Chapter 22: The Ugly Ger’s Farming Story

“Sigh…”

Chen Qi lay in bed, sighing with frustration. Since the day he made Xiao Hong cry with his words, until today, he has remained gloomy. No matter how much he apologized or tried to cheer him up, it didn’t work. What worried him the most was that Xiao Hong had a slight fever in the afternoon. Fortunately, there was a local folk doctor not far from their house, or else…

“You’re still not asleep? You have to accompany Li Changfeng tomorrow!”

Chen Qi’s wife advised helplessly, listening to his sighs.

Chen Qi turned over and hugged his wife’s warm body. “I’m thinking about Xiao Hong. He had a fever this afternoon. Why did it become so serious?!”

His wife snuggled in Chen Qi’s embrace and said, “I find it strange too. Younger Brother has always said that it’s not because of you, but his health is deteriorating. He’s been eating less these days!”

Chen Ama and Old man Chen were also at a loss. They didn’t consider it a big deal initially. It was just some nonsense from the elder brother that made the younger brother feel uncomfortable. Who would have thought that in these few days, instead of improving, it had worsened, and they couldn’t figure out why!

“The atmosphere at home has been heavy these past few days, completely different from the harmonious and warm environment we had before…”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have said those things that day!”

Chen Qi’s wife shook his head. “I think it’s because Little Brother has grown up. There might be something bothering him.”

Chen Qi was startled and looked at his wife in his arms. “What do you mean?”

“It’s hard to explain. It’s just my intuition. You won’t understand even if I tell you. Now, go to sleep quickly! You have to wake up early tomorrow!”

“Are you sleeping already?”

Li Ama nudged Old man Li, who was sleeping with his back turned. The thought of their second son marrying out tomorrow weighed heavily on his heart.

Old man Li rolled over and lay flat, half asleep. “You’re not sleeping either.”

“I can’t sleep. Just thinking that our second son will become someone else’s son-in-law tomorrow, and I have to wait until he brings his wife back to see them. It’s unsettling!”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

If he were marrying a local ger like the eldest and third sons did, he would feel more at ease. At least he would know whose son the other person was, what his character was like, and what the family conditions were.

“Do you think he will marry someone from the village or from outside?” Li Ama asked. He would feel more relieved if it were someone from the village.

“How would I know!”

Li Ama pushed Old man Li discontentedly. “That’s why I asked you to guess!”

“What’s the use of guessing? Just go to sleep. We have to prepare several tables for the banquet tomorrow! We need to wake up early!”

This son-in-law’s family would also have a banquet, but with fewer tables. They would only invite close relatives for a meal, inform them, and hang a big red cloth at the entrance to signify the occasion. It wouldn’t be as troublesome as marrying someone in.

The next morning, before dawn, Xie Ama, accompanied by Wei Ama and Liu Ama, knocked on Xu Qing’s door. Xu Qing squinted his eyes, sat up abruptly, and was about to put on his clothes when something got stuck under his buttocks, causing him intense pain.

“What is this?”

Xu Qing reached under his buttocks with his hand and pulled out the culprit. As soon as he saw it, he threw it away as if it had burned his hand—it was the booklet he had looked at last night!

“Brother Qing, get up and open the door quickly!!”

“Here we are!”

Xu Qing hurriedly jumped out of bed and ran to the door but quickly turned back and hurriedly stuffed the booklet he had thrown on the floor into the wardrobe. Only then did he hastily open the courtyard gate.

“Xie Ama, Wei Ama, Liu Ama, good morning!” It’s important to be polite!

“Morning! Wow, Brother Qing’s face has indeed improved!” Wei Ama’s straightforward personality remained as cheerful as ever.

“Very good, very good!” Liu Ama seemed increasingly satisfied with Xu Qing.

“Come on, Liu Ama and I will help groom Brother Qing. Wei Ama, go to the kitchen and boil some water. If you need anything, just let us know. My husband will bring the dishes over soon!” Xie Ama efficiently assigned tasks, then turned to Butcher Liu and said, “Butcher Liu, we’ll leave the red cloth and double happiness stickers for inside and outside the courtyard to you!”

“No problem! No problem! Leave it to me!”

“Let’s go, let’s go! We don’t have much time!”

Under the dual bombardment of Xie Ama and Liu Ama, Xu Qing was escorted back into the house.

“What’s this?!”

Xie Ama took out something from the bundle they brought—it looked like a piece of yarn. But when he brought it in front of Xu Qing, he finally saw clearly—it seemed to be…

“It’s intestines! It’s used specifically for removing facial hair!” Liu Ama explained while fetching Xu Qing’s formal attire.

“Removing facial hair?! I… I don’t need it, right? Xie Ama, look, there’s nothing on my face!” He was almost 21, and he had yet to have any facial hair!

Xie Ama leaned in for a closer look. “It seems like there’s nothing.”

As soon as Xu Qing saw a glimmer of hope to escape, he immediately pointed to his fair cheeks. “Besides, I’ve only recently recovered! What if I remove it and it grows back again?!”

At this moment, even Liu Ama approached and thought for a moment before persuading Xie Ama, “That’s true, let’s forget about it. It wouldn’t be good if it causes any trouble!”

Xie Ama helplessly put down the “intestinal” contraption and took out something else that made Xu Qing’s molars ache!

Xie Ama heated a silver needle over an oil lamp flame for disinfection. Seeing Xu Qing’s eyes almost popping out, he smiled and explained, “You can’t refuse this one! Every bride needs to have two ear piercings as a sign of being married!”

He made Xu Qing look at his own and Liu Ama’s ears. “Don’t worry, even if you don’t have anything to wear, once it grows, there will still be a trace of the hole!”

Then he took two small beans of an unknown variety and placed them on both sides of Xu Qing’s earlobes where the piercings were supposed to go. Xie Ama handled one earlobe, and Liu Ama took care of the other.

Xu Qing’s body trembled, but since Xie Ama had said it was a symbol of marriage, he could only swallow his saliva and say, “Thank you, thank you, Xie Ama, Liu Ama, please be gentle!”

“Don’t worry, we guarantee you won’t feel a thing!”

Xie Ama and Liu Ama exerted slow pressure on Xu Qing’s earlobes using the beans, aiming to squeeze out the blood and numb the nerves. Xu Qing was in so much pain that he cried out, wanting to run away, but Liu Ama and Xie Ama held him firmly, as if they had known in advance.

“It’ll be over soon! Just endure a bit longer! Don’t move, or we might pierce the wrong spot!” Xu Qing didn’t want to move either! It was just too painful! Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in both ears as the needles pierced through. After the needle, a red thread would be threaded through the ear piercing, and once the bleeding stopped, a tea stem would be inserted.

“Okay, it’s done!”

Xie Ama patted Xu Qing, who was in excruciating pain, and comforted him, “If you can’t bear this little pain, just wait until tonight when it gets worse!”

Xu Qing trembled in pain. Wasn’t it said that it wouldn’t hurt? He completely ignored Xie Ama’s words.

“Hahaha!”

Liu Ama, upon hearing Xie Ama’s words, turned around and burst into laughter!

Xu Qing, in pain and with tears in his eyes, listened to Liu Ama’s hearty laughter and felt a sense of unease taking over him!

Suddenly, he felt something cool being applied to his ears, and the burning sensation slowly subsided. In a moment, the pain was gone. Xu Qing touched his ears in surprise and looked at the miraculous item in Xie Ama’s hand. “What is this magical thing?”

You see, he didn’t dare to use spiritual spring water on his ears around others because his spiritual spring water would heal him too fast!

“No more pain, right? I brought this back when I went to the town. Here, take it. You’ll find it useful!” Xie Ama, with a strange smile on his face, placed a square wooden box on Xu Qing’s wardrobe.

When Liu Ama heard this, he almost couldn’t hold back his laughter, his shoulders trembling.

“Thank you, thank you, Xie Ama!”

Xu Qing didn’t sense anything suspicious and thanked Xie Ama cheerfully. As long as his ears didn’t hurt, everything was fine!

“Are you done? The hot water is ready!”

Wei Ama knocked on Xu Qing’s door and shouted loudly.

“We’re done! We’re coming right away!”

Liu Ama hugged Xu Qing’s new white inner garment, and Xie Ama, who still had an inexplicable smile, pulled Xu Qing out of the room.

Not long after, they returned to Xu Qing’s room. Xu Qing’s face was flushed, and his hair was damp. Xie Ama and Liu Ama held him down and washed him from head to toe!

“I feel like my skin has been scrubbed off!” Xu Qing, wearing the white inner garment and with wet hair, looked at Liu Ama and Xie Ama with a pitiful expression, complaining.

“I can’t take it anymore!”

Liu Ama couldn’t bear to see Xu Qing in such a pure and tempting state, so he reached his limit and placed a dry cloth on his head, drying his hair.

After drying his hair, Xie Ama took out another box from his bundle, making Xu Qing feel a bit uneasy. “What’s this?”

Xie Ama smiled and walked up to Xu Qing. “This is a wedding gift from Xie Ama and Uncle Xie to you!” He opened the box, revealing a pair of leaf-shaped earrings. They weren’t large, just enough to cover the pierced area, but “are these made of silver?!”

Xu Qing looked at the earrings in astonishment. You see, even such a small pair of earrings were not cheap for a farmer! It must have cost at least one or two taels of silver!

“This is our heartfelt gift. Don’t you dare refuse it! Otherwise, I won’t be happy!” Xie Ama said, noticing that Xu Qing’s earlobes weren’t bleeding or swollen. He helped him put on the leaf earrings.

Liu Ama also took out a round copper mirror from somewhere. Xu Qing was taken aback. They didn’t have such a thing at home!

“This is a wedding congratulatory gift from my spouse and me. Don’t reject it either.”

Xu Qing repeatedly waved his hands. “How could I! Thank you, Liu Ama. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to be with Chang Feng. This is already the best gift! And you even gave me a gift. This is really…”

Although Xu Qing’s family didn’t have much contact with Liu Ama’s family, because of Xie Ama’s relationship, not only did they get a discount when buying the piglet, but even Xu Qing and Li Changfeng’s connection was facilitated by Liu Ama running errands!

“Enough of those words. Come, take a look!” Liu Ama placed the mirror in front of Xu Qing’s eyes, and he saw his reflection inside. It might not compare to a modern mirror, but it was still an unexpected gift. He was very fortunate to have encountered so many people who genuinely cared for him.

“It looks good!” Xu Qing nodded at his reflection in the mirror, but it was unclear whether he was saying that he looked good or that the mirror itself was good-looking!

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸