Chapter 22 Mountain Home Hearth 22

Chapter 22: Hearth and Home in the Mountains 22

Lin Xingniang and Luo Qingzhu were both stunned, and even Cui Lanfang stood frozen for a long moment before her face flushed crimson. She slapped Liu Guyu, then abruptly seized his hand.

"You, young man! How dare you speak so boldly!"

Liu Guyu felt there was nothing he couldn't say. With a serious expression, he looked at Luo Qingzhu and inquired, "So your husband hasn't seen a doctor, has he?"

Luo Qingzhu shook his head blankly.

Liu Guyu snapped his fingers, then spread his hands to the others, a "see, I told you so" expression on his face.

Lin Xingniang frowned, both skeptical and curious, and tentatively asked, "Is that true? Even men need to see doctors? Liu Ge'er, you're just a child, how do you know such things?"

In the eyes of Lin Xingniang and Cui Lanfang, Liu Guyu was still young. Although married, everyone in the village knew he and Qin Dalang had no marital connection—the couple hadn't even met. So how could he possibly know about having children?

Liu Guyu thought for a moment and came up with a clever idea, speaking without a hint of guilt.

"I read it in a book." He lifted his chin toward Lin Xingniang and added, "Auntie, you know my father is a scholar. Our home may not have much else, but we have plenty of books! They cover all sorts of topics, and I read about it in one of them."

Hearing this, Lin Xingniang believed him about eighty percent.

The villagers all made their living tilling the soil, and most couldn't read more than a few characters in their lifetime. They naturally held educated scholars in awe and trust.

Qin Rongshi, standing to the side, couldn't help but smirk at this. His gaze swept over Liu Guyu's face, seeing him speak without changing expression, even nodding solemnly as if it were all true.

Truly, "In books, there are houses of gold." He'd read about exotic foods in books, and now even infertility issues—impressive. He should be the one taking the imperial exams himself.

Noticing Qin Rongshi secretly smiling, Liu Guyu's eyes went wide.

Hey, he'd forgotten about this guy!

He'd shooed Qin Banban and Luo Maier, the two little girls, out before the conversation but had forgotten about Qin Rongshi.

Their eyes met, and Qin Rongshi suppressed a smile, nodding as he said, "This matter is simple. We just need to go to the town clinic and ask."

He said it lightly, but Lin Xingniang and Luo Qingzhu, mother and son, frowned.

Men value their pride, especially in matters like this! Forget whether they'd be willing to see a doctor—just bringing it up without angering them was difficult enough!

But Luo Qingzhu composed himself, clenching his fists as he said firmly, "Qi Shan should be back soon. When I return, I'll definitely make him go to the clinic with me!"

Lin Xingniang nodded, but her face hardened. She reached out and jabbed her finger at Luo Qingzhu's forehead sharply, saying angrily, "Are you stupid?!"

"Look at your face! Look what they did to you! You think you can just go back like that?! It's not that easy! The Qi family thinks we have no man to back us up, daring to bully you like this. This isn't over!!!"

Luo Qingzhu was about to say something when he heard someone outside calling his name.

"Qing Zhu!"

It was Qi Shan's voice.

Luo Qingzhu's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up, but then remembered what had happened that day and bit his lip, sitting back down.

Hearing Qi Shan's voice, Lin Xingniang was furious. She rolled up her sleeves and said furiously, "Ha! I haven't gone to cause trouble for them yet, and he dares to come here!"

She said that, but if Qi Shan hadn't come voluntarily, Lin Xingniang would likely have been even angrier!

Before Lin Xingniang could go out, Luo Maier's voice was already heard outside.

The little girl was also indignant on her brother's behalf, angrily putting her hands on her hips as she scolded, "Your family bullied my brother! And hit him! My brother is such a good person—how dare you treat him like this! Do you think our family has no one? Big Black, Ah Huang, bite him!"

Before her words faded, fierce barking accompanied her clear voice.

Lin Xingniang and Luo Qingzhu walked out and saw a lean, dark-skinned man blocked outside the yard by two large dogs, pacing nervously, afraid to step forward.

He was holding many things—meat, sugar, and a bolt of cloth.

He had bought these with his wages: the meat and sugar for his family, and the cloth for his husband, Luo Qingzhu. He had been thinking that Luo Qingzhu was pregnant and would soon outgrow his old clothes, so he specially bought cloth to make new ones.

But as soon as he got home, he heard about what had happened that day. In his panic, he dropped everything and rushed over.

He had come from Xiahe Village, and it was already dark by the time he was halfway there. Fortunately, the moon was as large and bright as a silver plate tonight, or the night path would have been hard to see.

Seeing Luo Qingzhu, Qi Shan anxiously said, "Qing Zhu! I... I heard from Mother about today. She was wrong! She... she was just too anxious..."

Before he could finish, Lin Xingniang, protective of her child, cut him off.

"Pah! So because she's anxious, she can hit people?! Well, I'm anxious too now. Stand still and let me slap you a couple of times to see how it feels!"

Qi Shan choked for a moment, then indeed stood still.

He said, "It's my fault! I let Qing Zhu suffer! Mother, if you want to hit me, go ahead! Two slaps aren't enough—five, ten, I'll let you hit me as much as you want!"

Lin Xingniang was still fuming. Hearing this, she didn't hold back. She picked up a wooden stick leaning against the wall and charged forward.

She didn't aim for his face, instead hitting him several times on the body before Luo Qingzhu stopped her.

Luo Qingzhu held back his tears and said hesitantly, "Mother! Qi Shan wasn't home... It's not his fault."

After all, he and Qi Shan had been a loving couple for many years, and he couldn't bear to see him beaten.

Qi Shan truly stood still without moving, letting Lin Xingniang hit him a few times to vent her anger.

After she was done, he hurriedly looked at Luo Qingzhu, his eyes reddening as he gazed at his husband's face, saying with deep concern, "...Qing Zhu."

As Qi Shan reached out to touch Luo Qingzhu's face, Luo Maier, taking advantage of her small size, squeezed in between them and pushed Qi Shan away forcefully, putting her hands on her hips again. "Get away! Don't touch my brother! His face is still swollen, and you're touching it!"

Lin Xingniang also pulled her son behind her, glaring at Qi Shan with a stern face. She took a deep breath and said, "Qi Shan, I know today's incident wasn't your fault, but as his mother, I can't swallow this anger!"

"My Qing Zhu can't just be beaten for nothing and then act like nothing happened when you take him back! Leave. He won't go back with you today!"

Qi Shan opened his mouth, then looked at Luo Qingzhu, who was protected behind Lin Xingniang. "...Qing Zhu."

Luo Qingzhu's eyes were red, but the slapped cheek was even redder. However, Luo Qingzhu was handsome, and even with a swollen face, he didn't look bad—instead, he appeared pitiable.

He felt sorry for his husband but also wronged. In the end, he opened his mouth but said nothing and didn't move.

Lin Xingniang glared angrily, her tone still sharp.

"Just shut up! Qing Zhu, Qing Zhu, Qing Zhu... Can't you say anything else?!"

Qi Shan was stumped again. After a long pause, he said, "Qing Zhu, I know you were wronged today. Don't worry, I'll definitely talk to Mother properly when I go back! And don't worry about the child. Even if we really can't have one, it's fine. I don't care about having a child!"

His words, meant to be understanding, only made Lin Xingniang's eyes redden with anger again. She stepped forward and shoved him twice, waving her hand and shouting, "Go, go, leave now!"

Qi Shan stumbled from the push, looked at Luo Qingzhu, who remained silent, then placed all the things in his hands on the ground and walked away empty-handed, looking back step by step.

Luo Qingzhu watched him leave, standing still, but his spirit seemed to have floated away with him.

Lin Xingniang pinched his arm, then poked Luo Qingzhu's forehead as if exasperated by his spinelessness, scolding, "No backbone at all!"

"Look at your soft temperament—nothing like me!"

Luo Qingzhu pressed his lips together in silence and said nothing.

His nature was too soft-hearted—charitably put, he was pure-hearted; less charitably, he let others walk all over him.

Even before he married, Lin Xingniang had worried about his temperament, fearing he would be bullied by his in-laws after marriage. Fortunately, Qi Shan truly cared for him and was willing to protect him. But Qi Shan often worked out of town and couldn't watch over him every day, so situations like today's were bound to happen.

Lin Xingniang sighed, finally thanked Cui Lanfang, Liu Guyu, and the others, then took her son and daughter home, the two big dogs wagging their tails as they followed behind.

After everyone had left, Liu Guyu gathered his family in the main room, closed the door, and began counting the money.

"The temple fair was packed! We made quite a bit these past few days!"

As he spoke, he patted Qin Rongshi's shoulder, telling him to take out the money pouch.

"Only the first and last days brought in less money. The middle five days earned over four hundred cash each day, adding up to… more than 1,800 cash—almost two taels of silver."

Liu Guyu scooped a bowl of water, dipped his finger in it, and began writing and calculating on the table. Out of habit, he used simple Arabic numerals. Cui Lanfang and Qin Banban didn't find it strange, but Qin Rongshi narrowed his eyes as he watched.

Unaware, Liu Guyu continued:

"Mother's medicine needs to be taken for six months. It costs two taels and five mace per month, so fifteen taels for half a year. Including Da Lang's pension silver, we're still about three taels short."

"Although the temple fair is over, I plan to set up a stall in the East Market on market days. It won't earn as much as the temple fair, but we should still make about half as much. In two months, we should have enough for Mother's medicine."

The Qin family wasn't completely without savings. Aside from the ten taels of pension silver, they had saved around three taels—the very money the original owner had initially tried to steal.

Since the medicine fees were paid monthly rather than in one lump sum, and household expenses and the food business required capital, Liu Guyu didn't include these savings in his calculations.

Hearing this, Cui Lanfang and Banban both smiled, especially Cui Lanfang, whose brows relaxed as she nodded in agreement, looking relieved.

After smiling, Qin Banban tilted her head and looked at the table, asking curiously, "Brother Liu, what characters are these? I don't recognize any of them. They look like…" chicken scratch.

She didn't voice the last three words out of politeness.

With a scholar in the family, Qin Banban wasn't completely illiterate. Qin Rongshi taught her in his free time, and the girl was eager to learn, knowing many simple characters.

Liu Guyu was jolted back to reality, staring at the string of water marks on the table, and hurriedly wiped them away.

He laughed awkwardly, "Hahaha… just scribbling nonsense, just scribbling nonsense."

Liu Guyu didn't notice Qin Rongshi's probing gaze, too busy changing the subject. He turned to Cui Lanfang and asked, "Mother, is there anything else at home that needs doing?"

He meant it casually, but Cui Lanfang actually pondered it, finally frowning and saying with difficulty, "There is one thing that's been difficult."

Liu Guyu immediately asked, "What is it?"

Cui Lanfang: "Ah… collecting the rent."

"No one in our family knows how to farm. Our two mu of land are leased out, but the rent hasn't been paid for two months."