Einfacher Congee-Roman

Kapitel 33

"Ah!" She felt a tingling sensation in her ear, covered her ear, screamed, and jumped back a step.

Scholar, getting this close is a foul! Blowing air into her ear is an even bigger foul!

This guy actually dared to put on a blank and innocent look. Fan Qingbo felt a surge of anger, his legs stopped being weak and his face stopped being hot. He raised an eyebrow and scolded, "Who gave you permission to get so close? Men and women should not touch each other. Where have you been reading all those sage books?"

The scholar was taken aback, then blushed. "I just wanted to hear more clearly, besides, we've already..."

The words "engaged" were swallowed back by Fan Qingbo's sinister gaze.

"Tsk tsk tsk, that's not right of you, Xiao Fan. You two are about to get married, and you won't let anyone get close?"

"Hey! Who are you?!" Fan Shu and his companion turned around and saw that the back doors of the two rows of alleyways had been opened at some point, and on average, three to five heads were vying to peek out from each door.

Three black lines appeared on Fan Qingbo's forehead. "What are you doing?"

"Let's watch the show! Hey, you guys keep going, don't let us hold you back. Feel free to touch, hug, and kiss. Of course, if you want to consummate your marriage right here, you'd better let us know beforehand, and we'll have to get rid of the kids first, right?"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The neighbors watching the commotion in the alley burst into laughter. The instigator, however, remained seated by the door, idly munching on sunflower seeds, with a curious-looking child named Pidan tugged at in her arms. She was none other than Fifth Sister, the famously pretty widow of the Third Street and Fourth Alley.

Fan Qingbo recalled what Yanyan had said before about the "legendary new favorite," and a thought flashed through his mind. "You didn't spread the news that the scholar is my new favorite, did you, Fifth Sister?!"

Fifth Sister raised an eyebrow. "What? You want something and then deny it?"

The old woman next door chimed in, "Tsk tsk, out in the middle of nowhere, a lone man and woman, and they haven't come back all night..."

The tofu seller next door chimed in, "The other day, Fifth Sister told us you went to the back mountain to have a fling with the scholar, and we didn't believe it. How could you have hooked up so quickly? We made a bet, but we kept the door open and listened for half the night, and we didn't hear you come back! You shameless little hussy, you made us and Sister-in-law Chen lose a box of rouge!"

Sister-in-law Chen is the mother of Chen Datian and Chen Xiaotian, and also Fan Qingbo's sworn sister. She was still holding a dough ball for dinner in her hand, giggling, "I never imagined that the scholar, who looks so gentle and frail, would be so formidable, keeping his little sister occupied all night!"

"Nonsense! Girls from Qingmo Workshop, who knows who'll be the one messing with whom!" Fifth Sister winked seductively. "Want to make a bet?"

"Hey! You gossipy old women, that's enough!" This is what they mean by "three men make a tiger"—they're spreading rumors like this! They're actually spreading rumors without a care in the world! Fan Qingbo was furious, hands on her hips, roaring, "Sister! Go back inside, or you won't get your hands on the exclusive collection of bedroom techniques from Huanxitian! Pidan! Gag your mother and drag her back to her room! Er Ya, Xiao Niu, Qiangzi, Dongdong!"

"Yes, Boss Fan!"

A group of Boy Scouts, who were loyal to her, received the order and immediately began to cry, make a scene, and threaten suicide to drag their parents and grandparents into the house, but they still couldn't stop the teasing remarks from floating out.

"Oh my, she's blushing! So our frivolous girl can blush too, how unusual!"

"That goes without saying, he must have learned it from spending too much time 'uh-huh' and 'ah-ah' with the teacher, hehehe..."

"Master is one of our own at Qingmo Workshop. If you dare to abandon him this time, Xiao Fan, you'll regret it!"

"Yes, yes, who told you to eat the grass near your own nest! You can play around with other men, but our Qingmofang never produces heartless women who bully our own people!"

Enraged, Fan Qingbo squatted down, picked up a few pebbles, and threw them at the door of the nearest Fifth Sister's house.

Immediately, Fifth Sister's loud and clear voice came from inside the door.

"You little hussy, you're asking for trouble! I reluctantly gave you my precious husband, and you repay kindness with enmity. You're like someone who takes a man to bed and then throws the matchmaker over the wall!"

As soon as he said this, a burst of laughter erupted in the alley.

Amidst the commotion, the scholar tugged at Fan Qingbo's sleeve. She turned around angrily, only to see his face flushed, his eyes burning, and a strange smile playing on his lips. He whispered, "So you came to the back mountain that day to find me... to find me..."

"I didn't want to have sex with you!" she shouted without thinking, then immediately regretted it so much she almost bit her tongue off.

The surrounding laughter grew louder and louder, almost deafening.

"Aaaaaah! You're all going to laugh yourselves to death!" Fan Qingbo completely lost it. He turned around and faced the scholar's harmless, innocent face. Enraged, he kicked the scholar's shin hard. "You might as well die too!"

After assaulting him, she pushed him away and ran out. If she stayed in that environment any longer, she might really kill someone!

The scholar was pushed against the wall, his shinbone throbbing slightly, but he ignored it, staring blankly for a long time before blinking and muttering, "If I'm not mistaken... could it be that Miss Fan was just shy?"

With a whoosh, all the windows on the second floor of the alley opened, and the same group of onlookers poked their heads out, saying in unison, "That's right!"

The scholar was startled, then blushed, and laughed again, feeling an indescribable joy in his heart.

"Hey, Master, you'll treat that guy well, won't you?"

A sudden question startled the scholar, who looked up to see Chen's wife still grinning. She glanced at him, her eyes revealing unmistakable sternness, then turned away, casually picking at her nails.

"That girl is different from other girls; sometimes she's smart, sometimes she's silly. She loves to joke, and nothing she says is true. If she says she doesn't like you, don't be discouraged; she's probably just teasing you. Of course, if she says she likes you, don't be too happy either, because that could also be just teasing you. In short, if you're going to be with her, you have to be prepared. If you can't be prepared, just remember one thing: that girl is a sister I've taken in; don't think she doesn't have a family."

The implication is that you have to take responsibility even if you can't, or you'll regret it.

"How dare you threaten people like that? It seems that Xiao Tian and Da Tian have inherited your bandit-like nature." Fifth Sister rolled her eyes, then turned to the scholar and laughed, "Teacher, look, Sister-in-law Chen is making a big deal out of nothing."

“Speaking of her maternal home, when Xiao Fan was robbed of all her money by two petty thieves, she stayed at my house. She even called me Fifth Sister. I am her maternal home! Don’t be afraid, Master. After all, you are someone I personally chose. Perform well and don’t let people look down on you.”

A bead of cold sweat slid down the scholar's forehead. Fifth Sister, wasn't that last sentence more like a threat...?

However, Fifth Sister's outburst broke the stagnant atmosphere in the alley, and everyone began to talk about their connections with Fan Qingbo. Those who usually bickered and gossiped about her were now vying to claim kinship. The maternal family's group grew larger and larger, and they went around giving the scholar instructions—or perhaps "lecturing" would be a more accurate description.

In summary, the same old rhetoric boils down to one thing: either be good to her, or you die—the choice is yours.

After the speeches were finished, everyone looked at each other, feeling somewhat awkward, as if they had done something embarrassing.

Fifth Sister cursed inwardly, "That brat is such a troublemaker! I'm a widow who's determined to bewitch everyone, and she's getting all sentimental over here. What a waste of time!" She slammed the window shut first.

Then others followed suit, so quickly that it was as if some plague was spreading outside the window.

The scholar stood rooted to the spot, still deeply moved.

Although he knew from the beginning that she was different from the rumors circulating in the city, and although he often eavesdropped on the students' discussions of her various "heroic" deeds in the school, and knew that she had been the one teaching them to read and write before him, and knew that she was kind and easy-going, yet disliked people praising her. However, he always thought that only he and the children saw her goodness, unaware that these people who spoke so harshly also protected her in their hearts.

He initially moved into "Qingmofang" because of the scholarly atmosphere suggested by its name, but he was disappointed to find it a place teeming with all sorts of people, with a brothel next door. It had absolutely nothing to do with a scholarly atmosphere. But now, after being here for so long, for the first time, he felt a sense of belonging to this place that didn't live up to its name. It was because the warmth beneath the laughter and banter of the people here made him realize that this was his home.