Chapter 9: The Ugly Ger’s Farming Story

The sky was still dimly lit as the rain had fallen again last night, so it was a bit cold when Xu Qing woke up in the morning. He adjusted his sleeves and carefully avoided the long weeds on the path, fearing that the dew would wet the hem of his clothes.

“Knock, knock! Uncle Xie, it’s Brother Qing!”

With a creak, Uncle Xie opened the courtyard gate. “Come in quickly. Your Xie Ama has been up for a while, and he’s as excited as he was when he was young!”

“Good morning, Uncle Xie!” Xu Qing obediently greeted him and followed Uncle Xie into the main hall. Xie Ama saw him and said, “Why aren’t you wearing more? Here, put on this coat. It’s what my son used to wear before he got married.”

After saying that, he also put on another coat for himself. Xu Qing was a bit puzzled. “Is Uncle Xie coming with us too?” He saw Uncle Xie starting to put on outdoor shoes.

“At that time, he went to borrow a donkey cart from someone else’s house. He left early this morning, but he couldn’t catch up with the cart. So we’ll just go on our own.” Xie Ama took Xu Qing’s hand and walked out of the courtyard gate, waiting for Uncle Xie to drive the donkey cart over.

“Hey, I have to say, it rained again last night, and it’s even more useful this morning!”

Xu Qing nodded. Indeed, if they walked to the market, who knew how dirty their clothes would get. The rural roads after the rain were not easy to deal with.

“He’s here, let’s go, Brother Qing!”

After Xu Qing and Xie Ama got on the cart and settled down, Uncle Xie shouted as the donkey moved towards the fork in the road at the end of the village.

“Uncle Xie knows how to drive a donkey cart, huh?” Xu Qing adjusted Uncle Xie’s clothes and casually asked. You see, in this era, a donkey cart was like a motorcycle, an ox cart was like a car, and as for a horse carriage, it was like a Rolls-Royce!

Xie Ama held Xu Qing’s slightly cool hand in his, warming it up. Upon hearing those words, he felt a sense of nostalgia. “Speaking of driving, it was actually your father who taught your Uncle Xie!”

Xu Qing carefully thought about it but couldn’t recall any memories of his father driving.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Xie, driving the donkey cart, shouted loudly to explain, “You don’t know, your dad used to work with the army horses when he was serving in the military. He watched the real military officers practice horsemanship and remembered it. When he came back, he tried it with a donkey and found it wasn’t difficult. Then he taught me too!”

“Real military officers?” That statement sounded a bit awkward.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

“Those who serve in the military can only do odd jobs in various military camps. Only after experiencing a few years of military life and improving their overall well-being can they become real soldiers. They have to go through various tests and assessments to be qualified!”

So that’s how it was. It seems that the emperor of this dynasty indeed had comprehensive considerations, which made the lives of the people more stable.

“Ah, we’ve arrived.”

They got off the donkey cart at the same place as before, and the sky was just beginning to brighten. They arrived about half an hour earlier than their previous trip to the market.

Xie Ama felt that it wasn’t as cold now, so he took off the coats they were wearing.

After exchanging greetings with Uncle Xie, Xie Ama and Xu Qing headed towards the spot where Butcher Liu and Liu Ama usually set up his stall. By this time, they should have arrived too. Doing business is always better when you’re earlier than others.

Xu Qing was wearing a dark blue robe. His outfit resembled the traditional men’s attire in ancient China’s Qing Dynasty, with the buttoned-up robe. On the other hand, most men wore shirts and long pants. Even without looking at the cinnabar mole between his eyebrows, one could tell by his figure whether he was a young ger or a grown man.

The deep blue robe accentuated Xu Qing’s fair complexion. Most of the red bumps on his face had turned into small red dots. Although his face was still covered in them, at least it was no longer as repulsive as before. Even so, it made people wonder how Xu Qing would look without those red dots.

His skin was fair, which made the red dots on his face particularly noticeable. His nose was straight, his lips slightly thin. The most striking feature was his eyes, which seemed to be embedded in his eye sockets—dark and bright, clear and full of vitality. When they moved, they were full of liveliness. Putting aside the red dots on his face, Xu Qing had a delicate and spirited appearance.

Li Changfeng woke up early in the morning. He had promised Butcher Liu to help him drive the piglets to the market today. After getting dressed, he washed up with cold water and skipped breakfast. He headed straight to Butcher Liu’s house.

“Waking up so early and making all that noise, don’t you let anyone sleep!” After Li Changfeng left, a dissatisfied grumble came from Li Laosan’s room. Li Wangshi, Wang’s son, turned over and faced away from Li Laosan. Without saying a word, he patted his three-year-old son in his arms. His slender eyes showed no sign of sleepiness. He felt guilty towards Li Changfeng.

***

Xu Qing and Xie Ama stood in a corner of the street, across from Liu Ama’s stall.

“Ama, are we too obvious?!” Xu Qing looked around awkwardly. It was still early, and there were only a few people out shopping. The rest were vendors setting up their stalls.

From across Liu Ama’s stall, they were the only two standing there. It seemed like they had nothing better to do, which felt quite strange.

“Ah, there’s nothing we can do. It’s just that this street is the only place where we can see their stall!” Xie Ama also blushed a bit.

“Look, the one wearing a black short shirt and pants is Li Changfeng!! Look, look!”

Following Xie Ama’s pointing finger, Xu Qing saw the back of a tall man near Liu Ama’s stall. He was helping Butcher Liu with some things. When he stood up, he was probably around 1.8 meters tall, and his figure appeared sturdy from the back. Xu Qing felt a sense of anticipation, and his heartbeat quickened. Just from the silhouette, he met about 95% of Xu Qing’s standards!

As the person turned around, Xu Qing saw his facial features clearly—chiseled jaw with and sword eyebrows! His skin was somewhat dark, and his pursed lips gave off a very serious expression when he didn’t speak.

From a modern aesthetic perspective, he was a handsome man! He was exactly the type Xu Qing had been dreaming of! This was amazing!

“Ama, please pick a date for me so that I can find a matchmaker and propose!” Xu Qing spoke with an almost desperate tone, expressing his eagerness to Xie Ama, who was also thrilled by the surprise.

“Alright, I’ll take care of it!” Xie Ama was even more excited now than when he married his own husband. He and Xu Qing’s mother got along extremely well, and now that Xu Qing had made up his mind about starting a family, he could also provide an explanation to his late friend.

Xu Qing remembered his herbal medicine business in the space and told Xie Ama that he needed to use the restroom. He asked him to wait at the cloth shop and said, “I plan to buy some new bed sheets and covers. You go ahead and choose for me. I’ll come find you when I’m done!”

Xie Ama was completely taken aback by Xu Qing’s decision and didn’t even consider whether Xu Qing recognized the way or not. He quickly agreed and hurriedly walked towards the cloth shop. At this time, many shops had opened, and there were more fabric styles to choose from.

Xu Qing watched Xie Ama’s departing figure and turned to grab someone to ask for directions to a reputable pharmacy. He rushed over there.

The pharmacy wasn’t big, but it had opened its doors early. A young lad was sweeping the floor, and when he saw Xu Qing, he didn’t neglect him. “Hey, brother, you sell medicinal herbs, what a coincidence! Our master is in the backyard. Please wait a moment.”

Xu Qing felt comfortable with the young lad’s attitude. No wonder this place had the best reputation. He placed the medicinal herbs he had taken from the space on the medicine table. It didn’t take long before the young lad and a middle-aged man in his fifties came in.

“Young man, let me have a look at your medicinal herbs. We offer fair prices here, so rest assured.”

Xu Qing pushed the bundle on the table in front of the pharmacy owner.

The old man was surprised to see the slightly muddy herbs. “Did you just collect these?” They looked fresh and smelled good.

“No, I collected them yesterday evening. Doctor, please take a look at the prices. How do they seem to you?” Because the herbs had been placed in the space, they appeared no different from when they were collected yesterday.

“Fresh! And it’s been two years since anyone found some Sun Ginseng. My surname is Lin. If you bring any other good medicinal herbs here in the future, I guarantee you a good price!”

“That’s for sure, Dr. Lin.”

Finally, they agreed on a total price of eighty taels. Xu Qing felt it was fair and bid farewell to Dr. Lin before heading towards the cloth shop. He had been away for some time, and if he didn’t hurry, Xie Ama would start worrying.

“Did Changfeng leave?”

Upon returning from shopping, Liu Ama didn’t see Li Changfeng and asked Butcher Liu.

“He left. I wonder if Brother Qing saw him or not?”

“Saw him! Saw him! I met Xie Ama, and he said it’s settled!”

Li Changfeng bought two handkerchiefs for his younger brother from a peddler and was preparing to go home when he looked up and saw a young ger wearing a deep blue outfit entering the cloth shop across the street. He was surprised. The face full of red dots seemed to be right in front of his eyes—it was Brother Qing!

The cloth shop was a place for gers, and he didn’t feel comfortable going in. So after buying the handkerchief, Li Changfeng stood not far from the cloth shop, thinking. He didn’t know why he wanted to see Xu Qing again, but he just felt like seeing him again.

When Xu Qing arrived at the cloth shop, Xie Ama had already chosen everything, including the fabric for the bride and groom’s clothes!

Xu Qing hadn’t expected this. “Then it’ll trouble you to make them for me.”

“What are you saying? And this time, don’t argue with me. I won’t accept any payment for making the wedding clothes. It’s not auspicious!”

Xu Qing was taken aback and somewhat disbelieving. It was only when an elderly ger standing nearby confirmed the same thing that he believed it. It wasn’t his fault; he was just worried that Xie Ama wouldn’t want to be paid for the work!

The total cost for all the bed sheets, covers, fabric, and cotton amounted to two taels of silver. Since they had too many things, Xie Ama asked Xu Qing to go to the designated spot and find Uncle Xie to bring the cart over for easier transportation of the items.

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Thingyan: I didn’t want my lovely readers hanging so, I uploaded another chapter despite having homework, papers due, and other life matters to attend to ^_^