My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration] 22p1

Chapter 22 p1: Logic

Song Changxu clutched his head as knowledge was squeezed out of his mind. He composed himself and met Lin Pu’s surprised gaze, then continued to read on his own.

Lin Pu scratched his head.

During lunch, Song Changxu had brought Bobo Chicken in his lunchbox. After the food was steamed, a fragrant aroma wafted into their noses.

Song Changxu opened his lunchbox and exchanged food with his classmates.

Lin Pu: “Brother Song, you’re reliable.”

Feng Xin’ou had never mingled with them, but today he seemed a bit downcast, holding his bowl and chopsticks without eating.

Lin Pu whispered to Song Changxu, “He’s been like this ever since the teacher said he would only teach until this year.”

Song Changxu took a bite of food. “Brother Feng has a deeper affection for the teacher.”

After eating and finishing the lecture, Song Changxu was packing his book box when Feng Xin’ou called out to him.

“Let’s walk together for a bit,” Feng Xin’ou said.

Song Changxu nodded to Lin Pu. Lin Pu went to find another classmate to walk with. He wasn’t familiar with Feng Xin’ou, and it looked like they had something private to discuss, so he didn’t want to be in the middle.

Feng Xin’ou watched his classmates walk away and then said, “The teacher said you also want to take the exam next year?”

Song Changxu nodded.

Feng Xin’ou was silent for a moment. “Your essays are better than mine. You should have a better chance.”

Song Changxu: “Nothing is certain yet. We can only do our best and leave the rest to fate.”

Hearing this, Feng Xin’ou thought more highly of Song Changxu.

“Brother Song has a really good mentality. I haven’t reached your level of understanding yet.”

Song Changxu smiled.

After speaking, Feng Xin’ou reached his destination and parted ways with Song Changxu.

What high level of understanding? It’s just tough talk. I’ll just go home and secretly cram.

Song Changxu crossed the river and saw a familiar figure squatting by the riverbank, washing clothes. He slowed his pace, tiptoed, and carefully stepped on the stones.

Seeing that the person by the river didn’t move, Song Changxu breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Zhizhou wasn’t supposed to be washing clothes here. He had gone to the neighboring river to do his laundry and had been teased by the aunties in the village. At first, he didn’t mind, just felt a little embarrassed. But ever since he had read the book his mother had given him, he had been so ashamed and annoyed that he had run off in a fit of pique.

Not many people came to this part of the river, so he was washing his clothes here and enjoying the breeze.

A drop of water splashed into his eye. Xu Zhizhou stopped what he was doing, looked up, wiped the water away, and saw Song Changxu crossing the river with his book box, stepping on the stones.

Xu Zhizhou’s eyes lit up. “Song Changxu!”

Song Changxu: “…” Run, you dead legs, run.

Song Changxu looked up with a surprised expression. “Oh, you’re washing clothes here. I just finished class, so I’ll be heading back.”

Xu Zhizhou stood up and quickly ran in front of Song Changxu. “You see me washing clothes here, and you have nothing to say? Don’t go back yet. Help me wash a couple of pieces of clothing before you go.”

Song Changxu took a deep breath. “You want me to wash your undergarments too?”

Xu Zhizhou jumped away like a cat with its fur on end, looking at Song Changxu as if he were a scoundrel.

“How could I possibly let you wash those? Don’t ruin my reputation. You can just beat the clothes with the laundry stick a few times and rub them. Isn’t that simple?”

He was restless. He had read the book but didn’t understand, and he had been teased. It was all because he was going to marry Song Changxu that he was so restless. Otherwise, he would have finished his laundry long ago.

Song Changxu tightened his grip on his book box, intending to run.

He was a grown man. How could he possibly wash clothes for another man? What a joke.

As he was about to run, Xu Zhizhou’s shoulders trembled. He hooked his hand around his book box. “Washing clothes is so miserable. My hands are all wrinkled. My fiancé is right here, but he’s just watching coldly. How am I supposed to live like this?”

Song Changxu: “…”

Wait, where did he learn the phrase ‘watching coldly’?

After a while, with his book box held hostage, Song Changxu had no choice but to endure the humiliation and stay to wash the clothes.

Xu Zhizhou sat on another stone, watching Song Changxu beat the clothes with the laundry stick. He sighed softly.

Song Changxu glanced at him. “?”

“Use more strength.”

Song Changxu washed the two pieces of clothing in a few quick movements. Xu Zhizhou felt it was very rough. The clothes didn’t even have a fragrant smell.

“Why does a ge’er need a fragrant smell?” Song Changxu said, rolling down his sleeves, his mood unsettled.

Xu Zhizhou glanced at Song Changxu’s strong and smooth arms, then quickly looked away when he saw him roll down his sleeves.

“A ge’er just needs a fragrant smell. What do you know?” Xu Zhizhou said, bending down to pick up the basin and following behind Song Changxu.

Song Changxu: “Actually, it’s fine if we walk together. We can just say we ran into each other by chance.”

With Xu Zhizhou walking behind him, his body couldn’t help but tense up.

Xu Zhizhou: “Don’t even think about ruining my reputation. I’m a very proper person.”

Song Changxu: “…”

Song Changxu tried to relax his body, but he couldn’t relax at all. Xu Zhizhou looked at the outline of his back, his slender figure, and his face couldn’t help but turn red.

At the village entrance, the two of them separated. Song Changxu said, “I’ll go in first. Watch where you’re going.”

Xu Zhizhou: “Of course I’ll watch where I’m going.”

As if he was watching where he was going. He was clearly staring at him. Out of Xu Zhizhou’s sight, Song Changxu finally relaxed.

Not bad, he’s indeed very handsome.

Xu Zhizhou thought for a moment. Although he could be stubborn at times, he was a good person.

He went back happily, not caring about anyone else’s life or death.

On the other side, Song Changxu went home, washed his face, and wrote an essay.

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Liang Su came home from cutting grass, put the rice on to steam, and then started to shell beans. Changxu’s wedding day was getting closer and closer. The date had been set long ago, and all their relatives and friends had been notified. The Song family didn’t have many relatives, but the Liang family had many, and the Xu family had quite a few as well.

It was time to buy the wedding cakes, wedding paper, and other such items. The meat and vegetables would be bought on the last day before the wedding.

They had initially planned for about a dozen tables for the banquet, which should be enough. They would need to prepare more wine, as the men in the village all liked to drink. As for fruits, they would prepare more melon seeds, as some people liked to grab a handful to eat. He almost forgot that they needed to prepare red envelopes.

Usually, the red envelopes would contain two or three copper coins, just for good luck. The family wasn’t very wealthy, so they couldn’t be too extravagant.

Song Mingyan picked some winter melons, cucumbers, a large cabbage, green peppers, and some eggplants from the fields.

First, he would chill the winter melons in water, make a cucumber salad, cut the cabbage and put it in the pickling jar, and blanch the eggplants before stir-frying them with green peppers.

When the oil was hot, Song Mingyan added the green peppers.

When the food was ready, Song Ye also returned from the fields. It was still a bit hot in the house, and cooler in the courtyard, so he moved the table outside.

The courtyard was clean. After eating, Song Changxu took a piece of winter melon. Song Mingyan found him and talked about the skewer business.

He gave all the money to Song Changxu.

Song Changxu: “No need, Elder Brother. I didn’t help.”

In the end, the two of them agreed that he would only take one-third of the money, as his share for the seasoning recipe.

Song Mingyan’s brow relaxed a little. He wouldn’t have felt at ease if he had taken all the money himself. His younger brother was thoughtful and educated, with a good head on his shoulders. The seasoning recipe he had come up with was indeed delicious.

Song Changxu sat on a chair and found a long, thin branch. Then, thinking of something, he went to the back of the house and picked out a broken bowl with a chipped edge.

The bowls in the house were made of porcelain. Some of them were old and broken, but they were reluctant to throw them away and just piled them up here. He scooped some water into the broken bowl, brought it to the courtyard, dipped the branch in the water, and wrote a few characters in the courtyard.

Song Ye watched with amusement.

At this hour, it was not yet completely dark. He sat for a while and then went for a walk in the village. At this time, the villagers were either cooling off in their courtyards or visiting each other.

Song Changxu walked to the back mountain. He had originally intended to pick up some firewood, but he saw some Chinese plums there. The fruits were the size of cherries, red, sweet and sour, with a hint of astringency. They could be eaten directly after washing, or used to make wine.

He threw away the three pieces of firewood he had picked up and went to pick the Chinese plums. He had nothing to put them in, but he was greedy, so he held up his long robe to make a small pouch. He walked back with the Chinese plums, in a rather good mood.

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Xu Zhizhou came back from the river. It was hot in the summer, and he and Sun Luzhen both liked to go to the river to enjoy the breeze after dinner. This time, there were many young ge’ers and girls from the village, as well as some who were taking advantage of the cool weather to do their laundry.

Suddenly, someone screamed, jumped away from the river, and shouted that there was a water snake.

When Xu Zhizhou heard it was a water snake, he felt a chill all over. He wasn’t afraid of other snakes, just water snakes. It was when he was little. Cao Qin had taken him to the river to do laundry and had let him play in the water on the side.

Children of that age loved to play with fire and water. Adults didn’t dare to let them play with fire, at most buying a few small firecrackers for them during the New Year to have some fun. But there were no restrictions on playing with water.

Xu Zhizhou loved to play with water. At that time, he had seen a green wooden stick floating down the river and thought that he was missing a stick to play with. So he stepped on the exposed wet stones to grab it.

He had grabbed it, but why was the stick so soft? It could even twist. A pair of mung bean-sized eyes met Xu Zhizhou’s, flicked out a red forked tongue, and bit his hand fiercely, leaving two bloody holes. The snake’s tail thrashed, and it broke free and dived into the water.

At first, Xu Zhizhou didn’t react. Only when he felt the pain in his hand did he realize. “Ahhhhhh!”

Cao Qin heard Xu Zhizhou’s cry and saw her second son holding his arm out straight, blood dripping down, and tears streaming down his face.

She hurried over and grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong?”

She held him in her arms and went to find Doctor Lin in the village. Sensing Cao Qin’s attention and worry, Xu Zhizhou cried out heart-wrenchingly, as if he were going to cry a hole in the sky. He buried his head in Cao Qin’s arms, trying to burrow into her embrace.

When they reached Doctor Lin’s, Xu Zhizhou pouted and looked at his arm, sobbing.

Doctor Lin coaxed him and prescribed some medicine. “Fortunately, it was just an ordinary snake, not venomous. It’ll be fine after it heals.”

Hearing that it wasn’t a venomous snake, Cao Qin breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to lead Xu Zhizhou back. Xu Zhizhou held out his unbitten hand, his watery eyes looking at her, as if asking to be held.

Cao Qin’s heart softened at once, and she carried him back.

Being bitten fiercely by a water snake, and even mistaking it for a stick, was a shadow that had haunted Xu Zhizhou for his entire life.

This time, he had run into a water snake again. He couldn’t help but glance at it. It was green, which made him feel even more disgusted. He made an excuse and went back first.

Feeling a chill in his heart, he was on his way home when he ran into Song Changxu, who was holding something in his long robe. He went over curiously.

Seeing him, Song Changxu knew he couldn’t avoid him. He said, “I just picked these Chinese plums. If you want some, you can take them.”

Xu Zhizhou had no appetite and didn’t take any, just looked at them with curiosity.

Why does he seem so listless?

Song Changxu’s dark eyes stared at Xu Zhizhou.

Xu Zhizhou: “…”

“What are you looking at me for? We’re not married yet.” He was making him feel embarrassed.

Seeing that he had regained a bit of his energy, Song Changxu guessed that it probably wasn’t a big deal. “If you’re not taking any, then I’ll be going.”

He thought for a moment and still stuffed a handful of Chinese plums into Xu Zhizhou’s hands.

Xu Zhizhou watched Song Changxu’s back as he went back with the Chinese plums. He washed them and ate one. It was so sour that his face wrinkled up.

He thought fiercely, Is Song Changxu doing this on purpose?

Because the fruit was so sour, it disrupted the image of the water snake in his memory. Xu Zhizhou held a grudge against Song Changxu.

Cao Qin herded the chickens and ducks into their coop, then went to feed the pigs. Seeing Xu Zhizhou come back, she called him over to weave baskets together.

The bamboo strips had been made by Xu Sunzheng. Xu Zhizhou brought over a stool and sat with Xu Zhici and Cao Qin to weave bamboo baskets.

After weaving one, Cao Qin brought in the quilts that had been drying in the courtyard and brought out a pot of barley tea.

They had finished the mint leaves today and hadn’t had time to go to the mountain to pick more. They would have to wait until tomorrow.

Xu Zhizhou remembered the fruits Song Changxu had given him were still in the kitchen. He went to wash them and brought them out on a plate.

The taste was sweet and sour. Cao Qin and Xu Zhici both liked them.

“This wild fruit is not bad. It’s getting late. Let’s go back to our rooms and rest. Zhici, don’t do any more needlework tonight.”

Xu Zhici agreed.

In the summer, they didn’t soak their feet. They would scoop a basin of water in the kitchen, rinse off, and go to bed feeling cool and refreshed.

Xu Zhizhou rinsed his feet and went back to his room to sleep. It had been a bit hot recently. He pulled up the mosquito net and held a cattail fan.

Xu Zhici fell asleep quickly.

At night, Xu Sunzheng went to check the chicken coop and pigsty before dragging his straw sandals back.

The couple talked about Xu Zhizhou’s dowry.

“It’s been prepared long ago. Let Zhizhou take back the betrothal gifts from the Song family,” Xu Sunzheng said.

Cao Qin: “I think he really wants that silver bracelet from the Song family.”

“He’s been like that since he was a child,” Xu Sunzheng smiled. “He’ll get it. I still remember when he was little, he pulled us to that shop and cried, insisting on a silver hairpin. He was so small, but he knew how to cry.”

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