However, Xu Shen was not a living Buddha. It was the fault of the Zhou family from the start, so he thought, either return his money or marry someone else instead. Therefore, he rudely said to Shu Ran, “I do not need another younger brother; I need a wife. Think about it yourself, either your sister marries me, or you do it in her place.”
Speaking of that, Xu Shen looked at Shu Ran’s eyes and believed he understood what he was talking about.
“What? This…” As a modern man from the 21st century, Shu Ran naturally knew what he was implying… Xu Shen didn’t care whether his bride was male or female.
Was he swinging both ways?
But that wasn’t the point, right? Shu Ran quickly cleared his mind and looked at Xu Shen in horror, mumbling, “But…”
Xu Shen didn’t like to force people, so he simply continued, “Or give me back the 500 yuan and everything I’ve given your family these past few days.”
Well… that was more than impossible. Shu Ran blushed, thinking, damn, how could this happen?!
Xu Ran wasn’t interested in himself, right?!
“I don’t have that much money for the time being”, he whispered.
“When you get the money, I won’t stop you from leaving,” Xu Shen answered. But he didn’t mean it, and he was sure that the boy wouldn’t be able to earn that much money on his own either. The young man never set foot outside the county. Xu Shen strongly believed that those self-recommendations just now were just empty words. He wouldn’t laugh at him, but didn’t take him seriously either.
And yet, Shu Ran trusted him and thought he’d be able to leave after paying back the money, feeling that his situation wasn’t that desperate just yet. However, the fact that he somehow became Xu Shen’s prospective wife truly shocked him. He thought there were no queer people in that era, and even if there were, who would dare to find himself a boyfriend and live happily so openly?!
And Xu Shen… Shu Ran secretly looked up at him. The other party has been mixing in society from a young age, so he was not embarrassed. Xu Shen openly looked back at him with no shyness, giving people a feeling of maturity and the vastness of the world.
“What do you say?” he asked the boy.
Shu Ran lowered his head even further and whispered, “I’ll think about it.” Saying that, he touched his face. He never looked carefully in a mirror after transmigrating, but he vaguely knew that his face was good-looking, with smooth skin. However, he never thought he would receive the favors of another man… especially not from his future brother-in-law.
“Okay,” Xu Shen continued. “I’ll come pick my bride when the time comes. Whoever it is, that’s who will be. Anyway, someone has to come home with me. Otherwise…”
His reputation was there, so it goes without saying that the Zhou family wouldn’t dare play tricks on him.
“Yeah…” Shu Ran responded quietly.
……………..
Wang Dong came back with a large basket of food. Behind him were several young men, who were probably Xu Shen’s sworn brothers.
“Brother Shen is upstairs,” Wang Dong said. “His little brother-in-law came to meet him. Do you want to talk with him?”
Several young people shook their heads, answering, “I guess they are planning things. Let’s not disturb them.” After all, Xu Shen didn’t like it when others were yelling around. Anyway, he’ll smell the food on the table and come when hungry.
“Let’s start cooking then,” Wang Dong continued. “If only my sister-in-law were here already, we brothers can’t wait to taste her cooking…”
At that, Xu Shen came down the stairs, already scolding him: “Keep on dreaming! Your wife didn’t cook for me after you got married!”
Among the young people, a ruffian named Chen Kai smiled and came up to put his hands around Xu Shen’s shoulders. Looking behind him at Shu Ran, he asked, “Brother Shen, is this your future brother-in-law? What’s his name?”
Xu Shen first pushed Chen Kai away and said rudely to him: “Get out of here!” Then he turned around and introduced Shu Ran to everyone, saying, “This is Zhou Ding, don’t bully him.”
“What are you saying…” Chen Kai answered. “How can we bully your brother-in-law?!” Wouldn’t it be better to please him instead? he thought.
“Come here.” Xu Shen called Shu Ran over. “Let me introduce them to you.” Pointing at Chen Kai, he started: “This guy with a flowery shirt is Chen Kai. He’s two years older than you.”
Shu Ran shouted politely: “Brother Chen.”
Xu Shen then continued, pointing at a shorter man with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, who was squatting in the yard and cleaning fish: “Chen Sen, Chen Kai’s older brother.”
Hearing his name, Chen Sen stood up and nodded at Shu Ran, with the cigarette still in his mouth, letting out a short “brother-in-law”. His other hand was still holding a kitchen knife with a bright blade, and, coupled with his sweaty forehead, he looked like a dangerous, seasoned man.
Shu Ran immediately said in awe: “Hello, Brother Sen!”
“Jiang Fan.” Xu Shen took Shu Ran back to the living room and pointed at a young man who sat with his legs crossed in front of a fan. “Jiang Fan, this is my brother-in-law, Zhou Ding.”
“Hello, brother-in-law.” Jiang Fan nodded lazily.
“Hello, Brother Fan.” Shu Ran acknowledged him.
Next, other people were introduced, but Shu Ran noticed that the most important ones were introduced first. The rest were just juniors.
After getting to know everyone, Shu Ran went to help Wang Dong wash the vegetables and secretly inquire about the men on the way. With his smart mouth, he was afraid he might upset someone and end up with a blackened eye.
Wang Dong opened his mouth and whispered to him, “Brother, I’ll tell you, these are all big shots. I’m scared to even interrupt their conversations. If I hadn’t followed Brother Shen, I wouldn’t have had a chance to know them at all.”
Shu Ran listened carefully. According to Wang Dong, Jiang Fan’s background was very good, with his family full of government people who couldn’t easily be touched. But he was rebellious and spoiled by his brothers and sisters, so he ended up not following the right path. Otherwise, he was someone who shouldn’t have mixed with Xu Shen.
As for the Chen brothers, their family arrived in Nanshi decades ago. Their old man was a very important elder, and everyone had to give them face. The brothers had walked a wide and carefree path for most of their lives.
Shu Ran blurted out: “Then, what does Brother Shen rely on?”
Wang Dong looked to the right and left, then came close to Shu Ran’s ear to whisper mysteriously: “Your sister is a smart woman; she’ll find out in the future.”
“Wang Dong, what are you mumbling with Zhou Ding?” Xu Shen’s voice suddenly came from behind. Wang Dong stiffened and turned around with an ingratiating smile, saying, “Nothing, Brother Shen, I didn’t say anything about you!”
Xu Shen ignored him, turning to Shu Ran. “You’re a guest,” he declared. “Come in and let him do the work by himself.”
At that, poor Wang Dong panicked, quickly answering: “Yes, brother-in-law, you go in and have some tea! It’s so hot outside!”
However, compared to going inside the house and having to deal with Xu Shen, Shu Ran preferred to stay right there and bask in the sun, so he said: “It’s okay. I want to help with some work; otherwise, I won’t be at ease.”
Wang Dong laughed at him, asking, “How come you’re so thin-skinned?” But Xu Shen didn’t laugh, only repeating: “Come in and let them do it themselves. I have something I want to tell you.”
Now, Shu Ran had no other choice but to put down what was in his hands and follow Xu Shen back inside.
As soon as Shu Ran sat down, Chen Kai offered him an expensive-looking cigarette, not the hand-rolled kind, but a branded one. “Brother-in-law, do you smoke?”
Shu Ran immediately waved his hand: “Thank you, Brother Kai, I don’t smoke.”
His serious refusal made everyone laugh, including the lazy Jiang Fan, who took another look at him and asked Xu Shen, “Has your brother-in-law studied abroad? Why do I feel he seems familiar?”
The little boy acted like his educated cousins who studied abroad.
“No.” Xu Shen was very clear about his background. How could the Zhou family have enough money to send their son to study abroad? He guessed the boy simply liked reading, just like his sister.
Shu Ran sat in the middle of that group of wild people and felt seriously uncomfortable. He quickly asked Xu Shen: “What did you want to tell me?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Xu Shen started laughing. “Just saw you sitting outside like a fool and felt like you were about to say something stupid.”
Shu Ran felt speechless but didn’t dare to be rude to him, so he lowered his head.
“Hahaha!” Chen Kai whispered to Xu Shen. “Why is your brother-in-law acting like a shy little girl? It’s a bit awkward.”
Shu Ran, who was laughed at, felt once again that he really wasn’t suitable to mix with these people. His face turned black, and he hurriedly said, “Then I’ll go out to help!”
But just as he was about to stand up, Xu Shen pressed him back and started scolding Chen Kai: “If you can’t speak, then shut up!” Then, he turned to Shu Ran again. “Don’t go out. Just a bunch of people who have nothing else to do. You stay and rest.”
His tone was quite harsh, but Shu Ran knew he meant well, so he stopped being stubborn.
Jiang Fan’s eyes turned to them. He felt like he saw something interesting and wanted to dig more, but for the moment, he could only smooth things over with a “Brother-in-law doesn’t smoke, here, have some fruits.” With that, Jiang Fan put a piece of watermelon in front of Shu Ran.
It was a rare thing for that era. If someone like Tian Erwa were there, he’d already be drooling. But Shu Ran’s reaction was completely flat as he politely said: “Thank you.”
He had transmigrated for a month, but already forgotten the last time he ate well. So his stomach couldn’t accommodate a lot, and one piece of watermelon was barely doable.
However, Xu Shen thought he was too thin-skinned to eat, so he took the piece and put it in his hand. “It’s quite sweet. Try it.”
“Thank you, Brother Shen.” Shu Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he still had to take the piece and eat it. His gentle appearance made Chen Kai’s teeth ache. He was a sloppy eater and finished a piece of watermelon as big as his palm in two bites, but Shu Ran was composed and took small bites. His fingers didn’t get wet, and there were no watermelon seeds in the corners of his mouth, looking very clean.
But in Chen Kai’s opinion, he was pretending.
Who didn’t know the living standards in the countryside? Was his family richer than Xu Shen? Could they afford to raise this son like a young master?
And yet, Xu Shen didn’t think he was pretending. After having some contact with him, he felt Shu Ran was just like that. Polite and clean, but with a sense of distance, like he and they were from two different worlds.
When the meal was ready, Shu Ran helped clean up the table and serve the dishes. Seeing that, Jiang Fan whispered to Xu Shen: “So virtuous. Such a young boy is rare.”
“There are many brothers and sisters in his family,” Xu Shen answered. “The old ones take care of the young; he must be used to it.”
After sitting down, one of the juniors exclaimed, “Such a rich meal! There’s a lot of meat today!” There was braised fish and stir-fried pork belly, accompanied by several vegetarian dishes. In the 80s, such a complete meal was uncommon, as many people only ate like that during the Spring Festival.
“That’s because my brother Dingzi is here today,” Wang Dong said with a smile. “You guys only reap the benefits.” With that, he enthusiastically put a large piece of fish head on Shu Ran’s plate, continuing, “Brother, the fish head is the best! You eat it!”
Several people around the table were greedy, but that was Xu Shen’s brother-in-law, and also a distinguished guest. How could they compete for food with him?!
“The fish head is delicious, but has no meat. Can’t you pick something with meat?” Xu Shen also moved his chopsticks and picked a fat piece of fish belly for Shu Ran.
“That’s enough.” Shu Ran quickly said. “I can’t eat that much alone, just share it among yourselves.”
The table was full of hungry men, and everyone was devouring their food in a hurry. Only Shu Ran was taking his time, not even touching most of the dishes.
Everyone felt he was too delicate.
…………..
In the afternoon, it was time to do business. Wang Dong was going, and Xu Shen should have accompanied him. But he surprisingly said to Jiang Fan, “You take the lead this time. I won’t come.”
Chen Kai was astonished, asking, “You won’t go?! Can we even do it without you?!”
However, Jiang Fan accepted, then he looked at Chen Kai and said, “Brother Shen is about to get married… If there’s anything, we can deal with it by ourselves.”
“That’s fine.” Let’s wait until Xu Shen brings home his bride, Chen Kai thought.
The group of people left the house, and Xu Shen said to Shu Ran, “Do you want to visit the county town or go back home?”
Only then did Shu Ran realize that Xu Shen intended to take him home, so he gave up on going out to make money. It made him a little confused, so he could only answer: “Let’s go home now. There’s a lot of work to do.”
“Okay.” Xu Shen went to pack some fruits and biscuits that were left over from today, and joked with Shu Ran along the way: “Can you even do farm work?”
No matter how he looked at him, the boy was simply too slender.
“Are you looking down on me?” Shu Ran sulked. Although he wasn’t suitable in the beginning, at least he was strong enough to gather vegetables.
Xu Shen was ready to go, so he called Shu Ran: “Let’s go.”
Shu Ran climbed on his bicycle and naturally put his arms tightly around Xu Shen’s waist.
“…”
In that instant, Xu Shen felt a pressing question in his heart. He turned around and looked at Shu Ran’s fair face.
“When you came in the morning,” he asked.
“…Did you also hug Wang Dong like this?!”
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