Chapter 35 – After a long separation

Today is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, also known as Little New Year.

When Chen Qing woke up, he stood at the door and looked at Zhou Yuan’s house in the distance as usual. However, it was foggy today, so he couldn’t see anything. He sighed.

Then, he went to the back to feed the chickens, ducks, and geese and prepared separate soybean meals for the cows. After doing all this, a faint orange light appeared on the horizon. However, the sunlight was weak and couldn’t disperse the thick fog.

Since the start of winter, Luohe Village had been like this almost every day. There was thick fog in the morning that wouldn’t disappear until nearly noon.

Li Xin hadn’t come to the house for the past two days. After all, his wedding was on the 26th, so sneaking out wouldn’t have been appropriate. He didn’t come, so Chen Qing was free. These days, he didn’t need to guard the meat rack at home. He didn’t know what to do.

His mother knew some of the aunts in the village. In the winter, when there was no work, some of the aunts would gather to play leaf cards. It was also a hobby of theirs.

She had taken Chen Qing before to keep him from being bored at home, but he still felt uncomfortable after going twice, so Aunt Sun stopped inviting him.

He could enjoy himself at home embroidering, feeding the chickens and ducks, cleaning the house, and staring blankly at the sky. These were all his hobbies.

Today was a bit different. After all, it was Little New Year, and it should be taken seriously. Aunt Sun had been preparing since morning. They were going to kill a chicken, eat half of it today, and save the other half for New Year’s.

Aunt Sun went to the backyard to catch a chicken, and Chen Qing started boiling water. This was only the second chicken he had killed this year if he counted carefully.

The river water was too cold to touch. When Chen Qing first arrived, he wasn’t accustomed to the winter climate. He got frostbite that first year and every winter thereafter.

The feathers from the chickens killed this time weren’t kept. Chen Qing carried a bucket of hot water outside to pour it. The fog still hadn’t cleared, and everything was white.

He wanted to carry the bucket to the river to dump the water. He didn’t meet anyone along the way. Although the river water wasn’t frozen, it was cold. The people in the village would now boil water to wash their clothes and wait for the weather to warm up before washing their heavy coats.

Chen Qing walked through the vast fog with the bucket.

Suddenly, a black shadow appeared in front of him. His heart trembled and he almost dropped the bucket. When it was about to fall, the black shadow caught it.

In the middle of the fog, Chen Qing could clearly see Zhou Yuan’s face. Although it had only been two months since he last saw Zhou Yuan, he didn’t recognize him at first. Chen Qing was stunned and didn’t know what to say.

Zhou Yuan put down the bucket and no longer held back.

He reached out and pulled Chen Qing into his arms. Chen Qing was so small that he fit perfectly in Zhou Yuan’s embrace. Zhou Yuan lifted him up as if he were a child. Chen Qing’s cry was stuck in his throat. Once Zhou Yuan had lifted him, Chen Qing was finally able to look into his eyes.

“I’m back.”

Chen Qing’s lips moved; he felt like he had a lot to say but couldn’t seem to form the words. His hands, which had been holding Zhou Yuan’s arm, now raised and hugged Zhou Yuan’s neck.

Neither of them spoke again after that, enjoying this moment of warmth and peace.

It wasn’t until Aunt Sun called loudly from nearby that Chen Qing jumped down from Zhou Yuan. His face turned red again. “Have you…eaten?”

Zhou Yuan helped him lift the bucket and followed him to the door. “No, I just got here,” Zhou Yuan said.

After a moment of thought, Chen Qing pulled him into the courtyard. After all, it was foggy, so no one could see. “I’ll make you something to eat.”

Zhou Yuan followed him into the house. Aunt Sun was also surprised to see him. “Zhou Yuan is back!”

Zhou Yuan nodded and said, “Aunt, I’m back.”

“Oh, the journey must have been hard. You look like you’ve lost a lot of weight.” She patted his shoulder and asked, “Did you just arrive?”

Zhou Yuan just smiled. “Yes, I just got home and came to visit.”

Aunt Sun knew that Zhou Yuan wasn’t there to see her. “You two chat for a bit. I’ll make you something to eat. You must not have eaten yet.”

“Thank you, Auntie. I’ll help him pack up and come over later.”

Aunt Sun replied from the kitchen. Zhou Yuan held Chen Qing’s hand and took him back to his house. The road was narrow, so they walked one in front of the other, but they still held hands.

Zhou Yuan’s luggage was still in the yard. He hadn’t gone inside yet. He dropped his things and went looking for someone. At a glance, he could see that the entire yard was clean and tidy, showing that Chen Qing usually came over to clean.

Chen Qing was a little embarrassed. “I came with Li Xin to clean. No one knows.”

Zhou Yuan picked up his things. “I’m afraid people don’t know. If someone had seen earlier, I would’ve married you into the family sooner.”

Chen Qing blushed again; the redness in his cheeks hadn’t faded since Zhou Yuan returned. He saw Zhou Yuan’s luggage. When he left, he had only one bag, but now he had more things.

One bright red item stood out.

Zhou Yuan told him where the red cloth came from: “It’s hard to go against the general’s wishes. Madam prepared this.”

The general in the capital was far removed from Chen Qing. The highest-ranking official he had seen was the district magistrate. Seeing the cloth said to be a gift from the general made him extremely cautious about touching it.

“Anyway, this is for you.” Zhou Yuan stuffed the cloth into his arms. “Use this to make your wedding robe. If you want to embroider it yourself, do it. If not, I’ll find someone to do it.”

Chen Qing hurriedly returned the cloth. “It’s such a waste to give such good cloth to me.” He was afraid that his rough palms would scratch the precious fabric.

In the pushing and shoving, the soft, satin cloth, which wasn’t tied tightly, fell and spread open. Chen Qing quickly went to pick it up, but a piece of paper fell out. Zhou Yuan saw it, picked it up, and looked at it.

It was two silver banknotes, each worth one hundred taels.

Chen Qing had never seen silver banknotes before. He had only seen silver ingots worth five or ten taels once or twice, let alone banknotes. Leaning closer to Zhou Yuan, he asked, “What is this?”

“Silver banknotes.”

Chen Qing was shocked. “Did I break it?”

Zhou Yuan smiled and shook his head. Then, he put the silver notes away and helped Chen Qing unpack the items he had brought back.

There were medicinal herbs for Zhang Yin and various small items for Li Xin and Niu Niu. As long as he knew them, he hadn’t forgotten anyone.

Then, Chen Qing remembered what he wanted to tell Zhou Yuan: “Zhou Yuan, Li Xin is getting married on the 26th.”

Zhou Yuan was stunned. “He’s getting married? To whom?”

“The scholar staying at his house.” Chen Qing sat on a stool at the side. Still too shy to sit on Zhou Yuan’s bed, he told Zhou Yuan what had been happening in the village recently.

“Godmother’s health is worse again?” Zhou Yuan looked at the large and small packages of herbs he had brought back. “Then I’ll visit her later.”

Chen Qing nodded.

Zhou Yuan didn’t have much to pack, so he called Chen Qing to talk privately.

He touched another small package inside the bundle. “Everything here is for you.”

Chen Qing instinctively wanted to refuse, but he heard Zhou Yuan say, “It’s not anything valuable.”

Then, he opened it with Zhou Yuan: “These are spices we brought back from Xixin Mansion.”

Chen Qing opened the box and looked inside. He didn’t recognize anything inside. “What is this?”

Zhou Yuan told him about his experience after returning from the capital, especially about the Tianji they ate. “It’s wonderful to enjoy warm food in the winter.”

Chen Qing knew Zhou Yuan wasn’t picky, but if he said something was delicious, then it must be really good.

“If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll take you there. They said these are the ingredients used to make that delicious dish. You can try to learn how to make it.” Zhou Yuan showed him the rest: “These are all small, inexpensive items that I just bought.”

There was a goose-yellow headband with two small bells on it, a five-colored bracelet, and some handkerchiefs with fresh patterns. They weren’t expensive, but each item was chosen with care.

“Do you like them?” Zhou Yuan looked into his sparkling eyes and knew he did.

“You bought too much.” Chen Qing couldn’t take his eyes off them. He had received very few gifts since childhood. After his father passed away, he rarely saw such bright colors again.

“They’re not expensive.”

Chen Qing saw a small box inside. He picked it up, opened the lid, and smelled a lovely fragrance. Zhou Yuan came over, too. “This is frostbite cream that I bought in the capital. Do you have frostbite?”

He held Chen Qing’s hand and examined the frostbite. “Looks like I bought the right thing.”

Chen Qing smiled and held the small box in his palm.

After looking around, he stood up. “Let’s go see my aunt.”

Then, he remembered that he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, so he quickly got up and went home with him.

Aunt Sun had already kneaded the dough and prepared the chicken giblets, but she hadn’t cooked them yet. She wasn’t good at frying giblets, so she waited for Chen Qing to come back.

While Zhou Yuan talked with Aunt Sun in the yard, Chen Qing fried the giblets on the side.

Every household in Luohe Village had a pickle jar. Any leftover vegetables could be put in the jar. After salting them in brine, the vegetables remained crunchy but had an added flavor.

The chicken fat was rendered and the ginger from the pickle jar was fried until fragrant.

Then, the giblets were added to the pan and stir-fried on high heat, releasing their aroma. Meanwhile, as water boiled, Chen Qing put two eggs in to boil as well.

Once the noodles were ready, he poured the pickled cabbage and giblets over them. A bowl of chicken giblet noodles was complete. As usual, Zhou Yuan was given a large bowl of soup and water.

Zhou Yuan nearly finished it in one gulp. When he saw the boiled egg in his bowl, he looked at Chen Qing, who didn’t look back.

Today was Little New Year. Aunt Sun asked Zhou Yuan about his plans. After finishing his soup, Zhou Yuan said, “Today, I’ll go to Godfather’s house to see if he needs help. I’ll also go see Godmother and bring her the medicine I bought.”

Aunt Sun nodded and said, “That’s right. Even though we’re godparents, we’ll still be family in the future.”

Li Xin’s family had been cleaning the newly rented house for the past two days, and Zhou Yuan could help if he went.

“I’ll come for dinner later. Aunt, will you save some food for me?” Though he spoke to Aunt Sun, his eyes were always on Chen Qing.

Aunt Sun laughed, “That depends on whether Aqing works hard enough.”

“Mom…” Chen Qing sat to the side, feeling shy.

“Oh, Aqing is shy.” Aunt Sun laughed heartily. “You’re much better now. Before, you wouldn’t say a word, but now your expressions are so vivid and colorful.”

Chen Qing blushed and turned toward the kitchen.

The two people in the courtyard burst into laughter as they looked at his blurry back.