The Second Young Master’s Obedient Husband : Chapter 35

Spring deepened day by day, and all the trees on the mountains turned green.

Liang Yu grew busy. The medicinal herbs in the deep mountains had reached their harvest season, and those mountain goods hidden under decaying leaves also had to be dug up while the time was right. Also, the five poisons were all coming out now, and catching them could fetch a good price.

Those things all had to be stored in the wooden house.

The first time he caught a snake and brought it back, Liang Yu stood in front of the wooden house and thought about it. That little man would probably be afraid.

The next day, he had Shuanzi pass on a message, saying he was busy in the mountains and wouldn’t be coming over these days.

After Shuanzi finished speaking, he left. Su Qingyu stood in the courtyard, watching that figure disappear at the alley entrance, standing for a good while.

Mother Su called him from inside the room, and he only then came back to his senses.

Life went on as usual.

The beans in the field had grown somewhat, a stretch of green, looking delightful. Su Qingyu went to check every two days, pulled some weeds, loosened the soil. Those few mu of rented land, the Zhou tenant farmer tended them carefully, the wheat seedlings growing neat and tidy, even better than what he planted himself.

He also bought a little piglet, and built a pigpen in the courtyard. The piglet grunted and squealed, eating three meals a day, growing fast.

When he lay down at night, Su Qingyu would occasionally think of that person, those tender kisses, those soft words, those wild nights.

Wondering what he was doing in the mountains, whether he was tired, whether he was eating well.

After thinking, he felt he was thinking too much.

The man was busy earning silver, where would he have the energy to think of these things.

He closed his eyes, forced himself to sleep.

Entering the third month, the weather grew warmer day by day.

During the busy spring season, the villagers were all working in the fields. Occasionally meeting on the road, they would exchange greetings and a few words of idle chat. No one mentioned Liang Yu, and no one asked anything.

Su Qingyu didn’t ask either.

All the beans in the field had sprouted, tender and green, standing in rows on the ridges. Su Qingyu came back from the fields, mud on his shoe soles, scraped it off at the courtyard gate, and entered the courtyard.

The chicks and ducklings had grown another size, their fluffy down shedding some, hard feathers growing out. Hearing footsteps, they cheeped and gathered around begging for food. Su Qingyu smiled and shooed them away, went inside to change clothes, then came out and scattered a handful of grain for them.

Mother Su sat in the courtyard basking in the sun, holding a shoe sole in her hands and stitching, the stitches slow but steady and sure.

“How are the beans in the field?”

“They came up evenly.” Su Qingyu sat down at the side, picked up the unfinished embroidery work. “In a few more days we can weed.”

Mother Su nodded, and didn’t ask further.

The chicks at home gradually grew up, and started laying eggs. The first time he found that warm egg, Su Qingyu held it and looked at it for a good while, then took it to show Mother Su. Mother Su touched it, and a smile appeared on her face too.

“Good, good, from now on we’ll have eggs to eat.”

Su Qingyu nodded, and put that egg away carefully.

The sun shone warm and lazy, occasionally wind blew past, carrying the scent of green grass and earth. The courtyard was quiet and peaceful, only the faint sound of needle passing through fabric.

Su Qingyu lowered his head and embroidered, embroidering a sweat cloth, lotus purple base, with interlocking lotus patterns on top. Under his fine white fingers, lotus flowers slowly appeared one by one.

Embroidering and embroidering, he thought of Liang Yu.

Liang Yu was busy. In spring the mountain goods on the mountains were plentiful, it was the time to earn silver. When Shuanzi came to deliver things, he had said that Second Master was very busy, spending whole days wandering in the mountains, sometimes not coming down for several days.

Su Qingyu knew he should be busy, but he still missed him.

Lying on the kang at night, tossing and turning unable to sleep, his mind was full of that face. Thinking and thinking, his face grew hot, buried his face in the pillow, his ears red.

That day he went to town to sell embroidery work, accumulated from the whole winter’s labor, exchanged for a bit over two taels of silver. Coming back he passed by a bookshop, hesitated for a long time, and still went in.

The bookshop keeper was a middle aged man around forty, seeing Su Qingyu enter, he froze for a moment, and asked what book he wanted to buy. Su Qingyu’s face was red, stammering and stuttering for a long time, before saying he wanted to buy that kind… with pictures.

The shopkeeper glanced at him, didn’t say much, and took out several small booklets from the inner room. The covers were plain, showing nothing. Flipping through them, inside were all pictures that made one’s face red and heart race, two little figures tangled together, in various positions.

Su Qingyu’s face was red as if dripping blood, his hands shaking as he picked three books, paid the money, stuffed them into his clothes and ran.

Back home he hid them at the very bottom of the kang cabinet in his small room, nobody knew.

At night he secretly took them out to look, looking at one page his face would be red for half a day, after looking he hurriedly hid them away, his heart beating so hard it wanted to jump out of his throat.

Those pictures inside, there were many positions, ones he hadn’t tried.

Liang Yu treated him well, but men all liked fresh and exciting things. Those who wanted to climb onto Liang Yu were many, from the village, from town, good looking young men and girls aplenty. What did he have? He was only relying on Liang Yu’s current freshness.

But how long could freshness last?

Su Qingyu had to let Liang Yu taste his goodness, taste what others couldn’t give, then that heart wouldn’t shift to someone else. When winter arrived, then they could…

Su Qingyu thought and thought, and the needle in his hand stopped.

Mother Su asked at the side. “What are you thinking about?”

Su Qingyu came back to his senses, his face went red, lowered his head and continued embroidering. “Nothing.”

Mother Su glanced at him, and didn’t ask further.

The sun slowly tilted west, and the courtyard grew somewhat cool. Su Qingyu put away the needle and thread, stood up to make dinner. Fire burned in the kitchen, the rice in the pot bubbled and gurgled. Squatting in front of the stove adding firewood, the firelight reflected on that face, pretty in appearance, but his thoughts didn’t know where they had drifted off to.

Second Brother Liang was in the mountains, he didn’t know if he was eating well.

Whether the dry rations he brought were enough, whether he had encountered any danger.

Those few booklets, when the time came… he didn’t know if he would like them.

Thinking and thinking, his face grew hot again.

After eating dinner, Su Qingyu returned to his small room. He lit the lamp, and took out those three booklets from under the kang cabinet, and flipped through them again.

He flipped to a certain page, and stopped.

What was drawn on it was a person lying on their stomach, from behind… Su Qingyu looked at that picture, his face red as if dripping blood, yet looked carefully for a long time.

This position, hadn’t been tried.

He didn’t know if Second Brother Liang would like it.

He closed the booklet and hid it away, blew out the lamp and lay down.

Outside, insects were calling, chirp chirp chirp, one after another. Moonlight filtered through the window paper, hazy and indistinct.

Su Qingyu opened his eyes, looking at the roof, looking for a long time.

In a few more days, Shuanzi should come to deliver things. When that time came, he would ask, when could Second Brother Liang come down the mountain.