention of getting engaged?

　　The people who were flattering the Zhao family had already told Grandma Zhao that his scholar son was back, so when the oxcart arrived at the door of Zhao’s house in the west of the village, Grandma Zhao was already standing at the door to greet his son: “San’er, are you tired? It’s not easy to go to the county town. Come in and take a rest, and Mother will make some chicken soup for you.”

　　Wang Chunhua was also behind, carrying his son with him. Before coming out, he held his ear and repeatedly told him to flatter his grandma and his third uncle well. From now on, his future will depend on his third uncle. Zhao Dong was very reluctant, he had to be a restrained young man even though he was used to being pampered. But Wang Chunhua said to him: “Do you want to live a life of being waited on? Do you want to have more money to buy meat?” Days when you can’t even run out of food? Do you want to live a happy life in the city or stay in the countryside to farm?” 

With this said Zhao Dong could no longer object. Now that the children in the village no longer reject him, he can still live a good life. The days when he was being fawned upon were all because of his third uncle’s reputation. Seeing his third uncle running back and forth to the city, he couldn’t be envious, so his expression at this moment was much more sincere than usual.

　　Zhao Laosan got off the bullock cart, paid the fare, and said to Grandma Zhao coldly: “Mom, have you agreed to the Shen family’s marriage proposal?” The voice rose, implying anger. Grandma Zhao felt his heartache. The third uncle had already scolded him, but the third uncle was still his relative. He didn’t think the marriage relationship between the Shen family was too bad.

　　Thinking like this, he felt a little more confident, and proudly said: “Why can’t you accept it? When you want to spend money in the future, the Shen family has promised to give two shops with fifty acres of fertile land, which is nearly a thousand dollars.” 

   “Two hundred taels of silver will not all be yours after marriage. I have planned this all for you. Do you also want to blame me like your third uncle did?”

　　”That’s right, brother-in-law, isn’t Grandma thinking about you? When the ger of the Shen family gets married, you and Grandma will be waiting to enjoy the good luck. You are already a scholar, you can’t let Grandma endure hardships.” Wang Chunhua was also helping to explain, what a joke, he was the one who pushed for the marriage agreement to be finalized, with how rich the Shen family is. 

 He was so envious, even if he was just an in-law if they could arrange an easy job for Da Niu in the town, they wouldn’t be short of that bit of money. With Wang Chunhua’s persuasion, and with the matchmaker there, plus the money that the matchmaker had given to Old Madam Zhao, there was no way that Old Madam Zhao could refuse.

　　Zhao Laosan was so angry that his body was shaking. Previously, he was afraid that his mother would accept the money offered, so he stressed that he’d talk about marriage later on. He thought that with his third uncle watching from the side, his mother would not immediately agree to the Shen family’s proposal. 

        It’s all ruined. He went to the county town, but here his mother was holding him back. It’s just… Zhao Laosan suddenly turned his head and stared at Wang Chunhua with an evil look in his eyes: “Did you try to persuade Mother to agree he obviously made a promise to me before I left home, otherwise how could he change his mind?” Wang Chunhua can’t hide, as long as his little thoughts in the past didn’t affect him, he turned a blind eye to it, but now he has his thoughts on him, how annoying!

　　”Third brother, what are you talking about? How can you talk like this? When you left home, my ger and I took care of mother, and we also provided food and drink for you. I don’t need you to be grateful, I just hope you remember that we are  your elders.” Unexpectedly, Zhao Daniu, who had always been silent, came out and yelled.

　　The villagers who followed behind thought that the Zhao family would be lively because of the happy event. Unexpectedly, they saw the excitement, but it was different from what they expected. This was not a happy event, it seemed like a quarrel.

　　Zhao Laosan was even more angry. Even Zhao Daniu, who had always been the stupidest and most incompetent person who could even fawn over him, dared to refute him, but he didn’t want his joke to be seen by others, so he had to hold it back. Angrily, he walked into the yard, and Zhao Laoma and Zhao Daniu naturally followed. Wang Chunhua curled his lips and walked at the end, shouting to the neighbors outside: “Our third brother is going to be the groom, he is just shy. Well, I will definitely invite you over for a drink when the date is set.” Then he closed the door.

　　”You -” Zhao Laosan was so angry that his facial expressions were distorted. There were no outsiders. Zhao Laosan no longer had any scruples and shouted, “Cancel this engagement immediately, and Brother, take care of your business.” 

“It’s not your turn to make the final decision on my marriage, and it’s not him who has the final say on the Zhao family’s affairs!”

　　”Then who has the final say? Doesn’t what grandma said count?” Wang Chunhua curled his lips secretly, and then muttered in a low voice, obviously sowing discord.

　　”Yeah, don’t what I said count? Do you want me to cancel the engagement? Where can I save face as an elder?” Grandma Zhao was really angry.

　　Zhao Laosan hated Wang Chunhua’s bad mouth even more. Only when it was his turn did he realize that this ger had such a hateful face. He ordered Zhao Daniu angrily: “Brother, please invite the third uncle here.” Seeing that Zhao Daniu seemed unwilling to move, he endured it. He couldn’t help but raise his voice, “What? My words are useless? Well, from now on, the elder brother will not ask anything from the younger brother, and everyone will live their own lives!” Zhao Laosan was annoyed. 

   He hates himself for working hard outside, but no one at home except his mother really cares about him, and even encourages his mother to do the same.

　　Zhao Daniu’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t say anything after all. Instead, he opened the courtyard door and walked out, asking his third uncle to come over. Wang Chunhua secretly hated his man for having no courage. He was the elder brother, so how could he not refute his younger brother’s words?

　　However, he stood honestly behind Grandma Zhao, secretly glared at his son Zhao Dong, and told him not to speak loudly at this time to annoy others, and then remained silent. But felt proud in his heart. There was no reason to cancel the marriage with the Shens, otherwise, the Zhao family would be in trouble, and the Shen family was not easy to mess with.

　　Granma Zhao had also used up all his confidence. Although he was angry that San’er would rather discuss everything with Third Uncle than listen to his mother, he got used to it after all.

 He asked with some trepidation; “San’er, what are you talking about?” “Why did you ask me to cancel the marriage? Is it possible that you met someone better in the county?” At last, he was not stupid. He remembered what Zhao Laosan said before leaving. Otherwise, he would not be easily persuaded.

　　”Yes, It’s the ger of the County Registrar. The Registrar is very satisfied with me, but the marriage has not been decided. If they find out that I have made a betrothal, not only will we not be able to get married, but they will also be in trouble. And form an enmity, mother, don’t you want to cancel this marriage?”

         Zhao Laosan’s original pride was completely gone. He had been relying on the Lord Registrar, and he would definitely support him in the future. He entered the official school in the county. There are also people taking care of him. It’s good now. If he had known before, he shouldn’t have hesitated and refused directly, and he wouldn’t be in trouble now.

　　” The county Registrar? Oh, hey!” Grandma Zhao was still stunned, but Wang Chunhua slapped his thigh and screamed with regret, “Third brother, why didn’t you say it earlier? If you had said it earlier, you could be getting married to a high-ranking official in the county. I, as a your in-law, would have tried my best to prevent Mother from agreeing to this marriage, even if he offends the Shen family, I would have held her back!”

　　He really regretted it, but it was a pity that the third brother had always been secretive and would not discuss anything with their eldest brother. How could it be  Zhao LaoSan’s fault? Even though Zhao LaoSan had not done anything, he already regretted it. His intestines were about to be knotted. It was okay to delay Zhao Dong’s future, but also delayed their family of three from being wealthy.

　　Zhao Mei, this little ger, was not taken into consideration by Wang Chunhua at all. Anyway, he was just a loser and should be sent away to marry as soon as he got old.

　　”… San’er… this is…true…” Grandma Zhao trembled as his lips and fingers trembled.

　　”Would I make fun of this?” Zhao Laosan said angrily, not noticing his mother’s expression.

　　For a while, Grandma Zhao still maintained her trembling movements without making a sound, but he suddenly broke out after a moment and shouted: “It was me who harmed San’er -” and then jumped up and turned around. He slapped Wang Chunhua, “It’s all you, the bast**d, who said that the Shen family is wealthy and tried to persuade me to come down. Otherwise, how could I be so short-sighted? It’s all you, a fool, who ruined the future of my third son.” He beat his chest and cried. This time he was really sad, not just a show, and real tears flowed down.