“Is that Changyu’s husband she took in?”
“I caught a glimpse of him on their wedding day. After all these days, he looks even more handsome!”
“A live-in son-in-law facing off against the former scholar’s fiancé, this should be interesting to watch!”
The neighborhood women, upon seeing Xie Zheng and then looking at Song Yan, couldn’t help but discuss in low voices.
Chang Ning also saw her elder sister and immediately tugged on Xie Zheng’s sleeve, running over: “Elder Sister!”
The two little buns on her head bounced as she ran, her round face fair and tender. Wearing a thick padded jacket, she looked like a snowball that had grown short limbs.
There was a thin layer of ice on the ground, making it easy to slip. Fan Changyu hurriedly said, “Don’t run so fast, your brother-in-law’s leg is injured, be careful not to fall!”
The words “brother-in-law” felt a bit unnatural as they left Fan Changyu’s mouth.
She looked at Yan Zheng’s face to gauge his reaction. His face was refined and elegant, showing no particular response to her address as if he was used to being called this way.
Chang Ning often calls him brother-in-law, but Fan Changyu wasn’t quite used to teaching Chang Ning to address him this way.
Chang Ning had already run to Fan Changyu’s side. She stuck out her tongue guiltily and wrapped her short, chubby little hands around one of Fan Changyu’s legs, looking somewhat hostilely towards the Song mother and son opposite them.
She had deliberately pulled her brother-in-law over. If these two bad people dared to bully her elder sister, her brother-in-law could cripple their legs with one swing of his crutch!
She just hadn’t told her elder sister about this brilliant idea of hers!
Fan Changyu was completely unaware of her little sister’s scheming. She patted her head and turned to Xie Zheng, saying, “Your injury hasn’t healed yet, it must be inconvenient for you to go out. There’s no need to indulge Ning’er’s mischief…”
Her words were very polite, but in others’ eyes, it appeared to be a wife showing consideration for her husband.
Many people’s gazes shifted between Song Yan and Xie Zheng.
They thought that in terms of looks, Fan Changyu’s husband was somewhat better, but in terms of ability, Song Yan was still superior. After all, not just anyone could pass the provincial examination.
Xie Zheng lowered his gaze to look at her slightly reddened eyes, only saying, “It’s no trouble.”
However, his beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.
She had been crying?
For her former fiancé?
It seems she hasn’t let go.
How disappointing.
The north wind raged, stirring the long hair that fell in front of him. He lazily raised his eyes to look at the blue-robed man behind Fan Changyu.
His gaze was casual, but the pressure it exerted was extremely strong.
As soon as their eyes met, Song Yan felt as if he was being stared at by a wild wolf. His hair stood on end involuntarily, and he instinctively avoided the other’s gaze. Yet his chest still felt a series of constrictions.
Like prey trembling after narrowly escaping from the jaws of a wolf.
Xie Zheng didn’t waste many words with the mother and son pair, simply stating concisely: “Pay back the money.”
Not only the Song family and the onlookers, but even Fan Changyu was stunned for a moment.
Xie Zheng extremely disliked having to repeat himself. Seeing that the mother and son pair hadn’t reacted, his beautiful phoenix eyes already showed signs of impatience, “Their parents are dead, so you think you can default on the debt?”
Chang Ning nervously pressed her little lips together, but her expression couldn’t hide her excitement as she looked at her brother-in-law’s crutch.
Was her brother-in-law going to hit someone?
Song Yan and Madam Song, who had just reacted, suddenly heard the latter half of his sentence. Madam Song nearly fainted on the spot from anger.
The mouths on this Fan couple were truly one worse than the other. Her side hadn’t even said anything yet, and the other side had already accused them of defaulting on a debt!
Madam Song trembled with anger, only able to stand steady with the support of two women. “When did we ever say we wouldn’t pay back?”
She then called to Song Yan: “Yan’er, count out the silver for them!”
Even when Madam Song was destitute years ago, begging on the street for a coffin after her husband’s death, she didn’t feel as humiliated as she does today.
After saying this, she headed towards the alley exit, as if she couldn’t bear to stay there a moment longer.
The face is just like that. When you don’t have it, no matter how much you’re ground down, you don’t feel anything. But once you have some status, and then lose face, the feeling in your heart becomes unbearable.
Fan Changyu hadn’t expected his few words to upset Madam Song to such an extent. She looked at him with some surprise.
He only gave her a faint glance in return.
Fan Changyu inexplicably read a “you’re disappointing, I’m collecting the debt for you” meaning from that glance, leaving her quite bewildered.
When Fan Changyu’s father provided a coffin for the Song family years ago, besides the coffin itself, there was also money for burial clothes and funeral expenses. The total given at that time was ten taels of silver.
For Song Yan’s tuition, the teacher at the village school charged two taels of silver per year. Song Yan studied at the village school for five years before passing the exam for the county school. The teachers at the county school, knowing his family’s poverty, had waived his tuition fees after discussion. So her father had only helped pay ten taels for his tuition.
When Song Yan handed the two silver ingots to Fan Changyu, a large hand with distinct knuckles directly took the silver for Fan Changyu. Song Yan looked up to see it was her husband.
The man’s expression was cold as he only said, “We’re even now.”
Yes, from now on, they were even.
Song Yan looked at Fan Changyu, the corner of his mouth bitter.
But that man didn’t give him and Fan Changyu a chance to make eye contact. As he handed the two silver ingots to Fan Changyu, he gave Song Yan a faint sidelong glance and directly said to Fan Changyu: “Let’s go back.”
As a fellow man, Song Yan was certain that there was no hostility in that glance, it was purely disdain, like an old hen protecting her chicks.
Fan Changyu, as the chick being protected, didn’t quite react until they had entered their home.
As soon as the front door closed, the man no longer concealed the disdain in the corners of his eyes and brows. “This kind of person, is he worth you pining over for so long, even crying for him?”
Fan Changyu remembered the lie she had told and found it hard to explain. She said breathlessly, “When did I cry?”
Xie Zheng disliked trouble the most and naturally didn’t like meddling in other people’s affairs. He had only intervened because this woman had saved his life, and he couldn’t bear to watch her continue to act foolishly over such a man.
Now hearing her quibble, he couldn’t be bothered to say more.
Just then, neighbor Aunt Zhao rushed over: “I heard that before the Song family left, they put on an act of giving you silver. That must have been for a show in front of the neighbors, right? That mother and son pair are truly nauseating in their ways! On your wedding day, he even sent over a pair of those clay figurines…”
Halfway through her words, when she saw Xie Zheng, Aunt Zhao regretted it and covered her mouth, swallowing the rest of her words.
Xie Zheng didn’t say anything, only sweeping Fan Changyu with those sarcastic and indifferent phoenix eyes, his gaze carrying a mocking “continue your quibbling” meaning.
Fan Changyu felt too stifled to respond.
She hadn’t expected that a lie told in a moment of panic would become a laughingstock for this person to despise for so long.
It wasn’t until Xie Zheng went into the room that Aunt Zhao looked at Fan Changyu apologetically, “This old woman’s mouth has no filter…”
Fan Changyu looked somewhat tired and only said, “It’s nothing.”
At most, she’d just be despised by that guy for a while.
She invited Aunt Zhao to warm herself by the fire pit. After sitting down, Aunt Zhao couldn’t help but say, “I hope that Song fellow’s actions today won’t affect your marital relationship.”
Fan Changyu thought to herself that it would be strange if she and that sharp-tongued, unforgiving fellow could have any feelings.
She wanted to tell the truth, but considering that the lawsuit over the house and land hadn’t been settled yet, to avoid unnecessary complications, she only said, “It won’t.”
Aunt Zhao suddenly asked, “Are you still sleeping with Ning’er in the north room at night?”
Fan Changyu made a sound of agreement, and Aunt Zhao’s brows furrowed as she said, “Why don’t you let Ning’er come sleep with me tonight?”
Hearing the implication in her words, Fan Changyu nearly choked on her saliva and hurriedly said it wasn’t necessary.
Aunt Zhao couldn’t help but chide her, “You and your husband are a properly married couple who have bowed to heaven and earth. What are you being shy about?”
Fan Changyu brought out her old excuse: “He’s injured.”
Aunt Zhao widened her eyes: “Didn’t you read the booklet I gave you? There are many ways…”
As she continued speaking, even Aunt Zhao herself became a bit embarrassed. She only sighed and said, “This old woman is anxious for you. Your husband is even more handsome than Song Yan, and he’s educated too. Right now, he’s injured and needs to rely on you. If you two don’t cultivate a good relationship now, what if he thinks of leaving once his injury heals? Even if you can’t keep him, you should at least have a child to rely on. Otherwise, your uncle’s family will surely come to make trouble again.”
Fan Changyu knew Aunt Zhao meant well, so she only vaguely said she understood.
After Aunt Zhao left, she let out a dejected sigh.
She couldn’t redeem the silver hairpin and had been nauseated by the Song mother and son pair. On the bright side, she had gotten back the twenty taels of silver her father had lent to the Song family years ago. With this large sum of money at home, it could be considered a good thing.
It was just that being constantly looked at with a “are you blind” expression of disdain by that fellow, and it is a lie she had told herself, left her feeling quite stifled.
Fan Changyu was about to go to the kitchen when suddenly, her whole body froze.
The booklet… the booklet Aunt Zhao had given her!
She had been so busy with the wedding before that when Aunt Zhao gave her the booklet that day, she had hastily flipped through two pages before quickly closing it and stuffing it under the pillow in the new room.
So many days had passed, and she had completely forgotten about it! She didn’t know if that person had seen it in the room.
Fan Changyu felt her scalp tingle just thinking about it.
She quickly found a new set of bedding and, carrying it, went to knock on the door of the south room.
A clear and cold “Come in” came from inside.
She pushed the door open and said, “The New Year is coming soon, so I’m changing all the bedding in the house to wash it.”
Everything in this room had just been arranged for the recent wedding and didn’t need to be changed and washed, so this reason didn’t hold up.
But Xie Zheng was sitting at an old, lame wooden desk, holding a writing brush, and didn’t even glance at her as he nodded slightly.
Fan Changyu saw that he was focused on writing something and let out a quiet sigh of relief, feeling like a thief. She quickly moved the pillow to look for the booklet, but found it was already gone.
Fan Changyu was stunned for a moment. She secretly glanced at the person sitting by the window, saw that he didn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual on her side, and continued to strip off the sheets and quilt to search.
But even after lifting the bottom mattress pad shaking it out, and checking under the bed, she still couldn’t find the booklet. Her heart sank.
Suddenly, a clear and cold voice came from behind: “Do you need help?”
Fan Changyu’s entire back stiffened. She said woodenly, “No need, I’m just dusting before making the bed.”
She threw the stripped sheets and quilt into the laundry basket and expressionlessly spread out the half-old sheets and quilt cover.
The quilt cover had two layers, the bottom one was pure cotton cloth, and the top one was embroidered fabric. The cotton quilt was placed in between and needed to be sewn together with a needle and thread.
Due to her nervousness, Fan Changyu pricked her hand with the needle several times while sewing the quilt cover, but she kept a straight face and didn’t make a sound.
It wasn’t until she left the room that Xie Zheng put down his brush. His gaze swept towards the booklet he was using to prop up the table leg, and his handsome brows furrowed involuntarily.
This room was only separated from the main room by a wall, so he had naturally heard everything the old woman had said.
Was she looking for this booklet?