MLH | Chapter 4

Fang Zichen’s brows furrowed again.

What a joke.

He was only eighteen, how could he get married.

Other people married late and had children late, even if he married early and had children early, it could not be this early.

Zhao ge’er looked up at him, saw that his face was not very good and that he was frowning in silence, and knew what he meant.

There was a dull pain in his chest, dense and spreading, something he could not put into words, just uncomfortable.

He held Guai Zai’s hand, did not speak, and did not beg, cold and a little numb, like an outsider to this incident.

At worst, it would just be death, he thought.

But···

Zhao ge’er still hoped someone could come save him.

In this life, counting today, he had lived nineteen years, and only had this thought three times.

The first time was when he had been trafficked into the Ma family and tried to escape, only to be caught. The Ma family locked him in a broken, damp, cramped woodshed, and he had been tied up with hemp rope. The Ma family beat him every day, did not give him food, did not give him water, and the torn wounds on his arms had become swollen, pus-filled, and infested with maggots, chewing at him. Back then he was still young, disgusted, frightened, panicked, and at a loss.

He begged the Ma family to spare him, to stop beating him, said he would never run again, but Ma Dazhuang said they could not let him go, they had to teach him a lesson, beat him until it hurt, beat him until he was afraid, and only then would he stop thinking about escaping in the future.

The Ma family was truly cruel, and locked him up for a full six days.

At that time, every night he looked at the light leaking through the roof and thought that if only someone could come save him.

……It did not matter who, as long as they could get him out, that would be enough.

But··· no one came.

What Ma Dazhuang said was indeed right. In the years after that, perhaps because he had really been beaten into pain and fear that one time, he never again had the thought of running away.

He was obedient, cutting firewood, working the fields, washing clothes, carrying water, doing any kind of work, constantly moving all day long.

It was not that he did not feel tired, it was that he did not dare stop.

But even after he was like that, the Ma family still would not let him leave Xiaohe Village by even half a step.

So, the young him was imprisoned in this barren place, doing the work of cattle and horses for the Ma family, never seeing daylight.

The second time was last night when he fell into the water. At the edge of despair, he thought once again that if only someone could come save him, he still did not want to die, his son was still so small.

……Then Fang Zichen appeared.

Today, he thought once again that someone could help him.

In Xiaohe Village, he counted as someone with no roots.

Divorced, with no maternal family to return to.

Not a single coin on him, not even a place to stand.

The times were harsh to the extreme, he had made the Ma family lose so much face, if Fang Zichen did not want him, if the village could not tolerate him, what would the Ma family do to him again?

His child was still so small, what should he do?

In an instant, all kinds of thoughts flashed through Zhao ge’er’s mind.

“···Dad?” Guai Zai looked up and called him softly.

The midsummer was so hot, yet Zhao ge’er’s hands and feet were ice-cold. He needed to use all his strength just to keep his voice steady. He held Guai Zai’s little hand. “···It’s nothing.”

“Dad, don’t cry.” Guai Zai said.

Fang Zichen looked at Aunt Ma and said slowly, “Where you came from···”

“Sir……”

At that very moment, a ge’er ran in from outside the courtyard, his eyes red as he begged Fang Zichen, “Please marry Zhao ge’er! Otherwise, when the Ma family goes back, they will definitely drown Zhao ge’er in a pig cage. Please, please save Zhao ge’er.”

Fang Zichen: “……”

Fang Zichen subconsciously asked the village chief, “Can this still happen?”

The village chief sighed.

“Zhao ge’er was bought back by the Ma family,” he said helplessly. “Before, life was still passable, and giving him two mouthfuls of food was not really a big deal, but these past two years there has been constant war at the border, taxes have been high, and this year the court conscripted another batch of people. The Ma family has three brothers, and below them there are several more boys, a whole group of men, and none of them want to go to war, so they have paid more silver. Now their family probably does not have much silver left. To save some grain and make a bit of money, they can only take it out on Zhao ge’er.”

“I reckon that when the time comes, they will either use the charge of loss of chastity to drown Zhao ge’er, or sell him off. In any case, he will not end up well.”

He was a little miserable after all!

Fang Zichen fell silent.

He could not be said to be a particularly good person. In situations where his own interests were not harmed, he did not mind ‘seeing injustice and shouting out’, but if he softened now, he might end up dragging himself in too.

But he also could not bring himself to stand by and do nothing.

Fang Zichen thought it over. After hesitating for a long while, he finally said with difficulty, “Forget it, then I’ll marry him. It’s not that big a deal anyway, marrying him home as a brother is not impossible either.”

The village chief’s face was still not very good. “Have you thought it through?”

Fang Zichen said, “I haven’t thought it through, but at this point, what else can I do?”

The village chief pitied Zhao ge’er and spoke up for him. “This has nothing to do with Zhao ge’er, so later on you must not hit people, and do not take your anger out on others. It is not easy for him!”

“I do not hit women,” Fang Zichen said, and after thinking about it added, “and I do not hit ge’ers either.”

The village chief said, “Then I’ll go tell the Ma Dazhuang family.”

The Ma Dazhuang family had already been planning on exactly this, how could they disagree, it was just···

“They said they want three taels of silver.” the village chief came back and said.

“What?!”

Fang Zichen did not understand. “This had better not be because they saw that I look handsome and think I’m easy to bully. What kind of logic is that, the one who was divorced, at worst gets thrown out with nothing on them, at best can still leave with their dowry, I’m not even the one marrying their ge’er, why should I still have to pay silver? Are they thinking of eating shit?”

The village chief said, “They said Zhao ge’er was bought back by their family at seven years old, and no matter what, they raised him for many years. Asking for some silver is not too much.”

They did raise him, but Zhao ge’er later became their Ma family’s son husband, and even gave the Ma family a grandson. The expense for raising him over those years counted as betrothal money, that was not too much, right!

Fang Zichen was nauseated.

He spread his hands and said, “Then what should I do? Right now I’m clean from head to toe, so clean that not even a fly can stand on me, where am I supposed to get three taels of silver for them?”

The ge’er who had just rushed into the courtyard to plead with Fang Zichen saw that he had loosened up, but now he was troubled again, and afraid that because of the three taels of silver he would change his mind. He hurried over to Zhao ge’er’s side and gently pushed him twice. “Zhao ge’er, go, go beg Young Master Fang, only he can help you now, go beg him.”

Zhao ge’er stood motionless. The ge’er was just about to persuade him again when he heard him say in confusion, “That much silver, will he agree?”

Xiaohe Village was famously poor. Three taels of silver did not sound like much, but some families could not earn three taels in an entire year.

The more than thirty coins he had secretly saved over the years by going hungry and cold were already spent some days ago when Guai Zai was unwell. Three taels of silver had already become an astronomical number to him.

“I don’t know,” the ge’er said, “but Young Master Fang looks like a good person. He already loosened up just now. If you do not think about yourself, you should think about Guai Zai too! He is still so small, if you are gone, the Ma family will not tolerate him either.”

Guai Zai···

Those two words were like a fatal blow.

Zhao ge’er instantly went cold from head to toe.

“Sir,” Zhao ge’er did not dare think any further. Holding onto the last thread of hope, he took Guai Zai with him and walked over, then dropped to his knees with a thud. “···Please help us father and son once. In the future I will work hard to earn money, and when I earn it I will pay you back. I will be your cattle and horse, help us, please.”

Guai Zai knelt tightly beside Zhao ge’er, both little hands pressed to the ground, and followed in a milky voice, “···Please help us.”

He was still young and did not know what the word ‘beg’ meant.

He also did not know what kneeling on the ground right now meant.

Fang Zichen’s gaze swept back and forth over the two of them, finally stopping on Zhao ge’er.

Zhao ge’er had a round face, and years of labor had darkened his skin somewhat, but he still looked very young, and there was even still childlike innocence between his brows. He should only have been a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth.

What were young people of that age like!

Fang Zichen knew very well. They were especially strong-willed, cared about face, and were proud and self-important.

They would rather be cursed out badly than say the word “sorry.”

Unless it was absolutely necessary, their heads and backs would never bend in compromise.

Zhao ge’er was not much older than him, yet right now he had lost his dignity and backbone, kneeling on the ground, saying “please” again and again.

The Ma family had come to cause trouble early in the morning. When he was arguing with Aunt Ma, Ma Dazhu’s second wife did not know what she said to Zhao ge’er, and Zhao ge’er did not speak, so she kicked and cursed at Zhao ge’er, filthy as hell. At that time Fang Zichen had seen Zhao ge’er standing there motionless, like a wooden post.

Now the person who would not hit back even when beaten or cursed at was kneeling right before him, his head pressed to the ground, lowering himself to beg him.

What kind of situation had he reached to be like this?

Was he already in danger with no way out?

Or had he already lost all hope and was staking everything on one throw?

He had given up everything to kneel and plead. If Fang Zichen did not agree, what awaited him……

Was it being drowned in a pond, or being sold again?

The Ma family people who opened and closed their mouths with “bastard” probably could do anything.

Ai···

Fang Zichen had no choice.

“village chief, can you help me go talk to those Ma family people? I can owe the silver first, I can write an IOU, but also have them prepare the divorce letter and Zhao ge’er’s bondservant contract. By then I’ll take the silver over and exchange it with them.” Fang Zichen said.

The village chief nodded. “All right, I’ll handle this.”

……

When the excitement died down, Zhao ge’er and Guai Zai were still kneeling on the ground. Fang Zichen walked over to them, his tone detached. “Get up!”

Zhao ge’er did not move.

Guai Zai gently tugged his sleeve and shook it once. “Dad?”

Zhao ge’er wiped his face, then took Guai Zai’s hand and stood up.

Fang Zichen gave a few simple instructions, then went back into the room.

He was tired, he was sleepy, his head was hot, he urgently needed a sleep.

Fang Zichen lay on the bed with his eyes closed, and the courtyard was quiet.

The two living people outside did not make a single sound.

Fang Zichen did not know how long he slept. When he got up, the sunlight outside was fierce. Zhao ge’er heard movement in the room, crouched down and said something to Guai Zai, who had been following him the whole time. Guai Zai nodded and went into the room.

The door creaked open, and Guai Zai, with his three-bodied frame, walked in.

He seemed very uneasy. From the doorway to the bedside, he kept his head down, both little hands twisting the hem of his clothes, and when he met Fang Zichen’s gaze, he hurriedly lowered his head again.

“Fa···father～”

“……”

That one word of father made Fang Zichen feel dazed.

He forced out a smile. “Call me ge.” To say something shameless, he was only a child right now too.

When Guai Zai heard him, his eyes immediately turned red. He had expectations for Fang Zichen, and right then he looked up at him. “Do you not···like me? I will, in the future, be obedient.”

Fang Zichen had no experience dealing with children, and his heart was not hard either. Facing Guai Zai’s damp eyes full of grievance, after a few seconds he had no choice but to give in. “All right, all right, call me whatever you want, call me your son if you like.”

Guai Zai wiped his tears and was satisfied. He carefully reached out to hold Fang Zichen’s hand. “Father, eat rice-rice.”

If he had not said it, Fang Zichen would not have realized he had already missed two meals. The moment he mentioned food, his stomach immediately growled.

Zhao ge’er was waiting in the kitchen. In the cracked bowl on the stove there was a bowl of black, muddy porridge.

It was coarse rice cooked together with wild vegetables.

After Fang Zichen went back to his room to sleep, he gathered his courage and wandered around the house. Then he went to Aunt Liu’s house to borrow a bucket, filled the water vat, and cleaned the kitchen and the courtyard outside as well.

He hoped that when Fang Zichen woke up and saw all this, he would be satisfied.