Chapter 18 – I don’t marry

Chen Qing buried his head in his work. “So, what did Uncle Li say?”

“What else could my dad say?” Li Xin pouted. “They said that back then, the family was poor, so they sent my dad to be a blacksmith. But they didn’t have enough money. My grandma went back to her parents’ home to borrow some, but they said they didn’t have any either.”

At that moment, her cousin happened to come by and overheard the conversation. She took off her bracelet and gave it to my grandma. After that, my dad went to study blacksmithing. Later, after he had mastered the craft, he remembered his mother’s dying wish to repay the aunt who had given her the bracelet. However, by then, her family had moved away and could not be found. Now that someone from that family has shown up, of course my dad has to return the favor.”

Chen Qing nodded. “Either way, that aunt really helped Uncle Li’s family back then.

“It’s no big deal to support a scholar, but still… I just don’t get it. He’s a grown man. How could he end up like this?” Li Xin muttered. “He’s two years older than me. Can’t he make a living on his own?”

“Maybe there’s a story behind it,” Chen Qing offered.

“Who knows? Forget it.” Li Xin sipped the cold tea Aunt Sun had prepared. “He’s not staying at our house anyway.”

Of course, Blacksmith Li didn’t do his work at home—nobody wanted to hear the constant clanging of metal next door. So he had a separate workshop in town. He forged iron there during the day and returned home after closing the shop at night.

Since there was an unmarried ger at home, he couldn’t just leave him there alone. Having him stay at the shop to watch over things at night worked out fine.

So, Qi Shuning lived at the forge. During the day, while Blacksmith Li was working, Qi Shuning went out to study. At night, after Blacksmith Li returned home, Qi Shuning stayed behind at the shop. For now, things were peaceful.

Blacksmith Li brought food early in the morning.

Li Xin glanced at Chen Qing’s reddened fingers, then surveyed the courtyard. There was still plenty of corn left. “How long will it take to finish peeling all this?”

“The harvest was good this year—almost half again more than last year,” said Chen Qing. “We’ll finish peeling what’s needed for taxes first, then we’ll take our time with the rest. It’ll be fine stored through the winter.”

They had a method now. First, Aunt Sun cut a line into the corn with scissors. Then, they peeled along the cut. This method saved effort, but with only two people, it still took a lot of work.

Not to mention the corn piled in Zhou Yuan’s yard.

“Alright.” Li Xin kept peeling, but he could never sit still for long. After a while, he stood up and stretched. “I’m going to walk around a bit.”

Chen Qing nodded. He knew Li Xin didn’t really care about helping with the work; he was just keeping him company. Still, it meant a lot. After all, this cornfield represented his future.

“Li Xin already left?” Aunt Sun came in and saw him heading to the next house. She looked relieved. “I have a feeling there’ll be a wedding soon.”

Chen Qing nodded.

Aunt Sun sat beside him and started peeling corn. “This year’s harvest was better than last year’s. After we pay the taxes, I’ll sell the extras.”

Chen Qing looked up, puzzled.

Aunt Sun continued, “I want to save up a bit more. Once the mourning period is over this year, I’ll find you a husband.”

Startled, Chen Qing dropped the corn he was holding into the basket. He shook his head quickly. “Mom, no—I don’t want to get married. I want to stay with you.”

“What nonsense! You’re still so young! Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with an old woman like me? Are you stupid?” Aunt Sun laughed. “When the time comes, we’ll give you a good dowry. I’m sure no one will care about your mourning period.”

But Chen Qing kept shaking his head. “I don’t want to marry. I’ll stay home and take care of you when you’re old.”

From the moment Aunt Sun took him in, he decided to honor her for the rest of his life.

“Just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean you can’t be filial to me. You won’t even visit after you get married?”

“I just…don’t want to.”

Aunt Sun knew Chen Qing’s personality. He didn’t speak much, but he thought deeply. He weighed every word before it left his lips. “Ever since you came into this home, I’ve treated you as my own son. Now that Taozi is gone, we only have each other. As your mother, I just want you to have someone you can depend on.”

“Mom, it’s just been the two of us like this for five years,” Chen Qing said softly. “I don’t need to get married.”

“Silly child.” Aunt Sun stopped trying to persuade him and focused on peeling corn.

Meanwhile, Li Xin went to Zhou Yuan’s house. He didn’t go in; he just knocked at the door.

Zhou Yuan came out and saw him. “What is it?”

“Can you make a tool?” Li Xin got straight to the point.

“What kind of tool?” Zhou Yuan asked.

“Something to make peeling corn easier,” Li Xin said, curling his lip. “I saw Chen Qing’s fingers. They’re all red. If he keeps peeling like that, he’s going to lose a layer of skin.”

Zhou Yuan squatted down and picked up an ear of corn, examining it carefully. A few thoughts flashed through his mind. He sat down on the ground, still holding the corn, and began to ponder.

Li Xin had only come to deliver the idea. Once he was done, he headed back to Chen Qing’s place and sat down to help him peel again.

Chen Qing looked at Li Xin’s sun-reddened face and offered him some water.

Li Xin said, “After we finish the taxes and peeling, let’s go up the mountain. If it rains, there’ll be mushrooms to pick.”

“Okay.” Chen Qing agreed easily. In recent years, they would plant winter wheat after harvesting corn. Between the two crops, they usually had two days off. Every year, they’d go mushroom hunting. The fresh ones were delicious—they even made their eyebrows fall off. They’d dry and store the extras for the dull winter ahead. The dried mushrooms had their own kind of flavor, too.

Li Xin had memorized the location of every mushroom patch in the mountains. Each year, he took Chen Qing along, and they split whatever they found.

Lately, Chen Qing had been busy peeling corn every day. At night, Aunt Sun would bring out an oil lamp and say, “Time to rest.”

Chen Qing would nod and say, “I’ll be there soon.”

Seeing that he didn’t plan to stop, Aunt Sun sat beside him and took his hands. The tips of several of his fingers were rubbed red. She got up to fetch some medicinal oil and gently rubbed it on his hands.

“You’ve really suffered,” she muttered. “If I hadn’t bought you back…”

“If you hadn’t bought me, those traffickers would’ve sold me to a brothel,” Chen Qing replied calmly. Human traffickers aren’t kind people. If someone didn’t sell within a few years, they’d end up in a brothel. Someone like Chen Qing especially—his looks and height might not appeal to regular buyers, but he’d definitely catch someone’s interest in certain places.

“Mom, I’m fine now.” Chen Qing glanced at his hand. “If you feel bad, I want sugar-water eggs for breakfast tomorrow.”

Aunt Sun stroked his hair. “Alright. I just applied the medicine, so you should rest first. There’s no rush.”

Chen Qing had been acting differently these past few days—more cheerful, as if he’d shaken off something that had been weighing him down.

“Okay, I’ll go wash up.”

He was so exhausted that as soon as he lay down, he fell asleep and didn’t dream at all.

The next morning, he woke up to voices outside. Still dazed, he got dressed and stepped into the courtyard, where he saw Zhou Yuan standing at the door and handing Aunt Sun something that looked like a washboard.

Chen Qing yawned and softly called, “Mom,” as he walked over. He glanced at the object in her hands. It wasn’t their usual washboard. “What’s that?”

Their washboard had only two ridges, but this one had rows of raised lines running down its entire length. It didn’t look like it was for clothes.

Zhou Yuan noticed the messy hair sticking up from Chen Qing’s poor sleeping posture. He picked up an ear of corn and showed them how it worked. When the corn was rolled along the washboard with a little pressure, the kernels popped off due to the friction.

“It should be much faster than peeling by hand,” he said.

Chen Qing’s eyes widened. He had never imagined that a washboard could be used to shell corn.

Zhou Yuan grabbed a basket of corn, propped the washboard up at an angle, and sat down. As he began, kernels fell into the basket like rain. “See? Way quicker.”

Chen Qing squatted next to him and watched. He hadn’t brushed his hair yet, and a mountain breeze stirred his slightly long strands, brushing against Zhou Yuan’s wrist and making his heart skip a beat.

Zhou Yuan lowered his eyes.

His hair was dry with split ends. He suddenly thought of the commander’s horse in the military camp. Its mane had been sleek and glossy, far better than Chen Qing’s hair.

He glanced at Chen Qing again; he was clearly eager to try.

Zhou Yuan stood and handed the washboard over.

Chen Qing didn’t have Zhou Yuan’s strength, but he could still rub the corn down until only the cob remained. “Wow, this is amazing! Why didn’t we think of this before?”

They had tried other methods, like rubbing cob against cob, but it hadn’t worked well because Chen Qing’s hands were small. With this washboard, however, he could finally work quickly.

Seeing that Chen Qing was about to start working with her hair still messy, Aunt Sun quickly brought a bowl of sweet boiled eggs over from the kitchen. “Eat first. Didn’t you say you wanted these yesterday?”

Reluctantly, Chen Qing stepped aside and took the bowl. Inside was a boiled egg. The sugar used was old brown sugar—dark in color, but fragrant.

He sipped the sweet broth and felt immediately better as warmth flowed down his throat.

Zhou Yuan said goodbye and turned to leave. Chen Qing looked up from his bowl and noticed the dark circles under Zhou Yuan’s eyes.

“You didn’t sleep last night?” he asked.

Zhou Yuan was a little surprised—Chen Qing had never spoken to him unless he had to. But today, he’d taken the initiative to ask.

Something was definitely different.

Zhou Yuan looked back at Chen Qing, who was holding a bowl of sugary eggs. His eyes were clear and bright. The way he looked at Zhou Yuan was different, too.

Zhou Yuan put his hands behind his back and said, “I stayed up to make this.”

After Li Xin left yesterday, Zhou Yuan started thinking about what kind of tool would help, but he had never farmed before and didn’t know what to do.

Then he remembered the washboard Aunt Sun had given him a few days ago. When he saw the ridges on it, he suddenly had an idea.

It wasn’t complicated to make, but it took time. By the time he finished, the day was clear. Without thinking too much, he brought it straight to Chen Qing’s house.

“Huh?” Chen Qing blinked. “Then you should go home and rest. Li Xin isn’t coming today.”

Zhou Yuan frowned. What did Li Xin have to do with anything?

Chen Qing was acting differently today, and that made Zhou Yuan feel uneasy.

He didn’t know what had changed, but some things might need to be addressed sooner rather than later.