After Yu Yan got out of the carriage, she opened the door and shouted out in surprise. Only then did Li Qinghe stick her head out of the carriage.
When the two people in the carriage saw this, they stared at each other. They feared it would be too late to save him and quickly got out of the carriage. The person lying on the ground was covered in black, and they could vaguely see his thin cheeks from the side. They didn’t understand how Yu Yan could think he was good-looking.
When Zhao Chengkang squatted down and turned the person over, he noticed something sticky on his hands. As soon as he raised the hand, red blood flashed before his eyes. Since it hadn’t even been dawn yet when they saw him, they just noticed his black clothes; however, seeing his hands, Yu Yan hurriedly pulled off his shirt, only to discover he had scars all over his body from whipping.
And his body was burning hot and he was breathing heavily.
Li Qinghe asked in a low voice, "What should we do now?"
She didn't intend to leave him behind. She was asking whether they should take him back to the village first, and then go to the town to call for a doctor or take him directly to the town to see the doctor and then take him back to the village.
Yu Yan asked tentatively, "Since it's so dark now, finding a doctor here must be difficult. Why don't you send us back first, and then help me find one?"
Li Qinghe was speechless and after a long time, said, "Are you sure that Third Aunt will accept him?"
"That’s right." Yu Yan thought deeply. When Third Aunt Li saved her, it had been because she was a little girl. But if a big man was brought back, who could tell what kind of character he had?
She thought for a short while and then waved her hand. "It's okay, let's wait until I heal him. If he doesn't have good moral character, we’ll let him go. So, let's take him back now."
The man looked thin, but after picking him up, he was quite heavy. He was as tall as Zhou Chengkang, who was the tallest person in the village.
In the next moment, the carriage that had just left the village turned around and stopped at the gate of Third Aunt Li's house. Li Qinghe and Zhou Chengkang helped Yu Yan take the man into the house, then drove the carriage to the town and brought a doctor back.
At this time, the sky was already bright, and after the doctor entered the house, Li Qinghe also saw the cleaned man lying on the bed, with fair skin and a pale face. He looked really good, with attractive eyebrows, thin cheekbones, and a high nose.
In any case, Li Qinghe never encountered a man more handsome than him in this village.
Zhou Chengkang was completely different from him. Zhou Chengkang was handsome, while the one Yu Yan rescued… was more like a little white face.
As soon as the doctor arrived, Yu Yan hurriedly welcomed him in, saying, "He has suffered numerous traumatic injuries. It seems like they are all whiplashes. I do not know whether he has suffered any internal injuries, and he still has a fever."
The doctor came forward and lifted the quilt, and indeed there were whip wounds all over the body. Some of them had scabbed and his entire body was covered in wounds. Seeing Li Qinghe looking at him, Zhou Chengkang reached out and covered her eyes, whispering, "Just look at them at once; don't keep staring."
He also drew her into the outer room, whispering in her ear, "I'll take off my clothes for you to see when we get home."
Li Qinghe glared at him and said emphatically, "I'm just looking at his injuries."
"That also won't work." Zhou Chengkang held her hand. "Where does he look as good as me?"
Following the words, he was once again met with a serious glare.
Zhou Chengkang reached out and touched his face, wondering if he had recently become darker. Obviously, she had liked him a lot before.
The doctor spent some time checking the man's condition, and sighed, "These injuries are so serious. How could your family beat someone like this?"
Naturally, no one answered this, and Yu Yan was not stupid enough to say the person had been picked up from the side of the road. A little worried, she asked, "Can he be cured?"
She added, "It’ll also be okay if he can be treated with good medicine."
The underlying meaning was that there was no shortage of money.
"Let's see if he can wake up first, okay?" The doctor began to give him the medicine. "He was not only beaten but also left in the cold wind, so he has a high fever. If he can awaken within two or three days, he’ll be fine."
After the doctor dispensed medicine, Li Qinghe and Zhou Chengkang sent him back to town and then went to sell the chickens.
The weather has been cold recently, so the two only bought grains, but not meat. Some of the pigs she raised weighed more than 100 kilograms, so they could be killed. They would pick a day to kill the pigs, and the remaining meat would be sold in town during Chinese New Year.
When the carriage passed by the door of Third Aunt Li's house, Yu Yan quickly came out of the house. "Wait!"
The carriage stopped, and she ran over and climbed in. Li Qinghe was curious. "What are you doing?"
Yu Yan was in a good mood. "I'll pick up my needle and thread from your house, and I'll also buy eggs and a chicken from you."
Seeing this, Li Qinghe asked curiously, "Is that person awake?"
Yu Yan smiled and nodded. "He just opened his eyes, but soon fell asleep again. I'll make him some soup to help his body recover."
"Aren't you a little too hasty?" Li Qinghe couldn't help but say. "You can't just marry someone because they’re good-looking, right? What if he’s like horse manure?"
No matter how bright it was on the outside, it would stink.
Yu Yan sneered. "What metaphor are you using? Where did you get that idea from? If he isn't good, I’d have saved him for nothing. He looks good, and I'm willing to save his life. However, you have to be careful when marrying someone. Besides…"
Her smile narrowed a bit. "Godmother does not approve of him living with us for so long. She said that since I am a girl, living with someone who does not have any relationship with me is not good for my reputation. Furthermore, they do not want a man with unknown roots to live in the house."
The carriage had stopped while they were speaking. Yu Yan not only requested chickens and eggs, but also a few fish. The fish were carried back in buckets and could be raised for ten days to half a month.
In the late afternoon of that day, Fifth Sister Zhou came over.
It was her fourth brother's house, but even when there was nothing to do she wouldn't go. If she came over today, there had to be a reason. Her voice was anxious as she said, "Fourth Sister-in-law, mother said she wants you and brother to go home if you aren’t busy."
On such a cold day, what are they doing?
"What is it?" Li Qinghe was curious.
Fifth Sister Zhou blushed as she said, "Someone came to the house to see me. Mother asked you to help look into it."
Seeing that she was shy and shouldn't have any more thoughts about Zhao Dashan, Li Qinghe also relaxed a bit and laughed teasingly, "What village is he from? What's his age? How does he look? How many brothers does he have?"
"I haven't seen him yet." Fifth Sister Zhou could not stand it anymore. She turned around and left. "You guys hurry up!"
She seemed to have some expectations about this meeting as she was really embarrassed. The two did not delay, locked the house, and went to the Zhou's house.
The other party had not yet arrived when they reached there, but the entire Zhou family was there. Even Li Qingmiao and Second Brother Zhou had come back with their children.
"Mother, what kind of person is he?" While the child was being carried around by Second Brother Zhou, Li Qingmiao was free and asked her with a smile.
In fact, Li Qinghe had never had the chance to meet someone for a marriage proposal like this, even in two lives. Of course, the time with Qian Laiman didn’t count, as he was an acquaintance and not a stranger she had never seen.
Mrs. Zhou was also very happy. "He's from Tang Village. The person your aunt mentioned is also my mother-in-law's cousin, but they don't communicate much. He is the only son in the family, and he is seventeen this year. That's great. He has eight acres of land, so he's quite wealthy. They also said that he has worked with him since he was a child, so he's not a haphazard person."
Everything seemed alright after hearing this. As long as he worked hard after marriage, they wouldn't go hungry.
Mrs. Zhou stroked Fifth Sister Zhou's hair and smiled. "I'll be relieved after the fifth child gets married."
Fifth Sister Zhou had changed into a fine cloth shirt, combed her hair, and inserted a wooden hairpin in her hair. Though she did not look particularly beautiful, she was slim. As she didn't go out much, her skin was fair, and she was regarded as a small jade in the village.
Li Qingmiao praised her with a smile. "With Fifth Sister's appearance, this matter is certain to succeed, but it depends on whether she is willing to do so."
The people arrived shortly. The mother and son were led by Mrs. He. The young man's smile was shy and he was a very ordinary child of a farmer's family. His mother was very talkative, and Mrs. Zhou even let Fifth Sister Zhou go out to the yard to walk around. Of course, the young man called He Hoe also went along.
After a short conversation, Mrs. Zhou smiled and sent the guests on their way. She turned around and saw that the fifth sister had gone to the kitchen to cook.
Everyone ate together at Zhou's house, which had been arranged years ago by Mrs. Zhou. On a day like today, though, Fifth Sister Zhou was so active and not the slightest bit shy. She had not been like this when they had first arrived. It puzzled her. "Fifth Sister, what do you think?"
Fifth Sister Zhou didn't care. "It doesn't matter. He has a sweetheart, and he told me quietly just now that his mother will not agree to his marriage, but he’ll fight for it. What else can I do?"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in disbelief and Mrs. Zhou became furious. "What is your aunt doing?"
When someone came to see her about a possible marriage, the fewer people the better. It was the first time Fifth Sister Zhou had experienced this kind of thing, and she was simply unlucky.
"Aunt probably didn't do it on purpose." Li Qinghe said, remembering that this aunt had helped several brothers get married.
Mrs. Zhou covered her forehead. "I'm both angry and confused. His mother doesn't know; how would your aunt know?"
She reassured her fifth sister. "If it doesn't work, we can look for others."
It was not easy to see so many potential grooms, and they needed to take their time to evaluate each one. Seeing this situation with He Hoe, Mrs. Zhou became more cautious.
Now that the brothers were eating together, the atmosphere was actually much more relaxed than it was before. Initially, they had many conflicts when they lived together, and they quarreled over the kitchen.
It was much better now. While eating, Zhang Haiyao was busy taking care of her child, so she had no time to exchange sour words.
At the end of October, Zhou Chengkang found a butcher in the village to help him kill the pigs.
The pork was going to be sold, and many people in the village had been informed earlier. The Zhou brothers came early in the morning to help them kill the pigs, and when villagers heard the sound of pigs, they started showing up one by one.
In town, pork was sold for 15 cents, and Li Qinghe set the same price. However, she would offer a discount to familiar people, like Yu Yan and her aunt Li, and Li Qingmiao's mother, so the overall price was actually lower.
In the village, there were quite a few people, and when they went to the town, they were afraid to buy sick pigs, but with Li Qinghe, they felt more at ease. Furthermore, the weather had been cold recently, so it could be stored for a long time. Everyone bought lots after the pig was butchered.
It was worth mentioning that Mrs. He also came and helped her collect the money. The reason for this was that some people knew her and wanted Li Qinghe to give them a discount. Although the discount could be given, it would be considered a favor. People who were not familiar with her did not have any reason to take advantage of her. Mrs. He collected the money, but it was difficult to get close to her. It didn’t matter if someone had the nerve to speak up. Mrs. He would say that she couldn’t pay the difference if the accounts were not right.
By the afternoon, everyone had left when the pork was sold out. Li Qinghe planned to invite the Zhou family to dinner, and all the women went to the kitchen to help.
Mrs. He stood aside and said with a smile, "My cousin-in-law is very satisfied with the fifth child. Let me come over to see what you have to say. If you agree, she will come to propose marriage."