Chapter 9
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Her hair was dark and dense, reaching her waist. She pinched her hair to one side of her neck, and sat on her bed with her head slightly tilted. Her hair hung down, and she was combing it.
The girl was wearing a lilac-colored floral jacket and a pair of dark purple broad-leg pants. She straightened her waist and tilted her neck to avoid wetting her clothes. She did it subconsciously, but made Xue Tingxiang’s heart beat fast, as if the blood is about to run out of his vein.
No reasons, just because this gesture clearly showed her figure. The high chest and round hips with a slender waist… Xue Tingxiang had never seen this. A strange sense of heat rose inside his body.
But it was not unfamiliar to him. A picture of them kissing in bed surfaced in his head.
He didn’t like her in his dream, but it seemed reasonable to marry her.
This kind of feeling was rooted in his heart: She should be his wife.
Hidden in darkness, this kind of feelings were clouded by his awkwardness and ignorance. Especially after he went to the school, the fact that he had a child bride was laughed by his study mates.
But he liked her deeply in the heart, so that night, she tossed her well.
He was ignorant himself, and it was her first time. He felt bad when she was in pain. But he could not stop. She cried with tears and runny nose. That was the first time she was so weak in front of him, and since then he had fallen in love with this way of bullying her.
At that time he boarded at school and could only come back every ten days. Every time he came back, she was afraid of him and hid herself. But she had to let him get what he wanted. He liked it, but refused to admit it.
Looking back now, he was indeed a bastard.
Thinking of these messes, he suddenly said: “Let me wipe it for you.”
Zhao’er looked at him in surprise, and subconsciously refused: “No, I will do it by myself.” After these days’ teaching and correction, she had slowly learned not to refer to herself as sister.
Her words hadn’t completed, Xue Tingxiang had already taken the cloth towel and pulled her back in front of him. Zhao’er froze there and let him wipe her hair.
Frankly, Xue Tingxiang is still a little shorter than Zhao’er, so he had to kneel down to reach her. The two were so close that Xue Tingxiang felt that his blood was violent, but Zhao’er didn’t notice.
Sensed it may be too hard for him to keep stretching arms, Zhao’er said: “What if I lie on my stomach?”
She tried. Indeed it was more convenient for him, and neither of them was tired. What she didn’t know was that her body from behind was even more sultry, especially for a fledgling teenager.
Xue Tingxiang immediately regretted. He felt it was a kind of torture to keep himself from looking at her.
“Would you sit up?” He asked.
She didn’t answer.
She was asleep.
The girl seemed tired and slept soundly. She lay prone on top of long quilts, her thick long hair spread behind her, down to her waist. Her face was a little deformed against the quilt, but her pink lips curled up.
With a little water vapor on her face after bath, her full and delicate cheeks seemed young and tender at first glance. The pink lips were watery and attracting.
There was something clamoring in his heart. He unconsciously leaned on her. He leaned closer and closer, so close that he could feel her sweet smell.
Suddenly, she moved, and he quickly backed away, pretending nothing happened, and murmured how she fell asleep, but in fact he was watching her reaction nervously.
Fortunately, she moved a bit, and there was no sign of waking up, so he eased.
But the impulse in his heart was gone. He glanced at her several times, reached for a thin bedding, and covered on her, then continued wiping her wet hair.
Yuqing Village was originally a village built by a group of victims who fled during the war in the former dynasty.
At first it was not called Yuqing Village, but Zheng’s Village, because the whole village was under the surname of Zheng. Not many, just a dozen of them. Many years passed, there was a disaster here and the government arranged a group of refugees to settle here. These people are the ancestors of the Xue’s family.
There are not many people with the surname Zheng, and there are many people with the surname Xue. At first, the people with the surname Zheng dominated the village, but they turned against each other afterwards.
In Dachang Dynasty, a hundred household is set as one village. They will also elect their village head. Besides the village head, there were also some old men set as a committee to make decisions with the village head. They were called the Village Old.
Within the jurisdiction of Yuqing Village, everything in the village, such as arbitration of civil suits, arbitration of right and wrong, guidance of folk customs, persuasion of farmers, punishment, etc., as well as collection of taxes, military service were all co-chaired by the village head and Village Old.
The village head enjoys the highest right. Only the most noble and respectable person in the village can be a village head.
In fact, this kind of system is equivalent to one people managing one place.
There was a so called saying that imperial power does not go down to the county, the county is ruled by the clans, the clans have their own regulations, their regulations relies on ethics, and the ethic creates squires.
Over the years, the Xues and Zhengs seem to be harmonious, but they have always been in contention. What they are fighting for is the leading position in the village. Because a scholar of the village was from Xue’s family, several Xue’s people was elected as Village Old. Although this grew the power of Xue’s family, the village head was always under the surname of Zheng.
Now there are one village head and four Village Old in Yuqing Village, among which three of the four Village Old are from Xue’s family, so this is 2 VS 3. But the village head is from Zheng’s family, Xue’s family are still not in dominant position.
The clan leader Xue is confident that if there were another scholar in the clan, he will definitely overwhelm the Zheng’s family, so when he heard the rumors in the village these two days, he immediately went mad.
Grandpa Xue was called to the clan leader’s house when he was still working in the farm.
The clan leader’s face was as black as a pot. Grandpa Xue was confused: “Haizi, what was going on?” Actually, in terms of seniority, the clan leader is Grandpa Xue’s brother.
“You ask me? You don’t know the rumors?”
Well, he really doesn’t.
Seeing this, the clan leader told him the whole story with a black face.
Nobody knew how, the rumor of Xue’s family spread outside.
It all started when someone saw Xue Gouzi, the only son of Xue’s family’s second child, crying in front of his father’s grave.
No one knew exactly what he was crying about, but a kid young as him would express his depression this way was enough to prove that he was not equally treated in the family. Later, someone who knew the truth revealed that the big brother of Xue’s family planned to send his son to study in the town, but not his nephew.
Everybody in the village knew how the second child of Xue family died. Many people were there when Xue Qingsong was dying. They all saw how he took Xue Qingshan’s hand and made him promise that he will treat his son well.
Coming back from the Xue’s family, a lot of people discussed how miserable Xue Qingsong was to leave his sick wife and young child behind. No wonder he wouldn’t close eyes until his brother made the promise.
Now such rumors spread out, and the scene of Xue Qingsong’s death went rival in the village. Some old people shook their heads and sighed, that people are unpredictable, and that you can never trust others with your wife and child. You treat him as your brother and even died for him, but he doesn’t treat you son as his son.
Even Xue Tingxiang’s status in the Xue’s family over the past few years were discussed by the women in the village.
For example, Gouzi rarely show up in front people, but every time he was seen in old and shabby clothes. Juncai, the big brother’s son, never wore old clothes. Even the things in private schools were spread to the grown-ups by those ignorant kids. Xue Juncai has a full set of pens, ink, paper and ink stones, and he has the most books in the school. Xue Gouzi, on several occasions, was seen writing on the book case with water.
Indeed, everyone is biased, and there’s nothing wrong about protecting your own son, but Xue Qingshan’s brother died for him. It’s so cruel of him to be biased on this occasion.
“At this age you still can’t manage your family affairs? It’s OK for you to be partial to your oldest son, but you shouldn’t let everyone know it. What should we do about this now?”
Old as Grandpa Xue was, his face blushed for embarrassment. He knew this is not a small deal. If he doesn’t tackle well, his family reputation is over.
I can lose my reputation, my oldest son can’t. If he was known as being cold to his dead brother’s son, he is completely over. Not to mention being a scholar, his private school may be hard to manage.
“Haizi… ” He looked to the clan leader for help, because he had no idea in his mind.
“You should send both of the children to private schools in town, to stop the gossip.”
Grandpa Xue’s face went even redder. He rubbed his rough hands and said: “You know Haizi, in order to provide for the oldest son, there’s no money left in the family. I want to send both of them, but I can’t afford it.”
Hearing this, clan leader Xue also frowned.
He knew clearly how Xue Qingshan went to Qinghe School. That place is really expensive, and you can’t argue with them, because a lot of people are willing to pay for it. A year’s study will at least cost twenty taels of silver. Xue Qingshan studied there for five years.
The clan leader was about to help him gather some money if he can’t afford it, but now he stopped talking. Xue Juncai was still young, and his future was still unknown, especially that two of the grandchildren in his family were all studying and needing money. They were not wealthy.
“Just don’t let any of them go. Is that OK?” Grandpa Xue whispered.
Clan leader Xue sneered: “That’s exactly what they say about you! You don’t treat the son of the dead well. If you don’t want to ruin your oldest son’s reputation and destroy the future of Juncai, you should either send both of them or just send the son of your second son.”
Coming out of clan leader’s house, Grandpa Xue was completely stunned.
He shook his hand and touched his waist a few times before taking off his cigarette bag. He didn’t go any further, but squatted under a tree by the road and lit up the tobacco.
He slowed down towards home, and a lot of people greeted him along the way.
Normally, he would feel proud for them greeting him, but now, he felt as if they were all smiling at him on the face, but laughing at him behind the back.
He forced himself to go back, and then another acquaintance came. He smiled and asked, why did you come back from the farm so early today? Grandpa Xue could not take it anymore. He pulled this person to the side of the tree and said:
“Old Zhou, tell me the truth, how is the people in this village talking about my family now?”
This old man is also dark-skinned, but he is shorter than Xue, and his back is a bit rickety. Hearing this, he gave Grandpa Xue a subconscious look, and then sighed for a long time: “I thought you knew.”
“What? How could I know!” The first sentence almost came out of the teeth, and the second one was full of resignation.
Having lived so many years, Old Zhou surly understand this old buddy. But he didn’t know what to say, just said seriously: “Don’t worry too much. They just had nothing else to do other than gossip about others. But don’t blame me for being talkative. The thing you did was really… ” He sucked his teeth and looked like he was licking his mouth, “Not appropriate.”
Not appropriate?
He might only say these out of their relationship. Behind him, nobody knows how people are scolding him. The clan leader just told him that the rumor was ugly outside, but he didn’t say how they said it.
Xue asked: “Exactly what did they say? Just tell me.”
Old Zhou sighed before he said what he knew. Since everything was open, he didn’t think there was anything he couldn’t say, “It’s not that I am blaming you. You’re a father. You should manage this stuff. Don’t forget how your second son died. Doing this will surly attract scolding.”
Grandpa Xue looked pale, and whispered: “It had nothing to do with my oldest son. It was my wife and my decision.”
Old Zhou raised his eyelids and looked at the old man, and then he didn’t intend to say anything else. He was afraid if he said this, the relationship between the two should be broken.
“Anyway, you have to think about it. I have to go home. You can go to my house, and I will have some drink with you?”
“No, there is something else at home.”
After Old Zhou left, Grandpa Xue stood for a while and went home.
As soon as he entered the house, Xue Qingshan stood in the courtyard and asked, “Dad, what did grandfather tell you?”
Grandpa Xue looked at his son without a word, and entered the main room.
Xue Qingshan was confused, and he wanted to ask his youngest brother what happened. At this time, Mrs. Zhou called everyone for dinner in the kitchen. Everyone went out and he could not ask.
At dinner, Grandpa Xue kept a straight face.
Since Xue Tingxiang could get out of bed, he no longer have dinner in his own room, but with everyone. The atmosphere on dinner table was so serious that the naughty Maodan who like to make trouble at dinner table was afraid to speak today.
After the meal, Mrs. Zhou and Xue Tao’er cleared the table and went to wash the dishes.
Others were planning to leave, but they were stopped by Grandpa Xue.
“Qingshan and your wife stay here. I need to talk to you. Gouzi stays. Others go back to your room.”
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Her hair was dark and dense, reaching her waist. She pinched her hair to one side of her neck, and sat on her bed with her head slightly tilted. Her hair hung down, and she was combing it.
The girl was wearing a lilac-colored floral jacket and a pair of dark purple broad-leg pants. She straightened her waist and tilted her neck to avoid wetting her clothes. She did it subconsciously, but made Xue Tingxiang’s heart beat fast, as if the blood is about to run out of his vein.
No reasons, just because this gesture clearly showed her figure. The high chest and round hips with a slender waist… Xue Tingxiang had never seen this. A strange sense of heat rose inside his body.
But it was not unfamiliar to him. A picture of them kissing in bed surfaced in his head.
He didn’t like her in his dream, but it seemed reasonable to marry her.
This kind of feeling was rooted in his heart: She should be his wife.
Hidden in darkness, this kind of feelings were clouded by his awkwardness and ignorance. Especially after he went to the school, the fact that he had a child bride was laughed by his study mates.
But he liked her deeply in the heart, so that night, she tossed her well.
He was ignorant himself, and it was her first time. He felt bad when she was in pain. But he could not stop. She cried with tears and runny nose. That was the first time she was so weak in front of him, and since then he had fallen in love with this way of bullying her.
At that time he boarded at school and could only come back every ten days. Every time he came back, she was afraid of him and hid herself. But she had to let him get what he wanted. He liked it, but refused to admit it.
Looking back now, he was indeed a bastard.
Thinking of these messes, he suddenly said: “Let me wipe it for you.”
Zhao’er looked at him in surprise, and subconsciously refused: “No, I will do it by myself.” After these days’ teaching and correction, she had slowly learned not to refer to herself as sister.
Her words hadn’t completed, Xue Tingxiang had already taken the cloth towel and pulled her back in front of him. Zhao’er froze there and let him wipe her hair.
Frankly, Xue Tingxiang is still a little shorter than Zhao’er, so he had to kneel down to reach her. The two were so close that Xue Tingxiang felt that his blood was violent, but Zhao’er didn’t notice.
Sensed it may be too hard for him to keep stretching arms, Zhao’er said: “What if I lie on my stomach?”
She tried. Indeed it was more convenient for him, and neither of them was tired. What she didn’t know was that her body from behind was even more sultry, especially for a fledgling teenager.
Xue Tingxiang immediately regretted. He felt it was a kind of torture to keep himself from looking at her.
“Would you sit up?” He asked.
She didn’t answer.
She was asleep.
The girl seemed tired and slept soundly. She lay prone on top of long quilts, her thick long hair spread behind her, down to her waist. Her face was a little deformed against the quilt, but her pink lips curled up.
With a little water vapor on her face after bath, her full and delicate cheeks seemed young and tender at first glance. The pink lips were watery and attracting.
There was something clamoring in his heart. He unconsciously leaned on her. He leaned closer and closer, so close that he could feel her sweet smell.
Suddenly, she moved, and he quickly backed away, pretending nothing happened, and murmured how she fell asleep, but in fact he was watching her reaction nervously.
Fortunately, she moved a bit, and there was no sign of waking up, so he eased.
But the impulse in his heart was gone. He glanced at her several times, reached for a thin bedding, and covered on her, then continued wiping her wet hair.
Yuqing Village was originally a village built by a group of victims who fled during the war in the former dynasty.
At first it was not called Yuqing Village, but Zheng’s Village, because the whole village was under the surname of Zheng. Not many, just a dozen of them. Many years passed, there was a disaster here and the government arranged a group of refugees to settle here. These people are the ancestors of the Xue’s family.
There are not many people with the surname Zheng, and there are many people with the surname Xue. At first, the people with the surname Zheng dominated the village, but they turned against each other afterwards.
In Dachang Dynasty, a hundred household is set as one village. They will also elect their village head. Besides the village head, there were also some old men set as a committee to make decisions with the village head. They were called the Village Old.
Within the jurisdiction of Yuqing Village, everything in the village, such as arbitration of civil suits, arbitration of right and wrong, guidance of folk customs, persuasion of farmers, punishment, etc., as well as collection of taxes, military service were all co-chaired by the village head and Village Old.
The village head enjoys the highest right. Only the most noble and respectable person in the village can be a village head.
In fact, this kind of system is equivalent to one people managing one place.
There was a so called saying that imperial power does not go down to the county, the county is ruled by the clans, the clans have their own regulations, their regulations relies on ethics, and the ethic creates squires.
Over the years, the Xues and Zhengs seem to be harmonious, but they have always been in contention. What they are fighting for is the leading position in the village. Because a scholar of the village was from Xue’s family, several Xue’s people was elected as Village Old. Although this grew the power of Xue’s family, the village head was always under the surname of Zheng.
Now there are one village head and four Village Old in Yuqing Village, among which three of the four Village Old are from Xue’s family, so this is 2 VS 3. But the village head is from Zheng’s family, Xue’s family are still not in dominant position.
The clan leader Xue is confident that if there were another scholar in the clan, he will definitely overwhelm the Zheng’s family, so when he heard the rumors in the village these two days, he immediately went mad.
Grandpa Xue was called to the clan leader’s house when he was still working in the farm.
The clan leader’s face was as black as a pot. Grandpa Xue was confused: “Haizi, what was going on?” Actually, in terms of seniority, the clan leader is Grandpa Xue’s brother.
“You ask me? You don’t know the rumors?”
Well, he really doesn’t.
Seeing this, the clan leader told him the whole story with a black face.
Nobody knew how, the rumor of Xue’s family spread outside.
It all started when someone saw Xue Gouzi, the only son of Xue’s family’s second child, crying in front of his father’s grave.
No one knew exactly what he was crying about, but a kid young as him would express his depression this way was enough to prove that he was not equally treated in the family. Later, someone who knew the truth revealed that the big brother of Xue’s family planned to send his son to study in the town, but not his nephew.
Everybody in the village knew how the second child of Xue family died. Many people were there when Xue Qingsong was dying. They all saw how he took Xue Qingshan’s hand and made him promise that he will treat his son well.
Coming back from the Xue’s family, a lot of people discussed how miserable Xue Qingsong was to leave his sick wife and young child behind. No wonder he wouldn’t close eyes until his brother made the promise.
Now such rumors spread out, and the scene of Xue Qingsong’s death went rival in the village. Some old people shook their heads and sighed, that people are unpredictable, and that you can never trust others with your wife and child. You treat him as your brother and even died for him, but he doesn’t treat you son as his son.
Even Xue Tingxiang’s status in the Xue’s family over the past few years were discussed by the women in the village.
For example, Gouzi rarely show up in front people, but every time he was seen in old and shabby clothes. Juncai, the big brother’s son, never wore old clothes. Even the things in private schools were spread to the grown-ups by those ignorant kids. Xue Juncai has a full set of pens, ink, paper and ink stones, and he has the most books in the school. Xue Gouzi, on several occasions, was seen writing on the book case with water.
Indeed, everyone is biased, and there’s nothing wrong about protecting your own son, but Xue Qingshan’s brother died for him. It’s so cruel of him to be biased on this occasion.
“At this age you still can’t manage your family affairs? It’s OK for you to be partial to your oldest son, but you shouldn’t let everyone know it. What should we do about this now?”
Old as Grandpa Xue was, his face blushed for embarrassment. He knew this is not a small deal. If he doesn’t tackle well, his family reputation is over.
I can lose my reputation, my oldest son can’t. If he was known as being cold to his dead brother’s son, he is completely over. Not to mention being a scholar, his private school may be hard to manage.
“Haizi… ” He looked to the clan leader for help, because he had no idea in his mind.
“You should send both of the children to private schools in town, to stop the gossip.”
Grandpa Xue’s face went even redder. He rubbed his rough hands and said: “You know Haizi, in order to provide for the oldest son, there’s no money left in the family. I want to send both of them, but I can’t afford it.”
Hearing this, clan leader Xue also frowned.
He knew clearly how Xue Qingshan went to Qinghe School. That place is really expensive, and you can’t argue with them, because a lot of people are willing to pay for it. A year’s study will at least cost twenty taels of silver. Xue Qingshan studied there for five years.
The clan leader was about to help him gather some money if he can’t afford it, but now he stopped talking. Xue Juncai was still young, and his future was still unknown, especially that two of the grandchildren in his family were all studying and needing money. They were not wealthy.
“Just don’t let any of them go. Is that OK?” Grandpa Xue whispered.
Clan leader Xue sneered: “That’s exactly what they say about you! You don’t treat the son of the dead well. If you don’t want to ruin your oldest son’s reputation and destroy the future of Juncai, you should either send both of them or just send the son of your second son.”
Coming out of clan leader’s house, Grandpa Xue was completely stunned.
He shook his hand and touched his waist a few times before taking off his cigarette bag. He didn’t go any further, but squatted under a tree by the road and lit up the tobacco.
He slowed down towards home, and a lot of people greeted him along the way.
Normally, he would feel proud for them greeting him, but now, he felt as if they were all smiling at him on the face, but laughing at him behind the back.
He forced himself to go back, and then another acquaintance came. He smiled and asked, why did you come back from the farm so early today? Grandpa Xue could not take it anymore. He pulled this person to the side of the tree and said:
“Old Zhou, tell me the truth, how is the people in this village talking about my family now?”
This old man is also dark-skinned, but he is shorter than Xue, and his back is a bit rickety. Hearing this, he gave Grandpa Xue a subconscious look, and then sighed for a long time: “I thought you knew.”
“What? How could I know!” The first sentence almost came out of the teeth, and the second one was full of resignation.
Having lived so many years, Old Zhou surly understand this old buddy. But he didn’t know what to say, just said seriously: “Don’t worry too much. They just had nothing else to do other than gossip about others. But don’t blame me for being talkative. The thing you did was really… ” He sucked his teeth and looked like he was licking his mouth, “Not appropriate.”
Not appropriate?
He might only say these out of their relationship. Behind him, nobody knows how people are scolding him. The clan leader just told him that the rumor was ugly outside, but he didn’t say how they said it.
Xue asked: “Exactly what did they say? Just tell me.”
Old Zhou sighed before he said what he knew. Since everything was open, he didn’t think there was anything he couldn’t say, “It’s not that I am blaming you. You’re a father. You should manage this stuff. Don’t forget how your second son died. Doing this will surly attract scolding.”
Grandpa Xue looked pale, and whispered: “It had nothing to do with my oldest son. It was my wife and my decision.”
Old Zhou raised his eyelids and looked at the old man, and then he didn’t intend to say anything else. He was afraid if he said this, the relationship between the two should be broken.
“Anyway, you have to think about it. I have to go home. You can go to my house, and I will have some drink with you?”
“No, there is something else at home.”
After Old Zhou left, Grandpa Xue stood for a while and went home.
As soon as he entered the house, Xue Qingshan stood in the courtyard and asked, “Dad, what did grandfather tell you?”
Grandpa Xue looked at his son without a word, and entered the main room.
Xue Qingshan was confused, and he wanted to ask his youngest brother what happened. At this time, Mrs. Zhou called everyone for dinner in the kitchen. Everyone went out and he could not ask.
At dinner, Grandpa Xue kept a straight face.
Since Xue Tingxiang could get out of bed, he no longer have dinner in his own room, but with everyone. The atmosphere on dinner table was so serious that the naughty Maodan who like to make trouble at dinner table was afraid to speak today.
After the meal, Mrs. Zhou and Xue Tao’er cleared the table and went to wash the dishes.
Others were planning to leave, but they were stopped by Grandpa Xue.
“Qingshan and your wife stay here. I need to talk to you. Gouzi stays. Others go back to your room.”
Her hair was dark and dense, reaching her waist. She pinched her hair to one side of her neck, and sat on her bed with her head slightly tilted. Her hair hung down, and she was combing it.The girl was wearing a lilac-colored floral jacket and a pair of dark purple broad-leg pants. She straightened her waist and tilted her neck to avoid wetting her clothes. She did it subconsciously, but made Xue Tingxiang's heart beat fast, as if the blood is about to run out of his vein.No reasons, just because this gesture clearly showed her figure. The high chest and round hips with a slender waist Xue Tingxiang had never seen this. A strange sense of heat rose inside his body.But it was not unfamiliar to him. A picture of them kissing in bed surfaced in his head.He didn't like her in his dream, but it seemed reasonable to marry her.This kind of feeling was rooted in his heart: She should be his wife.Hidden in darkness, this kind of feelings were clouded by his awkwardness and ignorance. Especially after he went to the school, the fact that he had a child bride was laughed by his study mates.But he liked her deeply in the heart, so that night, she tossed her well.He was ignorant himself, and it was her first time. He felt bad when she was in pain. But he could not stop. She cried with tears and runny nose. That was the first time she was so weak in front of him, and since then he had fallen in love with this way of bullying her.At that time he boarded at school and could only come back every ten days. Every time he came back, she was afraid of him and hid herself. But she had to let him get what he wanted. He liked it, but refused to admit it.Looking back now, he was indeed a bastard.Thinking of these messes, he suddenly said: Let me wipe it for you.Zhao'er looked at him in surprise, and subconsciously refused: No, I will do it by myself. After these days' teaching and correction, she had slowly learned not to refer to herself as sister.Her words hadn't completed, Xue Tingxiang had already taken the cloth towel and pulled her back in front of him. Zhao'er froze there and let him wipe her hair.Frankly, Xue Tingxiang is still a little shorter than Zhao'er, so he had to kneel down to reach her. The two were so close that Xue Tingxiang felt that his blood was violent, but Zhao'er didn't notice.Sensed it may be too hard for him to keep stretching arms, Zhao'er said: What if I lie on my stomach?She tried. Indeed it was more convenient for him, and neither of them was tired. What she didn't know was that her body from behind was even more sultry, especially for a fledgling teenager.Xue Tingxiang immediately regretted. He felt it was a kind of torture to keep himself from looking at her.Would you sit up? He asked.She didn't answer.She was asleep.The girl seemed tired and slept soundly. She lay prone on top of long quilts, her thick long hair spread behind her, down to her waist. Her face was a little deformed against the quilt, but her pink lips curled up.With a little water vapor on her face after bath, her full and delicate cheeks seemed young and tender at first glance. The pink lips were watery and attracting.There was something clamoring in his heart. He unconsciously leaned on her. He leaned closer and closer, so close that he could feel her sweet smell.Suddenly, she moved, and he quickly backed away, pretending nothing happened, and murmured how she fell asleep, but in fact he was watching her reaction nervously.Fortunately, she moved a bit, and there was no sign of waking up, so he eased.But the impulse in his heart was gone. He glanced at her several times, reached for a thin bedding, and covered on her, then continued wiping her wet hair.Yuqing Village was originally a village built by a group of victims who fled during the war in the former dynasty.At first it was not called Yuqing Village, but Zheng's Village, because the whole village was under the surname of Zheng. Not many, just a dozen of them. Many years passed, there was a disaster here and the government arranged a group of refugees to settle here. These people are the ancestors of the Xue's family.There are not many people with the surname Zheng, and there are many people with the surname Xue. At first, the people with the surname Zheng dominated the village, but they turned against each other afterwards.In Dachang Dynasty, a hundred household is set as one village. They will also elect their village head. Besides the village head, there were also some old men set as a committee to make decisions with the village head. They were called the Village Old.Within the jurisdiction of Yuqing Village, everything in the village, such as arbitration of civil suits, arbitration of right and wrong, guidance of folk customs, persuasion of farmers, punishment, etc., as well as collection of taxes, military service were all co-chaired by the village head and Village Old.The village head enjoys the highest right. Only the most noble and respectable person in the village can be a village head.In fact, this kind of system is equivalent to one people managing one place.There was a so called saying that imperial power does not go down to the county, the county is ruled by the clans, the clans have their own regulations, their regulations relies on ethics, and the ethic creates squires.Over the years, the Xues and Zhengs seem to be harmonious, but they have always been in contention. What they are fighting for is the leading position in the village. Because a scholar of the village was from Xue's family, several Xue's people was elected as Village Old. Although this grew the power of Xue's family, the village head was always under the surname of Zheng.Now there are one village head and four Village Old in Yuqing Village, among which three of the four Village Old are from Xue's family, so this is 2 VS 3. But the village head is from Zheng's family, Xue's family are still not in dominant position.The clan leader Xue is confident that if there were another scholar in the clan, he will definitely overwhelm the Zheng's family, so when he heard the rumors in the village these two days, he immediately went mad.Grandpa Xue was called to the clan leader's house when he was still working in the farm.The clan leader's face was as black as a pot. Grandpa Xue was confused: Haizi, what was going on? Actually, in terms of seniority, the clan leader is Grandpa Xue's brother.You ask me? You don't know the rumors?Well, he really doesn't.Seeing this, the clan leader told him the whole story with a black face.Nobody knew how, the rumor of Xue's family spread outside.It all started when someone saw Xue Gouzi, the only son of Xue's family's second child, crying in front of his father's grave.No one knew exactly what he was crying about, but a kid young as him would express his depression this way was enough to prove that he was not equally treated in the family. Later, someone who knew the truth revealed that the big brother of Xue's family planned to send his son to study in the town, but not his nephew.Everybody in the village knew how the second child of Xue family died. Many people were there when Xue Qingsong was dying. They all saw how he took Xue Qingshan's hand and made him promise that he will treat his son well.Coming back from the Xue's family, a lot of people discussed how miserable Xue Qingsong was to leave his sick wife and young child behind. No wonder he wouldn't close eyes until his brother made the promise.Now such rumors spread out, and the scene of Xue Qingsong's death went rival in the village. Some old people shook their heads and sighed, that people are unpredictable, and that you can never trust others with your wife and child. You treat him as your brother and even died for him, but he doesn't treat you son as his son.Even Xue Tingxiang's status in the Xue's family over the past few years were discussed by the women in the village.For example, Gouzi rarely show up in front people, but every time he was seen in old and shabby clothes. Juncai, the big brother's son, never wore old clothes. Even the things in private schools were spread to the grown-ups by those ignorant kids. Xue Juncai has a full set of pens, ink, paper and ink stones, and he has the most books in the school. Xue Gouzi, on several occasions, was seen writing on the book case with water.Indeed, everyone is biased, and there's nothing wrong about protecting your own son, but Xue Qingshan's brother died for him. It's so cruel of him to be biased on this occasion.At this age you still can't manage your family affairs? It's OK for you to be partial to your oldest son, but you shouldn't let everyone know it. What should we do about this now?Old as Grandpa Xue was, his face blushed for embarrassment. He knew this is not a small deal. If he doesn't tackle well, his family reputation is over.I can lose my reputation, my oldest son can't. If he was known as being cold to his dead brother's son, he is completely over. Not to mention being a scholar, his private school may be hard to manage.Haizi He looked to the clan leader for help, because he had no idea in his mind.You should send both of the children to private schools in town, to stop the gossip.Grandpa Xue's face went even redder. He rubbed his rough hands and said: You know Haizi, in order to provide for the oldest son, there's no money left in the family. I want to send both of them, but I can't afford it.Hearing this, clan leader Xue also frowned.He knew clearly how Xue Qingshan went to Qinghe School. That place is really expensive, and you can't argue with them, because a lot of people are willing to pay for it. A year's study will at least cost twenty taels of silver. Xue Qingshan studied there for five years.The clan leader was about to help him gather some money if he can't afford it, but now he stopped talking. Xue Juncai was still young, and his future was still unknown, especially that two of the grandchildren in his family were all studying and needing money. They were not wealthy.Just don't let any of them go. Is that OK? Grandpa Xue whispered.Clan leader Xue sneered: That's exactly what they say about you! You don't treat the son of the dead well. If you don't want to ruin your oldest son's reputation and destroy the future of Juncai, you should either send both of them or just send the son of your second son.Coming out of clan leader's house, Grandpa Xue was completely stunned.He shook his hand and touched his waist a few times before taking off his cigarette bag. He didn't go any further, but squatted under a tree by the road and lit up the tobacco.He slowed down towards home, and a lot of people greeted him along the way.Normally, he would feel proud for them greeting him, but now, he felt as if they were all smiling at him on the face, but laughing at him behind the back.He forced himself to go back, and then another acquaintance came. He smiled and asked, why did you come back from the farm so early today? Grandpa Xue could not take it anymore. He pulled this person to the side of the tree and said:Old Zhou, tell me the truth, how is the people in this village talking about my family now?This old man is also dark-skinned, but he is shorter than Xue, and his back is a bit rickety. Hearing this, he gave Grandpa Xue a subconscious look, and then sighed for a long time: I thought you knew.What? How could I know! The first sentence almost came out of the teeth, and the second one was full of resignation.Having lived so many years, Old Zhou surly understand this old buddy. But he didn't know what to say, just said seriously: Don't worry too much. They just had nothing else to do other than gossip about others. But don't blame me for being talkative. The thing you did was really He sucked his teeth and looked like he was licking his mouth, Not appropriate.Not appropriate?He might only say these out of their relationship. Behind him, nobody knows how people are scolding him. The clan leader just told him that the rumor was ugly outside, but he didn't say how they said it.Xue asked: Exactly what did they say? Just tell me.Old Zhou sighed before he said what he knew. Since everything was open, he didn't think there was anything he couldn't say, It's not that I am blaming you. You're a father. You should manage this stuff. Don't forget how your second son died. Doing this will surly attract scolding.Grandpa Xue looked pale, and whispered: It had nothing to do with my oldest son. It was my wife and my decision.Old Zhou raised his eyelids and looked at the old man, and then he didn't intend to say anything else. He was afraid if he said this, the relationship between the two should be broken.Anyway, you have to think about it. I have to go home. You can go to my house, and I will have some drink with you?No, there is something else at home.After Old Zhou left, Grandpa Xue stood for a while and went home.As soon as he entered the house, Xue Qingshan stood in the courtyard and asked, Dad, what did grandfather tell you?Grandpa Xue looked at his son without a word, and entered the main room.Xue Qingshan was confused, and he wanted to ask his youngest brother what happened. At this time, Mrs. Zhou called everyone for dinner in the kitchen. Everyone went out and he could not ask.At dinner, Grandpa Xue kept a straight face.Since Xue Tingxiang could get out of bed, he no longer have dinner in his own room, but with everyone. The atmosphere on dinner table was so serious that the naughty Maodan who like to make trouble at dinner table was afraid to speak today.After the meal, Mrs. Zhou and Xue Tao'er cleared the table and went to wash the dishes.Others were planning to leave, but they were stopped by Grandpa Xue.Qingshan and your wife stay here. I need to talk to you. Gouzi stays. Others go back to your room.
