My Husband is a Drama King [Book Transmigration] 22p3

Chapter 22 p3: Logic

Before Xu Zhizhou could say anything, Song Changxu was already gone.

“Could it be that he’s finally not blind?” Xu Zhizhou sat under the tree and pondered for a long time.

“I knew it. A person like me would naturally be liked,” Xu Zhizhou said, cheerfully unwrapping the oil-paper package. He saw that it even contained the cloud-flake cakes and peach blossom slices that he was reluctant to buy for himself.

Xu Zhizhou swung his legs happily.

After he had eaten his fill, he went to throw out the chicken feed and then put away the pastries.

In the afternoon, he first went to the fields to weed, and then fed the grass to the pigs. The three pigs the family was raising were for the New Year. They would be slaughtered then. They would keep some meat for themselves so they wouldn’t have to buy it in town, and sell the rest.

At this busy time, after Cao Qin finished weeding, she had the two brothers go to the mountain to dig for wild vegetables and also pick the vegetables from the fields to sell the next morning.

Many people were selling cabbage. Cucumbers sold well in the summer. They picked some eggplants, a lot of Sichuan peppercorns, soybeans, and some loofahs.

Xu Zhici stepped into the field and picked several winter melons to put in his basket.

“We need to plant more winter melons next year.”

Xu Zhizhou picked a small one to take back for the family to eat at noon. After digging up the shepherd’s purse on the back mountain, they ran into Auntie Li, who was holding some golden loquats, each one large and round, looking very sweet.

The two of them chatted for a while. Xu Zhizhou’s mouth watered at the sight of the loquats. Seeing the two young ones, Auntie Li gave them a few. When they got home and peeled them, they were indeed sweet.

Xu Zhizhou took a winter melon and called out, “Elder Brother, I’m going out for a bit.”

He went to Auntie Li’s house and called out, “Auntie, I’ve come to make a big deal with you.”

Auntie Li came out of the kitchen and asked with a smile, “What big deal could there be between you and me?”

Xu Zhizhou showed her the winter melon in his hand and, as he had wished, exchanged it for some loquats.

He took the loquats back. Xu Zhici had just put the rice on to steam. Seeing his proud look, he smiled. “Why are you so greedy?”

Xu Zhizhou: “Being greedy gets me loquats to eat.”

At noon, Xu Sunzheng and Cao Qin came back and asked about the loquats. Xu Sunzheng took a loquat and ate three or four in one go.

After eating, Xu Zhizhou washed the dishes, while Xu Zhici and Cao Qin picked vegetables. Xu Zhizhou, alone in the kitchen washing dishes, was not idle. He said, “Elder Brother, when you have time later, can you teach me how to embroider mandarin ducks?”

Hearing this, Cao Qin laughed. “I told you to learn from me back then, but you only learned a few simple patterns. Now you know to ask your elder brother to teach you.”

Xu Zhizhou mumbled, “I’m only learning now because I need to use it.”

Xu Zhici: “Come to my room after I finish picking the vegetables.”

Cao Qin: “Weren’t you dissatisfied when we arranged the match with the Song family’s boy? Now that it’s almost time, you’re satisfied. Tell me the truth, have you been meeting him in private?”

Xu Zhizhou’s heart pounded. Fortunately, they were in different rooms, so his mother couldn’t see his expression.

“How could that be? I’ve just accepted my fate. We’ve run into each other in the village and talked a few times. I think he’s an upright person, and he’s tall. After thinking about it, I realized that we have to live our lives, so it’s better to live happily.”

Cao Qin understood.

After washing the dishes, Xu Zhizhou scooped some water and went to the main hall to wash the vegetables.

After finishing this, Cao Qin went to sleep. The two brothers went into Xu Zhici’s room. Xu Zhizhou was missing a green thread for his purse, so he had come to his brother’s to get some.

Xu Zhici’s embroidery was good. He looked at the purse Xu Zhizhou was embroidering and saw the problem in a few glances. He first pointed out the mistake and then explained the method.

Xu Zhizhou listened attentively.

After weeding in the village, the family’s harvest generally depended on the autumn rice harvest. The rest, like cutting firewood on the back mountain and catching fish in the river, could also supplement the family’s income. Summer was a good time to make compost. Song Ye would take a nap at noon and then start to carry manure to make farm fertilizer.

Song Changxu counted the money in his purse. He had saved a total of twelve taels of silver. He heard Song Mingyan and his father talking in the courtyard, occasionally hearing something about fertilizer.

“Carrying manure to make fertilizer is the best,” Song Ye said, tired from carrying. He sat on a stone stool to catch his breath.

Song Mingyan was weaving a bamboo basket in his room and agreed with him.

Song Changxu came out of his room. “Father, you can try adding some plant ash.”

Song Ye looked at his son, who didn’t know anything about farming, and waved his hand. “What does a child like you know?”

Song Changxu: “I read it in a book. Could the book be wrong?”

To Song Ye, he was an uneducated farmer. According to the custom in the Ningxing Dynasty of respecting scholars, he believed in books.

Besides, his son wouldn’t harm him.

Making plant ash was easy. Would sprinkling it on the fields really be effective? Song Changxu knew that his words were not convincing, so he suggested trying it on half of the fields first.

Song Ye agreed.

Burning plant ash was not difficult. He and Liang Su burned a large bucket and sprinkled it on the fields.

A man working in the fields asked, “What are you doing?”

Song Ye said as he sprinkled, “I heard that sprinkling some plant ash will lead to a good harvest next year.”

The man clearly didn’t believe him and laughed. “I’ve been farming for so many years, and I’ve never heard of this. Where did you hear that?”

Song Ye was vague, not very confident himself.

In late May, after the Grain Full solar term, the days passed quickly.

Scholar Li called Song Changxu over and said gently, “You’re getting married on the first day of the sixth month, right?”

Song Changxu nodded.

“Then I’ll give you a holiday from the twenty-eighth of May. You can come back on the fifth of June.”

Song Changxu: “Thank you, teacher.”

He returned to his seat. Lin Pu came over and asked, “What did the teacher want with you?”

“He was talking about the wedding,” Song Changxu didn’t hide it.

Lin Pu had also recently been on a match-making meeting with a girl from the neighboring village. They were still getting to know each other. The people in the village knew each other’s backgrounds, but Lin Pu had no interest in the suitable ge’ers and girls. He had taken a liking to the girl from the neighboring village.

It was normal for several villages to intermarry. Some even married from the village to the town or the county seat. Such cases were rare, and most required a good match in social standing.

Song Changxu was a bit distracted in the afternoon. When it was time to leave, one of his classmates stopped him.

“Brother Song, don’t be in such a hurry to leave. I’ll lend you a book. You should read it carefully.”

Song Changxu thought it was some kind of commentary and put it in his book box, thanking him.

“It’s nothing. We’re friends.”

If it had been before, he would have glanced at the book, but now he just stuffed it in his book box. He asked Lin Pu, “Why do you think people marry ge’ers?”

Lin Pu was shocked. “Brother Song, don’t you like ge’ers?”

Song Changxu: “…It’s not that. I’m just not used to it.”

Lin Pu understood. “It’s like when I didn’t want to go on match-making meetings. You’ll get used to it after you have a husband.”

When Song Changxu got home, Song Mingyan and Liang Su were looking at the red ribbons they had bought. Liang Su had asked relatives to come and help on the wedding day, and Song Ye had also gone to call on his brothers.

The most talked-about thing in the village in June was the marriage between the Song and Xu families. They were all waiting for the wedding wine.

The plums on the mountain were ripe. Xu Zhizhou and Sun Luzhen went to the mountain to pick them. The two young ge’ers used a long pole to hit the ripe plums. Xu Zhizhou picked half a basket, went to a small stream to wash them, and then popped them into his mouth.

Sun Luzhen also ate one. It was sour, so sour that his face wrinkled up.

“Try this one. It feels soft,” Xu Zhizhou said, carefully selecting a plum and handing it to him.

“Oh my god, this one is much sweeter,” Sun Luzhen finally recovered.

The two of them ate fruits in the shade of a tree. Sun Luzhen asked, “How are things between you and Song Changxu now?”

Xu Zhizhou thought that he hadn’t seen Song Changxu much these days. “I haven’t seen him recently. He’s so elusive.”

Sun Luzhen laughed. “Isn’t he always elusive? I haven’t seen him many times in the village either. I can usually see him when I wake up early to make breakfast and sweep the courtyard.”

The Sun family lived at the village entrance, and Song Changxu had to pass by there to go to study.

Xu Zhizhou plucked a blade of grass, crumpled it, and threw it away. “If he’s studying hard, then it’s not being elusive.”

Sun Luzhen looked at him with surprise. “Zhizhou, you’re not even married yet, and you’re already speaking up for him. What will happen in the future?”

Xu Zhizhou’s ears turned red. “How can you say I’m speaking up for him? I’m just telling the truth.”

Sun Luzhen: “Haha, I can’t say anything anymore.”

Xu Zhizhou snorted coldly. “No, you should still say what needs to be said. He’s not my husband yet.”

A few men and a few ge’ers and girls came up the mountain, probably also to pick plums. Xu Zhizhou and Sun Luzhen made way for them.

Auntie Fang’s daughter, Fang Ling, asked, “Are these plums sweet?”

Auntie Fang was a gossip, but her daughter was beautiful and capable.

Xu Zhizhou: “Some are sweet, some are sour. It depends on what you pick.”

Before they were engaged, Xu Zhizhou and Sun Luzhen would also play with the young men, girls, and ge’ers in the village. Now that they were engaged, although they still played together, they always had to keep a distance from the young men.

Sun Luzhen and Bai Yuan’s engagement was settled, and their families had informed the villagers.

They found another place to sit and eat fruits.

Several young men craned their necks to look at Xu Zhizhou. He was widely acknowledged as the most beautiful ge’er in the village. He was also very spoiled and spoke in a soft, gentle voice, which most of the young men found appealing.

Even when he was angry, he was eye-catching.

.

On his way back from Lingshui Village, Song Changxu ran into a peddler. He carefully selected a few hair ribbons and bought a spinning top for a child.

He saw that the peddler also had needles and thread, scissors, thimbles, sachets, mirrors, candles, oil lamps, and fragrant balms.

He also saw the tools for making sugar figures.

The peddler had beads of sweat on his face. He smiled and said, “I was selling in town today. I just got back.”

Song Changxu said, “Make me two sugar figures.”

“What style would you like?”

Song Changxu said, “A tiger and a cat.”

The peddler agreed, his hands moving deftly.

Song Changxu took the sugar figures back. He thought that he and his nephew could each have one. He didn’t eat the sugar figure, wanting to take it back to his room to savor it. It was only a few more steps anyway.

He had never had an ancient sugar figure before. The peddler’s craftsmanship was good. The tiger and the cat were both vividly depicted, their expressions captured in just a few strokes.

He would keep the tiger for himself and give the cat to his nephew.

In the evening, the sunset glow filled the sky. Song Changxu had a smile on his lips.

Xu Zhizhou had gone to the Sun family’s to exchange for some mung beans to make mung bean soup. He saw Song Changxu’s back and thought what a coincidence. He quickened his pace and patted his shoulder. “Are you done with class?”

Hearing Xu Zhizhou’s voice, Song Changxu’s heart skipped a beat. He turned around, and the two sugar figures in his hand were revealed.

Xu Zhizhou narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you go to study? Where did you get the sugar figures?”

“I ran into a peddler on my way back and bought them,” Song Changxu said. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going back.”

Xu Zhizhou said with dissatisfaction, “Where are you going? As if I’m going to eat your sugar figures.”

Whatever you say, I’ll do. We’re not even married yet, and you’re so bossy, asking for my itinerary and wanting me to accompany you. What kind of logic is that?

Xu Zhizhou: “Hand over the sugar figures. I want the tiger.”

Song Changxu: “…”

Author’s Note:

Little Song: No more sugar figures to eat. [Crying]

Little Xu: What are you mumbling about? They’re all mine. [Pats head]