Chapter 36: I’m Also Waiting to Marry You
Young people who have just started their carnal journey often lack restraint. Even though Zhao An had once slain a rampaging mutated beast and Hu Sheng could achieve victory from a thousand miles away, they still inevitably indulged in exploring each other’s bodies.
Zhao An stayed at Hu Sheng’s place for three days. During this time, when he was awake, he only force-grew some sweet potatoes, then picked out the large ones to use as seeds for the next round.
After more than twenty iterations, the sweet potatoes, which were originally the size of a child’s fist, had grown to the size of an adult’s fist. The number of tubers that each plant could produce had also stabilized from the initial two or three to four.
It seemed that Zhao An’s labor these past few days had not been entirely fruitless. But on the third day at noon, when Zhao An went downstairs for lunch, he heard Auntie Li, who was helping with the cooking, complain, “The firewood in the kitchen has been consumed too quickly recently. We’ll have to have Liang Hong go and chop some more this afternoon.”
This unintentional complaint made Zhao An blush. The reason for the high firewood consumption was that he and Hu Sheng were always bathing. Thinking of this, Zhao An felt that he could no longer indulge in this land of pleasure. Even though he had already sent a letter back with Hu Sheng to tell Hai Bo and Qin Tong not to worry, he still felt a little uneasy after not being home for several days.
During this time, he hadn’t paid any attention to whether the village militia was training properly, or whether the price of grain in the city had dropped due to the disappearance of the military conflict.
In contrast, Hu Sheng seemed much more responsible. Even though Hu Sheng also wanted to be with him three times a day, he had already had several thousand people build simple wooden houses to live in and had begun effective training.
Thinking of this, Zhao An felt a sense of urgency. There was no competition between him and Hu Sheng, but he couldn’t let the militia in Zhaojia Village, which had been organized with great difficulty, disband while Hu Sheng was managing several thousand people in an orderly manner.
So when Hu Sheng came back for a meal, Zhao An proposed, “I’m going back this afternoon.”
“I’ll see you off,” Hu Sheng said. He actually wanted to lock Zhao An by his side forever, but he knew that if he really did that, he would lose this person forever.
The return journey was much slower than the journey there. Hu Sheng held Zhao An’s hand and walked slowly through the mountain forest. But before it got dark, they still passed through the last bamboo forest and arrived at the gate of Zhao An’s house.
The two of them didn’t talk much on the way, but they could feel the attachment between them. It wasn’t until the moment of parting that Hu Sheng finally spoke his heart. “I’ll find someone to pick a date tomorrow.”
“Are we really going to have a wedding?” On one hand, Zhao An felt a little expectant, but on the other hand, he was at a loss. Even in the era of spiritual energy revival, people no longer cared about the gender of their partners. However, same-sex partners would usually just be together and would not hold a wedding like heterosexual partners.
Unlike Zhao An’s confusion, Hu Sheng said with even more determination, “You were the one who said you wanted to get married. I know that getting married in Zhaojia Village might be gossiped about, so let’s have the ceremony at the stronghold. At the very least, we should have heaven, earth, and our friends and relatives witness our feelings.”
Zhao An once again confirmed that he had indeed fallen in love with the right person. Seeing his dazed look, Hu Sheng couldn’t help but kiss him on the lips. “Wait for me to marry you.”
Zhao An immediately came back to his senses, grabbed his neck, and kissed him back. Finally, he bit his lip hard. “I’m also waiting to marry you.”
Hu Sheng licked the tooth mark on his lip and smiled. “Alright, I’ll wait for the day I marry you.” Then he raised his hand and caressed his cheek. “I’m going.”
Zhao An watched Hu Sheng’s back disappear into the bamboo forest. He turned and saw Hai Bo, who had been standing at the door for a long time. He rubbed his nose and smiled. “Next time I go out, I’ll definitely tell you in advance.”
Hai Bo opened his mouth, wanting to say, “Can’t you just not go out?” But seeing his young master’s happy and rosy face, he couldn’t say anything. He could only turn and walk back, saying in a complaining tone, “Da Hei hasn’t seen you these past two days and has been howling at night.”
Zhao An also walked in and saw the big black wolf standing up to greet him. He criticized it sternly, “Don’t howl at night anymore. If you do, you won’t get any bones to eat.”
But the big black wolf did not shrink back because of his criticism and still walked around his feet. It wasn’t until Zhao An smoothed its fur and rubbed its ears that it returned to its den, satisfied.
And so, the chapter of Zhao An being away from home for three days was closed.
The next day, he went to watch the militia’s training and found that everyone showed no signs of slacking. The posture of charging with wooden sticks and brandishing sabers and wooden shields was very standard. The militia, who had become restless after defeating the bandits, had become more obedient because he had been away for a few days.
Zhao An looked back at Qin Tong and nodded at him, which brought a big smile to Qin Tong’s already slightly proud face. Because the militia’s discipline was also partly due to Qin Tong’s contribution.
These past few days, he had still been training these people in Zhao An’s place every morning. He told them that the price of grain in the city was rising, that not all of the bandits who had been driven away had been captured, that the bandits could come back for revenge at any time, and that the high price of grain would also breed a lot of instability. Then he mysteriously told them that Zhao An would be away for a few days, but he didn’t say what Zhao An was going to do, letting them imagine for themselves.
In this way, by scaring and coaxing them, he had made these people very obedient. After seeing their training results, Zhao An was also very satisfied.
After everyone was dismissed, Zhao An said to Qin Tong, who was following behind him, “You did a good job. It seems you didn’t read those books with me for nothing these past few years.”
Hearing such praise, Qin Tong couldn’t help but chuckle again. Then he heard Zhao An continue, “You’re so capable. It’s really a waste to have you chopping firewood and boiling water at home.”
Qin Tong was so flattered that he almost nodded, but thinking of his status, he finally did not get carried away. “Young Master, you are so good to me. I don’t feel wronged at all.” Except for the few days of hardship when he first came to Zhaojia Village, the days after were even better than in the capital.
Zhao An’s praise was not meant for Qin Tong to belittle himself. Zhao An originally had no ambition, but thinking that he was also about to get married, it was better to develop some career. So he thought of opening a shop. But he had already made a high profile by doing these things in the village, though he could still attribute it to the collective decision of the villagers. If he were to expand further, he would surely provoke the emperor who didn’t want him to stand out.
So, after much thought, Zhao An could only have Qin Tong manage the business outside for him. This child was smart and clever, and he had a brotherly and fatherly dependence on him, so there was no need to worry about betrayal.
Even though there was a great risk of exposure by having Qin Tong come forward, he still wanted to try. Who asked him to find a man who could defeat Zhao Nanyu, a high-end combatant in the book? It had to be said that Hu Sheng’s existence made Zhao An feel that the invisible pressure on his head had been greatly reduced, giving him more room to stretch his limbs.
He patted Qin Tong’s shoulder and continued kindly, “Although you’ve done very well, my expectations for you are even higher. Our family has so many good things—strawberries, grapes, wine, shower pipes—all sold to Ruyi House, letting them take the lion’s share. I’m a little unwilling. But if I were to do business myself, I’m too busy. Fortunately, I have you. You’re smart, and you’ve learned to read and write. Why don’t you go and open a shop for me to sell things?”
“I~ I~ I,” Qin Tong’s heart pounded. Of course he knew this was a good opportunity, but to let him take charge now, he still felt scared.
Seeing him so nervous, Zhao An comforted him, “Don’t be in a hurry. We have to take it one step at a time. It’s too chaotic outside now, and we can’t open a shop for a while. I’ll teach you the multiplication table first. You can help me with the accounting in the village, calculate the daily consumption of grain and meat, and then manage the output of the kiln.”
If Zhao An had proposed to have Qin Tong help with the accounting from the beginning, he would surely have shrunk back in fear. But with the goal of opening a shop in the city dangling in front of him, the matter of accounting seemed to become a matter of course.
Nothing major happened in the village for the next few days. Zhao An went to the city to deliver a basket of grapes and told the manager of Ruyi House that he had sold all the fruit he had grown this year and would not be coming again.
Manager Feng felt it was a pity, but when he heard that Zhao An had also brewed thirty jars of wine himself, his eyes immediately lit up with excitement. “Five liang of silver a jar. Our Ruyi House will take them all.”
“Twenty liang of silver a jar. I’m only selling twenty jars. The rest I’m keeping for myself,” Zhao An’s expression was very firm, leaving no room for bargaining.
Manager Feng opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Zhao An continued, “I heard from Young Master Feng that you sold the wine in the capital for one hundred liang of silver a jar.”
But that was the high price that could only be sold after bribing officials at all levels and adding the cost of long-distance transportation. Manager Feng wanted to settle the accounts with Zhao An, but he didn’t expect him to turn and leave.
He quickly grabbed him. “Twenty liang it is, but you have to sell all thirty jars to me.”
Zhao An considered it. He could indeed force-grow grapes to make wine at any time, but recently he had to solve the problem of improving the sweet potatoes, so he probably wouldn’t have any extra ability for a short time. And making wine also took a lot of time. He didn’t know if the date Hu Sheng had someone pick for their wedding was early or late. It was best to keep some wine in reserve for the wedding.
So he still insisted on selling only twenty jars to Manager Feng. In the end, Manager Feng had no choice but to give Zhao An four hundred liang of silver and personally drive a mule cart with him back to the village to move the wine.
With this money, Zhao An finally spent forty liang of silver to buy two strong draft horses and a large covered wagon in the city. He also hired the villagers to build a stable next to his courtyard.
After all this, it had been six days since he had come down from the mountain, but there had been no news from Hu Sheng.
On the seventh day, the stable sweet potato seeds were confirmed. The mature sweet potatoes could grow to the size of an adult’s palm, and one vine could produce five sweet potatoes.
On the eighth day, Zhao An planted forty sweet potatoes in his small orchard, then force-grew lush sweet potato vines in eight batches. He cut all these vines and piled them together. From a distance, they almost formed a small hill.
He decided not to wait any longer. He wanted to take these sweet potato vines, which could be used as cuttings for seeds, to Hu Sheng on the mountain.
