Dandy Escapes From Marriage - Chapter 50

The next day, just as the sky was getting light, the two of them had breakfast together.

Their feelings of parting seemed deliberately suppressed, and they chatted as usual about trivial matters at home. After taking a few bites of eggs, Liu Shu suddenly got up, took the remaining basket of eggs from the house, and said, “Take these back for your parents to taste. After all, these are eggs laid by the chickens we raised ourselves.”

Shen Ke couldn’t help but smile, “Just take a few, you still need to eat.”

“Chickens will lay more eggs, take all of these.” Liu Shu insisted firmly.

So Shen Ke, carrying his own bundle and the basket of eggs, got onto the carriage, but they didn’t leave for quite some time.

“Alright, alright, let’s go, I have things to do too.” Liu Shu waved his hand to urge him on, then turned and entered the courtyard.

Reluctantly, Shen Ke withdrew his gaze and drove the carriage away.

Listening to the sound of the wheels rolling, Liu Shu peeked out from behind the courtyard door, then his feet uncontrollably chased after, watching the carriage getting farther and farther away until he couldn’t see it anymore.

He didn’t know how far he had run until he finally felt exhausted, stopping with hands on his knees, tears falling into the mud.

At this moment, footsteps came from afar. He lifted his head and saw Shen Ke running towards him.

He immediately rushed over, and the two tightly embraced each other.

“I’ll really be back soon, wait for me here, don’t chase after me.” Shen Ke’s voice was hoarse.

“Yeah.” Liu Shu blinked hard, nodded, “Okay, I won’t chase after you, you go. When you come back, we’ll get married.”

“Agreed.”

This time, neither of them looked back.

This wasn’t their first separation. After the incident when Shen Ke went to Huai Prefecture to borrow troops, Liu Shu had already gotten used to living alone.

In the morning, he got up to feed the chickens, had breakfast, cleaned the house, then took the newly developed face powder to town. Accompanying him were the two new sons of the basket maker. On the way, he taught them how to use the bow and arrow. When they arrived in town, he sent them to school, then went to the rouge shop.

When the customer with the birthmark came, Liu Shu let her try the face powder. The woman looked at the much thicker substance than the powder on the market and was a little unsure, “Can this be used?”

“You’ll know once you try.”

The woman closed her eyes, expecting another long wait, but surprisingly, it was soon done.

She opened her eyes in surprise, finding that today she wasn’t being painted with roses. She turned her face to the mirror and was amazed to find that the birthmark wasn’t very noticeable, even if she had to get close to see a faint trace.

“How… How did you do this?” The woman widened her eyes, “This is amazing!”

“This is a face powder specially prepared by my master for you. With this, you don’t have to come here every day for makeup. You can easily cover the birthmark at home.” Zhang Moyang smiled.

Overjoyed, the woman held the jar of face powder tightly and thanked them profusely. She generously bought the jar and, when it came time to pay, suddenly said, “I’ve never seen this thing on the market before. If you sell this, you’ll definitely expand your business. My family runs a courier service, and if you need it, I can help you transport goods.”

“That sounds great!” Liu Shu immediately invited her to discuss the cooperation inside.

After Zhang Moyang learned about this, the three of them held a small meeting and proposed to expand the shop.

“Let’s just open directly to Huai Prefecture. Madame Liu left us a sum of money, right?” Liu Shu said, “Miss Li’s family’s courier service happens to be in Huai Prefecture, which would make it convenient for future deliveries.”

“Okay, let’s do that. I’ll personally go to Huai Prefecture to find a shop.” Zhang Moyang was more familiar with this area than the other two, so he was mainly responsible for these matters, which Liu Shu trusted him with.

After some thought, Liu Shu added, “The Prefect of Huai Prefecture is on good terms with A’Ke. If you encounter any trouble there, see if you can get his help.”

“No problem, didn’t the Prefect invite us to dinner before? He should remember me.”

A few days later, Zhang Moyang brought back good news: they had rented a shop in the central street of Huai Prefecture, not far from Miss Li’s family’s courier service.

“Mo Sheng will oversee things here. Zhang Moyang and I will go to Huai Prefecture to set up the new shop,” Liu Shu arranged.

With no objections from his siblings, Liu Shu went with Zhang Moyang to Huai Prefecture to recruit soldiers and buy horses.

One day, while Liu Shu was hanging up a sign outside, he ran into the magistrate’s sedan chair.

“Oh, what a coincidence,” Shen Huai lifted the curtain, revealing his face, and greeted him. He glanced at the plaque and wasn’t quite satisfied. “Who wrote these characters? They’re not even half as good as my younger brother’s.”

Liu Shu frowned slightly, thinking to himself, “What does your younger brother’s handwriting have to do with anything? Why are you nitpicking here?”

But this was Huai Prefecture, so he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and smiled politely. “Magistrate Shen is joking. Your younger brother is indeed talented, far beyond the writing of these small merchants.”

Shen Huai nodded in satisfaction, smiling. “I’ll pass on your words to my younger brother.”

Liu Shu forced a smile, extending his hand politely to usher him away. “Oh, it’s quite crowded here. Magistrate, you should leave soon to avoid any inconvenience.”

“Alright then. I’ll come find you for dinner sometime.”

“I’m busy.”

“How about tomorrow?”

“Are you deaf?”

Liu Shu was almost driven mad by him and threw a series of punches into the air as the sedan chair departed. “What kind of person is he, talking about his younger brother, younger…”

Wait a minute?

He suddenly remembered something very important — his mother had been talking incessantly about the young master of the Shen family. Could it be the younger brother Shen Huai mentioned just now?

Although there were several officials surnamed Shen in the capital, only two sons in their family. Could it really be Shen Huai’s family?

He shuddered at the thought of Shen Huai describing his brother as antiquated and rigid.

The next day, when Shen Huai came to invite him and Zhang Moyang to dinner, Liu Shu went alone, leaving Zhang Moyang to handle important matters in the shop.

“Do you drink?” After the meal was served, Shen Huai asked.

“I do.”

“Then let’s have tea.”

As they ate, Liu Shu discreetly observed him and casually inquired, “You’re alone in Huai Prefecture. Have you ever thought about bringing your family over?”

“After the New Year, I’ll bring them over.”

“What about your younger brother?”

“He doesn’t need to come.”

“Why not? Has he gotten married?”

“No.”

“Last time you mentioned he’s about my age. How come he’s not married yet? Does he even have an engagement?”

Shen Huai’s expression changed slightly. Liu Shu was almost certain that the “young master Shen” mentioned by Shen Huai was indeed his brother.

Shen Huai wasn’t sure how much Shen Ke had revealed, but considering the significance of the engagement, he felt it necessary to inform Liu Shu. He quickly added some kind words for his brother, “But I don’t think they’re suitable for each other.”

“Why?” Liu Shu asked casually.

“I heard that family is of merchant background. Do you think he and a merchant’s son would have common topics?”

“That’s indeed a concern.” Liu Shu’s face turned cold. “Why do you assume a merchant’s son would look down on your brother?”

Shen Huai paused, realizing he himself was now a small businessman. He smiled apologetically, “I misspoke. What I meant was they haven’t met and don’t have common topics. It’s not about looking down on merchants. Maybe my brother will like someone like you when he meets you.”

“There’s no need for that. I won’t like your brother!”

Shen Huai raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

“When A’Ke returns, we’ll get married!”

“Haha, have some tea, have some tea.”

“What are you laughing at? Don’t believe me?”

“I trust you, I trust you. Come on, have some tea.”

Liu Shu was so angry that his teeth itched. His impression of Shen Huai and that unknown Shen family boy got even worse!

Kids from the same parents must be equally bad!

After the preparations for the shop in Huaizhou were almost done, Zhang Mosheng was also invited over. For the opening, they used the same method as before, and within three days, the whole city knew about the newly opened rouge shop. Not only was the makeup beautiful and the prices attractive, but there was also a type of face powder not available on the market that could easily cover facial spots and blemishes. It quickly became a hot commodity.

The new store had a grand opening, and Liu Shu was extremely busy when he suddenly received a letter from home.

“This was sent to our shop in town, and I brought it for you.” Zhang Mosheng took out a letter addressed to Xiao Wu.

Lu Yueju mentioned the engagement in the letter, saying that Lao Liutou had softened a bit and asked him to bring Ke Shen to Jinling to personally express his determination.

However, since Ke Shen had returned to the capital, he could only go back alone. It was also a good time to resolve his own engagement so that he could marry Ke Shen without any worries.

He decided to leave immediately, claiming there was an urgent matter at home.

Zhang Moyang subconsciously thought of his village home and blurted out, “What’s wrong? Did your family’s hen have trouble laying eggs, or did your dog mate with others outside?”

“Mind your business, it’s my parents’ home.”

“Oh, so you still have parents.” Zhang Moyang had always thought he was an orphan!

“Mind your business.”

Liu Shu took only a small amount of money with him, hired a carriage, and rushed to Jinling day and night. After several days, he finally arrived in Jinling City before nightfall.

Passing through the city gate, he was greeted by a scene of prosperity and bustle. Shops lined both sides of the road, lanterns hung high, and pedestrians chatted amiably. Alongside the road flowed a river, with pleasure boats leisurely drifting downstream.

Liu Shu drew back the curtain and looked at this familiar scene, unexpectedly feeling a rare sense of homesickness.

He had visited every shop on this street, half of which belonged to the Liu family. The young master Liu in the city was almost known to everyone.

But now that he had returned to Jinling, his state of mind had unexpectedly changed. He was neither in a hurry to find his brothers for a drink nor eager to listen to music or watch performances. He just wanted to hurry home, settle matters, and then return to that remote and simple mountain village.

The carriage stopped in front of a magnificent mansion. Liu Shu got off the carriage and rushed in joyfully, “Father, mother, I’m back!”

“Young master, the young master is back!” The gatekeeper hurriedly reported inside.

Soon, the whole family came out, Lao Liutou and his four wives, including his brothers and sisters. Except for Lu Yueju, everyone else looked surprised.

“Xiao Wu, where have you been begging for food?” the eldest brother asked.

“It’s been so long without any news, I thought you didn’t want to come back and were going to sever ties with the Liu family,” the second brother said.

“Did you dig that dog hole in the backyard yourself?” the third brother asked.

“Are you back to get married?” the fourth brother asked.

“Little brother, if you hadn’t come back, you would have missed my wedding banquet,” the eldest sister said, with the younger sister nodding in agreement.

Liu Shu looked around, his mouth slowly curling up. Even the four brothers seemed much more pleasing to him. He turned to Lao Liutou, who was brewing emotions, rushed forward, and hugged him, shouting affectionately, “Father, mother, everyone, I missed you so much~!”

“Where did you go? Just knew to come back?!” Lao Liutou picked up a chicken feather duster and wanted to beat him, but was stopped by two sisters.

The brothers, on the other hand, teased him, “Beat him, beat him.”

“It’s okay, let father beat him.” 

Liu Shu raised his buttocks, “Father, come on.”

“Do you really think I don’t dare to hit you?” Lao Liutou flicked his feather duster and smacked him on the buttocks. Liu Shu closed his eyes and passed out.

In the midst of confusion, Liu Shu was taken back to his room. Lu Yueju scolded Lao Liutou for being too harsh, forbade him from visiting, and firmly closed the door. Passing by the table, she casually picked up a handful of melon seeds and started cracking them, saying, “Alright, get up quickly.”

Liu Shu immediately rolled off the bed and joined her in cracking melon seeds, asking, “Mother, how softened is father now?”

“It depends on your behavior,” Lu Yueju asked, “What about that boy? Why didn’t he come with you?”

Liu Shu thought since Ke Ke was back to resolve the engagement, it would be better to avoid causing a bad impression on his mother and said, “He has urgent matters at home and can’t come. You tell me, how should I behave?”

“Your father fears we will lose credibility with the Shen family, and they won’t let us off easily, interfering with our business. So if you insist on breaking off the engagement, we’ll have to personally go to the capital, prepare generous gifts, sincerely apologize, and see if we can peacefully cancel this engagement. The precondition is that you have to behave well. Even if the Shen family scolds us, we must admit it. Can you do that?”

Liu Shu thought for a moment, enduring humiliation, and said, “No problem. When are we going to the capital?”

“Just came back today, gathering with family today, resting for another day, and leaving the day after tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

During dinner, Liu Shu served tea and flattered his father again, finally repairing their broken father-son relationship of nearly half a year.

After dinner, his brothers teased him idly, sometimes commenting on his ragged clothes, sometimes laughing at the calluses on his palms. Liu Shu got annoyed listening to them and suddenly stood up.

The four immediately looked at him warily, ready for a fight. Who knew this time Liu Shu didn’t start a fight, but simply ignored them and went straight back to his room.

The four looked at each other, unable to help but wonder—is this still their annoying little brother who fights if he’s not convinced?

Lao Liutou also watched him leave in shock, quietly asking Lu Yueju, “What’s wrong with him? Is he still our son?”

“He’s grown up, thinking about other things now.”

“What things?”

“Thinking about men.”

Back in his room, Liu Shu sat by the window, gazing at the moon in a trance, wondering if the moon in the capital was just as round. If he went to the capital, maybe he could visit Ke Ke’s home. But he didn’t even ask where Ke Ke lived.

The next morning, when the Liu family sat down for breakfast and saw Liu Shu, who should have been sleeping in, digging in the yard, they once again widened their eyes in shock.

“What are you doing?” Lao Liutou asked.

“The ground here is quite wide. I want to plant some onions to save trouble for the kitchen,” Liu Shu said.

Others laughed, and Lao Liutou said, “You want to use my good courtyard to plant onions?”

Liu Shu blinked, put away the hoe, and went back to his room without turning back, thinking to himself that there was nothing great about it. When he returned to the village, he wanted to plant as many as he could!

“Why does he seem still angry?” Lao Liutou asked in confusion.

Lu Yueju laughed and shouted, “Xiao Wu, aren’t you eating breakfast?”

“I’ve eaten!”

“The dishes aren’t on the table yet. What did you eat?”

“The steamed buns in the kitchen!”

“That’s what servants eat, isn’t it?” Old Liu asked.

In the morning, Liu Shu was discussing rouge business with Lu Yueju when a servant brought in a letter from the capital.

“From the capital? Who’s it from?” Liu Shu asked curiously.

Lu Yueju opened and read the letter, her brows furrowing gradually. After reading it with a serious expression, she sighed, “It’s from the Shen family.”

“What do they say?” Liu Shu picked up the letter and started reading.

“The whole family is on their way to Jinling to discuss the marriage contract with us.”

Liu Shu finished reading indifferently, shrugged, “Let them come. We were going to find them anyway, saves us a trip.”

“What if the Shen family is coming to discuss the marriage?” Lu Yueju asked.

“Then I’ll make sure the Shen family finds me unsuitable. I don’t believe a scholarly family like theirs would want a playboy son-in-law.” Liu Shu grinned mischievously.

Lu Yueju suddenly felt that her son was back to his old self, full of mischief. She chuckled and asked, “What are you planning to do?”

“Go, summon all the sisters from the Nishang Pavilion. Young master is back, naturally I must have some fun with them.”

“Hehe, you’ve been having fun for five or six years and you’re still a virgin!”

After the servant left, Liu Shu pondered for a moment, then waved his hand dramatically, “And bring all the handsome lads here. We have distinguished guests coming; we’ll give them a full feast!”

Lu Yueju: “…”

This is going to be trouble.

TL- Xiao Wu stop ✋️