The Fearless Husband - Chapter 15

Chapter 15 — Scholar Fang Wants to Marry Long Ge’er…

Madam Fang Wu was calculating the family’s spring expenses when her son suddenly burst into the house like a gust of wind, shouting at the top of his lungs. She jumped up and smacked his arm. “What nonsense are you yelling! You’ll ruin someone’s reputation!”

Fang Shu immediately clapped a hand over his mouth, then lowered his voice, face burning with urgency. “Mother, I want you to find a matchmaker and send her to propose for me! If we’re too slow, someone else will get there first!”

So popular?!

That got Madam Fang’s attention at once. Forgetting her ledger, she grabbed her son and pulled him down to sit beside her on the heated kang. “Good boy, you’ve found someone you like? A girl or a ge’er? Which family? Someone from our village?”

“Not from our village,” Fang Shu said. “He’s from Shangxi Village. A ge’er. His surname is Yu.”

Yu?

The two villages were close, and since their family owned land near Shangxi, she knew many of the locals. There were only two Yu households she could recall.

After thinking for a while, she said, “You mean the youngest son of Yu Dagui’s family? They’ve got that old matriarch, right? And his second uncle’s son is studying in the town school?”

“Not that Yu family,” Fang Shu said quickly. “But they’re related—it’s the elder branch. The one you mentioned is his cousin.”

“Cousin? Isn’t his cousin a man?”

“No, I mean his cousin from the main Yu household.”

Madam Fang Wu racked her brain for a long time. Then, when the realization hit her, she nearly leapt from the kang. “You—you mean Yu Qinglong?!”

Fang Shu’s eyes brightened. “Yes! That’s him! Mother, you know him?”

Know him? She practically knew every unmarried person within a ten-mile radius! She had spent countless hours asking around so she could plan for her son’s future.

But how could it be that Yu Qinglong?!

Madam Fang’s expression turned from shock to frustration and finally to disappointment. “No way! Are you out of your mind? Of all the people you could like, you chose him? That boy was just rejected from an engagement! His family’s poor as dirt! He’s tall as a man—nearly your height! He’s not even good-looking! Only a fool obsessed with his toys would think so! What on earth do you see in him?”

“Being tall means he’s strong, doesn’t it? That’s hardly a flaw. As for money, if I marry him, we can work hard together and build what we lack. And who said he isn’t good-looking? He’s very handsome, actually.”

“Handsome?! He looks like a man, and he’s shy as a mouse! Absolutely not—I’d lose face!”

“But, Mother, I’ve already made up my mind. If you don’t go propose, then I’ll never marry anyone.”

“You—you brat! What nonsense are you spouting!”

Fang Shu, desperate, stood and started kneading her shoulders in apology—hard enough that she almost flinched. “Mother, please! I heard someone’s already gone to his house with a proposal. If you don’t act soon, I’ll be single for life!”

Madam Fang’s brows furrowed. “What kind of spell did he cast on you? Tell me the truth—have you met in secret?”

Fang Shu waved his hands frantically. “No! Absolutely not!”

She didn’t believe a word. Her hands went to her hips. “Ah-ha! So you have been hiding something! I was wondering why you’ve been finding excuses to visit Doctor Mo all the time. Turns out you weren’t going for your back—you were going to see him! Or what, the ‘spirit’ who stole your brain? Tell me! When did you two meet?”

Fang Shu scratched his neck guiltily. “Mother, don’t make it sound so scandalous. He just helped me move a rock by the river once. I didn’t even know he was a ge’er then. He never told me his name.”

“Then why on earth do you suddenly want to marry him?”

“I just… find him interesting. More interesting than anyone I’ve ever met. I’ve never met someone like him before. I feel like if I miss this chance, I’ll regret it forever.”

“Absolutely not!” she snapped. “Your father and uncles will never agree either! You’re our clan’s only scholar! You passed the provincial exam at fifteen—if not for your injuries, you’d probably be a juren by now! And you want to marry him? Don’t even think about it!”

Fang Shu looked as though his spirit had been crushed by frost. “Just this once, Mother. Please. Let me try. If he refuses, I’ll drop it.”

“Do you take me for a fool?” Madam Fang said coldly. “Oh, I go to propose, and if he agrees, what then? You think I can back out and save face? And you’re the only scholar in ten miles—why would he refuse?”

Fang Shu couldn’t explain why, but he had a gut feeling that Yu Qinglong might reject him.

The look in Yu Qinglong’s eyes was different from anyone else’s. Calm, clear, utterly unbothered by worldly greed or longing. He’d shown more excitement over fifty wen than when talking to him. That contrast lingered in Fang Shu’s mind and wouldn’t let him go.

Madam Fang Wu noticed his distracted look and froze.

He didn’t look convinced—he looked bewitched.

That couldn’t be real… could it?

She pinched her arm sharply. “Ow!” It hurt. Unfortunately, reality remained the same—her son looked thoroughly possessed.

Fang Shu suddenly straightened and bowed deeply to her. “Mother, you always asked what kind of person I wanted. Now I know. I want someone like him. No—I want him. If you won’t agree, then I’ll never find anyone like him again. I’ll stay single forever.”

“You—who are you trying to scare!” she snapped, slamming her hand on the table.

But Fang Shu didn’t argue further. After one more bow, he turned and left.

Madam Fang Wu, furious, went to find her husband. “Can you believe him? He’s trying to drive me mad! That ge’er isn’t wanted by anyone in the whole region, and he wants him! People will laugh themselves sick at our family!”

“How’s that such a big deal?” Fang Dingman said mildly. “I’ve met that ge’er before. If he really married into our family, he might actually be good for Shu.”

“You’ve seen him? When? Doing what?”

“In Shangxi Village. The boy was beating his cousin—pinned him right down and bloodied his nose. But from what I heard later, that cousin’s a scoundrel. Lazy, greedy, bullies the weak. Frankly, he deserved it.”

“No, no, you must have the wrong person,” she insisted. “I’ve seen that boy once. When the Erma family held their funeral—he was there. Kept his head down the whole time, I barely saw his face. I just remember he looked timid, like a mouse before a cat. You want that as a daughter-in-law? Absolutely not.”

“That was before,” her husband said. “Now he’s bold enough to fight in public.”

“That’s worse! If he’s that fierce, he’ll tear the house apart! Our Shu’s too honest—he’d be bullied to death!” she cried, then paused, narrowing her eyes. “Wait—you mean you actually agree with this marriage?”

“What else can we do? Can you talk him out of it? If you could, his room wouldn’t still be filled with all those broken toys. The boy’s stubborn as a mule. You should know that by now. Besides, Doctor Mo took him as a disciple, didn’t he? You know what kind of man Doctor Mo is—he’d never take in a violent troublemaker. Let the boy be happy. You can’t win against him anyway.”

Madam Fang Wu sighed. When her son got stubborn, not even ten oxen—or salted egg yolks—could pull him back. Still, she was unwilling. Of all the people in the world, why Yu Qinglong?

She decided to wait. Maybe, in a few days, her son’s obsession would fade. And if that rumored proposal from another family succeeded first, well—then there’d be nothing left to say.

It wasn’t cruelty—it was practicality. Their families simply weren’t a good match.

So she pretended not to hear her son’s earlier plea and went back to her chores, while Fang Shu locked himself in his room, tinkering endlessly with the waterwheel. He remembered what he’d said before—“When water and wood meet, fortune flows endlessly.”

When he’d told Yu Qinglong, “Blessing flows through the Yu,” he hadn’t meant it as flirtation. He’d meant it sincerely. If someone like Yu Qinglong could be his lifelong friend, that alone would make life peaceful and content.

If Yu Qinglong had been a man, he would never have thought of marriage—just days spent side by side, drinking, talking, making toys. Wouldn’t that have been enough?

But he was a ge’er. And a ge’er who didn’t marry would be married off by someone else.

Who was that annoying person trying to snatch him away? Fang Shu was certain it wasn’t Zhao Lao Si.

Yu Qinglong wanted to know that too.

He and his parents hurried toward town, arriving just as the morning sun began to rise. They had just delivered Zhou Yuehua’s finished embroidery and received three hundred wen in payment—a month and a half’s work, a rare and precious sum.

Zhou Yuehua carefully tucked the money away and asked, “Long Ge’er, are you hungry? Come on, Dad will buy you some osmanthus cake.”

Yu Qinglong was hungry—it had been a long walk since dawn—but osmanthus cake was a luxury. In the northern provinces, osmanthus was imported from the south and sold dearly.

“No need, Dad,” he said. “Let’s just have plain noodles. Or a few steamed buns.”

Two wen bought a bowl of noodles, or four buns—or one vegetable-filled baozi. Prices here were low, but the family still had debts to repay. He didn’t think of himself as separate from them—they rose and fell together.

Zhou Yuehua’s heart ached at his son’s maturity. Before he could speak, Yu Dayou returned carrying a paper bundle. Inside were eight buns and three meat baozi.

The rich scent of pork and soy made Yu Qinglong’s stomach twist. He hadn’t tasted meat in ages. He’d planned to catch fish before, but without proper tools—or spices to mask the smell—it hadn’t been worth it.

“Qinglong, eat this,” Yu Dayou said, handing him one baozi and another to Zhou Yuehua. “I bought them with my wood-chopping money.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Yu Qinglong looked at the food, remembering how easily he could get such things in his past life. His mouth watered, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat. He noticed that his father had given away two baozi but hadn’t kept any for himself—clearly, the last one was meant for Yu Qingye.

He broke his baozi in half and set it down. “Let’s share, Father.”

Though he said half, he’d kept the smaller piece for himself.

“I’ll have a bun,” Yu Dayou said. “You’re still growing—eat more.”

Yu Qinglong smiled. “If I grow any taller, people will complain I’m too big already.”

“That’s what boys do,” Yu Dayou laughed. “The sun rises because it must. A child grows because he should.”

Yu Qinglong laughed too. He was about to insist again when Zhou Yuehua stuffed the rest into his mouth, smiling. “Eat, my Long Ge’er. With such bright sunshine, maybe you’ll grow even taller today.” Then he handed the remaining half baozi to Yu Dayou and ate the smaller one himself.

Maybe because he hadn’t grown up with parents in his last life, Yu Qinglong had a sharper instinct for genuine kindness.

It was easy to tell when someone truly cared. People who meddled but never helped were only feeding their own sense of superiority.

But this family—his family—was different. They truly loved him.

The three of them reached the carpentry workshop where Yu Qingye apprenticed. Sure enough, the last meat baozi went straight into his brother’s mouth.

Chewing fast, Yu Qingye mumbled, “Father, Dad, Little Brother—what brings you all here? Something wrong?”

Zhou Yuehua pulled him aside. “When you and Long Ge’er went to the hills for birch bark, you met a matchmaker who went to the old house, right? Well, Aunt Zhang says the old lady’s arranging a match for Long Ge’er—with some bun seller from town. You know how many bun shops there are here?”

“Only two,” Yu Qingye said, frowning. “You bought these from the nearby one, right? That shop only has daughters, so it’s not them. The other’s in the west of town—that one does have a man, but he’s small and has a slow-witted brother. If that old hag wants to—”

He stopped mid-sentence. Seeing the identical frowns on his parents’ and brother’s faces, he knew he’d guessed right. Of course—if it were a decent family, the old woman wouldn’t have suggested it.

Then it hit him—the man standing beside the matchmaker that day. He had seen him before. “That fellow with her—he drinks with our third uncle and Zhao Lao Si!”

Yu Qinglong asked, “Second Brother, do you know where Qingxi studies?”

“In the west of town,” Yu Qingye replied. “At Wende Academy. Why?”

Because, Yu Qinglong thought grimly, only by dealing with Yu Qingxi can I end this once and for all.

Author’s Note:
Yu Qinglong: I’ll make sure none of them dare arrange another match for me ever again. 😎
Fang Shu: No! I must convince Mother to go propose to Long Ge’er’s family! 😭