My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration] 17

Chapter 17: Embroidering the Wedding Dress

Xu Zhizhou’s sweet words and loud voice, along with his fearlessness in hawking his wares, quickly sold out the vegetables in his basket.

A vegetable seller said with envy, “Your ge’er isn’t afraid of being laughed at. He’s so bold. It’s great that he can help the family sell vegetables.”

The corners of Cao Qin’s mouth turned up, but she still said modestly, “Not at all. He’s just good with his words.”

The others who had come with them to sell vegetables hadn’t sold theirs as quickly.

Xu Zhizhou: “Mother, let’s pack up.”

After selling the vegetables, they first bought the oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar the family needed, and then went to the cloth shop to get fabric.

The shopkeeper’s wife introduced them to three types of fabric. Cao Qin chose a medium-grade red cotton cloth for the wedding dress.

Xu Zhizhou blinked, looking at the ready-made clothes in the shop. They were more expensive than the fabric, as they were embroidered by seamstresses and looked very exquisite.

After buying the fabric, Cao Qin called her son, “Zhizhou, let’s go.”

Xu Zhizhou nodded and followed Cao Qin. In the noisy crowd, he held Cao Qin’s hand and felt the calluses on it, rough and bumpy.

.

Song Changxu studied diligently. After class, Lin Pu asked him about his wedding date.

“The first day of the sixth month,” Song Changxu said. He hadn’t realized the date was so close.

When the other classmates heard the wedding date, they all said they would go to congratulate Song Changxu.

Song Changxu felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable. His relationship with Xu Zhizhou wasn’t like that at all. Only he knew what this marriage was really about.

He nodded in response to his classmates. “Then I’ll be waiting for you all to be my guests on the first day of the sixth month.”

A few of the older classmates were already married. Seeing Song Changxu’s youthful face, they were curious that he was only getting married now and started to ask questions.

“Are you marrying a woman or a ge’er?”

Song Changxu: “A ge’er.”

“Is he from the same village?”

Song Changxu nodded.

Same village is good. You know each other’s backgrounds.

Lin Pu also joined in the teasing, winking at Song Changxu. He asked, “What’s his temperament like?”

A group of people had gathered around Song Changxu’s desk in the courtyard. It had never been so lively before. Hearing Lin Pu’s question, Song Changxu secretly glared at him. His question was quite difficult to answer.

Song Changxu said against his conscience, “He has a very good temper.”

“Is your respected husband good-looking?” a classmate asked.

Young and romantic youths valued both looks and character. They still had aspirations for marriage, hoping to find someone to spend their lives with.

In the beginning, there was always enthusiasm and expectation.

The most difficult part was to be faithful until the end.

Song Changxu didn’t have to lie this time. He smiled. “He’s extremely good-looking.”

There was no faking this.

Someone said, “Could it be that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?”

Song Changxu turned to look at his classmate in disbelief. “…”

Him? Beauty in the eye of the beholder?

What a joke.

Song Changxu got goosebumps all over.

He was homophobic.

Scholar Li arrived, and they returned to their seats to listen to the lecture. Song Changxu’s mind was restless.

He thought fiercely, I can’t let this small matter interfere with my studies. He didn’t like studying, but he had to.

He was soon forced to immerse himself in the ocean of knowledge again…

During lunch, they had a short break, which was quite reasonable. Otherwise, studying from morning till night would make their heads swell.

Song Changxu took out his small, flat pillow from his book box and moved his desk to the shade under the big tree in the courtyard. Feng Xin’ou was lucky; his seat was right under the tree, so he didn’t have to move. The other classmates also moved their desks and chairs over to cool off.

Song Changxu yawned, ready to fall asleep on his pillow for a short nap.

“Brother Song, don’t sleep yet,” someone nudged him with their elbow.

Song Changxu forced himself to stay awake and asked, “What is it? I’m so sleepy.”

“You haven’t read other books, have you? You don’t know about marriage…”

Song Changxu couldn’t hear clearly anymore. He said vaguely, “I don’t want to know. Let me sleep.”

The voice in his ear seemed to be coming through a membrane. He gradually lost consciousness. As he spoke, he fell onto his pillow and was fast asleep.

Seeing him fall asleep so quickly, his classmates lowered their voices, chatted for a while, and then also closed their eyes to rest.

In the afternoon, as Song Changxu was packing his book box, Scholar Li called out to him.

“I heard from Xin’ou that you’re getting married. Why didn’t you mention it to me? Do you not feel close to me?”

Song Changxu quickly cupped his hands. “It’s not time yet. I was planning to invite you in a few days, teacher.”

Scholar Li patted his shoulder. “I’m going to come for a cup of wedding wine.”

Song Changxu was in a daze. In just half a day, his teacher and classmates all knew about his marriage.

Although they would have found out sooner or later, this day had come too soon. The first thing Song Changxu did when he got home was to get a hammer. He hammered a loose brick in the wall, creating a place to hide his private money.

Song Changxu was very satisfied with this.

Xu Zhizhou was very dissatisfied.

He and Cao Qin had gone to town to get red cloth for his wedding dress. His mother said his stitching was too poor and gave him the simplest task of embroidering the sleeves.

Xu Zhizhou: “How can you say I’m bad? I just haven’t learned. Besides, it’s such a big wedding dress. It’s normal that I can’t embroider it well. If I could, I could be a professional embroiderer.”

Cao Qin: “If you were to be an embroiderer, I’m afraid no one would ask you to make clothes.”

Xu Zhizhou pouted. “I don’t necessarily have to make clothes. A seamstress is better than me. I can just make shoe soles, purses, and handkerchiefs.”

“How did I raise you to have such a personality? When you marry into the Song family, you can’t be so willful. You have to be patient with each other in everything. Sometimes you have to suffer a little.”

Xu Zhizhou cried out like a cat with its fur on end, “Whoever makes me suffer, I’ll make them suffer ten times more.”

But the Song family was indeed one of the best in the village.

Xu Zhizhou embroidered the sleeves in a huff.

Xu Zhici said, “Why are you so angry?”

Xu Zhizhou’s mouth was set in a pout. “Anyway, I won’t suffer. I want to enjoy life.”

Cao Qin and Xu Zhici looked at each other and smiled.

Xu Sunzheng wiped the sweat from his brow in the fields and opened his water flask to drink the herbal tea his eldest son had made. After drinking, he felt much refreshed. It wasn’t the right season yet; otherwise, he could pick a few winter melons from the fields, chill them in the well, and they would taste wonderful.

The villagers were weeding in the fields, swinging their arms and sweating. Their family didn’t have much land, mainly high-grade fields. They could manage the work if they hurried. Some land had low yields and was large, requiring more effort. It was better to focus on taking good care of the good land.

The Xu family used to have a few acres of poor land, which they sold to someone to raise pigs. With the money, they bought one acre of good land for farming.

Xu Sunzheng treasured his family’s land. He had spent most of his life depending on it.

Some of the women were doing needlework at home, or they would go up the mountain to cut bamboo and weave baskets to sell.

They cut the bamboo and put it in their baskets, chatting. “One bamboo basket sells for five copper coins. If you weave fast, you can earn more.”

“I heard that Li Hu caught several wild rabbits on the mountain. He’ll get a lot of copper coins for them in town.”

A husband sighed, “Being a hunter is profitable. Wang Yan married into a good family.”

“Speaking of good families, I think the Song family is the best. At least he’s a scholar. Even if he doesn’t succeed, it’s easy for him to find work in town,” a ge’er said, shaking his sore hand.

The others agreed.

“But think about it. The Song family has spent so much money on Song Changxu’s studies all these years, and there’s been no result. If it were our family, even if we had that much money, we wouldn’t dare to spend it.”

Thinking about it, it was true. They valued their land more. Their ancestors had all been farmers. If they wanted to change, they would feel fear and uncertainty, and they wouldn’t want to spend too much money on their children.

Children had to help with the family’s work from the age of seven or eight. The Song family’s boy stayed in his room studying and didn’t help with the family’s chores.

They chatted for a while and then went back to their courtyards to cut the bamboo.

They mostly gossiped when they had nothing to do, making a few speculations. When they had work to do, they didn’t have the time for idle talk.

.

On his way back from Lingshui Village, Song Changxu ran into Sun Luzhen talking with a man by the river. He glanced at them and then looked away without saying anything.

This part of the river was quite secluded. Ordinary people wouldn’t come here, but this was the shortcut Song Changxu took from Lingshui Village back to Qishan Village. It was shorter than the main road, so he often walked this way.

Sun Luzhen was flustered when he saw Song Changxu. He quickly said a few words to the man opposite him and hurried off to catch up with Song Changxu.

“Song Changxu, wait a minute,” Sun Luzhen said, panting as he caught up.

Song Changxu: “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”

Sun Luzhen: “…”

“That’s not what I meant. Well, it would be great if you didn’t say anything,” Sun Luzhen explained. “This is the person my family is considering for me. I think he’s not bad, but it’s not settled yet. We’re still getting to know each other. So before there’s a result, the fewer people who know, the better.”

Song Changxu nodded. “I’m not a nosy person.”

Since they had run into each other, they walked back one after the other. Song Changxu thought for a moment and said, “You should still avoid having too much contact with him in private. Or, if you want to meet, find someone you know to go with you. You don’t know what kind of person he is, so meeting him in private could be dangerous.”

Sun Luzhen’s heart warmed, and he smiled. “I’ll remember what you said. I was a bit careless.”

After all, it was someone else’s business. Song Changxu gave a reminder and didn’t say any more. At the village entrance, the two of them parted ways.

Back at home, Song Changxu drank a mouthful of mint tea. There was a noise from the kitchen. Song Mingyan was rolling out dough.

“Tonight, we’ll make some congee, throw in a few potatoes, and make some cured meat pancakes to go with it.”

Song Changxu went to the storage room, brought out a few logs, chopped them, and carried them to the kitchen. Being young and full of energy, he often fetched water and chopped firewood, which had built up his strength.

When he had first transmigrated, his body was weak. Now, Song Changxu pinched his legs and arms. They were full of strength.

If he failed the exam, he could still earn money with his physical strength. He had another path. Song Changxu was very satisfied with himself.

Xu Cheng came back from the back mountain with a lot of soapberries. He mumbled, “Another day, I can sell a few copper coins in town. After it rains, I can go to the mountain to pick mushrooms to sell.”

Song Changxu: “…”

He still needed to work harder.

Xu Cheng: “Uncle, there are raspberries on the mountain. I can’t reach them. Can you take me to pick them?”

Song Changxu knew what raspberries were. They were generally one to two meters tall and liked to grow on the edges of mountain forests, thickets, and wastelands. He took a rake from the courtyard and went up the mountain with Xu Cheng.

Song Mingyan called out, “You two, come back early for dinner. It’s almost ready.”

Song Changxu answered. When they reached the cliffside, the raspberries on the flat ground had already been picked. He used a rake to pull the branches down to the flat ground so they could pick them. The branches were full of thorns, so they had to be careful.

The children in the village saw Song Changxu use a rake to pull down the branches they couldn’t reach and stamped their feet in frustration.

Xu Cheng smiled and went to pick the raspberries.

Author’s Note:

Little Song: A rare moment of single life. [Sprinkles flowers]

Little Xu: I’m going to enjoy life. [Pats head]