Chapter 10: The Ugly Ger’s Farming Story

When Li Changfeng returned home, only Li Ama and Li Xiao’er were there.

Li Xiao’er was extremely happy to receive the handkerchief Li Changfeng bought. Only his second brother would often bring him little gifts. His eldest brother and third brother were always preoccupied with their wives and children. In the past few years when his second brother was away, he never received any special gifts from the family.

The Li family had four children. The eldest, Li Lao Da, was already married and had two sons. Li Laosan and Li Wangshi had a son together. Li Changfeng remained unmarried, and Li Xiao’er, who was fifteen this year, was also reaching the age for marriage arrangements.

The family’s conditions in Jixiang Village were considered relatively decent. Moreover, in Li Changfeng’s second year of military service, Li Laosan passed the imperial examination and obtained the title of a scholar. This scholarly achievement elevated the family’s status in the eyes of the villagers. Now that Li Laosan, who had achieved fame and success, wanted to separate from the family, it put Old man Li and Li Ama in a difficult position.

After Li Xiao’er returned to his room with his gifts, Li Ama called Li Changfeng to the main hall.

“Second son, in these days since you’ve returned, Laosan has indeed been acting insincere. Your father and I have discussed it thoroughly. No matter what Laosan does, as long as you don’t want to separate, we won’t divide the family!” They were all their own children. How could they bear to harm one another?

The second son had a reserved personality and kept everything in his heart. Five years ago, when Lao San switched their names behind their backs, he and Old man Li had felt guilty towards the second son. Not to mention the matter with the Wang family’s son…

Li Ama thought with resentment, this time they couldn’t let the second son suffer anymore. They, the two old folks, were still alive! They would insist on not separating!

Li Changfeng felt comforted upon hearing Li Ama’s words. However, when he thought of the gentle smile on Xu Qing’s face this morning as he walked out of the cloth shop, he couldn’t help but feel a bit tender inside. Wasn’t he already twenty years old? Why did he seem like he’s only slightly older than his younger brother? He looked thin too. He needed to take good care of himself…

After Li Ama finished speaking, he saw his second son bowing his head, motionless. He thought he had truly been hurt by Lao San’s actions and felt a pang of pain as he gently patted Li Changfeng’s head.

Li Changfeng snapped out of his thoughts when Li Ama touched him.

What was he thinking! With a sense of embarrassment, Li Changfeng hastily told Li Ama that he was going to gather firewood and quickly disappeared before Li Ama, who was puzzled by his behavior.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing finished organizing the items he had purchased today. After having lunch, he sat in the courtyard, lost in thought.

“I forgot to buy seeds again…”

“I feel like Li Changfeng is a good person, and he’s handsome too…” He drooled a bit.

“Slap!” He gave himself a smack. What was he thinking! How pathetic! He didn’t know that many people wore a mask of respectability!

At this time, Xie Ama was at his home holding the almanac, selecting an auspicious date for a marriage proposal. Once he had made his choice, he decisively closed the courtyard door and went to find Xu Qing.

Three days later, in the early morning, Liu Ama wore a green robe that he usually didn’t wear and carried two silver coins wrapped in red cloth in his arms as he walked towards Li’s house.

Li’s house was not peaceful today. During breakfast, Li Laosan’s three-year-old son insisted that Li Changfeng lift him high in the air. Li Wangshi tried to take him away, but the child was agile and kept dodging behind Li Changfeng, making it impossible for his mother to catch him.

When Li Laosan saw this scene, he was furious! He even skipped breakfast and shouted that he would rather die than not separate from the family! If he couldn’t live a decent life, what was the point of living?

“Separate! I only have one thing to say! Separate!!”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

As soon as Liu Ama arrived at the entrance of Li’s house, he heard Li Laosan, who was usually restless, causing trouble again. He rolled his eyes and tidied his hair.

“Good news! Good news! Is the head of the Li family here? I’m from the Butcher Liu’s family, and I’ve come to bring you good news!”

The oppressive atmosphere in the courtyard was shattered by Liu Ama’s words. Li Laosan stopped talking as he knew very well that this family secret must not be leaked, especially since he was considered a scholar in public.

Li Ama, somewhat puzzled, approached the door, while Li Changfeng, who had been sitting quietly like a stone on the side, felt a leap in his heart, filled with anticipation.

Li Ama opened the courtyard gate and saw Liu Ama, who was well-groomed. “Hey, Liu’s family, what good news do you have today?”

Liu Ama casually held Li Ama’s hand. “Haha, there is good news indeed, but it’s not from me. It’s about your second son’s joyful event!”

Without paying attention to the expressions of Li Ama and others in the courtyard, Liu Ama directly handed the red packets from his arms to Li Ama and Old man Li.

“I’m here to bring you the good news first! Someone entrusted me to come and propose a marriage alliance to your second son, Li Changfeng!” Generally, they wouldn’t disclose the bride’s information to the other party during a marriage proposal. After the proposal, the man would privately meet the prospective bride and decide if it’s suitable or not. If it is, they would then explain the prospective bride’s background to the family. If not, they would keep it a secret to avoid embarrassing the ger or causing future complications.

“Se…second son? This is someone looking to marry our second son into their family!” Li Ama immediately understood the situation. “This… This is unbelievable! Our family’s child can’t become someone else’s married-in husband!”

Liu Ama wasn’t bothered by Li Ama’s attitude. Instead, he walked up to Li Changfeng and whispered, “Come to Liu Ama’s shop tomorrow.” Seeing Li Changfeng nod, he bid farewell with a cheerful smile and left.

Li Ama slammed the courtyard gate shut with a loud “pa” sound. “Second son, don’t listen to him. Our family is doing well, we can’t become someone else’s in-law! Third son, stop howling. Your father and I are still alive! What are you all standing around for? Finish eating and get to work in the fields!!”

Now Li Laosan dared not say anything more. Li Ama rarely got angry, and when he did, no one in the family could calm him down.

Li Changfeng had already guessed Liu Ama’s purpose when he visited. Sure enough, thinking about that slender figure, Li Changfeng lost his appetite while eating.

After nightfall, Li Changfeng tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. After some contemplation, he got up, opened the wardrobe, and rummaged through it. He found a black money pouch, which he earned by working diligently in the military camp.

As for the ten taels of silver subsidy he received when he returned to the village, he immediately handed it over to Li Ama. The origin of these fifteen taels of silver, thanks to Li Laosan delivering the message, informed Li Changfeng about his marriage to the son from the Wang family. In that year, Li Changfeng did all the dirty and exhausting work, just to forget that his own brother married his prospective wife.

Li Changfeng tucked the money pouch under his pillow and lay back down on the bed.

Originally, before Butcher Liu brought up the idea of marrying into Xu family, Li Changfeng only thought about the official match and the troubles at home. However, when Butcher Liu mentioned that the other party was the ugly ger, his heart was filled with pity. He thought about treating him well in the future and living a stable and peaceful life.

But after that encounter with the “ugly”ger at the marketplace, he didn’t think the other person was ugly at all. Maybe a bit flushed and thin, but quite fair-skinned.

Having seen people from all walks of life in the military camp, he knew that human nature couldn’t be determined by appearances alone. Thinking about Xu Qing’s smile, so pure and innocent, he realized that such a person couldn’t be bad-hearted.

Xu Qing, too, couldn’t sleep. He sat on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, surrounded by darkness and silence. The frogs outside hadn’t awakened yet.

“Sigh! Seriously.”

A few days ago, Xie Ama came to him with a selected auspicious day, saying that it was the best day of the month in terms of luck. He had no choice but to go along with Xie Ama’s chosen date. But now he wondered, “Would he think that I couldn’t wait, that I’m impatient?” Xu Qing buried his face in the blanket, feeling restless. He didn’t know if they would meet tomorrow at the agreed-upon place.

He rolled around in bed, limbs sprawled, and soon a soft snoring sound could be heard.

The next morning, Li Changfeng had already left the courtyard gate early. He had hardly slept all night.

But his eyes showed no signs of fatigue. It was still early, and there were no pedestrians on the road. He just couldn’t lie in bed anymore, so he walked to the market without much effort.

Xu Qing, on the other hand, was not in the same state. He was awakened early in the morning by Xie Ama’s knocking on the door. Then, Xie Ama fussed over his appearance, and even took out scented powder to apply on him. Xu Qing was so scared that he ran far away in a drowsy state!

“What is this?”

Xie Ama chuckled as he watched Xu Qing keeping his distance.

“This is a good thing. My (ger)son used this powder when he got married. He said,” Xie Ama whispered with a lecherous tone, “the groom complimented how fragrant it was!”

Xu Qing felt like his values had been challenged like never before. In the end, he resisted multiple times and didn’t apply the scented powder and rouge!

What kind of thing is this! Even if he were homosexual, he couldn’t accept being heavily made up!

They left the house and got on the donkey cart borrowed from Uncle Xie to head to the market.

Xu Qing sighed lightly and looked at the sky.

“Xie Ama, isn’t it too early?” It was only five o’clock!

Xie Ama rolled his eyes. “Of course it has to be early at this time. Otherwise, if you two, unmarried and unengaged, are seen lingering around for too long, people will gossip!”

Xie Ama glanced at Xu Qing again and still thought he looked too plain, not like the other gers who loved to dress up!

Xu Qing caught a glimpse of Xie Ama’s gaze, twitched the corner of his eye slightly, and discreetly shifted away from him, creating some distance.

“Why are you sitting so far away? I won’t eat you, you know!” Xie Ama said.

Xu Qing rolled his eyes secretly. He wouldn’t eat him, but feeling uncomfortable was worse than being eaten!

As the cart swayed back and forth, Xu Qing started feeling drowsy. He had stayed up half the night without sleeping and woke up early today. Tsk tsk, getting engaged in ancient times was much more troublesome than in modern times!

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Thingyan: So this aggregator site reposted my translations on their website and had the audacity to say “Please read this chapter at ‘their website’ for faster releases” in the middle of the paragraphs. I’m sorry but where are you getting the chapters faster than the ORIGINAL TRANSLATION WEBSITE??? Dumbasses!