Chapter 3 : 出嫁 (Get Married)
Zhong Ziqi lay in bed staring at the grey curtain, his thoughts couldn’t help but drift away, wondering if his modern self had died or if he had exchanged souls with this body? If he had died his parents would be very sad, right? But fortunately he was not the only son in his family,he had a very capable elder brother above him who would certainly take care of his parents,because of that,he was at ease.
And that man — that man would be sad for him too, right? After all, they were still good friends on the surface, he thought for sure he had been successful in hiding it all these years. Thinking of the happy days since they met, Zhong Ziqi sighed bitterly, so finally he could completely give up on this unrequited love.
His thoughts turned back,Zhong Ziqi let out another sigh, still a bit confused, feeling as if he was floating on the ground. He hadn’t gotten used to the idea of being married to a fool ……
He didn’t even know how to describe his feelings at the moment. Although he himself is a gay and do not rejected the idea of man being with a man, but the other party is a stranger, moreover still a fool ne! He…he really didn’t know what the future would be like, so he could only take one step at a time.
Time flies, in the blink of an eye, it is the day when Zhong Ziqi gets married. Because of the special circumstances of both parties, one was stupid and the other was in mourning, since both parties were trying to save money, they only invited a few people to a simple banquet so after the meal, it was over.
Zhong Ziqi was sitting on the bed in a half-used dress, next to a silly man who was giggling all the time. This was the first time Zhong Ziqi had seen Zhao Zheng’an, with his thick eyebrows, long narrow eyes, high outstanding nose, thick lips, strong and sturdy body, a head plus a half taller than him, all of these, made it clear that he was a handsome man.
Zhong Ziqi shook his head with regret, how could such a handsome man become a fool? What a waste!
[暴殄天物/bào tiǎn tiān wù: to waste natural resources recklessly]
“What’s your name,” Zhong Ziqi asked gently, he knew his name, but he couldn’t just sit there like a fool, he needed to communicate and get to know him a bit.
“A Fool, a fool.” Zhao Zheng’an said giggling.
Zhong Ziqi frowned, needless to say, this must be what he was usually called all the time. He was a little upset since he was a man who hated the discrimination and insulting people willfully.Maybe it was because since childhood,he had been a sensitive mind and kind-hearted person. It could also be that when he grew up, he found out that his sexuality was different from others therefore he was afraid of the discrimination and so on. Then he grabbed Zhao Zheng’an’s shoulder somewhat seriously and said, “Your name is not fool, your name is Zhao Zheng’an, Zhao Zheng’an, remember?”
The silly man giggled, “Zhao Zheng’an, Zhao Zheng’an.”
“Good child! my name is Zhong Ziqi, it’s your–” Zhong Ziqi said this,pausing for a moment, not knowing how to say it, he really had a hard time bringing in this identity of being this fool’s Fu Lang.
“Wife, you’re my wife.” Zhao Zheng’an suddenly shouted, his hand also came up to grab his hand.
Zhong Ziqi froze for a moment, immediately retorted with a glare, “I’m not your wife, I’m your er…your brother (Xiong ti) , yes, brother.”
“No way, Amu said you’re my wife, my wife, oooh.” His eyes were red as he looked at him pitifully, fearing that he might object.
He didn’t have to think about it this time, he must had been brainwashed straight away.
“Okay, okay, then you have to listen to me from now on, okay? You will do whatever I tell you to do, otherwise I won’t want you anymore.” Zhong Ziqi black line. He is such a big man,although well, he is only seventeen years old, but this pathetic and pitiful look is a kind of ‘déjà vu’ and ‘contrast lovely’. What should he do?
反差萌(contrast lovely/contrast Moe/Meng)
Note about ‘black line’/黑线 :
Black line is a word, pronounced hēi xiàn, meaning a line that is considered reactionary, and also refers to the presentation of a cartoon. 1. a line that is considered reactionary. 2. comic expression.It is often used to show a character in a depressed state of mind, or in a state of shock.
When they had finished communicating, there was a loud banging sound on the door.
“My Amu wants you guys to come over.” A voice rang out then immediately it disappeared, so the person must have run away.
Zhong Ziqi knew that this must be Zhao Zhenghong, the child of Zhao Zhengan’s stepmother. Calling himself over? He wonders what they want.
Zhong Ziqi got up and took only two steps outside but suddenly he couldn’t walk anymore so he turned back to look upwards at the hand he was pulled by, it was the same pitiful looking of Zhao Zheng’an: “Wife, wife.”
Zhong Ziqi resigned himself to his fate and sighed, after that he took the hand that was much larger than his, very rough palm, then he walked out the door. When he came into the hall, Zhao Cheng and Wang were sitting there,next to them was Zhao Zhenghong whose eyes were wandering around.
Zhao Cheng, who is a little taller than Zhao Zheng’an and has darker skin, when he saw Zhao Zheng’an enter, he just swept a lazy glance and turned his head away. Wang, whose real name was Wang Cuihua, was a slightly chubby ger with thin lips, at the first glance, he was just look as mean and sarcastic as Li Xiujuan.
Sure enough, Wang Cuihua was the first to say something: “Qi Ge’er, you just got married today, so there’s something I need to talk to you about, Zheng’an, this kid is now seventeen years and old enough to be separated from the family. We can’t just keep raising him forever,right? His brother is not married yet, if word gets out that the family has raised a stupid brother, who would dare to marry him?”
Zhong Ziqi looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not expecting him to be so direct: “So do you mean?”
“Let’s split up the family.”
“So, Amu (Mother), how do you want to divide it?” On the outside, Zhong Ziqi looked ignorant but on the inside he was very happy. It would be good to divide the family and it would be better if it could be done tomorrow.
“We have twelve mu of land, and we’ll give you three mu. What do you think? That’s a lot of land, enough for you two to live on.”
Wang Cuihua said it, as if the nose was not nose and the eyes were not eyes, he had been distressed for a long time by the division of these three mu.
[Notes on ‘Nose is not a nose, eyes are not eyes’ : Describes that people are upset and angry. Also the same as [the nose is not a nose, the face is not a face].]
“What about the money? Amu, we don’t have any money.”
“You still want money? How much did this medicine jar cost the family? It’s a good thing that we didn’t ask for the money from you.” Wang Cuihua was in mean mode, rambling on about how much money Zhao Zheng’an had spent all this time of being stupid.
But Zhong Ziqi didn’t care about any of this. He said, seemingly sadly, ” Mother, Father, how can we live without money, and where will we live if we split up? I think it’s better not to divide, I will serve both of you well.” He knew that Zhao Zheng’an’s signature had to be on the letter of division;if he didn’t agree, no one would be able to get him to sign it.
As expected, Wang Cuihua became anxious: “Not Divide? Do you want to stay in our family? I don’t need you to serve me, this family must be divided ……”
Zhong Ziqi didn’t say a word, just stood there blankly, Zhao Zheng’an cowered, holding his hand while standing behind him, he was afraid of Amu and Atie (mother and father) who would beat him at every turn.
The atmosphere was somewhat silent for a while, with only Wang Cuihua cursing from time to time.
At this point Zhao Cheng as the head of the family spoke up impatiently: “All right, all right, you can have your money (one thousand coins). As for the house, there is an ancestral house at the back of the village which is not too dilapidated, you can go there and live there.” Wang Cuihua wanted to say something else, but was immediately stopped by Zhao Cheng’s eyes, so he just stared at Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zheng’an with indignation.
The ancestral home? From memory, there were several empty houses not far from the village, at the foot of the mountain, the houses were all in a state of disrepair. These were the houses of his grandfather’s generation,they even dare to say it out! But Zhong Ziqi also does not refute, for one thing, he knew that if he didn’t live there, he would be homeless. The Zhao family ‘s house has no spare space for him to live, the second is that it is far away from the village, which he prefers since he is not familiar with the people in the village,so what if they find out that something is wrong with him?
It would be better to stay away from the village and do what he want, quietly and freely.
After that, Wang Cuihua said that he would go to the Li Zheng’s house directly tomorrow to sign the papers, and left in anger. Zhao Cheng also impatiently led his youngest son away.The two of them were left alone in the hall.
Zhong Ziqi shrugged indifferently, the sooner the better, he was not afraid of any bad reputation,only just after the second day of the marriage, yet the family already separated, if it was being spread out around the village,it will be them who could not held their heads up, he himself would be the pitiful one at the best.
“Wife!” Zhao Zheng’an tugged on Zhong Ziqi’s sleeve.
“Hn?” Zhong Ziqi looked back at him.
“He He…” Zhao Zheng’an laughed foolishly.
Only then did Zhong Ziqi realise that just now, Zhao Zheng’an seemed to have been very quiet, so quiet that he didn’t even look like a fool,he couldn’t help but be a little puzzled, “How did you – how did your father and mother treat you?”
“Hit me…Father and mother beat me, hu oo” Zhao Zheng’an’s eyes were red with aggression, his hands were still palpitating, touching his own body.
Zhong Ziqi slapped his hand away, lifted his lapel then he found many red marks on the back of his shoulder, some were about to disappear and others seemed to be new. A twinge of heartache flashed through his heart, but the angry ‘him’ didn’t notice it for a moment.”Let’s stay away from them from now on, just the two of us living together, okay?”
“Yes, okay wife!” Zhao Zheng’an said with silly joy, as if those bruises on his body didn’t hurt at all.
Zhong Ziqi glared at him speechlessly, wondering if the word “wife” had become his mantra.
Not knowing whether it was the unhappy division at noon or what,the evening meal was even worse than the Zhong family’s. Zhong Ziqi frowned as the brown rice ground into his throat,he thought to himself that after the separation of the family, he would buy some rice and eat it,it’s not how you save money.He glanced at Zhao Zheng’an beside him who was eating happily although he was also a little scared to pick up the food to eat. Since he didn’t care about Wang Cuihua’s blank stare, he added a large chopstick of food to Zhao Zheng’an’s bowl.
Zhao Zheng’an was so happy that he immediately gave him a warm smile.
At night Zhong Ziqi lay in bed, looking at the shabby and unpresentable room, it was just as he had thought it would be.
It was the other rooms in the house that were used as the wedding room during the day, but this was the real room of Zhao Zheng’an, it was full of piles of stuff, dusty and smelled bad. Zhong Ziqi stared for a moment with some difficulty in breathing while Zhao Zheng’an was already sleeping beside him, with his arms around his waist.
He tried to take his hands off him but he didn’t expect that this kid to be so strong.
Why is he holding him so tightly….?
The last thing he could do was to turn his head to the other side, by sleeping face to face with Zhao Zheng’an. At least Zhao Zheng’an didn’t have any unpleasant smells on his body, which could buffer the odor a bit.
The second day, Zhong Ziqi woke up to a touching sensation as he opened his eyes to see Zhao Zheng’an enlarged face in front of him, his hand still stroking his face and smiling happily as he woke up, “Wife, your face is so smooth,want to touch.”
Zhong Ziqi had just woken up so he was still a bit confused,then he reacted half-heartedly and hurriedly slapped Zhao Zheng’an’s restless paws away.
What the heck? Touch your sister!
“You’re awake, hurry up and get dressed!” Zhong Ziqi said as he nimbly put on his own clothes, after the past few days of fumbling around,now he had no trouble getting dressed.
But Zhao Zheng’an, however, was still clumsily buttoning up his clothes, some of which were even in the wrong place. Zhong Ziqi couldn’t stand it and slapped his hand away, Zhao Zheng’an covered his hand then he looked at him with an aggrieved face, which made Zhong Ziqi’s sweat stand up, he really didn’t feel comfortable with this kind of “selling cute” (naturally silly) behaviour, he reached over with his hand to unbuttoned the buttons again: “Each button is aligned with a slit, remember, don’t make a mistake.”
(Tl notes: ‘Selling cute’ here is the famous phrase of ‘selling Meng’, I could imagine how cute Zhao Zheng an’s face here, tee hee)
Zhao Zheng’an also didn’t know whether he understood or not but he looked at Zhong Ziqi and giggled foolishly.
Zhong Ziqi didn’t expect him to answer anything, in fact it was good to have a fool, at least he wouldn’t be alone, he could talk to him whenever he was lonely, it was definitely different from living alone. And this person was also a fool who listened to him, so he would raise him and regard him as a son ba!
Chapter 3 : 出嫁 (Get Married)
Zhong Ziqi lay in bed staring at the grey curtain, his thoughts couldn’t help but drift away, wondering if his modern self had died or if he had exchanged souls with this body? If he had died his parents would be very sad, right? But fortunately he was not the only son in his family,he had a very capable elder brother above him who would certainly take care of his parents,because of that,he was at ease.
And that man — that man would be sad for him too, right? After all, they were still good friends on the surface, he thought for sure he had been successful in hiding it all these years. Thinking of the happy days since they met, Zhong Ziqi sighed bitterly, so finally he could completely give up on this unrequited love.
His thoughts turned back,Zhong Ziqi let out another sigh, still a bit confused, feeling as if he was floating on the ground. He hadn’t gotten used to the idea of being married to a fool ……
He didn’t even know how to describe his feelings at the moment. Although he himself is a gay and do not rejected the idea of man being with a man, but the other party is a stranger, moreover still a fool ne! He…he really didn’t know what the future would be like, so he could only take one step at a time.
Time flies, in the blink of an eye, it is the day when Zhong Ziqi gets married. Because of the special circumstances of both parties, one was stupid and the other was in mourning, since both parties were trying to save money, they only invited a few people to a simple banquet so after the meal, it was over.
Zhong Ziqi was sitting on the bed in a half-used dress, next to a silly man who was giggling all the time. This was the first time Zhong Ziqi had seen Zhao Zheng’an, with his thick eyebrows, long narrow eyes, high outstanding nose, thick lips, strong and sturdy body, a head plus a half taller than him, all of these, made it clear that he was a handsome man.
Zhong Ziqi shook his head with regret, how could such a handsome man become a fool? What a waste!
[暴殄天物/bào tiǎn tiān wù: to waste natural resources recklessly]
“What’s your name,” Zhong Ziqi asked gently, he knew his name, but he couldn’t just sit there like a fool, he needed to communicate and get to know him a bit.
“A Fool, a fool.” Zhao Zheng’an said giggling.
Zhong Ziqi frowned, needless to say, this must be what he was usually called all the time. He was a little upset since he was a man who hated the discrimination and insulting people willfully.Maybe it was because since childhood,he had been a sensitive mind and kind-hearted person. It could also be that when he grew up, he found out that his sexuality was different from others therefore he was afraid of the discrimination and so on. Then he grabbed Zhao Zheng’an’s shoulder somewhat seriously and said, “Your name is not fool, your name is Zhao Zheng’an, Zhao Zheng’an, remember?”
The silly man giggled, “Zhao Zheng’an, Zhao Zheng’an.”
“Good child! my name is Zhong Ziqi, it’s your–” Zhong Ziqi said this,pausing for a moment, not knowing how to say it, he really had a hard time bringing in this identity of being this fool’s Fu Lang.
“Wife, you’re my wife.” Zhao Zheng’an suddenly shouted, his hand also came up to grab his hand.
Zhong Ziqi froze for a moment, immediately retorted with a glare, “I’m not your wife, I’m your er…your brother (Xiong ti) , yes, brother.”
“No way, Amu said you’re my wife, my wife, oooh.” His eyes were red as he looked at him pitifully, fearing that he might object.
He didn’t have to think about it this time, he must had been brainwashed straight away.
“Okay, okay, then you have to listen to me from now on, okay? You will do whatever I tell you to do, otherwise I won’t want you anymore.” Zhong Ziqi black line. He is such a big man,although well, he is only seventeen years old, but this pathetic and pitiful look is a kind of ‘déjà vu’ and ‘contrast lovely’. What should he do?
反差萌(contrast lovely/contrast Moe/Meng)
Note about ‘black line’/黑线 :
Black line is a word, pronounced hēi xiàn, meaning a line that is considered reactionary, and also refers to the presentation of a cartoon. 1. a line that is considered reactionary. 2. comic expression.It is often used to show a character in a depressed state of mind, or in a state of shock.
When they had finished communicating, there was a loud banging sound on the door.
“My Amu wants you guys to come over.” A voice rang out then immediately it disappeared, so the person must have run away.
Zhong Ziqi knew that this must be Zhao Zhenghong, the child of Zhao Zhengan’s stepmother. Calling himself over? He wonders what they want.
Zhong Ziqi got up and took only two steps outside but suddenly he couldn’t walk anymore so he turned back to look upwards at the hand he was pulled by, it was the same pitiful looking of Zhao Zheng’an: “Wife, wife.”
Zhong Ziqi resigned himself to his fate and sighed, after that he took the hand that was much larger than his, very rough palm, then he walked out the door. When he came into the hall, Zhao Cheng and Wang were sitting there,next to them was Zhao Zhenghong whose eyes were wandering around.
Zhao Cheng, who is a little taller than Zhao Zheng’an and has darker skin, when he saw Zhao Zheng’an enter, he just swept a lazy glance and turned his head away. Wang, whose real name was Wang Cuihua, was a slightly chubby ger with thin lips, at the first glance, he was just look as mean and sarcastic as Li Xiujuan.
Sure enough, Wang Cuihua was the first to say something: “Qi Ge’er, you just got married today, so there’s something I need to talk to you about, Zheng’an, this kid is now seventeen years and old enough to be separated from the family. We can’t just keep raising him forever,right? His brother is not married yet, if word gets out that the family has raised a stupid brother, who would dare to marry him?”
Zhong Ziqi looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not expecting him to be so direct: “So do you mean?”
“Let’s split up the family.”
“So, Amu (Mother), how do you want to divide it?” On the outside, Zhong Ziqi looked ignorant but on the inside he was very happy. It would be good to divide the family and it would be better if it could be done tomorrow.
“We have twelve mu of land, and we’ll give you three mu. What do you think? That’s a lot of land, enough for you two to live on.”
Wang Cuihua said it, as if the nose was not nose and the eyes were not eyes, he had been distressed for a long time by the division of these three mu.
[Notes on ‘Nose is not a nose, eyes are not eyes’ : Describes that people are upset and angry. Also the same as [the nose is not a nose, the face is not a face].]
“What about the money? Amu, we don’t have any money.”
“You still want money? How much did this medicine jar cost the family? It’s a good thing that we didn’t ask for the money from you.” Wang Cuihua was in mean mode, rambling on about how much money Zhao Zheng’an had spent all this time of being stupid.
But Zhong Ziqi didn’t care about any of this. He said, seemingly sadly, ” Mother, Father, how can we live without money, and where will we live if we split up? I think it’s better not to divide, I will serve both of you well.” He knew that Zhao Zheng’an’s signature had to be on the letter of division;if he didn’t agree, no one would be able to get him to sign it.
As expected, Wang Cuihua became anxious: “Not Divide? Do you want to stay in our family? I don’t need you to serve me, this family must be divided ……”
Zhong Ziqi didn’t say a word, just stood there blankly, Zhao Zheng’an cowered, holding his hand while standing behind him, he was afraid of Amu and Atie (mother and father) who would beat him at every turn.
The atmosphere was somewhat silent for a while, with only Wang Cuihua cursing from time to time.
At this point Zhao Cheng as the head of the family spoke up impatiently: “All right, all right, you can have your money (one thousand coins). As for the house, there is an ancestral house at the back of the village which is not too dilapidated, you can go there and live there.” Wang Cuihua wanted to say something else, but was immediately stopped by Zhao Cheng’s eyes, so he just stared at Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zheng’an with indignation.
The ancestral home? From memory, there were several empty houses not far from the village, at the foot of the mountain, the houses were all in a state of disrepair. These were the houses of his grandfather’s generation,they even dare to say it out! But Zhong Ziqi also does not refute, for one thing, he knew that if he didn’t live there, he would be homeless. The Zhao family ‘s house has no spare space for him to live, the second is that it is far away from the village, which he prefers since he is not familiar with the people in the village,so what if they find out that something is wrong with him?
It would be better to stay away from the village and do what he want, quietly and freely.
After that, Wang Cuihua said that he would go to the Li Zheng’s house directly tomorrow to sign the papers, and left in anger. Zhao Cheng also impatiently led his youngest son away.The two of them were left alone in the hall.
Zhong Ziqi shrugged indifferently, the sooner the better, he was not afraid of any bad reputation,only just after the second day of the marriage, yet the family already separated, if it was being spread out around the village,it will be them who could not held their heads up, he himself would be the pitiful one at the best.
“Wife!” Zhao Zheng’an tugged on Zhong Ziqi’s sleeve.
“Hn?” Zhong Ziqi looked back at him.
“He He…” Zhao Zheng’an laughed foolishly.
Only then did Zhong Ziqi realise that just now, Zhao Zheng’an seemed to have been very quiet, so quiet that he didn’t even look like a fool,he couldn’t help but be a little puzzled, “How did you – how did your father and mother treat you?”
“Hit me…Father and mother beat me, hu oo” Zhao Zheng’an’s eyes were red with aggression, his hands were still palpitating, touching his own body.
Zhong Ziqi slapped his hand away, lifted his lapel then he found many red marks on the back of his shoulder, some were about to disappear and others seemed to be new. A twinge of heartache flashed through his heart, but the angry ‘him’ didn’t notice it for a moment.”Let’s stay away from them from now on, just the two of us living together, okay?”
“Yes, okay wife!” Zhao Zheng’an said with silly joy, as if those bruises on his body didn’t hurt at all.
Zhong Ziqi glared at him speechlessly, wondering if the word “wife” had become his mantra.
Not knowing whether it was the unhappy division at noon or what,the evening meal was even worse than the Zhong family’s. Zhong Ziqi frowned as the brown rice ground into his throat,he thought to himself that after the separation of the family, he would buy some rice and eat it,it’s not how you save money.He glanced at Zhao Zheng’an beside him who was eating happily although he was also a little scared to pick up the food to eat. Since he didn’t care about Wang Cuihua’s blank stare, he added a large chopstick of food to Zhao Zheng’an’s bowl.
Zhao Zheng’an was so happy that he immediately gave him a warm smile.
At night Zhong Ziqi lay in bed, looking at the shabby and unpresentable room, it was just as he had thought it would be.
It was the other rooms in the house that were used as the wedding room during the day, but this was the real room of Zhao Zheng’an, it was full of piles of stuff, dusty and smelled bad. Zhong Ziqi stared for a moment with some difficulty in breathing while Zhao Zheng’an was already sleeping beside him, with his arms around his waist.
He tried to take his hands off him but he didn’t expect that this kid to be so strong.
Why is he holding him so tightly….?
The last thing he could do was to turn his head to the other side, by sleeping face to face with Zhao Zheng’an. At least Zhao Zheng’an didn’t have any unpleasant smells on his body, which could buffer the odor a bit.
The second day, Zhong Ziqi woke up to a touching sensation as he opened his eyes to see Zhao Zheng’an enlarged face in front of him, his hand still stroking his face and smiling happily as he woke up, “Wife, your face is so smooth,want to touch.”
Zhong Ziqi had just woken up so he was still a bit confused,then he reacted half-heartedly and hurriedly slapped Zhao Zheng’an’s restless paws away.
What the heck? Touch your sister!
“You’re awake, hurry up and get dressed!” Zhong Ziqi said as he nimbly put on his own clothes, after the past few days of fumbling around,now he had no trouble getting dressed.
But Zhao Zheng’an, however, was still clumsily buttoning up his clothes, some of which were even in the wrong place. Zhong Ziqi couldn’t stand it and slapped his hand away, Zhao Zheng’an covered his hand then he looked at him with an aggrieved face, which made Zhong Ziqi’s sweat stand up, he really didn’t feel comfortable with this kind of “selling cute” (naturally silly) behaviour, he reached over with his hand to unbuttoned the buttons again: “Each button is aligned with a slit, remember, don’t make a mistake.”
(Tl notes: ‘Selling cute’ here is the famous phrase of ‘selling Meng’, I could imagine how cute Zhao Zheng an’s face here, tee hee)
Zhao Zheng’an also didn’t know whether he understood or not but he looked at Zhong Ziqi and giggled foolishly.
Zhong Ziqi didn’t expect him to answer anything, in fact it was good to have a fool, at least he wouldn’t be alone, he could talk to him whenever he was lonely, it was definitely different from living alone. And this person was also a fool who listened to him, so he would raise him and regard him as a son ba!
