Chapter 14. Stirring Emotions, Stirring Emotions

“By the way, Qingzhi, why aren’t you wearing that new white outfit from yesterday? It looked so good!” Xu Shu asked.

“I took it to wash and hung it behind the house.”

“Oh-” There was some regret in Xu Shu’s tone: “So that’s why. I thought you looked extremely good in that outfit, even better than my Yuxiu.”

Cheng Qingzhi lowered his head and smiled bitterly. It was the clothes that looked good, not him.

No matter how good he looked in anything, it wouldn’t catch Cheng Songer’s eye. In her eyes, mere mortals of flesh and blood must appear ugly.

Demons all have magical powers. It’s said they can see through human facades at a glance.

Perhaps in her eyes, he was just a walking skeleton covered in rouge, not even barely passable.

Xu Shu let out a sigh: “Ah— I was hoping to take a good look at the fabric and embroidery on your clothes, to make one for my Yuxiu to wear during the New Year.”

Cheng Qingzhi came to his senses from the bitterness in his heart, hearing the meaning in his words, he said: “Uncle Xu, the clothes are just hanging in the backyard. If you want to see them, I can bring them to you.”

“Good, good, good.” Xu Shu nodded repeatedly.

Cheng Qingzhi retrieved the outfit from the backyard, water droplets still hanging on it: “The clothes have only been hung up for a short while, Uncle Xu, be careful not to get your clothes wet.”

“It’s no problem, no problem.” Xu Shu carefully took it, his fingers constantly stroking over it.

From the fabric pattern to the embroidery stitches to the angle at which those magnolia petals were embroidered, he examined everything thoroughly, only returning it to Cheng Qingzhi after committing it all to memory.

Xu Shu had taken a liking to it from the first moment he saw Cheng Qingzhi wearing that outfit. Such a beautiful garment must not be cheap, and their family didn’t have much money. They still needed to save money to build houses and find husbands for their two daughters. Although they doted on their son, they couldn’t be too extravagant.

But when Xu Shu saw Cheng Qingzhi wearing that outfit, he was simply stunned. Cheng Qingzhi, who usually looked like a pushover, in that moment truly resembled a noble young master.

Indeed, clothes make the man, Xu Shu thought.

Cheng Qingzhi was beautiful, but his own son was not bad either, and his family background was cleaner than Cheng Qingzhi’s. The reason he hadn’t found a good match yet was just the lack of such fine clothes.

So he thought of making one for Lin Yuxiu himself, to wear when meeting potential matches, to help secure a good marriage for his son. This was also the reason why Xu Shu insisted on coming to help Cheng Qingzhi, despite Lin Yuxiu’s objections.

Although Xu Shu sympathized with and pitied Cheng Qingzhi, that compassion ultimately couldn’t compare to his own son. Beneath the sympathy, there was also a hint of exploitation.

“The satin of this outfit is also excellent, it must not be cheap, right? How much did this satin cost?” Xu Shu probed.

“I don’t know about that, Songer bought it for me, I didn’t ask.”

“Just bought this one piece? Didn’t buy anything else?”

Cheng Qingzhi shook his head: “Just buying this one piece was already very expensive, I don’t want Songer to spend more on me. She said she would take me to the county town tomorrow, I thought it would be better to buy some fabric and cotton, I can make them myself at home, it would be cheaper.”

“You’re right, sister Songer spends money lavishly, not knowing how to be frugal. You’re more considerate, but……” Xu Shu hesitated.

“But what?” Cheng Qingzhi asked, puzzled.

Xu Shu coughed meaningfully: “Aren’t you afraid she might again……”

After a brief moment of confusion, Cheng Qingzhi suddenly understood what Xu Shu meant.

“She won’t.” Cheng Qingzhi stood up abruptly, his voice rising a notch: “Songer is different from before, she won’t do that kind of despicable thing!”

Xu Shu was startled by Cheng Qingzhi’s intense reaction.

He had practically watched Cheng Qingzhi grow up, seen how he struggled to survive under the abuse and indifference of his family, watched him endure humiliation day after day, swallowing all grievances and tears without daring to utter a word, passively enduring everything.

Yet today, his unintentional words seemed to have touched a raw nerve.

He saw rare anger and a tightly strung cord in Cheng Qingzhi’s moist, slightly reddened eyes, which could snap at any moment, followed by a breakdown.

When a person who has endured to the extreme finally erupts, it’s like a flood bursting through a dam, howling and sweeping everything away. The consequences are unimaginable.

“Well, I was just saying,” Xu Shu coughed, awkwardly trying to smooth things over. “But I also think that your family is very different from before now. Sister Songer has her own abilities, she wouldn’t do such outrageous things again. Come, come, we haven’t finished with these radishes yet.”

He beckoned Cheng Qingzhi to sit down.

Cheng Qingzhi sat back in his place, seeing that his tightly clenched fists showed no signs of relaxing, only muttering softly: “She won’t, she’s not her…”

Xu Shu didn’t hear his mumbling clearly, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have understood what “she’s not her” meant.

Perhaps to make up for his earlier offense, Xu Shu said: “Since you’re going to the county town with sister Songer tomorrow, do you have a veil hat?”

“Veil hat?” Cheng Qingzhi was stunned, then shook his head.

In the past, only his father could use the veil hat at home, but after his father ran off with that adulterous woman, he took the only veil hat with him.

Cheng Qingzhi originally didn’t mind, because he had always stayed in Cheng Village and never left this place, nor had the opportunity to leave.

He was a person, but also a dog with an invisible chain around his neck. The Cheng family was his kennel.

He originally thought he could never leave, never see the outside world.

Until her arrival, she was willing to unlock the chain embedded in his flesh, to take him to see the outside world. He was so happy he couldn’t contain himself, his joy made him forget the basic rules of human society.

Proper men should wear veil hats when going out with women, otherwise they would be considered frivolous and loose.

He forgot, and the one inhabiting Cheng Songer’s body didn’t mention it either.

Perhaps she doesn’t understand the ways of the human world either.

“You can’t go to town without a veil hat. Last time Cheng Songer took you to the county town was to sell you to the brothel… never mind, but this time you must wear one,” Xu Shu said.

“But I don’t have one,” Cheng Qingzhi said, his fine brows furrowed, a faint sorrow in his eyes.

“If you don’t have one, I do. I can lend you mine,” Xu Shu smiled.

“Uncle Xu, thank you,” Cheng Qingzhi said gratefully.

“We’re all neighbors, no need for such formalities!” Xu Shu laughed.

————————————————-

Cheng Songer went to the place where she dug traps yesterday, relying on her memory. Yesterday she chased a rabbit into a less frequented path, so even if there were people hunting in the mountains, they wouldn’t dare come to this spot.

She had just walked in a few steps when she heard the desperate roar of a wild boar. It had fallen into the trap Cheng Songer had dug, and because it had been struggling in the pit non-stop, its hind legs were pierced by the sharpened wooden stakes she had prepared. Blood soaked its fur. Its hind legs couldn’t move, but the wild boar’s front hooves were still constantly digging, especially that pair of sharp, long tusks, striving to dig forward.

To still have such strength after struggling all night, it’s fortunate I didn’t confront it directly, Cheng Songer thought with lingering fear.

She carefully circled to the rear to avoid being discovered by the wild boar, fearing that her appearance might stimulate it to struggle with all its might and jump out of the trap.

She drew her bow to full tension and aimed at the wild boar’s eyes. With a swoosh, half the arrow shot into the wild boar’s brain through its eye. The wild boar struggled for a moment before finally going still.

This wild boar weighed three hundred jin. Just lifting it out of the trap was exhausting enough. By the time she dragged the wild boar out of the back mountain, her strength was nearly depleted, and she sat resting by the village path.

At this time, a villager returning from the fields saw Cheng Songer covered in blood and was initially shocked.

But soon she saw the fierce wild boar behind Cheng Songer, and approached with both surprise and curiosity: “Cheng Songer, this… wild boar… you killed it?”

Cheng Songer wiped the blood from her face and nodded.

“Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha,” the villager said in disbelief as she came forward to examine it, circling around before exclaiming in shock: “Isn’t this… the big wild boar that came down from the mountain and ravaged the village crops before?”

Cheng Songer raised an eyebrow, seeming to recall something like that in her memories.

However, at that time, the original owner had been indulging in eating, drinking, and merrymaking, and wasn’t interested in wild boars.

The villager’s commotion soon attracted many other villagers to come and see, and everyone gathered around.

“Yes, I remember it was this wild boar that came to our village and destroyed a lot of crops before.”

“That’s right, that’s right, especially the Cheng Huang family, several mu of their crops were all eaten by this beast.”

“Indeed, Cheng Li even tried to stop this beast and was knocked into a ditch by it, nearly losing her life. It took half a year to recover.”

“Cheng Songer, did you really kill this?”

“Songer, who knew you had such skill despite your usual carefree attitude!”

“That’s right, that’s right, Songer, you’ve done a great service for our village!”

The crowd praised Cheng Songer endlessly, one after another.

It’s worth noting that because the original owner used to fight and cause trouble, not many people in the village paid attention to her. But because of this incident, the villagers’ view of her changed considerably.

There was no help for it, in a matriarchal world, it was just too easy for a woman to turn over a new leaf.

Cheng Songer politely declined those who wanted to help carry the wild boar back to her house, dragging it back herself.

When Cheng Qingzhi saw her face covered in blood, his heart nearly stopped. He hurriedly ran forward, disregarding the propriety between men and women, touching the blood on her face and anxiously asking: “How did you get hurt? Where are you injured? Is it serious? Does it hurt?”

Cheng Songer saw that he was so anxious his tears were about to fall, and the fingers touching her face were trembling uncontrollably with worry, a complete mess.

She smiled slightly at him: “I’m fine, it’s the pig’s blood.”

Only after confirming that Cheng Songer was unharmed did Cheng Qingzhi focus his attention on the wild boar at her feet.

“This is… you killed it?”

“Mm-hmm, now we have meat for the New Year,” Cheng Songer said lightly, her face bearing her usual smile. If one ignored the fresh blood on her face, she would surely look as gentle as always.

But at this moment, with her blood-covered face wearing a gentle smile, it created a great contrast. Her amiable demeanor was also extremely sharp and imposing.

It was as if gentleness and overwhelming power had converged, forming violent waves on a calm sea surface, crashing into Cheng Qingzhi’s heart with an unshakeable posture.