Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Qi Cheng took the contract and, using the oxcart arranged by Deputy Magistrate, hauled the grain to the small courtyard on Night Market Street.

The oxcart was too large to enter the courtyard, so it had to be left at the mouth of the alley. The grain was then carried into the alley by hand or brought through the storefront.

Since the shop was packed with stuff and moving things around would be too troublesome, they decided to haul it through the alleyway instead.

Qi Cheng carried a sack of grain to the alley outside the courtyard, set it down, and went back to grab the other bags.

Hearing the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground, Lu Yuan ran to the courtyard entrance, peered through the gap, and after confirming it was Qi Cheng, she slid the bolt and opened the door.

Hearing the door open, Qi Cheng turned to her and said, "There’s one more sack of grain. I’ll explain once I get it back."

With that, he headed back toward the alley entrance.

Watching his back as he walked away, Lu Yuan thought to herself that no explanation was necessary—she already knew where it came from.

A short while later, Qi Cheng returned with the last sack and hauled all the grain into the courtyard.

After he finished, Lu Yuan handed him a cup of hot water. Looking at the four large sacks, each easily a hundred pounds, she asked, "Is this all grain?"

After drinking the water, Qi Cheng replied, "Two sacks of soybeans and two sacks of rice."

Lu Yuan said, surprised, "Even the bandits' stash had soybeans?"

Qi Cheng walked to the water vat, rinsed the cup, and said, "They’ll take whatever grain they can get."

Lu Yuan remarked, "With this much soybeans and grain, we probably won’t need to buy beans or soy for two months. That’ll save us a lot of expenses."

Qi Cheng added, "Oh, and there’s also five strings of coins."

He picked up another small bag.

Looking at the money bag, Lu Yuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Do you think the money houses in Guangkang City are trustworthy?"

Qi Cheng asked, "Are you thinking of depositing the money in a bank?"

Lu Yuan nodded. After a moment’s thought, Qi Cheng said, "Once I start working at the public office, I’ll ask around to see which bank is reliable."

People at the public office would have more reliable information than outsiders.

Hearing this, Lu Yuan looked at him and asked, "So it’s really settled?"

Qi Cheng nodded, "But it’s only a temporary post."

Lu Yuan looked puzzled, "What does 'temporary post' mean?"

Not only was she unfamiliar with the term, but even Li Niang’s memories as a local offered no insight.

Qi Cheng thought for a moment and explained, "It means I’ll be moonlighting, not full-time. I’ll work on single-day shifts and have double-days off."

Lu Yuan understood—it was essentially a side gig.

"Did Deputy Magistrate Yang agree?"

Qi Cheng nodded, "He probably wants to keep me around for now."

As he spoke, he took out the signed agreement.

Lu Yuan took it and carefully read it from start to finish, understanding most of it.

After reading, she handed it back to him and asked, "What if Deputy Magistrate Yang goes back on the deal when he’s transferred and still tries to take you with him?"

Qi Cheng folded the contract neatly and said, "At least this document serves as a guarantee for now."

"Besides, Deputy Magistrate Yang doesn’t seem entirely unreasonable. His success in suppressing bandits time and again wasn’t just due to my help—it also relied on his subordinates following his orders diligently."

"Deputy Magistrate Yang may seem blunt-looking, but he knows how to handle his men. He wouldn’t break the contract against my will. If he did, not only would I refuse to serve him sincerely, but his subordinates would also lose respect for him."

Lu Yuan nodded in agreement, "That makes sense."

"But let’s not worry about whether you can really quit in three years. For now, let’s think about how to explain things to Grandma when we get back today."

They hadn’t set up their stall today, and since Grandma and the children were already in the city and the cart wasn’t ready yet, they decided to pass on the morning market and stay home for the day.

Qi Cheng shrugged helplessly, "We’ll just have to tell her the truth."

After resting for a while, Lu Yuan picked up the food she'd picked up earlier and headed home with him.

Wherever their family was, that was home.

For now, this small courtyard didn’t feel like a home—it was more like a place to crash.

By the time they returned home, it was past noon.

Grandma, upon seeing them, fussed, "Why are you back so late? The two children refused to eat their noon meal, insisting they’d wait for you to return."

The two children were now hanging on Lu Yuan’s legs.

Qi Cheng set down the basket and said, "Li Niang went on a market run this morning. Everything’s in the basket."

Grandma said, "It’s cold outside, so the food won’t spoil. Let’s eat lunch first, and we can handle the food later."

Qi Cheng nodded and glanced at the dishes on the table: a plate of scrambled eggs, simmered tofu, and sautéed cabbage.

He carried the dishes to the kitchen to warm them up.

After lunch, Lu Yuan took the two children to their room for a nap, giving Qi Cheng some time to have a word with Grandma.

Qi Cheng knocked on his grandmother’s door and entered. Grandma looked at him and asked, "How'd it go?"

Without needing to think, Qi Cheng knew what she was referring to.

He nodded, "I bought the books."

Grandma said, "Since you’ve bought the books, make sure to actually use them. Don’t just talk without acting."

Qi Cheng had no reply.

Ever since his coma, his grandmother’s words had become increasingly feistier.

Before the Qi family’s decline, his grandmother, though not from a high-born family, had come from a well-off family. It was only after they were exiled that her personality grew fiercer.

But Qi Cheng understood that if she hadn’t toughened up, it would have been impossible for her, a woman alone with a kid, to survive in Lingnan with him being just a kid himself at the time.

"Grandmother, there's no need to overthink this."

The old lady shot him another look: "How can I not worry? Liu Sanlang is only two years older than you, yet he already has two children. Look at you—married for months now..."

Qi Cheng fell silent.

After a moment of speechlessness, Qi Cheng remembered why I came and said, "Grandmother, let's not talk about that for now. I have something else to discuss with you."

Lu Yuan patted the backs of their two children when she suddenly heard the old lady exclaim, "I disagree!" The two children, who had already closed their eyes, opened them again in confusion at the sound.

Lu Yuan said, "It's alright, it's alright. Your father's just working something out with the old lady."

After that outburst, it fell quiet again. After a while, Lu Yuan felt that the two children had fallen asleep, so she left the room and went to the old lady's room.

The door was open. Grandmother and grandson sat and stood in silence.

Lu Yuan stepped inside, glanced at the troubled Qi Cheng, then looked at the old lady, whose face was furious.

She immediately scolded Qi Cheng: "What's going on? How did you manage to anger your grandmother so badly? Don't you know that the old lady is elderly and shouldn't be upset like this?"

The old lady gave her a sharp look: "Don't think I don't know—you two are tag-teaming me, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop."

Lu Yuan slid onto the seat beside the old lady, hugging her arm: "Don't be so angry, old lady. It's not your husband's fault. He wanted to refuse, but Deputy Magistrate Yang is unreasonable. What power do common people have against officials? He really had no choice."

The old lady understood the reasons perfectly well, but she was still furious.

Her eyes red with anger, she glared at her grandson: "Have you considered that if anything happens to you, the Qi line would truly end with you? Who will remember our ancestors then? Who will make offerings?"

Lu Yuan knew better than to mention the two girls—after all, in ancient times, the idea of having no male heir meant everything, and continuing the family line was considered more important than anything else.

Qi Cheng remained silent.

The old lady continued: "I also know there's no way around it. Since that's the case, both of you promise me that next year, I'll be holding my great-grandson."

The deadline had just been moved up from a year and a half to just a year.

Before Qi Cheng could speak, Lu Yuan hurriedly said: "Chinese New Year is just over half a month away. Expecting you to have a grandson within twelve months is too rushed."

The old lady looked at her: "You're not saying you don't want to have any more children?"

Lu Yuan quickly waved her hand: "That's not what I meant. It's just too rushed—it's not like we can just decide to get pregnant."

If she really didn't want children, she would have said so from the start. It would be hardly right to bring it up only after marriage.

Of course, Lu Yuan hadn't really thought about the question of whether to have children or not. What she was thinking was that, given their current family circumstances and her physical condition, it wasn't feasible right now to have a child.

The old lady snorted: "You two haven't even consummated the marriage—of course you can't get pregnant."

Lu Yuan was at a loss for words.

Qi Cheng said: "Grandmother, we didn't consummate the marriage earlier because the conditions weren't right. Now that things are better, it will naturally happen soon."

"However, Grandmother, my body has only just recovered, and Li Niang has been through so much in the past. Life is only now slowly improving. Let her recuperate for at least half a year before we talk about having children."

The old lady's eyes instantly welled up: "Am I not allowing it? But the work you're doing—isn't it like tempting fate?"

"If you were both living quietly, I wouldn't say a word even if you waited a year."

The old lady was getting emotional. Lu Yuan motioned for Qi Cheng to leave first and stayed behind with her.

When they were alone in the room, the old lady wiped her tears and said: "Don't take what I said earlier to heart. I know your body hasn't fully recovered yet. We can wait a while longer to talk about having children."

"I'm just angry—angry at the officials. They're heartless and fickle. They're the ones who ruin families and take lives, and now they're the ones demanding people risk their lives. They say whatever they want, and we're just worthless ants in their eyes."

She was filled with bitterness.

Lu Yuan sighed inwardly—the imperial system in ancient times really was poison.

She patted the old lady's shoulder, not knowing what to say to comfort her.

The old lady knew everything and understood all the reasons—she just couldn't get past the mental barrier, and she didn't want her grandson to be in danger.

Lu Yuan stayed in the room for a little over a quarter hour before coming out. Qi Cheng was still waiting outside.

He asked: "How is Grandmother?"

Lu Yuan closed the door and whispered: "She said she was tired and sent me away."

"But it seems she knows there's no changing this matter. Right now, she's just very worried about you."

Qi Cheng glanced at his grandmother's door, at a loss.

The two returned to their room. They looked at each other for a long moment before Qi Cheng finally said: "About the child..."

Lu Yuan cut him off: "My body does need proper recuperation. Let's wait until the doctor says it's safe, with no risks, and that I can bear children before we discuss it."

"Also, the precondition for having a child is that our family savings must be at least this much."

Lu Yuan raised her hands—left palm open, right hand clenched into a fist.

Meaning fifty taels of silver in savings.

Qi Cheng smiled: "Even though I promised Grandmother, we can still delay. You can have children whenever you feel ready."

Not to mention, consummating the marriage was not even on the horizon yet.

Hearing this, Lu Yuan smiled at him: "Regardless of anything else, I like hearing you say that."