“That is, a ger who looks tall and does not look like a ger, no one wants him, yet he still wants to marry into the county.”

“Oh, don’t say that–it seems like they were here to buy needles and thread; maybe they were making wedding dresses for them to marry in.”

“Who wants to marry him?!”

“Xiang’er, this was not necessarily true. If you want to marry– it could be a widow, or a lame man; choose one of them to marry.”

“You still have a point, Qingqing.”

Two people speaking words of yin and yang came over, and the three girls who walked towards Zhou Yuan- the others had colorful skirts and powdered faces, and beautiful and pretty faces, and they were also slim girls, but the words they said were like those of village gossips, ugly and malicious.

The first ones were Zhou Qingqing and Zhou Xiang’er, and the two were holding hands. The one who didn’t speak and looked soft and lovely was Zhou Xiuyun.

They were good-looking girls from Qinghe Village. They grew up being sought after by men in the village, and the men who chased after them would try their best to give them whatever they wanted, which made their vanity even more inflated, and they acted very arrogantly.

Who made them look so beautiful? Their family members also pampered them and didn’t let them do much work. They only needed to dress up and show off, and they all thought: ‘My daughter was beautiful, and she would definitely marry into a wealthy family in the future.’

They would target Zhou Yuan because they looked down on him. They would question the education of his family members, compare themselves with him, and trample him down in front of others. Moreover, there were also good-looking gers in the village, and there were also gers that were sought after by men in the village. When they saw this, their hearts were not at ease, and they disliked him for being a ger even more.

“Zhou Xiang’er, Zhou Qingqing, put away your stinky mouths; one could smell it from a long distance. Even if you don’t think it stinks, I do– if I were you, I would be ashamed to open my mouth, lest the stink spread all over the street.”

Zhou Qiu was also angry when she spoke, and she was absolutely impolite when she was angry, bullying Zhou Yuan in front of her– there was no way they’d get away with it.

Zhou Xiang’er had a fiery temper, so how could she tolerate Zhou Qiu scolding her? Pointing at Zhou Qiu, she said, “Zhou Qiu, you are the one who stinks, and the stinkiest mouth was your mouth.”

Zhou Qingqing liked to put on a show, coaxing his words, “Zhou Qiu, things about Zhou Yuan were spread all over the village, but we aren’t scolding him. He was the one who brought shame and ruined the reputation of the village. Aren’t we just stating facts?”

Zhou Qiu stood directly in front of the two of them. “Facts, what facts? I think you are just jealous, jealous of Yuan Yuan’s blind date with the county people; you have never even been on the pagoda of the teahouse before.”

“You…”

Zhou Xiang’er and Zhou Qingqing blushed angrily, as if Zhou Qiu’s words were expressing their deepest thoughts.

They were not jealous of Zhou Yuan, but resentful. Zhou Yuan was able to have a blind date with someone from the county, but they had never met someone from the county before. They were beautiful village girls, and yet they couldn’t compare to an ugly ger who no one wanted. How could they not be resentful? They were just using the rumors in the village to step on him a few times to vent their anger.

“Qingqing, Xiang’er…” Zhou Xiuyun called softly. Zhou Xiang’er and Zhou Qingqing turned around; they had always flattered Zhou Xiuyun.

Zhou Xiuyun’s family was wealthy in the village, and her elder brother was a child student. She even claimed to be noble and looked down on others. She usually didn’t talk to them as she felt that it lowered her status.

This time, they didn’t know what she wanted.

“Zhou Qiu, we are all girls, and we all know how to keep ourselves clean. Zhou-ger, no matter his family background or himself, would people in the county marry a ger casually? The blind date was your wish, but you have a high ambition to lick the boots of other people. Other people from other villages now think that Qinghe Village is shameless; isn’t this discrediting Qinghe Village? Qingqing and Xiang’er spoke rudely, but they did not distort the facts.”

Zhou Xiuyun didn’t even look at Zhou Yuan and Zhou Muzi; she only looked at Zhou Qiu. Her expression was gentle, her words were very gentle, and what she said seemed well-founded.

Fortunately, there was an older brother who was a child student, and he spoke clearly.

If someone were ignorant, they would be taken aback by her, thinking she was very reasonable, but Zhou Qiu knew Zhou Xiuyun’s face the best. She looked soft, and she wanted to act like a lady, so she had to behave like a lady, and she even learned how to speak like a noble.

If Zhou Qiu hadn’t seen how she treated her cousin with vicious words and used her cousin’s family as servants, she would not have known what she was like. Fortunately, her cousin’s family has finally been separated, so she didn’t have to work hard for her family.

“Xiuyun still has a way to stop you from talking.” Zhou Xiang’er was being proud now. “If you want me to say the truth, wasn’t it simple that Wei Cheng and Zhou Yuan had a blind date, but one of them had too high an ambition and didn’t know how to hold back their shamelessness.”

“Are you talking about me?”

A male voice interjected.

Zhou Xiang’er and the others had their backs to Wei Cheng, and they didn’t know that Wei Cheng was approaching. Zhou Yuan and the others only noticed Wei Cheng’s approach when he spoke.

“Who are you?” Zhou Xiang’er said angrily without seeing the person clearly.

“I’m Wei Cheng!”

Zhou Xiang’er, who turned around, was stunned.

This person was Wei Cheng?

Tall and slender, with handsome facial features, well-dressed, looking like a dignified gentleman.

This man named Wei Cheng turned out to be so good-looking that Zhou Qingqing and Zhou Xiang’er showed shyness, and they thought to themselves, if they could match up with Wei Cheng … Both of them were making up their minds.

“I don’t know why these girls were talking about me.” Wei Cheng asked.

“We are in the same village as Zhou Yuan. My name was Qingqing. Zhou Yuan had a high-profile date with Young Master Wei before. We were only saying that it was right for Young Master Wei to look down on him.” Zhou Qingqing didn’t speak harshly and looked at Wei Cheng in a gentle and shy tone.

Wei Cheng didn’t look at her and said in a serious tone, “Girl, you’re wrong. The last time Zhou-ger had a blind date with me, it wasn’t that I didn’t like Zhou-ger; it was Zhou-ger who didn’t like me.”

When he said that, everyone was dumbfounded!

What kind of thing was this?!

Zhou Qingqing and the others didn’t believe it.

Zhou Yuan couldn’t believe that Wei Cheng would defend him, and he was even self-deprecating in his defense. He wanted to say something, but Wei Cheng stopped him with a look. Telling him to watch, and he would deal with it.

“Young Master Wei, are you joking?” Zhou Xiang’er said.

“Do I look like I am joking?” Wei Cheng said with a straight face.

He was very angry when he heard what these girls said when he came back from shopping to find someone. He was not so angry even when his girlfriend cheated on him in his previous life. After all, it was just an ordinary relationship, but the person he cared about was pointed at and slandered, and Wei Cheng felt distressed.

“Besides, a woman’s tongue, you know, shouldn’t say right and wrong casually; this was what a sharp-tongued woman does. I didn’t know that these several girls had the essence of a sharp-tongued woman.”

The three of them blushed in embarrassment and anger. Zhou Qingqing was so angry that she couldn’t speak. Zhou Xiang’er pointed at Wei Cheng with a trembling hand, “You…”

When did Zhou Xiuyun ever get humiliated like this? She bit her lip, feeling very wronged, and looked at Wei Cheng with tears in her eyes, with a look of asking for pity.

She didn’t like Wei Cheng. Wei Cheng was handsome, but she could tell from his clothes that Wei Cheng was not a rich man, and she didn’t believe that with her beauty, Wei Cheng would not take a look at her or pity her.

Wei Cheng really didn’t look at them; even looking at them out of the corner of his eye made him feel annoyed. The more people gathered to watch, the more Wei Cheng entangled with them, lest they falsely accuse him of bullying women.

Wei Cheng handed the things in his hand to Zhou Yuan, “Zhou-ger, this was for you.”

Zhou Yuan was startled. This…is this for him?

“Zhou-ger, I apologize for being so abrupt just now with a small gift.”

“No, I couldn’t!”

“Take it.”

Seeing that the person didn’t want it, Wei Cheng wanted to stuff it into his hands, but he couldn’t do something that would hurt his reputation in public. “There are not many things; you could take them.”

Zhou Yuan still refused.

Everyone else was dumbfounded. Wei Cheng was carrying large and small bags in his hands. They were wrapped in oiled paper, and although it couldn’t be seen clearly what was inside, the box was packaged with a name on it, and it was a package from a known pastry shop. Although this shop was not as expensive as the ones in the county, in the suburbs, it’s not something a countryman would buy a piece of so casually, let alone several large boxes.

There was so much, you couldn’t buy it without spending a few hundred wen.

Zhou Xiang’er and Zhou Qingqing were resentful in their hearts, wishing that the things in Wei Cheng’s hands were for them. Their family lived well in the village; they were girls, and they also had a lot of pursuits for men, so they would buy some small gifts and snacks to please them, but no one gave them so much at one time.

Zhou Xiuyun didn’t feel resentment, but she was also jealous in her heart; her expression was not obvious, but she still looked soft.

Her family was rich in the village, and they once bought such pastries, but after her brother became a child student, he asked for money more frequently at home; she had less pocket money than before, and she did not dare to buy things lavishly. Looking at it now, how could she not be jealous?

Three people have different ideas.

Zhou Yuan’s two friends were so surprised that their jaws dropped, and they were happy for their good friend in their hearts. So many things; karma must be angry with Zhou Xiang’er and Zhou Qingqing. If they go back to the village, they want to see how the people in the village could still say that Zhou Yuan was disgraced. Wei Cheng said that it was Zhou Yuan who couldn’t look at him; it’s not that Zhou Yuan was disliked.

Although they all knew that these were Wei Cheng’s words of defense, at least they could restore Zhou Yuan’s reputation in the village. Zhou Qiu and Zhou Muzi were happy.

Seeing that Zhou Yuan insisted on not wanting it, Wei Cheng thought about it and passed the other boxes to Zhou Qiu and Zhou Muzi, first giving some to Zhou Yuan’s friends; Zhou Yuan would definitely not be able to refuse.

If you don’t have a teacher to please your sweetheart, you must first please the people around your sweetheart.

Wei Cheng stuffed Zhou Qiu and Zhou Muzi with a box, “This is for you.”

Zhou Qiu and Zhou Muzi subconsciously took it.

They also have some?

Both of them were stunned. They looked at the box of pastries in their hands. They couldn’t take them because they were so valuable. They were about to give them back to Wei Cheng, but Wei Cheng said to Zhou Yuan, “Zhou-ger, your friends have taken it; you can’t not take it. This was specially bought for you.”

Zhou Qiu and Zhou Muzi knew each other very well. They silently took back the things they wanted to return and understood what Wei Cheng meant. This was a pastry for bribing them, so they were not embarrassed to take it; instead, they persuaded Zhou-ger.

Zhou Yuan insisted on refusing to take it. He couldn’t take Wei Cheng’s things. If it were a small bag, he wouldn’t be able to shirk it, but Wei Cheng bought too much, so how could he take it?

“If you don’t take it, the people around us would gather even more. You push it back to me in front of them; are you rejecting me to embarrass me?” Wei Cheng simply threatened.

Looking around, Zhou Yuan saw that there were more people, and explained in a panic, “No, I didn’t mean that.”

Wei Cheng was trying to scare him, but he didn’t want Zhou-ger to misunderstand him. Taking advantage of his flustered thoughts, Wei Cheng directly stuffed something into his hand, and the two of them would inevitably touch each other with their fingers.

As soon as they touched hands, Zhou Yuan was even more flustered and at a loss. Wei Cheng was very satisfied when he touched his sweetheart’s hand; the touch was very soft, but it was a pity that he only touched it once. It would be great if he could hold it tightly!

Wei Cheng looked at Zhou-ger, who was blushing and at a loss, with a smile on his face and eyes, “I’m fine; you go shopping.”

Although he still wanted to stay, because of Zhou Yuan’s reputation, he had no choice but to leave.

The three in Zhou Qingqing’s group didn’t leave. Looking at the person they didn’t like, each of them had food in their hands, feeling jealous and resentful in their hearts, and secretly scolded Wei Cheng for being blind.

How could one be so good to a ger?

“Hey, you haven’t left yet; do you want to have a piece?” Zhou Qiu said proudly.

“It’s just a box of pastries, and it’s not like I haven’t eaten it before; who cares!”

The three women left angrily.

They waited for the three to go away before Zhou Qiu excitedly said to Zhou Yuan, “Yuan Yuan, this Wei Cheng was definitely interested in you. He was handsome and gentle and considerate to you. You have to take good care of him.”

Zhou Muzi was also happy for his friend, “Yuan Yuan, Wei Cheng really cares about you; he even gave us cakes to please you.”

“That’s right! For your sake, Muzi and I had a good time.” If they took a box of pastries home, the family must be happy.

Zhou Yuan murmured, “Wei Cheng, he didn’t mean that.”

Oh really?

Looking at the food in his hands, Zhou Yuan’s face remained flushed; he was contemplative and uncertain, but there was joyful anticipation in his heart.

Zhou Yuan brought back so many things that he couldn’t hide them even if he wanted to.

“Uncle, uncle, snacks.”

“Uncle, wow, so much food!”

“Uncle, was this for us?”

The nephews and nieces chattered a lot when they saw the delicious food in their uncle’s hands. Usually, their uncle would buy them snacks when he came back, and they had a good relationship with their uncle, so they all surrounded him and asked him for snacks. Zhou Yuan was trapped among the children and couldn’t get out, so he had to take out a pack of oil paper and hand it to his eldest brother’s son, asking him to share it with his younger siblings.

The little nephews and nieces took the food and went outside to share.

Mother Zhou heard the voice coming out of the house, and she kept thinking about whether her ger was in a better mood than when he went out in the morning. When he came back, she put down her needlework and came out of the house.

“Yuan Yuan, you’re back.” Mother Zhou’s eyes fell on her ger carrying a big bag in his hand, with a surprised face. “This… Yuan Yuan, where did you get the things in your hand?”

She knew how much money her ger had. If he bought so many things, he would run out of savings even if he had enough money, and her ger was not a big spender either.

Zhou Yuan didn’t know how to explain it, so he stood where he was. “Mother…”

“Yuan Yuan, take the things into the house first, and explain to your mother.”

Zhou Yuan obediently followed Mother Zhou into the house, feeling uneasy and afraid that Mother Zhou would scold him for accepting Wei Cheng’s things at will.

Sitting down, Mother Zhou asked, “Who gave this to you?”

Zhou Yuan put the things on the table, stood in front of Mother Zhou, and did not hide them. “Wei Cheng gave them.”

“Wei Cheng?! He bought this?”

“En.”

It wasn’t surprising for Mother Zhou to be surprised. How could Wei Cheng buy so many things for her ger? Mother Zhou was a little nervous. “Tell Mother, how could Wei Cheng buy you so many things for no reason?”

“I have no idea…”

Zhou Yuan said that today he and his friends met Wei Cheng on the street. Wei Cheng originally wanted to treat them, but then turned and walked away, telling him to wait at the same place, and then he saw that the other had bought cakes and snacks for him when he came back. As for the unpleasant meeting with Zhou Xiang’er and Zhou Qingqing, he didn’t mention it.

Mother Zhou couldn’t make up her mind after hearing her ger’s words, and then she looked at her ger. She still didn’t understand what he was thinking, and when it came to Wei Cheng, his face turned red, and his eyes dodged hers. After returning from a blind date in the county town, she has been out of her mind for a few days, knowing that her ger must have fallen in love with Wei Cheng.

This was originally destined to be impossible, but since this happened today, at least in her heart, she felt that Wei Cheng had some thoughts on her ger.

She also hopes that her ger could find a sweetheart to marry.

She just didn’t know if this Wei Cheng was really interested in her ger.

In the county town, she could also see Wei Cheng’s character from Wei Cheng’s behavior. If her Zhou family and the Wei family were married, it would definitely be her Zhou family’s leap to a higher ranking, which was why she absolutely disagreed with her ger going on a blind date in the county.

But now, her ger’s heart was set on Wei Cheng; if Wei Cheng was also interested, she would not object to her ger marrying the person he likes.

“Yuan Yuan, you go back to your room first. When your father comes back later, Mother will discuss it with your father.”

It was afternoon, and the people of the house would be coming back soon.

Zhou Yuan returned to his room after listening to his mother’s words; his thoughts were still confused.

After returning from the field, Father Zhou, the three older brothers of the Zhou family, and several sisters-in-law of the Zhou family were chatting at the place where the women of the village gathered, and they also counted the time until they came back.

The little ones had snacks and ran out early, but they didn’t see them.

Everyone entered the room together. The living room was originally not big, and it was even more cramped with all the people together.

At the same time, their eyes fell on the table, several boxes of pastries, and bags of oil paper.

They were all shocked!

“Mother, where did this come from?” Zhou Yuan’s eldest sister-in-law immediately called out, intending to reach out to look through it, while the second sister-in-law and third sister-in-law followed the steps of the sister-in-law to look through it, but Mother Zhou’s words made them stop.

“You three go out first.”

There were so many good things here, such as pastries and dried fruits. Zhou Yuan’s sisters-in-law were not willing to let them go, and Zhou Yuan’s eldest sister-in-law couldn’t wait to take them all back to the house. The eldest sister-in-law raised a smile, “Mom, then these…”

Looking at Mother Zhou’s serious gaze, Zhou Yuan’s eldest sister-in-law had no choice but to keep her mouth shut. Although Mother Zhou was a good mother-in-law, once her expression became serious, they would not dare to make a mistake.

They went out angrily.

No matter how dissatisfied they were in their hearts, they didn’t dare to speak out, and they could only dare to mutter outside the house.

How could Mother Zhou not know the thoughts of the daughters-in-law in the family? She secretly thought that her ger could not get married because of this family, and had to be supported by the family. She loved her ger, and even if the rough men in the family didn’t understand, how could she not?

The things on the table belonged to her ger, and no one was allowed to move them unless she spoke.

Unrelated people went out, and Mother Zhou told Father Zhou and three sons about the matter.

“Mother, what does Wei Cheng mean by this?”

Father Zhou, who was silent for a moment, said, “Find someone to go to the Wei Family’s house to find out.”

Zhou Yong cried out in dissatisfaction, “Why would we be looking for him? If Wei Cheng has feelings for our ger, he should be the one looking for us.”

“Brother was right. If you go to find out and let outsiders know, they would say that our Zhou family has no shame.” Zhou Shan seconded.

Zhou Zheng said, “Father, mother, we have to consider our ger’s reputation. If Wei Cheng has feelings for our ger, Wei Cheng would find someone to come. If he didn’t find someone to come, then he has no heart for him.”

Father Zhou said seriously, “You are right.”

Mother Zhou nodded, “Then we’ll wait for two days.”

If Wei Cheng made such a move in the county, if he really liked their ger, he should find someone to be a matchmaker. If not, no matter what Wei Cheng meant, she would stop his ger from contacting Wei Cheng.

A ger’s reputation was the most important thing; how could they allow such ambiguous contact?

Mother Zhou planned to divide the things that her ger brought back. Store the cakes if they could, and let the family share them if they couldn’t. The oily paper-wrapped candies and dried fruits could be stored as snacks.

Mother Zhou opened a bag of oil paper, looked at it, and exclaimed, “Why was there still meat here?!”

Father Zhou and the three brothers of the Zhou family also watched Mother Zhou tidy the things up. They were also very surprised to see so many things, and they all looked when they heard Mother Zhou’s words.

The meat must weigh at least two catties.

Meat was a rare commodity. Meat costing more than 20 wen a catty was difficult for country people to eat. The Zhou family could only buy half a catty in a month or two for special events. Meat weighing two catties was difficult for them, so they were surprised by Wei Cheng’s generosity.

After being shocked, they all recovered, but anyone could see that the three brothers of the Zhou family were all greedy for the meat in Mother Zhou’s hand, and they waited for Mother Zhou to speak.

Mother Zhou decided, “Cook all the meat tonight, and we could have a good meal at home.”

The three brothers of the Zhou family showed joy on their faces.

“Go and call your wives in and let us share the things.” Mother Zhou said.

“Okay!”