Chapter 10: Zhou Nan Shi Scorns the Nan Family

Nan Jinping had never been so directly confessed to by a man before. She stammered, unsure of how to respond, while feeling inevitably excited inside.

"But, but didn't you like Li Erniang before? You even jumped into the river because she broke off the engagement. I can't believe that such intense feelings could fade in just a few days, and now you like me?"

Bing Wengu explained excitedly, "I never liked that Li Erniang. In all my life, I haven't spoken as much to that little girl as I have to you today."

Bing Wengu didn't want his future husband to misunderstand that he liked someone else, so he explained forcefully, "I jumped into the river because I was provoked by the Li family. Li Shi came to my house to break off the engagement and said many harsh words, calling me a loser, saying I would never pass the imperial exams, and that my family was too poor to marry anyone, that I wasn't worthy of marrying, and that any wife I married would suffer a life of poverty with me."

"I was under a lot of pressure from studying, afraid I wouldn't pass the exams this year, and in a moment of shame and anger, I couldn't think clearly and jumped into the river. I definitely didn't jump because I liked that little girl from the Li family; it was purely a moment of despair."

Bing Wengu, afraid that Nan Jinping would be scared off by the poverty of the Bing family, quickly added, "After nearly dying, I've thought a lot and found that studying has become clearer to me. I believe I will pass the exams this time. And although my family is poor now, I can earn money. I swear, if you marry me, I will never let you suffer a single day of hardship; I will cherish you."

Nan Jinping's face was burning, still somewhat disbelieving, "But in the village before, you never even looked at me directly. Every time you saw me, you would avoid me from afar, as if avoiding a plague. How do you explain that?"

Bing Wengu wanted to curse; it was all the fault of his original self, who was blind to Nan Jinping's virtues, not him.

The original self, proud of his scholar status, indeed looked down on the lower-status Shuang Er.

But Bing Wengu could see, and not only see, but also like very much.

Bing Wengu lied, "It's all because I had an engagement back then, arranged from childhood, giving me no choice. With the engagement, the more I liked you, the more I had to stay away, otherwise where would that leave you, making you the third party destroying someone else's relationship, to be scorned by everyone?"

Bing Wengu said, "I would never put the you I like in such an awkward position."

Nan Jinping vaguely felt something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what.

Bing Wengu said, "Nan Jinping, I am sincere, please consider me. I didn't tell you before because I was afraid you would think I was threatening you. After all, the day you jumped into the river to save me, in the eyes of some old-fashioned people, we had already had physical contact. I was afraid that if I proposed to you immediately, you would think I was coercing you, and you would hesitate, not daring to refuse, fearing that I would spread the word if you did."

Nan Jinping imagined if Bing Wengu had come to propose immediately, he might indeed have thought as Bing Wengu said.

Bing Wengu said, "Normally, such an important matter as marriage should not be asked privately like this, it's too presumptuous and disrespectful. But our situation is different, given the physical contact, I didn't want you to misunderstand that I was threatening you, so I secretly asked if you would be willing."

Nan Jinping lowered her head, blushing, "What if, what if I don't agree?"

"Whether you agree or not, I will never tell anyone that you saved me," Bing Wengu said. "My feelings for you are true, and if you are willing to marry me, I swear I will never let you suffer a single day."

Nan Jinping didn't take the promise of no suffering to heart.

How poor the Bing family was, Nan Jinping, living in the same village, couldn't not know.

Nan Jinping wasn't afraid of a hard life; she had been used to hardship since childhood and had never lived a good life. What she feared was a bitter heart.

"Let me think about it," Nan Jinping said.

Bing Wengu didn't expect to settle it today, just wanted Nan Jinping to understand his feelings.

"Okay, I hope you can seriously consider me. I will definitely make sure you live a life of wealth and ease," Bing Wengu said. "If you agree, I will have my mother come to propose as soon as possible. The exams are about to start, and I want to marry before that, to avoid any complications in our marriage after I pass the exams."

Bing Wengu was very confident about this exam, not out of arrogance. His mental strength, as a sentinel, was strong, with highly developed senses, meaning he could read ten lines at a glance and never forget.

As for Bing Wengu himself, he wasn't bad either, among the best of the excellent sentinels.

But others didn't know this, so when Bing Wengu said he could pass, others thought he was overestimating himself, being arrogant.

Nan Jinping privately didn't believe it either, but didn't say so.

After they parted, Nan Jinping returned to the Nan family. As soon as she entered, she saw Miao Shi busy in the kitchen and hurried in to help, putting aside her thoughts.

"Ma, let me do it, you go inside and rest for a while," said Nan Jinping.

"No need, you've been digging wild vegetables all day, let me do it," Miao Shi said, sympathizing with Nan Jinping.

Nan Jinping also cared deeply for Miao Shi and firmly took the firewood from her hands, busying himself energetically.

Life was hard for the Nan family because they were poor, and everyone in the Nan family struggled. Nan Jinping, born into the Nan family, naturally endured hardships too. However, the Nan couple never treated Nan Jinping unfairly because of his identity as a Shuang Er, even though they were often mocked by the villagers for having a Shuang Er in the family.

Nan Jinping was well aware of these taunts. Some scoundrels in the village even deliberately taunted him to his face.

Because of this, Nan Jinping developed a stubborn character from a young age, pushing himself to be more capable than any man, and he had always been the main labor force in the family. Over the years, he ate the least but worked the hardest.

Watching Nan Jinping's busy figure and thinking about the hardships this child had endured, Miao Shi felt a wave of sorrow and quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, afraid that Nan Jinping would see.

Dinner was as simple as ever—wild vegetable and coarse grain porridge. It wasn't just the Nan family who had meager meals; at this time, every household was the same, and not everyone could even afford this, like the Bing family, whose porridge had no grain in it.

The Nan family sat around the dining table eating, and despite the simple fare, everyone ate with great relish, as if it were some delicacy.

Nan Jinping had eaten roasted bird meat and eggs earlier and wasn't very hungry, so he ate a bit slower.

In the time it took to take a few bites, Nan Jinping looked up to find that the rest of the family had already finished eating.

Seeing the empty bowls of the Miao couple, Nan Jinping felt a twinge of guilt and poured half of his own bowl of wild vegetable porridge into each of their bowls.

"Pa, Ma, I'm not hungry, you eat it."

Miao Shi immediately said, "Don't be silly, even though it's not autumn harvest time, you've been digging wild vegetables all day, how could you not be hungry? You child, hurry up and eat it yourself, don't starve your body."

Nan's father also refused, "Jin Geer, my boy, you're still growing, you can't go hungry."

Shuang Er were naturally harder to raise than girls, and Nan Jinping's fertility mark was lighter than other Shuang Er, so light that it was almost invisible unless looked at closely.

The fertility mark of a Shuang Er was related to their ability to conceive; the more obvious and vivid the mark, the better the ability to conceive. The lighter the mark, the harder it was to conceive.

With a fertility mark like Nan Jinping's, it was nearly a sign of infertility.

Nan's father couldn't accept that his child was infertile, always insisting that it was because the Nan family was too poor and didn't eat well, leading to malnutrition. He believed that as long as his son could eat his fill, his fertility mark would surely improve.

The couple insisted on returning the porridge to Nan Jinping, who, unable to refuse, had to eat it himself. The other brothers of the Nan family, seeing their refusal, although none of them were full, didn't ask for more.

They all cared deeply for the only Shuang Er in the family.

Nan Jinping had eaten roasted bird meat and eggs, so he had some food in him but wasn't full. At eighteen, his stomach was like a bottomless hole, never feeling full no matter how much he ate. He shared his porridge with the Nan couple not because he was full, but because he cared about his parents.

The Nan couple refused to take it, so Nan Jinping ate it quickly.

Just as they finished cleaning up, an unexpected visitor arrived at the Nan family. It was a distant relative of the Nan family, an aunt from the neighboring village, Zhou Nan Shi.

The Nan family didn't like this aunt. Zhou Nan Shi wasn't a very good person, or at least not to their family, though she was quite smooth with outsiders.

It all boiled down to the Nan family's poverty; this aunt, who had married out, looked down on the Zhou family from the bottom of her heart.

They rarely interacted, not even during festivals, and only came when there was something important, always with a condescending attitude.

Knowing Zhou Nan Shi's nature, Miao Shi directly asked, "Aunt, what brings you here this time?"

Zhou Nan Shi immediately became displeased, her voice rising sharply, her eyebrows raised, and she scolded with the air of an elder, "Miao Shi, what kind of talk is this! Nan Wa Zi, you just watch your wife talk to me like this and don't even intervene!"

The Nan Wa Zi that Zhou Nan Shi referred to, Nan's father, rolled his eyes inwardly. He knew his aunt's temperament well and didn't think his wife had said anything wrong.

But the person in front of him was an elder, and since they lived in the same village, he couldn't be too blunt. Otherwise, the villagers wouldn't side with reason over family; they would only accuse him of disrespecting his elders, and the spittle from everyone could drown the couple.

Nan's father tried to calm the situation, "Miao Shi doesn't know how to speak properly, I apologize on her behalf."

Zhou Nan Shi was clearly not satisfied with such a light apology and continued to scold condescendingly, "Nan Wa Zi, it's not that your aunt is criticizing you, but your Zhou family is living in poverty, yet you can't just give up and must still respect the old and care for the young. If my daughter-in-law spoke to me like this, my son would have slapped her long ago."

She was actually suggesting that Nan's father should hit Miao Shi; this aunt really dared to speak!