Village Belle Chapter 123
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 123: Milksop, Aren’t You Scared To Marry Me?
"But Yuntang probably won't agree. He clearly prefers the village," Mrs. Xie-Qin said worriedly.
Xie Qing had also considered this point. "Let's take Taozi along."
"A month or two is fine, but several years is probably not an option. Taozi's mother mentioned it to me casually the other day. Although she didn't say it formally, I understood what she meant. She wants Taozi to go home in a year or two."
"That's a problem. All parents love their own children. After Yuntang passes the imperial examinations, I'll ask him if he's willing to go. If not, we'll invite a tutor to the village to teach him."
"A few years' delay is good as well. When Yuntang is older, he'll understand things better and won't be afraid of those tricks used to scare children."
……
While the couple were talking, Su Tao and Xie Yuntang were also talking.
Xie Yuntang was peeling chestnuts when he suddenly remembered something and asked softly, "Sister Taozi, when is your birthday?"
Su Tao, who was happily eating chestnuts, paused for a moment upon hearing this. How would she know when Su Tao's birthday was? "I don't know. I'll ask my parents when I get home tomorrow."
Hearing this, Xie Yuntang was taken aback, feeling a pang of heartache. "Sister Taozi, have you never celebrated your birthday?"
He thought she’d never celebrated her birthday because her family was poor.
Poor Sister Taozi.
Su Tao might not have celebrated her birthday, but she was Jiang Shengsheng, and her family celebrated with her every year. Her father either gave her a house or a car, so she lived quite a luxurious life.
However, Xie Yuntang wouldn't believe her even if she told him, and he'd probably be shocked. Forget it, it was his birthday today, so she’d better not say anything unnecessary.
Look at how kind she was.
The wretched system had treated her terribly.
"I’ve forgotten. It’s time to sleep, let’s turn in for the night. We have to go to school tomorrow."
She lay sprawled on her small bed, commanding unapologetically, "Milksop, cover me with the blanket."
Xie Yuntang quickly covered her up, his voice soft and earnest. "Sister Taozi, I'll celebrate your birthday from now on, and I'll buy you lots of things."
Su Tao opened her eyes to look at him. Her vision was dim at this moment, and she couldn’t see his outline clearly. She could only see that his eyes were clean and bright.
Milksop was so nice that she was moved.
She wished that Milksop could be her younger brother.
She blinked. "Milksop, I want to kiss you."
Milksop was so lovable that she wanted to hug and kiss him.
Xie Yuntang was taken aback by her words, and his face flushed red to his neck. He took a step or two back. "No, Sister Taozi, you can't kiss me."
He paused for a moment, then said, "If you kiss me, you have to marry me."
Hearing these words from a nine-year-old child startled Su Tao, who then choked on her saliva, coughing repeatedly.
She glared at him, somewhat amused, and said, "I have to marry you just because I kiss you? What if seven or eight women kissed you? Would you marry them all? You’d wish."
"No, I won't let anyone else kiss me. I know that men and women should keep a proper distance," Xie Yuntang hurriedly explained, seemingly afraid that she'd misunderstand.
"But I kissed you before. Won’t you have to marry me then? Let me ask you, are you scared to marry me?" Even Su Tao disliked that behavior of hers, let alone Xie Yuntang.
So when he shook his head, earnestly saying, "I'm not scared. I'll marry you, Sister Taozi."
She was stunned.
"..."
What kind of perfect, kind-hearted persona was Milksop?
She snapped out of her daze, sat up, and smacked him on the forehead. "Nerd! Let your mother choose your future wife. I'm afraid you'll suffer if it’s left to you to pick one."
She herself felt that whoever married her would be unlucky, because besides studying, she didn't have other skills. Well, besides being a big eater.
Only a naive child like Milksop would think that way.
Seeing him standing still, seemingly deep in thought about her words, she nudged him. "Go to sleep. Stop thinking about it. Your little brain is full of water; you won't figure it out."
She pulled the blanket over herself, closed her eyes, and went to sleep, but the image of Xie Yuntang saying he would marry her was still in her mind.
She shouldn't joke around like that anymore. It’d be terrible if she corrupted Milksop.
……
It was a dream.
The door opened from the outside in the early morning, and a tall man in a white robe walked in, his hair loose and flowing down his back.
He called out gently, "Dear, wake up. Mother made your favorite pancakes."
The woman on the bed groggily opened her eyes, trying to make out who it was. She was somewhat surprised. "Milksop? How did you grow so big? What did you call me?"
"Dear, you're still half-dazed again." The man walked over, took her hand, and then leaned down to kiss her.
The woman jerked her hand back as if she'd seen a ghost. "Milksop! Behave yourself! If you say another word, I'll kill you!"
"Dear, are you still angry about yesterday? Don't be angry, I'll go buy you some pear cake later." The man looked at her with a pitiful expression, making her heart soften.
"Stop! Who wants your pear cake? Don’t call me ‘Dear’..."
The scene shifted, and the boy was anxiously shaking the sleeping girl. "Sister Taozi, Sister Taozi, what's wrong?"
The little girl slowly woke up, and upon seeing the soft, adorable face, she paused for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief, patted her chest, and exclaimed, "That scared me to death!"
No wonder Milksop suddenly became so tall and even called me Dear!
It almost gave her a heart attack.
It turned out to be just a dream.
Xie Yuntang was relieved to see that she was awake and asked with concern, "Sister Taozi, did you have a nightmare? I saw that you were clutching something."
"Yes, that nightmare was terrifying." Su Tao stared at the soft, cute face in front of her, feeling much more at ease. She then cursed herself for being so lewd as to have such a dream.
"Don't be afraid. My dad says dreams are the opposite of reality." Xie Yuntang hesitated for a moment, then patted her back reassuringly.
Su Tao knew, of course, that it was the opposite. She turned to look at the sky outside. "It's getting late. Let’s hurry up and get ready." She then hurriedly began to put on her clothes.
……
At noon, Su Tao went home and asked Lin Sanzhu when her birthday was.
It should be Su Tao's birthday instead.
April 8th, so she was exactly one month younger than Xie Yuntang.
Unexpectedly, it was exactly the same as her original birthday.
Lin Sanzhu assumed that she wanted to celebrate her birthday seeing that Xie Yuntang had celebrated his birthday yesterday. She scolded, "Wretched girl, why did you ask about your birthday so early? What do you want? Just tell me. Your dad said he'll grant your wish this year. If it's too expensive, forget about it."
Su Tao, "..."
She rolled her eyes and said, "Mom, you're so stingy! I don't want any. I'm not a child anymore."
"What are you if you're not a child? Just tell me. Didn't you ask for hair accessories in previous years? I’ll buy them for you this year. I’ll buy two."
Lin Sanzhu felt bad too. She hadn't celebrated her children's birthday even once in all these years, and they hadn't even had a piece of meat to eat.
Su Tao, "..."
She pointed to the top of her head where a few stray hairs were sticking out. "How am I supposed to wear them?"
Lin Sanzhu was rendered speechless. "..."
She smacked Su Tao on the head. "Why can't you wear them? I'll get a needle and sew them on for you. "
"Mom, you're so cruel! When Dad gets back, I'll have him teach you a lesson."
After Su Tao finished speaking, she grabbed Xie Yuntang and ran away, saying as she ran, "Just boil an egg for my birthday."
"Don't even think about it. You want an egg? In your dreams! Watch where you're going. If you make Yuntang fall, I'll punish you!" Lin Sanzhu chased after them to the door and shouted.
