The Second Young Master’s Obedient Husband : Chapter 22

The next day, Liang Yu sent Su Qingyu back, distributed the bear meat and bear fat among the family members, and also had Shuanzi deliver two strings of meat and a jar of bear fat to Su Qingyu.

He took the remaining bear skin and bear meat to the prefectural city. He returned five days later, and it was said he sold them for quite a lot of silver.

No one knew the exact amount. They only knew that when Liang Yu returned, he brought back several cartloads of things. Cloth, grain, cured meat, wine, and all kinds of exquisite items bought for the family members.

When the villagers saw those things, their eyes turned red with envy, but no one dared to say anything.

Someone passed by and took a few extra looks. When they went back, they told their family: “No one knows how Master Liang killed that bear.”

Someone else said: “I heard that bear could snap a tree with one slap. Master Liang stabbed it right in the heart with one knife. That must have taken tremendous strength.”

Another person lowered their voice: “Don’t provoke the Liang family from now on, especially Master Liang. That one is a Yama King. If provoked, he can stab you with one knife.”

This spread around, and no one dared to speak gossip about the Liang family anymore.

By extension, the Su family side also became peaceful.

Those few people by the well that day, when they saw Su Qingyu again, their eyes dodged and shifted, no longer daring to say those sour words. Wang’s wife especially took a detour to avoid him, afraid of running into him.

Su Qingyu didn’t notice at first, but gradually he realized the villagers’ gazes toward him had changed. Before, it was the kind of look that was curious, contemptuous, and tinged with sourness. Now there was something else, a mix of fear and respect, with eager attempts to curry favor. Su Qingyu wasn’t stupid. He knew what this was because of.

Lying on the kang at night, thinking of Liang Yu’s appearance that day, he felt both afraid and warm in his heart.

Su Qingyu buried his face in the pillow, thinking of that person, smiling foolishly.

A few more days passed, and something happened in the village. Someone went up the mountain to gather firewood and discovered a corpse. They ran back to the village and called the young men to carry the body. The corpse was frozen stiff, and from the condition, it had been dead for over a month.

The corpse was in a mountain hollow, concealed by trees, and normally no one came there. It was only because firewood was hard to gather in winter that the person went a bit deeper into the mountains and discovered it. The corpse’s face was covered in blood and scratches, and its limbs were twisted, almost unrecognizable as human. The villagers took quite a while to identify it. It was Liu Laizi.

Liu Laizi was a good for nothing scoundrel who hung around with Ma Dan. He also liked gambling in town. When he had no money, he went home to demand it. If they didn’t give it, he stole. In the countryside, he bullied men and women. The Liu family had paid out compensation many times. If it weren’t for his older brother Liu still being around, he probably would have beaten his parents too. The Liu family were all hardworking and honest people, but they were dragged down by this scoundrel and lived in extreme poverty.

Thus, when Liu Laizi had been missing for over a month, no one in the Liu family went looking for him. Without Liu Laizi, the Liu family’s autumn harvest money could stay in their own hands. Although they were still poor, they could finally have a good New Year where they could eat meat.

The Liu family’s older brother carried Liu Laizi back, wrapped him in a straw mat, dug a hole in the mountains and buried him. They didn’t even hold a funeral banquet.

Indeed, what was there to hold a funeral for when such a rotten person died?

No one in the village blamed the Liu family for this. The people who had been bullied by Liu Laizi secretly gathered for a small celebration, drinking and eating. Everyone’s brows carried light, joyful smiles.

In the evening, Liang Yu was drinking in his room. Shuanzi came in like a thief, hunched over and creeping. Liang Yu grew annoyed just looking at his manner. He set down his cup, kicked the man, and watched him stand up straight before asking, “How are things going?”

Shuanzi chuckled. Having been kicked, he didn’t make a fuss. He hung his head and stood in place, honestly saying, “The body has already been discovered. The Liu family dug a grave and buried him. Nothing went wrong.”

Liang Yu picked up the wine bottle and poured another cup. His brows were lowered, as if weighing something. After drinking a cup of wine, he spoke again, “What about Ma Dan?”

Shuanzi answered honestly, “The silver has been spread around and everything has been arranged. Boss Chen has agreed, guaranteeing that Ma Dan will lose everything. The Zhou family has had that girl’s maiden family send a complaint to the yamen. The matter of Zhou Dalang strangling his own ge’er will also make him suffer. The word has also been spread in the village. Uncle Liang always couldn’t stand those kinds of things. Although he is the village head, at most he could only offer a few warnings. Anything more was beyond his power. Now there is a pretext, so he won’t let the Zhou family stay in the village anymore.”

Liang Yu listened and nodded with satisfaction. He pulled out a silver ingot from his clothes and tossed it to Shuanzi. “You’ve done well. Father values reputation and also can’t stand those beastly deeds. Now that there is a pretext, he can properly handle things. When the time comes, lead Ma Dan into the mountains. I’ll do it myself.”

After Liang Yu finished speaking, he looked up and saw Shuanzi biting the silver with a money grubber’s expression. He laughed and cursed, “When have I ever shortchanged you? You’ve saved quite a bit of silver with me. When are you going to propose to Chunniang? If you drag it out for another two years, I’ll have my sister in law marry Chunniang off to someone else. You’re a grown man, acting so cowardly and useless. What kind of appearance is that?”

Chunniang was originally the daughter of a small merchant family. Although not enormously wealthy, she lived without worry for food or clothing. Back then, there was a flood in the south and also war. The whole family fled north. On the road, they encountered bandits. Their family wealth was robbed, and her father was killed by the robbers. Her mother protected Chunniang and Chunniang’s younger brother, hiding them. To protect the two children, she led the bandits away and was also killed. The two half grown children hid for three or four days, not daring to come out. They survived on grass roots and rainwater. Later they encountered a human trafficker and voluntarily sold themselves, which was how they survived and made it to the north.

Shuanzi used to be very thin and small. He was the second child in his family, with an older brother above him and a younger brother of three or four years below. Life was hard, so that family sold Shuanzi for a few dou of rice. At the human trafficker’s place, he met Chunniang and her brother. The three of them banded together so they wouldn’t be bullied to death or starve.

The human trafficker arrived in the north and was selling people in town. By chance, Mother Liang came to town to buy things. Seeing the three children being bullied pitifully, she bought them all together. Chunniang was given to her daughter in law Zhang Yun. Chunniang’s younger brother was made a page boy for Liang Feng. Shuanzi helped around the house, and after Liang Yu returned, he came to serve by Liang Yu’s side.

The Liang family had much land and was not harsh in treating people. All three children were raised well. Shuanzi liked Chunniang, but felt that since she was formerly a young lady from a wealthy family, he was unworthy of her. Whatever good things he had, he sent to Chunniang, but he never dared to propose marriage.

Shuanzi held the silver, hearing Liang Yu’s words, grew somewhat anxious. “Master, don’t! I…”

Shuanzi clenched his fist and threw caution to the wind, saying, “I’ll propose during the New Year. Master, just wait to drink the wedding wine.”

Hearing Shuanzi’s promise, Liang Yu finally waved his hand and let him go.