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Chapter 61: ć…«ćŠ
(Gossip)
“Hey, Ziqi, have you heard that the Zhao family, I mean Wang Cui Hua’s family,is said to have rushed to Wang Village some time ago – to Wang Fu Gui’s family to talk about matchmaking.”
Zhao Ning gossiped about the village gossip with Zhong Ziqi.
In winter, it gets dark early. Zhong Ziqi and the others came back home early too. After eating, Zhong Ziqi wore the cotton-padded jacket and lazily burned the potatoes in the fire pan of his house when he was bored. It was getting colder and colder today, as they were about to enter the winter. The cold wind hurt his face.
Zhong Ziqi felt that the winter weather here was much colder than the modern time. It was so cold to the bone that he wanted to stay in the warm room forever and not go out.
“And then what?”
Zhong Ziqi asked curiously. He had been in this world for a long time and had unconsciously picked up a taste for gossip. Moreover, he also wanted to know what happened afterwards. He remembered that shortly after Zhao Zheng’an had left home, Wang Cui Hua had come to see him again but he had forcefully rebuffed him. In a stern way, he threatened him harshly that if there was any more trouble he would make his son marry someone with a crooked nose and slanted eyes!
[a crooked nose and slanted eyes : this metaphor is often used to describe people with ugly faces.]
He also warned the Zhong family. This was also the reason that made it so peaceful.
Wang Cui Hua was scared, Zhao Zheng Hong was his lifeblood, he could not let this black-hearted family ruin him no matter what. His family knew everyone in town and he, merely a civilian, had to be afraid of the consequences. Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zheng’an had no children, so naturally they were not afraid of anything.
In the end, Wang Cui Hua left dejectedly, intending to go home and talk to his child’s father to tell him that it was better not to mess with these two people, lest, behind their backs, they play some kind of dirty trick,as their son was still expecting to marry a ger from a good family.
“I heard that Wang’s ger didn’t like him at all. He even ridicules them thoroughly and sarcastically that their family’s faces turned green (pale).”
Zhao Ning said gloatingly (rejoicing in other people’s misfortune) , he also didn’t like the Zhao’s family’s appearance of being ‘the toad who wants to eat swan meat’.
[ I hope you guys remember what this idiom means, okay because I don’t want you guys to go back to the previous chapter to search for what it means ; It is a metaphor for people who have no self-knowledge and are bent on finding things that are impossible to obtain.]
Zhong Ziqi flipped over the almost-cooked potatoes and asked, “What did he (that ger from the wang family) say?”
Zhao Ning recalled what he had heard from other people,then he adjusted his voice to imitate : “I don’t want get engaged to him, look at his ‘ferret face‘, by just one look,he is a scoundrel that ‘imitate the dog and steal the chicken’, and ‘only know to eat but lazy to work’. Again, look at his lecherous look, it’s so disgusting. I can’t even eat my meal anymore, and I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at night!”
[ć°–ć˜ŽçŒŽè…ź/ Ferret face ; lit. One’s mouth sticks out and one has a chin like an ape’s : used to describe the ugly appearance of people]
[ć·é›žæ‘žç‹— tƍu jÄ« mƍ gǒu : to imitate the dog and steal chicken (idiom) / to pilfer / to dally with women / to have affairs]
Zhao Ning couldn’t help but to hold one’s belly with both hands as he said that and laughed out loud.
Zhong Ziqi poked his head helplessly, “How did you know that’s what he said? And you said it as if you’ve seen ‘by your nose and your eyes‘ before.”
[æœ‰éŒ»ć­æœ‰çœŒ yǒu bĂ­ zi yǒu yǎn: lit. By your nose and your eyes: with every detail vividly described]
Zhao Ning laughed ‘he he’ :”That’s what they all said, I was just being considerate and reverting it.”
“You’re the one with a lot of ideas!”
Zhao Ning looked at the potatoes that were about to be cooked and gulped, then said, “Ziqi, I guess you don’t know, I heard from others that at first the Wang family ignored him. It was only later that Wang Fu Gui and his wife heard from somewhere that the eldest son of the Zhao family was Zhao Zheng’an, that the famous snack in town was his. Only then did Wang Fu Gui reluctantly exchange pleasantries with him (WCH).”
Zhao Ning said here, pouting his mouth :”I heard from the people who went with Wang Cui Hua. In fact, Wang Fu Gui force himself to spoke to him (WCH) because he had taken a fancy to Zhao Zheng’an, he wanted to marry his ger to him (zza) but Wang Cui Hua and Zhao Cheng didn’t hear it. Therefore, after saying that Zhao Zheng’an had married you, Wang Fu Gui simply ignored them. They thought that Wang Fu Gui had a good opinion of his family, but in the end they were disgraced (entirely swept away their face/prestige) by that ger, but they didn’t dare to say anything and came back dejectedly. I can see a lot of people rejoicing on their misfortune behind their backs this time, spitting on them.”
Zhong Ziqi just stunned for a moment at his words, not realising that there were still people hitting on Zhao Zheng’an in places he didn’t know about.
“Get it out! I can smell the (burnt) food.” Zhao Ning said noisily in a rush and flustered manner. He was a snacker and couldn’t forage for the slightest bit of good food.
Zhong Ziqi didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry: “Why don’t I smell it? You want to eat ba. At night, don’t you want to eat so much?”
Zhao Ning giggled and rubbed his stomach: “There’s still room.”
Zhong Ziqi shook his head helplessly and used a small spatula to get the potatoes out and put them aside to cool.
“By the way, my Amu might have to go out in a couple of days.” Zhao Ning said as he blew on the potatoes.
“What’s the matter?”
“A few days ago, my Amu’s good friend introduced my brother to a ger. My Amu wants to go and have a look.”
“What did it say about the family? How is that ger?”
“Feng Amu is from the same village as that ger. He is quite good,capable and has a good personality, but his family is a bit poor. He has an older brother who has married a wife, and the family is said to be living in harmony. That’s why my Amu wanted to go and see.”
“If that’s what you say
 Then I guess your Amu has a plan for this.”
“Probably.”
Sure enough, two days after Zhao Ning had finished speaking to him, Zhao Amu and his husband spoke to him and Huang Amu before he went to that ger’s house, taking Zhao Sheng with them.
Zhao Amu’s jellied tofu was left to Zhao Ning to make.Fortunately, Zhao Ning often helped out and had already learned how to do it.Sometimes Huang Jin Lei would also give him a hand when he was too busy. Zhong Ziqi unintentionally looked up and suddenly felt that the two figures working together were unexpectedly in harmony.
It was not until after noon that Zhao Amu and the others returned, only to see Zhao Amu and Zhao Bao Gen with joy on their faces, even Zhao Sheng had a rare smile on the corners of his mouth.
“Oh, it’s done, isn’t it? Look at how happy everyone in your family is.” Huang Amu asked jokingly.
Their family’s Lei Zi was not young anymore, so it was time for him to find a family too.
“That’s right! That ger is quite nice. His parents, brother and sister-in-law are all very nice people.We think he’s fine. Zhao Sheng’s father went to the village and asked around. Everyone in the village said he was a good person. I’ve decided on this.I decided to let the children get to know each other first.If they’re okay with each other, I’ll talk to their family and find a date for them to get married.”
Zhao Amu was also an eager person who wanted to have a grandchild sooner, so he even skipped the engagement banquet. But it’s not uncommon in the village, some people will have an engagement party if they want it to be festive, or just directly get married if they don’t want to.
“Looks like I’ll have to get my gift money ready.” Zhong Ziqi said with a smile.
Zhao Sheng grinned, smiling foolishly “It doesn’t matter if there is a gift or not, you and Zheng’an can just come.”
Huang Amu laughed out loud, “Zhao Amu, you see, there’s not even an underlying reason yet? Your Zhao Sheng has already thought of the future!”
After hearing what he said, Zhao Sheng’s suntanned skin blushed red at his words, causing the crowd to be overjoyed.
In the days that followed, Zhao Sheng would often go out. Everyone knew without guessing that he must have gone to see that ger. Zhong Ziqi was curious to see what kind of ger he was, so he told Zhao Sheng to bring him to the shop so they could have a look.
The next day, Zhao Sheng really brought the person.
To be a newcomer,he was a bit shy so his face blushed red while he greeted the gaze of the crowd. Zhao Sheng was standing next to him, also blushing and embarrassed.
Zhao Amu smiled kindly and came over to introduce him to everyone: “This is An Ning, have not yet married, my future daughter in law. ” Then he introduced several people to An Ning.
An Ning was a little shy, but he still called out to the others openly.
Huang Amu,Zhong Ziqi and the rest thought this ger was quite nice.They all liked him, even Zhao Ning took his hand and talked to him happily.
Zhong Ziqi inexplicably felt that An Ning and Zhao Sheng would definitely turn okay. He could see that this ger was not pretending and did not have a ‘greedy look in his eyes and seeking instant benefit‘, so there was no surprise that the two would make a family.
[æ€„ćŠŸèż‘ćˆ© jĂ­ gƍng jĂŹn lĂŹ
seeking instant benefit (idiom);shortsighted vision, looking only for fast return]
Time flies quickly. In a flash, Zhao Zheng’an has been gone for a month. According to the initial agreement, he will return in a month. Zhong Ziqi, these days, was distracted. From time to time, he would look outside, wondering whether the man would come back, but wait right and left, not see the man back.
Zhao Amu and the others kept reassuring him that perhaps he was on the way.
One day, Zhong Ziqi waited until a letter came. Zhong Ziqi suddenly had a bad feeling.Open the letter and read 
 Oh, good. This guy, he had to be away for another half a month before he could come back.The only thing that made Zhong Ziqi feel better was that Zhao Zheng’an said in the letter that he missed him and thought about him every day and night. Zhong Ziqi silently replied that I missed you too.
The letter also said that he had bought him a lot of things along the way, but some of them were broken so unfortunately he had to throw them away. He would buy him more when he gets back. As the letter rambles on and on, he also wrote about the Shen family’s two elders. At the end of the letter Zhao Zheng’an also wrote a sentence, wait for me to come back.
Zhong Ziqi looked at the letter,feeling angry but also amused. Finally, he folded the letter and put it away.
“Well? Did he say when he’d be back?” Zhao Ning asked.
“It will be more than half a month but I’m guessing it’ll take longer.”
“How’s that? Did he make any money?”
“He said he made some money.” In the letter, Zhao Zheng’an said that he had made a lot of money from selling the goods, but he did not specify how much.
“Anyway, we’ve waited for a month.
It’s not as bad as waiting for another half month.” Zhao Ning reassured him.
“En.”



Zhao Zheng’an was resting in a coastal city of the south when he wrote that letter. He immediately spotted the beautiful handiworks made from shells and conches.
Because it was so common here, it was sold at a particularly low price.Zhao Zheng’an pondered again and again before spending his money and buying a lot of it.
By the time the letter reached Zhong Ziqi, Zhao Zheng’an’s caravan had already begun its return journey. Using the words of Shen Chong, they hadn’t travelled far this time,previously sometimes they even went to other countries in the West. This time it was just a child’s play, but it was enough for the other first-time merchants.
Zhao Zheng’an sold the shells and conches’ fine handiworks bit by bit on his way back, but he didn’t go to the shops to sell them. Instead, he went to the young masters from the rich families and sold them at a high price, taking advantage of their love of beauty or their mentality to present the Buddha with the borrowed flowers. It was surprising that he had unexpectedly made a large sum of money. Because of this, the eyes of his travel partners were incessantly envious.
[ć€ŸèŠ±çŒźäœ› ( ć€ŸèŠ±ç»äœ› )jiĂš huā xiĂ n FĂł :
lit. presenting the Buddha with borrowed flowers (idiom); fig. to win favor or influence using something]
Even Shen Chong gave him a compliment, thinking that this boy was talented and smart enough to be a businessman.It was a pity that he had to go back after this.
Speaking of the Shen family, Father Shen has been depressed after learning of his eldest son’s death, forcing a smile on his face. Shen Yu Bei and Madam Shen were so anxious.
Until one day, Father Shen said he wanted to go to the north to see his son and his grandson.
Originally, Shen Yu Bei did not want to stop him, but: “Father, wait a little longer! North is now in the deep mid-winter. It’s very cold in the north. What if you and Amu get sick if you don’t adapt? Besides, I’ve just finished talking to your grandson, so you have to give him time to get used to it, okay?”
Madam Shen also nodded worriedly, “Yes, old man, let’s wait! It’s not too late to go when the spring starts, just as the kid (zza) is coming back, so let him send a message back to prepare for our grandson.
After all, it will be awkward to suddenly appear after not seeing him for more than ten years.”
It’s not that Madam Shen didn’t want to see his grandson, especially since Father Shen had fallen ill, he wanted to go and see him more, so that he could untie his Father Shen’s heart. It was just that the weather in the north was too cold. Moreover, Father Shen was too weak to travel.
Father Shen was discouraged by the two of them and had no choice but to postpone his plan.
Hi! This chapter took quite a longer time than usual because I was nitpicky in checking every words. But I’m quite satisfied so far (compare to my earlier translation).
Next chapter: Zhao Zheng’an will be back?