After the bath, perhaps because he was tired from all the crying earlier, Guaizai fell asleep just after Fang Zichen carried him around the courtyard a couple of times.
That night, after they had lain down in bed and Zhao Ger finished tucking Guaizai in, Fang Zichen asked him, "Who is Aunt He?"
Zhao Ger thought for a moment and replied, "She's the one who asked me to help her dig up sweet potatoes."
If he mentioned anything else, Fang Zichen might have had to think about it, but mentioning sweet potatoes made him remember instantly.
Damn it, so it's that stingy woman.
Zhao Ger asked, "Why are you asking about her?"
Remembering what those women had said, Fang Zichen was furious. At the time, he had wanted to slap each of them so hard their teeth would go crooked. But a trace of reason held him back. He gritted his teeth and muttered, "Her skin is itching."
[皮癢 (pí yǎng): lit. Skin is itching; fig. Asking for a beating, looking for trouble.]
Zhao Ger looked at him strangely and immediately propped himself up to look at him: "You even know her skin is itching? Did she tell you that?"
He hadn't caught the underlying meaning!
Fang Zichen didn't want to tell him, afraid Zhao Ger would feel bad if he heard: "Sleep, sleep, don't ask so many questions."
"No," Zhao Ger wouldn't let him sleep, his brow furrowed tightly, urging, "You have to explain clearly."
Fang Zichen was now the fragrant steamed bun, the coveted pork belly in the village, everyone wanted a bite. Now that He Huihui was back, Aunt He was probably planning something.
Fang Zichen was puzzled: "Explain what?"
"Did Aunt He approach you?" Zhao Ger asked again.
"No!" Fang Zichen caught on and laughed directly: "Are you afraid Aunt He will try to seduce me?"
Zhao Ger: "......" It's not Aunt He I'm afraid of, but her daughter.
If it had been Aunt He herself, Zhao Ger wouldn't have worried. As long as Fang Zichen's mind was clear, Aunt He would stand no chance against him.
Fang Zichen didn't know what he was thinking, but seeing Zhao Ger so concerned, he felt quite pleased.
"Relax, relax. I plan to hang myself on your tree for this lifetime, not look for the next one." Fang Zichen laughed, leaning close to his ear, speaking tenderly: "If anyone tries to get close to me, I'll kick them away. I'll preserve my purity for you, strictly abide by male virtue."
Zhao Ger was happy in his heart, but he pressed his lips together and didn't smile.
Fang Zichen added, "Finding a husband like me, your ancestral grave must have caught fire. Just smoking wouldn't have been enough."
Zhao Ger pinched his smoothly defined chin and kissed the corner of his mouth: "Have some shame."
Zhao Ger needed to stay home to collect chilies, so he wouldn't open the shop for now. The business was good, and he really couldn't bear to close it, but with no one at home, there was no choice, no matter how reluctant he was.
One noon, while Fang Zichen was talking with Yang Mingyi, someone came in and said that someone from the slave broker was looking for him
Fang Zichen went out and recognized the manager from the slave broker. Last time, he didn't manage to buy anyone, so the manager had promised to notify him first when new 'goods' arrived.
Him describing people like that made Fang Zichen uncomfortable, but he also knew that in Da Xia, this was how it was. Some people were high above, revered and supported by thousands, while others were like ants, their lives thinner than paper.
Last time, before Fang Zichen could get a good look at those maidservants, Zhao Ger dragged him away. The slave broker's manager, having witnessed Fang Zichen not throw a tantrum and even buying tanghulu for his fulang outside the door, knew what kind of person to introduce to him.
Fang Zichen went with the manager. Just as they reached the entrance, they heard someone crying. The voice sounded very familiar.
When he stepped inside to look, he immediately understood why the voice had sounded so familiar.
There, locked in one of the holding cages, were Lin Xiaoxia and his entire family of three.
Fang Zichen stood outside the iron bars, shocked, blinking uncertainly: "Lin Xiaoxia? What happened? How did your family end up here?"
"Oh, it's you, Young Master!" Li Yanmei cried out when she saw him, tears immediately welling in her eyes: "Before I die, being able to see you one more time, I can die without regrets."
Fang Zichen: "......" This big sister really doesn't like speaking like a normal person.
The slave broker's manager looked at him, his eyes full of admiration.
Li Yanmei wasn't bad-looking, she even had quite a bit of charm. In her youth, suitors had lined up along the entire street hoping to win her favor. However, her extraordinary talent for butchering pigs became legendary. One day, while Li Da was bringing a pig to their stall, the pig suddenly broke loose. Li Yanmei rushed from their house, seized the fleeing pig by its neck, and with a single powerful chokehold, pinned the struggling pig to the ground right there in the street. She shouted for Li Da to bring the butcher knife, then swiftly stabbed the pig in the neck where it lay. Blood gushed across the roadway.
Though her actions demonstrated remarkable strength and efficiency, but it was also truly bloody.
Everyone who saw it, those who had previously considered proposing, instantly didn't dare anymore.
Who wouldn't be afraid of marrying a woman like that?
Right after marriage might be fine, but after living together for a long time, arguments and conflicts were unavoidable. At that time, if Li Yanmei lost her temper and struck her husband, given her formidable strength, her husband would probably die on the spot.
Anyone who dared to marry such a woman could be considered a real man.
And this was even about adultery.
Fang Zichen immediately said, "Don't look at me like that. I don't have any connection with her!"
Jiaojiao wiped her tears. She still had some impression of Fang Zichen. Last time, this uncle came to buy bones, carrying a pretty little brother.
"Uncle, do you have any buns? Jiaojiao is so hungry."
I don't have any buns!
Fang Zichen looked at the family of three in the cage with deep confusion and asked, "How... how did you end up in this situation?"
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