Chapter 26

(There's one more chapter, please give me recommendations!!)

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"Big Sister Lin, what do you really want to say?" Yinyin leaned in, asking curiously.

"..." Lin Qing'er's face turned even redder, and she lowered her head, fidgeting with her handkerchief. When she finally looked up, the words in her heart had changed to: "You don't have to hold the eggs anymore..."

"That's great," Wang Xian said with great relief. "It saves me from being suspected of eating them all the time!"

"Ha ha..." Lin Qing'er brushed her hair from her forehead, biting her lip lightly. "Do you have anything you want to say to me?"

"No." Wang Xian shook his head.

"Really?" Lin Qing'er narrowed her eyes, her voice as soft as a mosquito's. "Think about it again..."

Actually, ever since returning from San Mountain Town, she had been troubled by a self-imposed dilemma... Eight months ago, when Wang Xian proposed to her, to avoid harassment, she had said that she had vowed to marry whoever could clear her family's wrongful conviction, even if it meant being a slave or a servant, or she would never marry.

At the time, this seemed like no problem, as no one could believe that Wang Er, such a useless person, could overturn this ironclad wrongful conviction.

However, the world is unpredictable. Although the announcement just posted did not mention Wang Xian's name, Lin Qing'er, who had been involved throughout, knew that he was the one who had turned the tide!

Should she take her excuse at the time seriously? This question had been troubling Lin Qing'er for days. If she took it seriously, it was just an excuse, not a real vow. If she didn't take it seriously, it sounded very definite to Wang Xian. If he brought it up, she wouldn't know how to respond.

So at first, Lin Qing'er stayed at home, afraid of being cornered by Wang Xian. But after a while, he never came to the door, only sending his sister to borrow a copy of the "Analects of Confucius" to read.

Lin Qing'er, with her meticulous mind, pondered and pondered, and finally concluded that he was using the "Analects of Confucius" to remind her to keep her word. The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was true. Feeling her face burn, she decided to face the inevitable...

But when she arrived, she found that Wang Xian had really borrowed the "Analects of Confucius" just to read it... Lin Qing'er was greatly relieved at the time, but also a little disappointed. After all, girls have vanity, and Wang Xian's giving up his rights was the greatest insult to her.

In the days that followed, while teaching Wang Xian to write, Lin Qing'er's heart could not be at peace for a moment. She was afraid he would make a request at any time, and was angry that he was so absorbed in his studies, like a bookworm, that he didn't even react to their physical proximity. Was she really so unattractive?

In this state of confusion, Lin Qing'er's heart began to change. The more she interacted with him, the more she felt that Wang Xian had truly changed, becoming deep and wise, steady and reliable. Spending a lifetime with such a strong, calm man didn't seem unacceptable.

Gradually, she forgot his former self, seeing only the current Wang Xian...

Today, moved by her emotions, Lin Qing'er decided to break the ice, but the words stuck in her throat, especially with Yinyin nearby. So she decided to hint to Wang Xian.

But Wang Xian couldn't remember anything, making Lin Qing'er want to strangle him! Thinking about it, she couldn't maintain her ladylike composure anymore. "I keep my word, but that doesn't mean I'll wait forever!"

Pausing, she said angrily, "Once this chance is gone, everything I said before is null and void!" This drew the attention of passersby.

Hearing this, Wang Xian suddenly remembered. "I remember now!" He pointed at Lin Qing'er excitedly. "If you hadn't said it, I would have forgotten..."

"Clumsy fool..." Lin Qing'er, like a delicate daisy, lowered her head shyly in the golden breeze. "Speak softly, there are so many people around."

"Okay." Wang Xian nodded, leaning in and lowering his voice. "The thirty guan for the medicine, you should pay up now, right?"

"..." Lin Qing'er was stunned for a moment before muttering resentfully, "Don't worry, I always keep my word!" She sneered, "Unlike some people, who are used to breaking their promises..." She glared at Wang Xian, and if looks could kill, he would have died a hundred times.

"Are you talking about me?" Wang Xian said innocently. "I used to be ignorant and talk nonsense, don't take it seriously."

Lin Qing'er, being very intelligent, couldn't miss the hidden meaning. He hadn't forgotten, but was deliberately not acknowledging it.

"By the way, don't try to fool me with paper money. I want copper coins, or silver would be even better..." Wang Xian added, but Lin Qing'er had already picked up a feather duster from a roadside stall. He quickly pulled his sister and fled.

"Hmph, I'm glad to be rid of you, you scoundrel." Watching Wang Xian run away, Lin Qing'er told herself not to lose face, but tears rolled down her cheeks, splashing onto the stone-paved street, shattering into pieces...

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On the way home, Yinyin asked curiously, "Brother, were you deliberately annoying Big Sister Lin?"

"Brat, don't be so precocious." Wang Xian glared at her. "You're only eleven, act like a little girl!"

"What's a little girl?"

"That's you."

"Does it say that in the book?" Yinyin knew her brother had been studying hard lately, making rapid progress.

"Um."

"What does it say..."

"Lolitas have three good qualities, cough cough..." Wang Xian glared at her again. "Why so many questions?"

"Okay, one last question..." Seeing her brother seemed upset, Yinyin put aside the 'Lolita' question and insisted, "What did Big Sister Lin really want to say? I don't think it was about the eggs..."

"..." Wang Xian saw a vendor selling malt sugar and fished out a coin from his sock. "If you shut up, I'll buy you some candy."

Yinyin immediately turned into a kitten, looking at her brother pitifully. "How can I eat candy with my mouth closed?"

"Eating doesn't count." Wang Xian reluctantly threw the coin to his sister, watching her skip off to buy candy, and sighed deeply. Turning around, he saw the bustling street, but the figure of the girl was nowhere to be seen.

Was he really a man who didn't understand romance? He knew that if he had spoken up then, Lin Qing'er would have been his. But he believed that it was only because people in this era valued keeping their word, and Lin Qing'er had trapped herself, not because she really liked him... In others' eyes, he was just a toad. He thought that, as a man reborn, he should be calm. But the cold ridicule of the young lady at the dock and the neighbors' comments about a toad eating swan meat deeply hurt him! It made him feel like a thorn in his back, a fish bone in his throat, making him restless.

He didn't want to be seen as a toad. If he was to eat swan meat, he had to become an eagle first!

He wanted the people of Fuyang County to see him in a new light, to make those contemptuous looks disappear, to become the eagle soaring over the Fuchun River!

But deep down, there was an inescapable melancholy...

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Days passed, and Lin Qing'er didn't appear again. The calligraphy Wang Xian practiced every day remained the same, still the few sheets Lin Qing'er had written for him. Looking at the elegant characters, he often saw the image of that delicate, frail girl, but it was too late...

Whenever he couldn't sleep at night, he would curse himself, saying he was suffering for his pride, deserving a lifetime of self-comfort...

After washing his underwear every day, he would practice calligraphy even harder. His mother, seeing that he was better, planned to send him out to find work, not wanting him to eat idly at home and waste paper. But seeing his determination, she held her tongue.

One day in late September, Wang Xian was writing in the room when he heard Yinyin scream. He ran out and saw his father, wearing a tattered felt hat and carrying a bundle, smiling at him...

"Daddy, Daddy, wuwuwu..." Yinyin, recovering from her shock, ran to her father, hugging his neck and crying. "Daddy, is it you, is it you..."

Father, who loved this daughter the most, patted her head, his eyes red. "Daughter, it's me, it's me..." His gaze then turned to the doorway.

Mother, leaning against the door frame, her eyes red, tried not to cry in front of her children but couldn't help sobbing. "You're finally back, you scoundrel..."

"Your mother, I'm back." Father nodded, speaking solemnly. "I'm not leaving again..."

Before the family could say much, neighbors started coming over to visit. That afternoon, the neighbors pooled money to order three tables of food from a restaurant to welcome Father back. The neighbors took turns toasting him, and Father drank without refusal. They talked and laughed, bringing back the long-lost lively atmosphere to the small courtyard...

As night fell, Tian Qi, carrying a heavy bundle, helped a frail scholar appear at the Wang family's door.

The scholar was naturally Lin Rongxing. As soon as he entered, he knelt before Father Wang and bowed deeply. "I, the despicable Lin Rongxing, have come to apologize to my benefactor!"

Father Wang quickly stepped forward, laughing heartily. "Mr. Lin, what are you saying? We are all flesh and blood, who can withstand the torture in the government office? I never blamed you..." He helped him up and pulled him to the table. "Come, come, fellow sufferer, let's have a drink!"

His words were very graceful, earning applause from the neighbors and tears of gratitude from Lin Rongxing. "My benefactor is so magnanimous, I am ashamed..."

"Let's not talk about that." Father Wang poured him a bowl of yellow wine. "Drink this bowl of wine, and let the past be the past!"

"Okay!" Although Lin Rongxing was not a heavy drinker, he still picked up the bowl and drank it in one gulp.