Novelas PaiPai - Capítulo 132
"What's your grandfather's name?"
"Wang Youcai".
Where is your father-in-law?
"Wang Fugui...why are you asking so many questions?" Yuan Yuan asked warily, "Do they owe you money?"
“No, it’s called ‘asking the name.’ At the beginning of a marriage proposal, the names of three generations should be mentioned.” Feng Jing explained, giving her a gentle smile. “Yuan Yuan, I want to marry you.”
She stared at him in disbelief, and then suddenly burst into tears.
Never before had a girl so old cried like a child in front of him. He panicked and didn't know what to do. He quickly led her back into the house and comforted her for a long time before she finally calmed down a little.
Then, without saying a word, she simply opened her tear-stained eyes and looked at him intently.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked her with a smile. "Do I have a gold ingot on my face?"
"No," she answered earnestly, "but you are much prettier than Yuanbao."
The Lonely City (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) - Side Story 5
Chapter word count: 2786 Update time: 08-08-21 17:26
5. The Bride
Madam Feng only reluctantly allowed Yuan Yuan to enter the family, entirely out of consideration for the child in her womb. Before the wedding, Madam Feng would shake her head and sigh, frequently wiping away tears, whenever she thought of Yuan Yuan's lowly family background. After entering the family, Yuan Yuan would often do astonishing things: disappearing early in the morning and returning around noon with a basin of clothes washed by the river; running barefoot around the yard sweeping and hanging clothes to dry; drinking water from the well when thirsty; even climbing onto the roof to catch a runaway chicken…
Madam Feng tried to persuade her gently, but she was completely unaware of anything wrong with it. For example, when she was advised to wear shoes, she waved her hand cheerfully and said, "It's alright, the ground isn't cold!" When she was advised not to drink unboiled water, she said, "Boiled water isn't as sweet, so let's not waste firewood."
Later, Mrs. Feng patiently explained to her, using the child as an example, that doing so was not good for the child, and only then did she change her ways one by one.
In addition, she had many bad habits, such as drinking soup too loudly and occasionally swearing, which often left Ms. Feng and her son speechless and bewildered.
However, she has one great virtue: she genuinely loves her husband and mother-in-law and is never stingy with expressing it.
To make Feng Jing and his wife happy, she was willing to do anything for them, though she often went too far: grinding ink for Feng Jing would cause ink to splatter on his face, and massaging her mother-in-law's shoulders and back would cause Madam Feng to secretly wink at her son, signaling him to tell Yuan Yuan to stop...
“Yuan Yuan is a good child,” Madam Feng later told Feng Jing privately, sighing. “Although she has some bad habits, you can teach her slowly and help her correct them.”
Feng Jing was very happy that her mother was finally willing to accept Yuan Yuan and gradually teach her to correct her old habits. She was indeed learning seriously. However, there were always some things that she could not correct no matter how much she taught her, such as how she addressed him.
Perhaps because Feng Jing had told her his full name from the beginning, she later started calling him by his name directly, and whenever she saw him, she would immediately and happily call out, "Jing!"
“You shouldn’t call me that,” Feng Jing once explained to her. “A wife shouldn’t call her husband by his given name. You can call me ‘husband,’ ‘young master,’ or my courtesy name ‘Dangshi,’ but please don’t call me ‘Jing’ anymore.”
"In this day and age?" She seemed to have heard a big joke and immediately burst into laughter. Her unrestrained laughter made Feng Jing doubt his own handwriting for the first time in his life, and he pondered repeatedly whether there was really something funny about it.
Her reason was simply: "Your nickname is awful."
At Feng Jing's insistence, she finally agreed to stop calling him "Jing" in public, but later it turned out that she was quite forgetful on this point.
One day, Feng Jing invited two of his classmates from the state academy to his home. He had previously instructed Yuan Yuan to prepare two dishes, and she nodded vigorously and happily went to prepare them. The lavishness of the food and drink that day far exceeded Feng Jing's expectations, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat all included. At that time, his family was not well-off, and Feng Jing was secretly surprised, wondering how Yuan Yuan had enough money to buy all these things. However, since his classmates were present, he did not feel comfortable asking her. Instead, he invited the two to sit down and chat over drinks.
After a few rounds of drinks, Yuan Yuan suddenly rushed out of the inner room with her big belly, carrying a plate of crabs. She happily placed the plate on the table and said to Feng Jing with a loud laugh, "Jing, this is what I just made. Please invite your friends to try it!"
Her two roommates stared at her in surprise, unsure how to react. Seeing that they didn't immediately start eating, Yuan Yuan grabbed two crabs herself, put one in each of their bowls, and said with a smile, "Eat up, don't be shy!"
Although he had a strong urge to collapse and pound the ground, Feng Jing tried his best to remain calm. He smiled slightly at his two dumbfounded roommates and said, "My wife's cooking skills are rudimentary, please forgive her for making a fool of herself."
His roommate also smiled apologetically and praised politely, "Your wife's cooking is absolutely delicious. We are truly fortunate to be able to taste it today."
Feng Jing only wanted Yuan Yuan to leave quickly, so he said to her, "My mother has not had a good appetite these past few days. Please come in and keep her company and take care of her."
Yuan Yuan replied, "Auntie ate dinner early and has already gone back to her room to rest."
"Oh..." Feng Jing pondered for a moment, then said, "My wife has had a long day, please go back to your room and rest early."
“Not tired at all,” Yuan Yuan shook her head, repeatedly expressing her enthusiasm for entertaining guests. “It’s rare for your friends to come over, how can I hide in my room and be lazy… Besides, I’m afraid of being idle, sitting and lying down all day, which will only make my back ache.”
Feng Jing was speechless and choked with emotion. He couldn't openly express his dissatisfaction with her, so he could only let her be. He raised his glass to toast and changed the subject, hoping that his colleagues wouldn't pay too much attention to his wife.
However, Yuan Yuan's behavior was truly remarkable and hard to ignore. Afraid that the guests wouldn't have enough to eat, she constantly moved between the living room and the kitchen, adding food and rice for them. Seeing that the guests' bowls were almost empty, she would run to refill them without waiting for a response. The guests quickly stood up to thank her, which pleased her greatly, and she became even more attentive. She even carried a large bowl of rice in her arms, and whenever she saw someone's bowl was slightly low, she would casually scoop a large spoonful and place it directly into their bowl.
The two roommates were originally frail scholars, and they couldn't possibly eat so much. In the end, it was like they were fighting a battle with Yuan Yuan. Under Yuan Yuan's "watchful eye," they covered their rice bowls with their hands and dared not lose their focus, for fear that if they were not careful, she would cover them with another spoonful if they moved their hands away slightly.
After finally getting through the dinner party, the two roommates fled in panic. Feng Jing then carefully considered his words and tried his best to persuade Yuan Yuan not to show up at home when there were male guests.
Yuan Yuan was very puzzled: "Why? When my dad's friends come to visit, this is how my mom treats them."
Feng Jing figured she wouldn't understand any of those grand principles about gender segregation and etiquette, so he came up with a simple reason: "I don't like you being seen by other men."
"Haha, you're so stingy!" she laughed. "What's there to be afraid of? They can see it but they can't have it anyway!"
Feng Jing gave up completely, wiped the sweat from his forehead, sat down, and sighed inwardly.
Faced with a table full of leftovers, he suddenly remembered his initial question and asked Yuan Yuan, "How did you manage to buy so much meat today? Did Mother give you a lot of money?"
She shook her head and smiled, "Guess."
Feng Jing thought for a moment, but still had no answer: "I can't guess."
Yuan Yuan laughed even more happily, proudly stretching out her hands and waving them in front of him.
He immediately noticed that her wrist was bare; the gold bracelet she always wore was gone.
He grabbed her wrist, where she always wore a gold bracelet, and asked, "Did you sell the gold bracelet?"