Chapter 224: Chapter 122: A Fated Match (Part 2)

Ugh, this whole mess was so frustrating!

After a long while, Zhang Huai finally emerged from Yu Qin’s room, his face etched with fatigue. He called for Zhang Yang, and together they bid farewell to their grandmother. He declined her kind offer to stay for lunch, not daring to look at his fourth aunt’s sour expression.

On the way, Zhang Yang asked nervously, “Bro, did Cousin come around?”

Zhang Huai nodded, offering a small smile. “She should be fine now. What were you doing here, anyway?”

Zhang Yang quickly lied, “I just came to visit Grandma, that’s all.”

Then he asked curiously, “So what did you say to her?”

Zhang Huai shot him a look. “You’re just a kid. What’s with all the questions?”

But after a moment’s thought, he added, “I know you came to stick up for me. But you shouldn’t blame Yu Qin. She’s not really in the wrong here. If I didn’t already have my own feelings, meeting someone so devoted would be a blessing you couldn’t find in several lifetimes, right? If you really want to find fault with her, it’s that she was only thinking of herself. But things should always be handled calmly. If we can resolve this peacefully, why do we need to shout and make a scene? If something bad had really happened to her, could I live with a clear conscience?”

Zhang Yang grinned. “I know. I didn’t scold her; she’s the one spouting nonsense. She never said she wanted to marry you before, so why did she suddenly get this idea?”

Zhang Huai sighed. “How should I know?”

’If everyone could figure out their own feelings sooner, would all this messy stuff still happen?’ he thought. ’Didn’t I myself go through a whole ordeal before I realized I liked Juhua? Yu Qin probably never paid me much mind before. Who knows when she got this idea into her head.’

This was a relatively good outcome. At least they weren’t married yet. Some people cause a whole mess even after getting married—now that’s what you call true chaos!

With a great weight lifted from their minds, the journey home became much more pleasant. The only problem was that the two brothers had missed lunch and were now ravenous. Along the way, they snapped off some green thistle stalks, peeling and chewing on them. Zhang Yang also picked some wild berries, but the more they snacked, the hungrier they became.

Zhang Huai laughed. “Let’s just hurry. If we’d spent this time walking, we’d be home eating by now.”

“Agh! If it weren’t for this whole mess, we could have had a nice meal at Grandma’s,” Zhang Yang lamented. “I was really hoping to have some of her salted duck eggs!”

Just talking about salted duck eggs made his mouth water, and he quickened his pace toward home. Even if there were no salted duck eggs, there would at least be chicken eggs. That would be enough to satisfy his craving.

’If I work hard for a year,’ Zhang Huai thought, ’I can move to the base of Little Qing Mountain and live next to Qingmu. I’ll raise a few ducks, and then we’ll have all the salted duck eggs we can eat.’

’Even if I don’t have enough money, I’ll move there, even if I have to build a simple mud-brick house to start.’

When the two brothers got home, their mother, He, saw them and grumbled, “Where have you two been? Don’t you even know enough to come home for meals?”

Not wanting to make his mother worry any more, Zhang Huai told her about their trip to Grandma’s. He explained that Yu Qin had come around and that there wouldn’t be any more trouble.

Hearing this, He wiped her eyes. “That’s good, that’s good! That child is like a daughter to me. My heart aches for her. Seeing her like that, I couldn’t bear it. If I didn’t know she wouldn’t have a good life if she married you, I would have agreed to the match. Your aunt complains that we don’t know what’s good for us, but she doesn’t understand my intentions. I was doing it all for Yu Qin’s sake. With you the way you are, marrying Yu Qin would just be ruining her life, wouldn’t it?”

Zhang Huai was silent for a moment before saying, “It was my fault for being so clueless before, which led to all this trouble. It won’t happen again. You can rest easy, Mom.”

Seeing his guilt, He couldn’t bear to scold him further. She sighed, brought out their meal, and let the two brothers eat.

It’s funny how things work out. Just as Yu Qin was forcing herself to give up on her cousin, someone came to her door with a marriage proposal. It was Dashan, a man from her own village.

Seeing that he was an honest and sincere young man, she and her parents agreed to the match.

What she didn’t know was that Dashan had fancied her for a long time. Because his family was not well-off, he had painstakingly saved for several years just to be able to present a generous betrothal gift with his proposal.

Sometimes, the betrothal gift can make simple country folk despair, wounding their pride. But other times, it represents true sincerity, moving them to tears of gratitude.

Yu Qin couldn’t help but cry when her mother relayed what Dashan’s mother had told her: Dashan had quietly worked himself to the bone for years to save up for this betrothal gift. Not only that, but he had been in anguish for days when he heard the rumors that she was going to marry her cousin.

’So my cousin was right,’ she thought. ’Everyone has their own destined partner. Thank goodness I didn’t stay stubborn.’

’Since Dashan is so good to me, I should focus my heart on being good to him in return. As for my cousin… I hope the person he mentioned treats him well. Otherwise, all his devotion would be for nothing!’

At this thought, she suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Zhang Huai. ’At least I have someone who likes me, and has liked me for so many years. But my cousin said the person he likes doesn’t seem to care much for him!’

’Poor cousin. What will he do if she never falls for him?’

Having escaped that dead end in her own life, her mood had improved, and now she found herself worrying about Zhang Huai.

Yu Qin had her parents return ten taels of silver from the betrothal gift to Dashan’s family, telling him to buy land with it and not spend it frivolously. She said that even when they married next year, a simple ceremony would be fine. It was better to save money for their future life than to put on a lavish display just for show.

Dashan was ecstatic. He took the silver, chuckling like a fool. He felt that all his bitter struggles were finally over. His bride, before she had even entered his home, was already helping him plan for their future.

When Zhang Huai heard that Yu Qin was engaged, a smile touched his lips, but his eyes stung with unshed tears.

He knew of Dashan; he was a hardworking, honest, and good young man. To think he had liked Yu Qin all this time. Now that she had someone to cherish her, he could finally rest easy. He had managed to resolve this matter properly, unlike the last time he’d been in such a situation, which he had turned into a complete mess.

’But… Yu Qin has found her destined partner. What about me?’

He gazed toward Little Qing Mountain, lost in a daze. (To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please consider supporting it with recommendation votes and monthly passes on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation!)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep