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Chapter 59 : 陌生男äșș (Unfamiliar man)
This afternoon, because of the ‘dark gloomy’ weather, the customer’s flow was much less than usual.
“Let’s go home early too! It looks like it’s going to rain here.” Zhong Ziqi said to few people, if it rained it would be hard to go back.
“This is probably the last rain of the year, after this, it will be cold.” Uncle Huang said leisurely.
“Qi Ge’er, have you made your cotton-padded clothes and quilt yet? You’ll have to wear them in a few days.”
Zhao Amu asked Zhong Ziqi, since it was his first year of moving, his family was probably short of things.
“I still have some of my old clothes, but they are a bit old.”
Zhong Ziqi scratched his head, he didn’t require much in the way of clothing, but Zhao Amu gave him a heads up therefore he remembered that he didn’t have a cotton-padded quilt yet. The quilt he was wearing now had a layer of cotton, but it was still too thin to resist the cold in winter.
“Now that you’ve made money, why bother with that? Buy some material and cotton to make a set.” Huang Amu said jokingly.
“I’d like to, but I don’t know how to make it!” If he knew how to make it, he would have done it already.
“Qi Ge’er, that’s no good! You’re a ger and now you have your own family, you must not didn’t know how to sew. Do you have to always buy ready-made clothes in the future? That would cost a lot more money!”
“Well 
if it’s only a simple sewing I can do it, just the other 
”
Since he could not do anything about it, no big deal, he will just buy it! He was still able to afford to spend this amount of money, moreover, how much could he buy? At the end of the day, he just didn’t want to do the needlework, if not, he could probably end up getting his hands full of stitches!
“You, this kid!”
Zhao Amu shook his head: “Our Xiao Ning is quite good at needlework, you could learn it from him at the same time, he could also learn how to cook from you.”
“En
”
Zhong Ziqi nodded perfunctorily.The needlework or whatever it is, would be decided later!
****
Zhao Ning looked at the strange man in front of him, more than a head taller than him, although wearing rough linen clothes, but he exuded an imposing aura. Occasionally he would look over with a sharp gaze, no matter how he looked at it, he didn’t seem like an ordinary person.
“What would ‘you’ like
to order? Go into the shop and have a look ba!”
Zhao Ning was inexplicably a bit frightened, rich people he had seen a lot, reasonably he should have already adapted to it.
When he heard Zhao Ning’s words, the man looked at him sideways and asked in a low voice: “May I ask 
 if Huang Zhao Ping is here?”
After Zhao Ning heard what he had said, he was stunned. When he was just about to say that he didn’t know it, but after a thought, he remembered that there was still Uncle Huang’s family in the shop.
“Are you asking about Uncle Huang? We only have Uncle Huang who is surnamed Huang in the shop.”
“En.” The man hesitated for a moment and answered.
“Come in with me! They’re in the shop.”
It wasn’t too busy at the moment,so Uncle Huang and the others were sitting together just talking and chattering about family matters.
“Uncle Huang, someone is looking for you.” Zhao Ning shouted as he led the way in.
Uncle Huang and Huang Amu looked up towards the door at the same time,then the bowl of water in their hands fell to the ground and broke up with a ‘bang’. It startled the crowd but both of them ignored it.
Only to see Uncle Huang tremblingly stand up as he takes two steps ahead, asking in a shaky voice, “Lei Er? Is it Lei Er?”
The strange man took two steps forward and knelt down in front of Uncle Huang and Huang Amu with a choked voice: “Father, Amu! I’m back! Lei Er is back!”
“Is this really Lei Er? My Lei Er 
 You’ve finally come back!”
Huang Amu first did not dare to believe as his tears fell down, hugging his son and crying out loud.
Uncle Huang, already in his old age, also wept bitterly. Ever since their son was taken away for ‘conscription’ several years ago, it was like a piece of flesh had been plucked out of their hearts, hurting them every day. Was it that easy to be a soldier?
[Conscription = in here, he is being taken away or recruited by the levy troops as a soldier to join the war unwillingly or to defend the country, etc]
The country of Da Ze didn’t raise wasted soldiers.His son had just happened to go to the boundary of a piece of land where it was an unstable zone. In there, small-scale conflicts were often to break out thus many soldiers had sacrificed their life.The first year his son was there, he sent the letters back, which gave them peace of mind.
But the next year there was suddenly no more news, and if they hadn’t still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts, they would have collapsed long ago, and they wouldn’t be alive today.
“When you left
Your father and I were so worried
I was afraid that you might have an accident. Fortunately
 luckily, God was kind enough to let you come back safely
.Otherwise, how should your father and I live without you?”
Huang Amu wiped his tears and couldn’t stop crying, but the words leaked out of his mouth were ‘the joy of having lost a son and finding it back’.
Huang Amu hugged his partner and wept with joy as he looked at his lost and found son.
“It is your son’s fault (unfilial) for making you worry.”
Huang Jin Lei fiercely kowtowed three times on the ground: “Your son here apologizes to you!”
Over the years, how could he not be worried about them? They had forbidden private correspondence there for some reason. He had feared for years that his parents would be worried. He was also worried that they would be sick and unattended.Now, fortunately, it was not too late to return. Luckily, they still looked healthy, only their hair was much whiter.
“Get up, Lei Er!”
Uncle Huang hurriedly pulled his son up. They had never felt that their son was unfilial, on the contrary their son was the most filial. He usually did all the work around the house such as cooking and washing the clothes. In his son’s words he was now old enough and it was time for them to take a break.
“Let’s all disperse! The weather is not good outside since it’s going to rain. We also have to go back so everyone please come back again tomorrow!”
Zhong Ziqi said as he looked out at the people watching.They were all regulars here, so after hearing what he had said, they were very understanding and dispersed.
“Huang Amu, sit down here and talk!”
Zhong Ziqi said with a smile, he also took a good look at Uncle Huang’s son, the person was really different (from ordinary people). As a soldier, his eyebrows were serious and fierce. At first glance, he knew that he must have killed people before.
“Yes, let’s sit down and talk! You see, the kid has just come back. We don’t even know if he has eaten yet or not?” Zhao Amu brought out some food from the back and put it on the table.
“Amu,these people are
?”
Huang Jin Lei looked at the people in front of him, whom he did not know. He had just come back home to find that the front door of their house was locked so he asked the neighbour next door. They told him that his father and Amu were both at “Quite Delicious”, therefore he was told to come up and look for them here.
Huang Jin Lei knew very well that he had not heard of this name before and thought that it should be opened later, he just casually inquired and unexpectedly many people gave him directions. This was how he found his way here. Just as he reached the door, he met Zhao Ning who was outside clearing the table.
Huang Amu wiped his tears and raised his smiling face : “Son, let Amu introduce them to you, this is your Zhao Amu, these are your Zhao Amu’s two children, and this is Qi Ge’er.”
Huang Jin Lei politely greeted Zhong Ziqi, Zhao Amu and all of them.
“Thanks to their help, otherwise your father and I wouldn’t be able to make money here!”
Huang Jin Lei bowed deeply as he heard this, “Thank you all for taking care of us. I’m really grateful for this.”
[æ„Ÿæż€äžć°œ= I’m really grateful = I can’t thank sb enough = really appreciated it a lot]
Zhao Amu said, “You’re too polite, you boy! What is there to thank you for? Your father and your Amu have helped us a lot too.”
“That’s right.” Zhong Ziqi nodded in agreement.
As the sky grew cloudy, the group had no time to say anything as they hurriedly tidied up and closed up the shop, then went back to their own homes.
They were always able to talk and reminisce about the past at any time. Zhong Ziqi, Zhao Amu and the others who don’t have any rain wear, unlike Huang Amu whose house was so close, if the rain started to fall, there was no way for them to go back.
Catching up all along the way, not long after they arrived at home, the rain began to fall from the sky and slid down into the neck, it was cold as ice.
Zhong Ziqi put the two big black dogs inside and took in the clothes that were drying outside. The doors and windows were closed. Soon the rain became heavier and heavier as the windows rattled.
“I didn’t expect him to be the son of Huang Amu and Uncle Huang, he doesn’t look much like them.” Zhao Ning sat at the table, propping his chin up and muttering.
Zhong Ziqi also sat next to him, thinking about the man’s appearance today. It was true that the man only looked like Huang Amu and Uncle Huang in a few places, but this man was not bad looking. The whole person looks spirited enough, although somehow rough, but under a closer look, carries with him a different kind of charm.
“But this guy is a bit too scary. It’s fine when he smiles but I don’t dare to look at him when he’s stern-faced.” Zhao Ning added.
“It’s still okay ba! I don’t really feel it ah! He is just a bit serious.” Zhong Ziqi shook his head and said.
“Am I overthinking it 
? Why do I feel like he’s scary?” Zhao Ning scratched his head and mumbled.
The rain outside calmed down after a while before it turned into a drizzling rain. It was already getting dark outside, the light outside became dimmer and dimmer because of the rain. Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Ning trotted under the eaves and ran into the kitchen.
If Zhao Ning hadn’t been here, Zhong Ziqi would have eaten and swallowed in one gulp the leftover food by himself.
Yet with Zhao Ning around,he couldn’t do that. On a cool rainy day, it was best to eat something hot. So Zhong Ziqi made a pot of noodles with the hot soup. He and Zhao Ning sat in the kitchen and ate, sweating profusely, wanting for more.
Then they went inside the room as it was cold today, Zhong Ziqi simply took the quilt to the room where Shen Yu Bei used to stay. The Huo kang was so warm that it was comfortable to sit on it and do whatever you want.
“Ziqi, I’ll teach you how to embroider, huh?” Zhao Ning asked, smiling teasingly at Zhong Ziqi.
Zhong Ziqi quickly waved his hand and said, “No, you can do your own embroidery, I’ll just watch.”
“It’s easy, you’ll learn it in no time. Are you saying that you’re not afraid that your family Zhao Zheng’an will dislike you?”
Zhong Ziqi answered, “Who is he to dislike me? It’s already good enough that I don’t dislike him.”
Zhao Ning shook his head, now that he had been living with Zhong Ziqi for almost half a month, he was already able to cook simple meals in a decent manner.
“Didn’t Zhao Amu say that he was looking for someone for you? How’s it going? Is there anyone that you think is good?”
“What do you mean by good? My Amu hasn’t found me one yet. My distant relatives are coming to introduce me.”
Zhao Ning curled his mouth while saying.If Ziqi hadn’t married, he probably wouldn’t have been any better off than he was.The threshold of his house would have to be flattened on.
“You’re almost like a popular person right now.” Zhong Ziqi burst into loud laughter.
[xiāng bƍ bo/ 銙鄜鄜 ; delicious cakes / popular person / sth that is in high demand]
“I’d rather not be popular than be harassed like this all day long.”
“Actually, if there’s a good one, you can take a look at it.”
Zhao Ning was furious at the very mention of this: “A good one? A few days ago, one of my uncles introduced me to a relative of his family. At my house, he was talking about how good and how wonderful he was, such a deluge of heavenly flowers.Then, when my Amu secretly asked around, How’s that? Is he good? That person’s family was extremely poor, as loud as the clanking sound but that family was especially afraid of losing face (put honor first or especially love their respectful self) that they always pretended his family didn’t lack money on the surface. Do you think such a family is strange right? How could I dare to marry such a person?”
[ć€©èŠ±äč±ć  / ć€©èŠ±äș‚ćąœ :tiān huā luĂ n zhuĂŹ
lit. a deluge of heavenly flowers (idiom) / fig. extravagant embellishments / hype]
Zhong Ziqi nodded his head speechlessly. This indeed was not reliable.
“Also, one of the village’s senior members, a grand Amu, introduced me to his brother’s uncle’s child, who he said was a gentleman. He’s still studying at the private school and has a good chance to become a scholar.”
[秀才 /xiĂč cai: a person who has passed the county level imperial exam (historical) / scholar]
“Isn’t that good?” This era still attached importance to literature.
“It is quite good. My Amu was so impressed that he asked my father to ask around in the village. We heard from the villagers that because he was a scholar, he was proud, arrogant and did not take others into account. He once said that he would marry a rich and powerful ger when he became a scholar. But the problem is, the boy has failed the exam twice, you say how expensive the ink and brush are! His family is supporting him so much that they can’t even let him do any farm work. Their family is probably desperate and can’t afford to provide for it anymore and want to find ‘a spendthrift and foolish(憀性頭)’ to continue supporting this bottomless pit.”
[憀性頭 /yuān dĂ  tĂłu :sb with more money than sense]
“It’s true that you can’t marry such a person, otherwise, one day, if he really passes the exams, he will dislike you and kick you out.”
Zhong Ziqi also despises such people for squandering their parent’s hard-earned money at will.If you didn’t pass the exam twice, either you didn’t study hard enough or you weren’t good enough and perhaps, you’re just not cut out for it.It’s a waste of money to keep studying.He also has no sympathy for the parents. The parents are responsible for raising such a child.
“Yes, my Amu and my father both thought so and refused the introduction. My Amu said there were too many unreliable introductions and it was better to wait until he had time to ask around to see if there were any good families.”
“That’s good, Zhao Amu always has a plan in mind, there is no rush in this marriage matter.” Zhong Ziqi agreed and said in his heart that marriage is a lifelong affair and must be treated with care, otherwise you will have to swallow your teeth even if your teeth are knocked out in your in-laws’ home.
[This metaphor meant being bullied and insulted by the in-laws’s family but he could only tolerate it]