Chapter 25 – Tailored

Aunt Sun stood by the door and watched as they trudged through the muddy puddles—some one foot deep and some shallow—as they left her home in shame. She wiped the rain from her face. Her eyes were calm. It would be better not to have such “relatives” at all.

Inside the room, Chen Qing and Zhou Yuan exchanged a glance. After a moment, Chen Qing looked at Zhou Yuan and said, “Thank you.”

Zhou Yuan smiled. “You’re welcome.”

His gaze swept over the room’s mess, and he spotted the fabric lying on the floor.

Chen Qing quickly leapt over to grab it. It must have fallen during the scuffle earlier. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…” He brushed off the dust. “I’ll wash it before making the clothes.”

“Alright,” Zhou Yuan said, not minding. In fact, he found it interesting to see Chen Qing like this.

Aunt Sun came back into the main hall and saw Chen Qing holding the fabric and talking to Zhou Yuan.

“Ah Qing, didn’t you say yesterday that you didn’t have Zhou Yuan’s measurements? Why not ask him now?” Her eyes were a little red. Looking at the chaotic room, she bent down to tidy it up. After a while, when the room stayed quiet, she looked up at Chen Qing.

“Ah Qing?”

Snapping out of it, he replied softly, Oh, to make clothes, I’ll need your height, wingspan, and so on.”

Zhou Yuan heard him. His voice was low, like a cat scratching at his ear. He muttered, “I don’t know. I’ve never measured it before.”

“Then, Ah Qing, why don’t you measure him?” Aunt Sun didn’t wait around after tidying up. Her mind was all over the place, her emotions swirling. She just muttered, “I’ll go lie down for a bit,” and left the two behind.

Chen Qing: …

Left alone, the two locked eyes again. Zhou Yuan knew that if he didn’t speak up, Chen Qing could probably stay silent forever.

“Not gonna measure?”

Chen Qing slowly pulled a measuring tape out of his sewing box and handed it to him. “Do it yourself.”

“I don’t know how.” Zhou Yuan stretched out his arms.

Chen Qing frowned and snapped, “Just hold it up and measure yourself!”

Zhou Yuan just stared at him, still holding the tape measure and not moving.

Irritated, Chen Qing grabbed the tape back. It was only three feet long, and doubling it still wasn’t enough to measure Zhou Yuan’s full height.

After measuring, Chen Qing was stunned. “You’re actually six and a half feet tall?”

Zhou Yuan lowered his eyes to look at him. “You don’t look over five and a half.”

Chen Qing pouted, annoyed, but he couldn’t argue.

He couldn’t stand for too long because of his leg. After measuring Zhou Yuan, he wobbled slightly. Zhou Yuan reacted quickly, wrapping an arm around Chen Qing’s waist to steady him. Hit by the full force of his strength, Chen Qing bumped into Zhou Yuan’s chest.

He pushed away with both hands, but Zhou Yuan didn’t budge. Instead, Chen Qing bounced back and staggered. Zhou Yuan had to grab his hand and push him into a chair. “Be honest. Do you not want your leg anymore?”

Zhou Yuan looked down. Chen Qing’s entire face was red; even his neck and hands had turned pink. Was he really that embarrassed?

Maybe Zhou Yuan had gone a bit too far. Chen Qing lowered his head, refusing to look at Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan took the measuring tape and quietly measured the rest himself, reporting the numbers back.

Chen Qing responded with quiet “oh” and didn’t realize when Zhou Yuan left.

After the rain passed, the fields buzzed with life again as the autumn planting season began.

Before planting officially began, the village chief led a group from house to house to collect taxes. When they reached Zhou Yuan’s house, he only paid a small amount since he had just moved to Luohe Village, hadn’t started farming yet, and had some government-granted privileges.

As he walked back inside to get the money, he felt a gaze on him. He turned around and saw a married man who had come with the village chief staring at him.

Later, they arrived at the Meng family home. Since Chen Qing’s leg hadn’t healed yet and Aunt Sun couldn’t lift heavy objects, Zhou Yuan helped with the tax payment.

Chen Qing watched Zhou Yuan move things around. His movements were strong, clean, and efficient. After collecting the tax—since their home was the last stop—Zhou Yuan helped escort Chen Qing and Aunt Sun to the village chief’s courtyard.

Later, Chen Qing noticed the man from earlier seemed to “coincidentally” linger near Zhou Yuan. If he remembered correctly, the man’s name was Zhang Ran. He had just gotten married, so why was he running around with the village chief?

But Chen Qing didn’t dwell on it. The farming rush had begun.

Aunt Sun was already up before dawn. Chen Qing woke up to noise in the courtyard. When he came out, she had already prepared everything. Seeing that he was awake, she handed him a wooden walking stick.

“This will make things easier,” she said. Then she rushed out the door, leaving Chen Qing alone with the stick.

It was a straight, long, polished, and smooth stick. Clearly, she had prepared it thoughtfully.

The rain had kept the chickens and geese locked up the previous day. Now that it was dry, they needed to be let out. The ground was still slippery, and Chen Qing almost slipped, but the stick held him steady.

After feeding the chickens and geese, he swept the yard and sat down again to finish sewing Zhou Yuan’s clothes.

Making clothes wasn’t simple. He had learned all his skills from his little father. Before his father passed away, their family had actually lived a decent life. His father was good at farming, and his little father was very skilled with his hands. Despite his grandmother’s frequent demands for money, they still lived well.

Little Father used to sew clothes for the villagers. Since buying ready-made clothes was expensive, many preferred to buy fabric and have clothes made, and Little Father earned money this way.

When he was a child, Chen Qing would lie next to the sewing basket. He was the cleanest kid in the village. While the other children wore patched-up clothes, his always looked brand new. Since little father sewed for others, there were always leftover scraps. She saved them and used the closest-matching fabric to patch up his clothes.

But after his father died, little father cried herself blind. She couldn’t sew anymore.

There was a faint water stain on the black fabric in front of him. Chen Qing quickly wiped it away.

Bending his head to sew made his neck and shoulders hurt. Before he knew it, it was the middle of the Si hour¹巳时 (sì shí) = 9 am to 11 am in the modern time system.. He put the needle and thread down and rushed to cook.

Steamed buns that were a bit firm, just-right pickled vegetables, a pot of sticky stewed potatoes and eggplant, and some rare multigrain rice. There was even a bowl of bone broth stewed until snowy white and topped with chopped green onions. It smelled amazing.

Chen Qing packed the food into a bundle and was just about to take it to the fields when Li Xin arrived at the door.

“Heading out?” Li Xin quickly came over to help.

“Mom went to the fields. I’m bringing food.”

“I’ll go with you,” Li Xin said, taking the bundle. “Walk behind me.”

It had rained yesterday. The ground was slippery, and Chen Qing was limping—he could easily fall.

“Is your leg okay? I heard someone came to your place yesterday and caused trouble. Are you and Auntie all right?” Li Xin talked nonstop.

“How do you know?”

“Niu Niu ran around the village telling everyone.” Li Xin grinned. “So, what happened?”

“It’s fine. Zhou Yuan helped us.” Chen Qing spoke softly.

Li Xin nodded in satisfaction. “At least he’s a little manly.”

“Huh?”

Li Xin laughed. Soon, they reached the edge of the fields.

“Mom, take a break. It’s lunchtime.”

Zhou Yuan was working when he heard Chen Qing’s voice across the field. He thought that if Chen Qing had just called his name after that, even the scorching sun would have felt soft.

Farm work was more boring than he expected, with the same motions repeated over and over. His mind went numb.

Because of his tight schedule, he hadn’t gone back to eat yet. Looking around, he saw many families bringing food and sitting by the fields to eat.

Aunt Sun looked exhausted and a bit hungry. Chen Qing unpacked the food. When he saw Zhou Yuan walking over, he took out his portion too. “Mom, you eat first. I’ll go work.”

Then, he and Li Xin entered the fields. Li Xin supported him halfway. The land had been tilled with a plow. Thankfully, Zhou Yuan had a cow. Without it, turning the soil would have taken forever.

Chen Qing and Li Xin started sowing seeds. Chen Qing hopped around on one leg. Zhou Yuan stared at him and was reminded of a puppy they had raised in the army that was always bouncing around.

His hands were still a bit stiff. It was his first time plowing with a cow. He couldn’t get the tension right: too tight, too loose. Even the cow glanced back at him a few times.

“Practice makes perfect. You’re doing great,” said Aunt Sun as she mixed vegetables into her rice and took big bites.

“Next year, I’ll rent out the land and figure out something else to do.” Zhou Yuan shifted his gaze.

Aunt Sun hummed. “A good man has ambitions. What do you want to do?”

“I heard there are a few other veterans in the village. I’m thinking of forming an escort team.”

That was outside of Aunt Sun’s area of expertise. “What for?”

“Basically, we accompany people who have valuable items to deliver and are worried about safety.”

Aunt Sun nodded. “So that means leaving home a lot. The roads could be dangerous.”

Zhou Yuan smiled. “No matter how dangerous it is, it’s not as bad as war. While I’m young, I want to work a few more years and earn more money.”

“To marry a wife, right?” Aunt Sun teased.

“Yeah.” After a moment, he corrected himself. “To marry a husband.”

Aunt Sun understood right away. No wonder he was always so focused on the battlefield. Ah Qing had done a great job, and she had even brought Li Xin along to help.

The more she watched the two of them, the more she felt they were a good match. She asked again, “When are you going to propose? Li Xin is a tall, strong blacksmith, but you’re taller. He’d be happy to hand Li Xin over.”

Zhou Yuan choked, then said seriously, “Auntie, it’s not Li Xin. I never liked Li Xin.”

Aunt Sun was stunned. “Not Li Xin?”

“Nope.” Zhou Yuan finished his steamed bun. “Auntie, I don’t like Li Xin.”

Aunt Sun froze and finally realized that something was off.

He didn’t like Li Xin, yet he always paid so much attention to their family. He was always wherever Li Xin was. If he didn’t like Li Xin, then who did he like?

Not Li Xin.

Aunt Sun’s pupils shrank. “Is it… Ah Qing?”

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  巳时 (sì shí) = 9 am to 11 am in the modern time system.