Chapter 262: Chapter 262: Establishing a Ritual Kinship

This sounds like an excuse.

Qi Quanjin and Liu Qinghe have drunk together more than once or twice, so they know a bit about Liu Qinghe’s drinking capacity.

Last night, they did drink, but not too much. To say that he drank too much, Qi Quanjin absolutely didn’t believe it.

But since the other side said so, Qi Quanjin just treated it as if it were true.

The two chatted idly, one sentence here, another there.

Even though Liu Qinghe had things on his mind, it didn’t delay his work.

He still had tasks assigned by the Lord County Magistrate, so naturally, he wouldn’t slack off. He seriously looked around before starting to work.

At this moment, Qi Wulang came running over.

“Uncle Liu, my grandmother said she has something urgent to discuss with you.”

Qi Wulang was a bit out of breath when he ran over.

Liu Qinghe paused and asked directly, “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know, my grandmother just asked me to find you, didn’t say specifically what it was.”

Qi Wulang wiped the sweat from his face before greeting Qi Quanjin.

Qi Quanjin, understanding his mother’s intentions, urged, “Brother Liu, since my mother is looking for you, you should go back first! It’s almost noon break, and there’s nothing urgent that needs your help.”

“Alright then, I’ll head back first.”

Liu Qinghe rolled down his sleeves and followed Qi Wulang back to the Qi Family Mansion.

On the way, Liu Qinghe pondered what Mrs. Qi Sr. wanted from him.

Could it be that she wanted to clear things up and warn his family not to act rashly?

But then, he thought Mrs. Qi Sr. wasn’t someone who didn’t know how to handle things, so it probably wasn’t like that.

If it’s not about that, then what else could it be about?

Filled with an anxious heart, Liu Qinghe returned to the Qi Family Mansion.

As soon as he reached the gate, he saw Mrs. Qi standing at the entry of the main room waiting, so he quickly stepped up.

“Auntie, were you looking for me?”

“Yes, yes, I was. Come inside first.”

Mrs. Qi invited him into the main room and then told Qi Wulang to go back to his studies.

At this time, everyone in the house was busy, and Mrs. Qi, upon entering the main room, wasn’t worried about anyone coming over. Once seated, she quietly asked, “Qinghe, tell Auntie in detail about your little sister’s situation. Was she promised to someone? Why didn’t it work out?”

Liu Qinghe wasn’t surprised that this topic came up, so he recounted the events. Finally, he added, “It’s been three years now. My mother said that my little sister has observed mourning for their family for three years. Now that Meiniang is sixteen, it’s time to discuss another engagement.”

“Auntie, I’m not afraid of your laughter, my mother and I both think your sixth child is a good boy. If you don’t mind, our family is willing to offer a bigger dowry. But, if you think this marriage isn’t suitable, I hope it won’t affect the relationship between our two families.”

Liu Qinghe still wanted to strive for his little sister.

Since the family would settle down permanently in Yongping Village, marrying into the Qi Family would mean continuing to live in the same village. Good or bad, the family would always know.

Mrs. Qi at this moment was already teared up, wiping the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, she sighed and said, “Meiniang is such a pitiable child.”

Liu Qinghe sighed along with her.

After a moment of emotion, Mrs. Qi steadied herself and then said, “Auntie was just overwhelmed for a moment, that’s why I reacted the way I did. Auntie also likes Meiniang. Now knowing the past, Auntie feels sorry for her.”

“Auntie, I know you’re a soft-hearted person.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Qinghe knew that the relationship between the two families definitely wouldn’t be affected by whether or not this matter went through, and he truly felt relieved.

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Qi continued, “But a child’s marriage is a lifelong matter for them, and it’s a significant matter for our two families.”

Is this a way to disagree?

Liu Qinghe smiled bitterly in his heart.

Mrs. Qi continued, “My boy is somewhat of a blockhead, not enlightened yet. Talking about marriage to him now is like threatening him.”

“How about this, if your family isn’t in a rush of three to five months, let Meiniang come over occasionally, let them meet.”

“If they like each other, that would be the best. If Meiniang doesn’t see eye to eye with our blockhead, we’ll drop the matter.”

“But no matter what, to the outside world, we’ll say Meiniang is my goddaughter, she visits to see her godmother, to ensure that Meiniang’s reputation is not tarnished, can you agree to that?”

Just now, while sitting in the main room, Mrs. Qi was thinking about these things.

The girl is a good girl, and if the previous engagement had good reasons, they could start by acknowledging godparents.

If it doesn’t work out later, it wouldn’t affect the relationship between the two families or the child’s reputation. If it succeeds, they could proudly say that they are family of families.

Mrs. Qi thought her idea was good, but when she said it out loud, she couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Sigh, such a good girl, hope she doesn’t really disapprove of our little monkey!

Liu Qinghe never expected this matter could have such a pleasant turn, and he was overjoyed, showing some of it on his face: “Auntie, your idea is great, your idea is really great! Then I’ll ask my mother to prepare the godparent recognition gifts, and we won’t miss a single step.”

“Alright!”

Mrs. Qi originally loved cute little girls, otherwise, she wouldn’t have treated a few daughters-in-law like her own daughters and wouldn’t have treated the little girl brought in by her fourth’s couple as her own granddaughter.

Now having a goddaughter, she officially became a mother of a daughter.

As for the goddaughter becoming a daughter-in-law and thereafter not having a daughter, Mrs. Qi didn’t think about it at all.

Liu Qinghe was happy, not wanting to linger much, and immediately wanted to go into town.

Mrs. Qi hastily stopped him, “No matter how urgent it is, it’s not a matter of this moment. It’s almost time for lunch, have lunch first, after that, it’s still not late to head into town.”

“Ah, alright! Auntie, you’re the thoughtful one!”

Even though Liu Qinghe wished he could grow wings and fly back, Mrs. Qi’s reminder made him realize he shouldn’t actually rush back.

Not to mention wasting time with back and forth travel, he also had official business duties to attend to.

If Lord County Magistrate found out he wasn’t regularly guarding Yongping Village and kept going into town, causing a misunderstanding of being negligent, it would be troublesome.

After lunch, each room returned to rest, Mrs. Qi particularly went to the fourth room, explained the situation, and finally told Qi Quanjin, “Fourth, I feel like Qinghe constantly going back and forth isn’t good, perhaps you could arrange for someone to go into town once, just to deliver the message of recognition of godparent, sparing Qinghe the trouble.”

Qi Quanjin really didn’t expect such a twisted story.

Returning to his senses, he also felt his mother’s idea was very reasonable, “Mother, I’ll personally go to Brother Liu’s house this afternoon for a trip, plus I have to acquire some things as well.”

“Alright, hurry and go! Be back before dark.”

Mrs. Qi immediately decided, depriving her fourth son of his afternoon rest time.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep