After Awakening, the Control Group’s Husband Decided to Lie Flat - Chapter 8 A Thread of Fate Across a Thousand Miles

Chapter 8 A Thread of Fate Across a Thousand Miles

“Clean and well-dressed?” Lu Sui’s aunt, Wang Shuiqin, thought for a moment. “Did Ah Sui say he met him by a stream that day?”

“He said it was by the creek before he entered the mountain. That ge’er was cutting pig grass,” Lu Sui’s mother replied, smiling and sighing at once. “My wooden-headed boy—he’s so dense about these things. Took a liking to someone but doesn’t even know who the person is. Now his mother has to do the asking.”

“Oh, what’s the harm in that?” Wang Shuiqin said with a laugh. “Maybe he’ll only open up when he’s in front of the ge’er himself! But now that you mention it, I think I might know who he’s talking about. Could it be Qingtao, the youngest son of the Xingyuan family?”

“What makes you say that?”

“The Xingyuan family has a younger son who’s a ge’er—oh, and he’s quite capable! Not the most stunning beauty, but very fair. When he was little, everyone who saw him would remark on how white his skin was. Xingyuan and his wife, Hexiang, dote on him like their own eyes. In all of Xia Family Village, only their ge’er and Xia Mian have never worked the fields.”

“Never worked?” Lu Sui’s mother frowned. Their family wasn’t well-off; if the ge’er was that pampered, wouldn’t her Ah Sui end up working himself to exhaustion after marriage?

“Not exactly.” Wang Shuiqin waved her hand. “Qingtao doesn’t farm, true, but he’s clever. When he was young, he studied alongside his elder brother and didn’t even need a tutor—he learned faster than his brother did! Wherever there’s a banquet, if he watches the cook prepare a dish once, he can make it himself afterward. And he’s good with needlework too. The handkerchiefs and quilts he embroiders are beautiful—truly exquisite! Tell me, if you had such a ge’er, wouldn’t you treasure him like gold?”

She chuckled, adding, “If my own child were that clever and capable, I wouldn’t even let him gather pig grass, let alone work the fields!”

Lu Sui’s mother’s frown softened into a smile. “That’s true. A clever and capable one like that—no one would bear to let him toil.” After a moment, she asked, “I imagine there must’ve been plenty of matchmakers calling at their door?”

“Of course!” Wang Shuiqin replied. “By the time he was fifteen, there were already proposals coming in. But Hexiang adored him so much that she couldn’t bear to let him marry early. They say she didn’t even tell Qingtao—just turned them all down herself. Later on… well, don’t be disheartened when you hear this.”

“What happened?”

Wang Shuiqin went on to tell her about Scholar Li and the Sun family. As she listened, Lu Sui’s mother’s heart sank.

If even good matches like those had been rejected, what chance did her son’s family—so ordinary by comparison—have?

Seeing the worry in her sister-in-law’s face, Wang Shuiqin reassured her, “Don’t fret. Ah Sui is such a handsome young man—hardworking, honest, and reliable. You don’t find men like him easily! Who knows, maybe fate is already tying their threads together. Go home first, tell Ah Sui about Qingtao’s situation. If he’s willing, you two can discuss what amount to offer as the bride price. Then let me know. I’ll find a matchmaker, and we’ll go together to make the proposal. We’re from the same village after all—not close kin, but we know their roots and can speak for you.”

“That sounds good.” Lu Sui’s mother nodded. “I’ll be troubling you, then…”

“Troubling me? Don’t say that!” Wang Shuiqin clasped her hand warmly and lifted her chin with a grin. “He’s my nephew. If I don’t worry about his marriage, who will? You and your family treat us as kin—call us aunt and uncle, and we’re more than happy.”

Hearing that, Lu Sui’s mother’s eyes filled with tears. Smiling through them, she said, “Thank you… sister.”

——

When she returned home, Lu Sui’s mother told him everything about Xia Qingtao, ending with,

“…but I don’t know if this ge’er is the one you mentioned.”

Lu Sui had a feeling—a quiet certainty—that the ge’er named Xia Qingtao was indeed the person he had seen that day. His eyes had been beautiful, bright as starlight in the night sky, and when he smiled, his whole face seemed to glow. A person like that must surely be intelligent and graceful.

He paused his work of sharpening the sickle and said, “I can always earn more money. As for the bride price, our family can offer twenty taels.”

It wasn’t about competing with the Sun family; he simply wanted to give Xia Qingtao the most respectable marriage possible.

Ordinary families, even for daughters, rarely offered more than fifteen taels—eighteen at most. But to him, Xia Qingtao was no ordinary ge’er. He wanted to give him the best.

His mother blinked in surprise, then, seeing the determination on her son’s face, she smiled.

“It’s your money, and I won’t interfere. The ge’er sounds clever and capable, but we should at least arrange a meeting first. It would be quite improper if you had the wrong person. I’ll speak with your aunt about it.”

“Alright.”

Lu Sui’s expression remained calm, but his heart pounded as if he were about to meet Qingtao already.

Would Qingtao like him? His gaze was so refined, and Lu Sui’s own background…

He thought of this and began sharpening the sickle faster, sparks of steel glinting in rhythm with his racing heart.

——

That evening—

“Where?” Sitting under the lamplight, embroidering a handkerchief, Xia Qingtao lifted his head in confusion. “That aunt who came just now?”

Chen Hexiang closed the door behind her, pulled a bamboo chair next to her son, and sat down.

“Yes, that was your Aunt Shuiqin. She’s from our village, though she lives far off, so we don’t see each other often. Her son’s name is Xia He—everyone calls him Xiao He. Do you know him?”

Qingtao paused his stitching to think. “The name sounds familiar, but he’s younger than me. I don’t think we’ve spoken much.”

“That’s right,” Hexiang said. “After dinner, your father and I were sitting outside for some air when she came by with your Aunt Yue Mei. Everyone’s been busy during the day, so evening’s the only time to talk.”

Harvesting the late rice and preparing to plant winter wheat kept every household busy these days.

“What did she say?”

“She said she has a nephew from Lu Family Bay, seventeen years old this year—a hunter. She said this young man is strikingly handsome; among all eighteen villages along the mountain, none can compare. Fair-skinned, tall—so tall he has to lower his head when he walks through shorter doorways,” Hexiang said, laughing. “But what matters more is that he’s hardworking and grounded—not one of those idle boasters.”

As Qingtao listened, his heart suddenly began to pound. For some reason, his mind conjured the image of the tall man he had met by the creek that day.

“He lost his father a few years back,” Hexiang continued. “There’s a younger brother, fourteen, and he supports the whole family. He’s not even his parents’ real son—they couldn’t conceive and found him in a ravine behind the mountain. A few years after adopting him, they had another child. Their house is modest—three and a half rooms, and only eight acres of land left after selling some. But apparently, he recently hunted a deer and earned quite a bit. If both sides agree, they’re offering twenty taels as the bride price.”

“Pfft—” Qingtao was startled, then couldn’t help laughing. “Mom, it seems the market value just keeps rising.”

“You child!” Hexiang lightly slapped his arm, smiling and scolding at once. “Do you think that’s something to brag about? People might think we’re selling you!”

Then, her tone softened into seriousness. “Their family may not be well-off, but the young man sounds like a good one. And for his mother to offer twenty taels for a son who’s not even her own flesh and blood—that speaks to her generosity. There are no sisters-in-law above you either, so you wouldn’t suffer after marrying.”

Qingtao stayed silent, but a quiet certainty grew inside him—this must be the same tall man he’d met by the creek.

If it really was him… could it be that he had taken a liking to him that day too? Otherwise, why would he offer such a high bride price?

Seeing her son lost in thought, Hexiang continued, “I know your Aunt Shuiqin well. She’s warm-hearted and honest, not one of those matchmakers who talk nonsense just to close a deal. My thought is, why don’t we arrange a meeting first? If things go well, they can still offer the full twenty taels—so no one can say you married beneath yourself. Once they pay, we’ll return five taels right away. After all, even if they give more now, life ahead will still be hard for you. We’re not selling our ge’er, after all.”

Qingtao’s heart turned soft—like silt at the bottom of a quiet river. He nodded gently.

“Alright, Mom.”