Chapter 126: Green Eyed Monster

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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Liu Changshi entered, smiling. “Ersao, your family’s two servants came over. Did you ask them to stay here to accompany Ruyu?”

He shi quickly nodded, “That’s right! Did they bring the dishes over?”

“They did. I will go and let them in.” Liu Changshi had just walked to the door when he stood still and looked back. “That’s right, ersao. A visitor came to the old residence and said they were looking for you.”

Liu Xu’er called out, “Oh, oh, oh! I completely forgot. Mum, when I left their place, I met an aunt. She said she was looking for you and dad!”

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When Liu Shu saw her enter, he smiled and said, “Xu’er, you’re here! Here’s one for you.” Then he passed her a piece of soft cake. 

“What is this?” Liu Xu’er took it. She gave it a bite and found it both soft and sweet. 

“It’s called migaomo¹米糕馍/ migaomo – a type of snack – nai made it. We villagers seldom make it, because it uses white flour and a lot of sugar!” Liu Lin said, “Nai made a lot.”

Liu Xu’er felt that the snack was rather tasty, so she looked about for Liu Sen. “Where’s Senzi? Has he had any? With such a tasty snack here, why is he nowhere to be found?”

Liu Yun’er gave a loud harrumph at that. 

The siblings didn’t even deign to respond to her. Liu Shu smiled and said, “Just eat your portion. Senzi has already had quite a lot. He ate so much he choked, so he’s gone to look for a drink of water.”

Liu Xu’er immediately roared with laughter when she heard. Liu Shu and Liu Lin immediately hushed her, “Shh! Don’t laugh so loudly!”

That shocked Liu Xu’er. She immediately quietened and gave her brothers a bewildered look. 

Liu Shu and Liu Lin didn’t manage to say anything when Liu Yun’er harrumphed again. It was as though she was deliberately calling attention to herself. She said with a sneer, “I’ve never seen a person with such thick skin! So delighted just because she knows there’s someone here to propose marriage!”

“Jie!” 

“Utter nonsense!” 

Liu Tao and Liu Lin said simultaneously. One wanted to stop Liu Yun’er, while the other directly wanted to scold her. 

The instant Liu Xu’er heard, she was stunned. She turned to Liu Shu, Liu Lin and said, “What?! Again… There’s someone here to propose marriage? That aunt just now was a matchmaker? It wouldn’t be to matchmake me to….” As she spoke, her thoughts went in a million different directions. She wanted to ask if the matchmaker was sent by Shi Cheng’s family?! It definitely wouldn’t have anything to do with sanshu right?

But she couldn’t be sure about the matter. Why didn’t Shi Cheng warn her about this? If he had managed to finalise their plans, shouldn’t he have already told her about it?! Surely it couldn’t really be from her sanshu? It couldn’t be, right….

Liu Xu’er started to feel a little anxious. She turned to look for Liu Sen and wanted to dispatch him to eavesdrop. But Liu Sen wasn’t around – who knew where he had run off to look for a drink. 

Liu Shu immediately calmed her down. “Don’t worry. We will find out what happened soon.” He lowered his voice and said, “Senzi has gone to listen.”

Liu Xu’er was uneasy, but she gave a little nod. 

All this while, Liu Yun’er was still coldly sneering at the side. “How majestic you are! You’re so young, and yet you’ve matchmakers coming! Who knows if the person likes you or your money! That’s why I don’t see what’s the big deal about having money? Aren’t you just making money for others in the end? Hmph! Looking at the situation, the person probably doesn’t want you at all. He just wants to marry you for your money. It would be best if the person takes all your money after you’re married and throw you away after that!”

When she said this, Liu Tao was continually trying to stop her. “Jie! Stop saying that!” He said it four or five times, but wasn’t successful at stopping her. She insisted on finishing her sentence.

Liu Lin had had enough. He leapt off the kang and walked to her. Pointing at her nose, he said, “What did you just say? Do you want a beating? If you hmph again, see if I beat you or not!”

Liu Yun’er flushed red, she desperately wanted to give another hmph, but didn’t dare. Liu Lin was over a head taller than her, and was the family’s erge. It wasn’t as though he had never fought before!

Liu Tao very quickly grabbed her away. When he pulled her outside, he said softly, “Why do you keep saying that? What benefit does it bring you? Why can’t you think it through….”

“You should scram! Nowadays, you’re just sucking up to that family and don’t care at all about your jie! It would be best if you could just be their actual sibling! Don’t call me your jie!”

Everyone in the room could hear their conversation. They shook their heads. Liu Xu’er said, “Forget it. She’s just the way she is. A dog can’t change the way they are. Her mouth will always be that foul, and nothing we can do will change it. We can’t keep fighting with her every single festive occasion right? I want to enjoy my celebrations!”

Liu Lin huffed and came over, “There will come a day when she finally learns her lesson!”

Liu Shu shook his head. Very steadily he said, “A beating will not change her! You aren’t her actual ge. It would be embarrassing for you to beat her. Dabo would be in an extremely awkward position. Forget it. We just have to tolerate her for another two years, and then she should be married off as well. I just want to see which unlucky fellow weds her. Their family would be full of strife!”

Liu Lin was amused by that statement and started to laugh. 

Liu Xu’er however, couldn’t laugh. She just hoped that Senzi would hurry back and tell her what was happening! Just as she was thinking that, Senzi ran back in. He called out and said, “ Is jie back? Oh! Jie! I heard everything. The matchmaker was sent by Shi Cheng ge’s family. She had gone to our house in town, but no one was there, so she decided to come over – she figured it was better this way. This way, she could also let ye and nai know of the proposal!”

When he finished, he picked up the teacup on the table and took a big gulp. 

Liu Xu’er was surprised and happy. After a long, dazed silence, she finally said, “Why is it so early?”

Liu Shu said at the same time, “I guessed it would be him! But why is he so impatient? He should have at least waited till next year to mention it! How old are the two of them now? Does he want to first get engaged?”

When Liu Lin heard that it was Shi Cheng, he too had relaxed. He laughed and said, “Dage, you sure had everything well planned! I think it’s fine, they should just get engaged first! That way, we wouldn’t have to deal with all the ne’er do wells eyeing our sister!”

“What do you mean, fine! I don’t think it’s fine at all! My jie is still so young, how dare he try and steal her away? He should wait till I’ve gotten married before proposing!” Liu Sen quickly said. 

All of them burst into laughter at that, “When you’ve gotten married, your sister would be an…. What do you mean, stealing her away! What kind of talk is that?”

Liu Sen stiffened his back and said, “Isn’t it so? Right now, Shi Cheng ge comes to our stores everyday, and everyday he sees my jie. Isn’t that enough? Since he insists on proposing marriage, isn’t he trying to steal her from us?”

Liu Shu and Liu Lin laughed. 

Liu Xu’er couldn’t take all this teasing. She smacked Liu Sen lightly, “Stop talking nonsense…. All of you should stop! I’m still so young….”

That had already become her stock phrase. 

All of them continued to merrily chat for a while before He shi came back in. “What are all of you doing, hiding here? Hurry into the kitchen and dish the food out!”

“Ok!” Everyone agreed and rushed to the kitchen to help out. Liu Xu’er glanced at her mother’s face. This time, He shi had a good expression – she had a soft and warm look about her. 

As Liu Xu’er was serving the meal, she noticed the strange expressions her parents and grandparents wore whenever they looked at her. After coming back twice with food, she felt completely embarrassed and went to sit at the side of the table. 

When everyone was seated at the table, Liu Xu’er looked around. This year, Liu Xian’er was no longer here, and because He Ruyu had just given birth, she didn’t come over. It seemed as though the table was much emptier. Perhaps because Liu Sen felt a bit insecure, he stuck close to Liu Xu’er. He didn’t go and sit with his yeye at the main table, preferring to sit at Liu Xu’er’s side. 

Although Liu Yun’er was also at the same table, she was aware enough to know that she wasn’t as welcomed as Liu Xu’er, and didn’t dare to pick a fight with her at the table. 

At the main table, Old Man Liu was asking Liu Changqi about his situation. Liu Changqi had just explained that their financial situation had improved significantly this year. Ever since all those chickens had been handed over to him for free, they’d been laying plenty of eggs. As for the rabbits that Second had given, he was personally raising them, and seemed to be getting the hang of things. 

When Liu Changgeng heard, he laughed, “That’s great! Then should I bring the rest of the rabbits over?”

Surprisingly, Liu Changqi looked rather uncomfortable when he heard that. He paused for a moment before saying, “Why don’t we wait first. I am still raising that few that you’ve given…. I didn’t quite know how to care for them in the beginning, and quite a few of them died. There are only four or five still remaining. I am afraid that if you bring all the rest over, I might not be able to manage. It would be bad if I couldn’t supply all the fur you need!”

Liu Changgeng smiled and nodded, “Sure! It’s good to be cautious!”

When he heard that, Liu Tao looked over at their table. He gave Liu Yun’er an obvious glance. Liu Yun’er only gave a cold sneer in response. 

Liu Xu’er saw and heard everything. A suspicion rose in her heart – did Liu Yun’er do something bad to those rabbits? How did those few die? She gave Liu Yun’er a suspicious look. 

Liu Changshi again started to mention his current goji berry plants. This year, it looked like things were going well, and it might be the year they start to produce. By now, it wasn’t just his own 5.5 mu of land that were planting goji berries, Old Man Liu had also given over his 3.5 mu of land, while Liu Changgeng had also allowed Liu Changshi to plant them in his 7.5 mu. Apart from the original 1.5 mu of medium grade fields that were given to him, Liu Changgeng’s remaining land were all of top grade. Although there weren’t enough hands to work all the land, and although his entire family had gone into the family business, Liu Changgeng couldn’t resist buying good land when it came out for sale. 

But everyone in the family supported him in  this. After all, to a villager, land was the ultimate security. 

All of these fields were handed over to Liu Changshi to plant goji berries. Liu Changshi was left in charge of everything, from sourcing manpower to planting. Liu Changshi would pay for everything. Then after harvest, Liu Changshi would give Liu Changgeng a fixed sum of money – it would be as though he had rented their fields. Liu Changshi was of course unable to handle everything himself, so he had hired workers to help him.

After calculating everything, and provided that there wasn’t a drought this year,  this dozen or so mu of land would probably result in 40-50 strings of cash per mu. With over a dozen mu, that should add up to about 500-600 taels of silver! 

“Wow!” When Liu Changshi shared his calculations, everyone let out a collective gasp. Old Man Liu drew deeply on his pipe and said, “Good, that’s excellent! This is ability!”

Liu Gao shi smiled and clapped her hands. “I had originally thought that Xu’er’s family would be the ones to make the most money. Now I see that Changshi has also been quietly making his own fortune!” Saying that, she turned to Old Man Liu and reprimanded, “Stop smoking! There’s a whole table of delicacies, why are you still smoking?!”

At that, Old Man Liu poured out the contents of his pipe. He lifted his wine cup and in an elated mood, took a sip. Then he continued on with his meal.