Ch 80: Willingly
After lunch.
Qin Yun stayed home and played with Xiaoyu and Xiaohui for a while before heading towards Chen Yumei’s house.
He was anxious to explain the “to offer oneself in marriage” matter clearly, lest Chen Yumei’s misunderstanding deepened.
When he reached the dirt road near the creekside.
A slender figure suddenly emerged from the nearby grassland, blocking his path.
This slender figure carried a bamboo basket, her thick braided hair hanging down over her full bosom; it was Li Chunmei.
Qin Yun was slightly startled, then asked with a smile:
“Sister Chunmei? Are you collecting wild soybeans again?”
“Sigh! These past two years have been terribly dry, the wild soybeans on the mountain are getting fewer and of poorer quality. It’s only just autumn, and the wild soybeans in the mountain are almost all withered.”
Li Chunmei pointed to the pitifully small harvest in the bamboo basket, her face clouded with worry.
Their family has no men, only she and Zhang Xiuhua, two women.
Zhang Xiuhua’s health isn’t very good, she can’t do heavy labor, only able to help cultivate two mu of corn.
Peach Blossom Village has infertile land, and the crop yield is pitifully low.
Those two mu of corn can only barely keep them from starving; to eat their fill and save some money for daily necessities, they must rely on her selling tofu.
Qin Yun glanced at her bamboo basket.
The wild soybeans inside hadn’t even covered the bottom, a pitifully small amount, not nearly enough to make tofu.
Without enough wild soybeans, Li Chunmei’s tofu would be out of stock.
“Sister Chunmei, the wild soybeans in the mountains grow naturally and are greatly affected by the weather. They only grow for more than three months each year, it’s very unstable. I think you should change your approach, you can’t put all your hope on the naturally growing wild soybeans in the mountains; you should try growing some yourself.”
“Do you think I haven’t thought about that?
But our family has no men, even if I have the best ideas in my heart, I can’t implement them!”
Li Chunmei sighed, her gaze glancing unintentionally towards Qin Yun.
The scene she saw by the creek last night reappeared in her mind.
Qin Yun looked gentle and refined, yet his body was so strong, his masculine charm was striking.
It kept her awake all night.
Remembering this, Li Chunmei couldn’t help but say another sentence.
“Actually, my requirements aren’t high, as long as I can find a trustworthy man like other women, live together, have a few children, cultivate a few mu of corn and soybeans, he takes care of the farming, and I take care of selling tofu, I’d be very satisfied with that kind of life!”
At this point, her face was full of longing.
But soon, her eyes dimmed again: “Unfortunately, I’m an ill-fated star, no man dares to take me, even my father’s last wish can’t be fulfilled.”
“Sister Chunmei, don’t listen to their nonsense, there’s no such thing as an ill-fated star, that’s just superstition.”
Qin Yun knew Li Chunmei had heavy Yin Qi, and ordinary men couldn’t bear it, but he couldn’t say it, lest Li Chunmei become even more sad and desperate.
“Yunzi, in this world, you’re the only man who doesn’t dislike me, so… will you take me?” Li Chunmei bit her rosy lips and suddenly spoke.
“What?” Qin Yun was stunned, he didn’t expect the outspoken Li Chunmei to say such words.
“If you don’t want me, then no man will want me, and I will never be able to fulfill my father’s last wish.” Li Chunmei’s eyes reddened, looking pitiful.
“Sister Chunmei…”
Qin Yun just wanted to speak, but was interrupted by Li Chunmei.
“Don’t worry, I don’t ask you to marry me, I just hope to have one or two children with you, to carry on the Old Li Family line, and I promise I won’t interfere with you marrying a wife in the future.”
“Sister Chunmei, this, this won’t do!”
“Yunzi, do you also dislike me?”
Li Chunmei’s eyes grew even redder.
Qin Yun quickly said: “I’ve never disliked you.”
“Is it because you think I’m not pretty?”
“You’re our village’s Tofu Beauty, how could you not be pretty?”
“If that’s the case, then take me, don’t worry, I won’t interfere with you marrying a wife, as long as I can have a child, even if I’m just the woman behind you, I’m willing.”
Before Qin Yun could respond, Li Chunmei, blushing, continued:
“My mother calculated for me, saying these are the days when I’m most likely to conceive.”
“Sister Chunmei, this isn’t fair to you.”
Although Qin Yun had excessive Yang Qi, he wasn’t a lecher controlled by his lower body, who would take action the moment he saw a woman offering herself.
Li Chunmei was moved.
It turned out that Qin Yun didn’t dislike her, but thought it was unfair to her.
“No, this is something I’m willing to do, there’s nothing unfair about it.”
Saying this, she took Qin Yun’s hand and walked towards the nearby grassland.
“Sister Chunmei, what are you doing?”
“My mother said today is the best day, the easiest day to conceive. Since we both want to, let’s do it here.”
Li Chunmei blushed and pulled Qin Yun into the grassland without further ado.
A piece of plastic sheeting had already been laid out in the grassland.
It seemed Li Chunmei was well-prepared.
“Sister Chunmei, how did you know I would pass by here?” Qin Yun was surprised.
“Aunt Yumei told me. She also told me to tell you not to press her too hard, to give her a few days to consider. After she considers, she will definitely give you a satisfactory answer.”
After Li Chunmei finished speaking, she asked another question in confusion: “Yunzi, why are you pressuring Aunt Yumei?”
“No, nothing, it’s just that Aunt Yumei wants to learn the folk remedy I have, and I’m willing to teach her, but she insists on paying tuition.”
“Of course you have to pay tuition to learn a skill, this is the old rule passed down, if a master doesn’t charge a student tuition, it means they’re dissatisfied with the student and don’t want to teach them their true skills.
Also, the tuition is usually set by the master. Whatever tuition or requirements the master sets, the student should do their best to fulfill them, otherwise it’s a sign of disrespect to the master.”
“Regardless of what the master demands, the student must do it?” Qin Yun asked with furrowed brows.
“Of course, students usually can’t haggle, it’s called… respecting teachers and elders, unless the student doesn’t want to acknowledge that master.” Li Chunmei grew up in the countryside and was very familiar with these rules.
Seeing Qin Yun’s brows furrowed even deeper, she curiously asked:
“Did you make some high-difficulty demands of Aunt Yumei?”
To offer oneself in marriage, is indeed a high-difficulty request.
Qin Yun dared not tell Li Chunmei about this.
He quickly shook his head: “How could I make high-difficulty demands of Aunt Yumei? I just casually mentioned a very simple request.”
“Then what do you have to worry about? Aunt Yumei is an honest person, she will definitely do her best to fulfill your request, just give her a few more days to prepare, don’t press her so hard.”
“Ahem, okay, I won’t press her.”
Qin Yun’s face flushed red, and he nodded.
If Chen Yumei really decided to do her best to fulfill his request, that would be troublesome.
Thinking of this, Qin Yun became even more determined to explain things to Chen Yumei as soon as possible.
“If I had known about this old rule, I definitely wouldn’t have made a joke of ‘to offer oneself in marriage’ with Aunt Yumei.”
After understanding Chen Yumei’s situation, Li Chunmei’s face turned red again.
She pulled Qin Yun to the side of the plastic sheeting, her head slightly lowered, her heart beating faster.
Although she had made her decision last night, when it came down to it, she was still very nervous.
“Yun, Yunzi, while it’s noon and nobody’s around, take me here!”
Li Chunmei took a deep breath and mustered her courage.
Before Qin Yun could answer, she began to unbutton her shirt.
The shirt buttons were stretched tight by her curves, easy to unbutton, they came undone with a gentle push.
Before Qin Yun could stop her, Li Chunmei unbuttoned all the buttons, took off her shirt, revealing a thin small vest.
The full small vest, exuding the fragrance of a virgin, made Qin Yun blush, his breathing quicken, and his Adam’s apple bob up and down.
“Sister Chunmei…”
“Yunzi, come here, I’ll give you my body.”
Li Chunmei grabbed Qin Yun’s hand and pressed it against her body.
Suddenly, a figure darted into the grassland from outside.
This figure was Xiaohui.
It followed Qin Yun’s scent, directly pouncing at Qin Yun’s feet, wagging its tail at him, and barking three times affectionately.
“Woof woof woof!”
Li Chunmei and Qin Yun were at the point of ignition, about to ignite, but Xiaohui suddenly barged in, startling them both.
“Xiaohui? How did you find this place?”
After regaining his senses, Qin Yun asked in confusion.
Li Chunmei was also puzzled: “Xiaohui, why didn’t you stay home to protect Aunt Xianglian and Xiaoyu? What are you doing here?”
They were just one step away from consummating their relationship, but Xiaohui interrupted them.
She felt a little anxious.
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