Chapter 7 (1/2)

“Gou’er, Gou’er…”

Xue Gouzi came to his senses and looked at the face that had haunted his dreams for years.

“You’re right. I won’t think about it any more.” After a pause, he added, “I just wanted to emphasize one thing. Will you stop calling me Gou’er?”

Zhao’er asked doubtfully, “But I am always calling you like that. If I don’t call you Gou’er, what’s the name?”

Xue Gouzi hesitated a moment, “you call me Tingxiang.”

“Tingxiang? Is that your name? Gou’er, why do you call yourself that?” Soon she realized that the son of the eldest family, Juncai under the because of his own age, was always sneering at Gou’er and Heizi having the same name.

Her eyes flashed a sense of heartache, repeatedly nodded, “Gou’er, no, Tingxiang, learned people is not the same, and this name is so good. Later I won’t call you Gou’er, and I won’t let outsiders call you that. Just Tingxiang.” Anyway, in her heart, Gou’er said everything is good.

Xue Gouzi, no, now it’s called Xue Tingxiang. He’s a little depressed, He’s only less than two years younger than Zhao’er, but he can’t walk through the deep stream in his whole life. Having simply said this, he added, “and can you not call yourself sister to me in the future?”

This next action made Zhao’er more surprised, even handed to touch his forehead and said, “What’s wrong with you, Ting’er? Is there something wrong? You have been calling me big sister when you were a kid.”

Xue Tingxiang took a deep breath and smiled, “but you are not my sister. You are my wife. How could a man call his wife sister?”

He used to be pale, half leaning on the quilt on the bed. Suddenly, with such a smile, his eyes and eyebrows were clear and handsome, he gave people a feeling of not being able to look directly at him.

The Zhao’er’s face became red with a splash, and the words are not clear, “Gou’er, what do you say, I, I…”

“Don’t you want to be my wife and have children for me?” He got closer.

She jerked up and said, “As a little man, why do you say about this?” You haven’t grown all you hair yet! She said the most disliked remark for Xue Tingxiang, but also not consciously. She continued, “What you need to do now is to keep your body well, as for these things, we will talk about them later!”

Her eyes were fierce and her voice was fierce, too. Then she lowered her head and scooped rice from the bowl and fed it to Xue Tingxiang’s mouth. He took a look at her and ate honestly. Suddenly, he was in a good mood.

Maybe in the future, two people can change the way they get along. If they don’t like it, they can change it. There’s no need to wait for her to understand.

After throwing away the mess, Zhao’er turned around and went back to the house, leaving a large group of people to eat lunch in a depressed atmosphere.

During this time, Sun tried to find some topics to say, but no one answered her.

Yang can’t eat. If her parents in law were here and she didn’t want to lose face in front of the two younger sisters in law, she would have thrown chopsticks away. But now she can only restrain her anger and grievance and eat the food she hated.

After meal, Sun left with Mao Dan, knowing that his son had caused trouble today, for fear that he would be punished later. Zhou took Xue Tao’er to clean the table and take all the dishes to the kitchen. Xue Qingbai helped her. The Zhou can’t carry such a heavy bowl alone. Usually, Sun can only carry by herself and her daughter when Xue Qingbai is not at home.

There were only the eldest family,   grandpa Xue and Zhao in the room.

Yang stood up and wanted to go back to the east room, but she was stopped by Mr. Xue.

Mr. Xue took out his tobacco bag, took out some of his own cut tobacco from the dark blue tobacco bag, rolled them into a ball and pressed them into the pipe, then lit them with a fire fork.

His movements are very slow. People who know Mr. Xue’s character well know that he has something in mind.

It’s really something in his mind. If it’s nothing, and he won’t stop his daughter-in-law rarely.

“Juncai and Youcai go back to the house first. I have something to say with your mother.”

Xue Youcai looked at his mother and wanted to say something, but he was pulled away by his eldest brother Xue Juncai.

“Dad, if you have anything to say, just talk to me.”

Yang is thirty-four years old this year. In the countryside, a woman in her thirties is no longer young. It’s sunny and windy here, so women look old.

But Yang’s maintenance is excellent. Her face is like a disc, and her skin is white, just there are several fine lines on the corner of her eyes. She is dressed in a half new stone-blue beautiful vest. Her black and shiny hair was tied in a bun at the back of her head. A gilded hairpin was inserted in it, and a pair of old silver earrings were worn on her ears. It’s not scallion sharp, but it’s also white, soft and greasy, wearing a gold ring.

It’s not too much to say that she is the grandmother of the landlord’s family, even Zhao is not as good as her.

Mr. Xue, with his old eyes, made several turns on Yang’s body, which made her uncomfortable to stand.

She just wanted to say something, grandpa Xue said first suddenly, “Eldest daughter-in-law, how many years have you married into our family?”

Yang was scared, and answered, “17 years. I married to the Xue family when I was 17.”

“How do you feel about the treatment of you mother and I?”

“Father and mother treat me like their own daughter.” Yang said in fear and trembling.

Mr. Xue nodded and took a smoke. The light blue smoke began to curl around his old face again, making it hard to see the expression on his face.

“You are the eldest daughter in law, and your mother are always like you. Your mother and I also want Juncai to be successful as well as you and your husband.”

Yang’s heart was relaxed, and she couldn’t help laughing, “Juncai is so serious about studying. Even my father said that he is a rare young man. It’s easy to be a scholar.”

When it comes to Xue Juncai, Mr. Xue can’t help smiling.

Seeing that the father-in-law’s face was softer, Yang took the advantage of the situation and said, “Father, however, you know that when it comes to the important points, it’s not just reading at home. In the beginning, Juncai’s father also listened to my father’s words. He went to the Qinghe school for two years, got to know some classmates, and was appreciated by his teacher. Then he took the opportunity to leave deep impression in front of the county magistrate, and passed the country exam. As long as the grade of the county trial is not bad, the government trial is half sure. It’s just that when getting to the hospital examination, just to rely on great luck. Juncai’s father is just unlucky, so he failed many times.”

This is the real reason why Yang  was valued by the old couple in Xue’s family, not only because her father was a Tong Sheng, but also because of his kindness in giving advice to Xue Qingshan.

Yang’s statement seems absurd, but it is true. The county government’s two trials are not strictly controlled, especially the county trial, which is presided over by the county magistrate.