Ger, So Proud

Chapter 96

Lin Yu didn’t say anything, just quietly watched him.

He Ze was silent for a moment, then decided to go all in: “You, you must have suspected something, right? I’m not He Ze, at least not the original He Ze, the son of the He family, Xiao An’s brother. The real He Ze died last year in the mountains, and I, inexplicably, ended up in his body, becoming him. Until now, I’ve been perfectly playing this role, except in front of you.”

“I am He Ze. I don’t belong to this world. I possess powers that would frighten people. Given all this, do you still want to marry me?”

He Ze seemed to have calmed down, but his right hand restlessly rubbed his fingers together.

“Are you finished?”

“Yes.” He nodded, like a prisoner awaiting judgment.

“Husband, you are amazing!”

Before He Ze could react, Lin Yu leaped onto him, wrapping his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist, kissing him on the face twice.

“You…”

He Ze stood there like a fool, accepting his boyfriend’s enthusiasm, and instinctively lifted Lin Yu’s hips to support him.

“Listen,” Lin Yu whispered in his ear, his warm breath tickling him, “I had suspected for a while that you weren’t the original He Ze, so I can accept that. As for your… miraculous abilities…”

He Ze’s grip on Lin Yu’s hips tightened.

“Husband, I think you’re incredible.” Lin Yu’s voice was as sweet as honey, and as if that wasn’t enough, he emphasized, “Really, you’re especially amazing.”

“Really?” He Ze finally couldn’t help but smile, then slapped Lin Yu’s butt. “Why call me husband? Call me ‘laogong’ (husband) instead.”

“Laogong?”

“In our world, that’s how lovers address each other. I’m ‘laogong’, and you’re ‘laopo’ (wife),” He Ze explained. “Laopo, call me ‘laogong’ again?”

“Laopo… sounds awful, but ‘laogong’? Laogong, laogong! Laogong…”

Lin Yu called out seven or eight times in a row.

He Ze’s eyes turned red as he listened. He sniffed, then cupped Lin Yu’s face, looking at his eyebrows and eyes, and murmured, “How fortunate I am…”

How fortunate I am to have regained my life, how fortunate I am to have landed in this peaceful world, how fortunate I am to be He Ze, and how fortunate I am to have met you.

So much, so much…

“Thank you, darling.” Thank you for not being afraid of me, for accepting all of me. Thank you for soothing my unease in this way at this moment.

Perhaps it was He Ze’s deep gaze, perhaps his gentle voice, or perhaps it was the intimate term “darling” that made Lin Yu blush instantly. He stuttered, “Why are you calling me like this? This is what you call little children!”

“Is it? But that’s how we address each other where I come from.”

“You have so many different ways of addressing people… Don’t you understand ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’?”

Lin Yu pinched a handful of flesh around He Ze’s waist. Despite He Ze having developed abdominal muscles now, the pinch still hurt.

“Hiss… Got stronger, huh? Planning to kill your husband?”

He Ze pretended to slap Lin Yu’s buttocks fiercely but ended up lightly patting instead. Lin Yu hesitated for a moment, then looked down, teary-eyed, and somewhat aggrieved, “You hit me.”

“Um, well…”

It was the first time He Ze had seen Lin Yu like this, and he felt flustered and unsure of what to do.

“Are you daring to hit me!”

Lin Yu’s expression changed suddenly. He jumped off He Ze’s body and punched his shoulder. He seemed ready to continue, but He Ze relaxed and evaded, and the two of them started chasing and playing, laughing and joking like two three-year-old children.

Yet they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

…

In high spirits, that evening He Ze stayed up all night full of energy. The next day, as promised, he brought the written complaints and the testimonies of dozens of people to the county office. Instead of following the normal procedure to file a case, he handed the written complaints directly to County Magistrate Zhou.

“Sir, here are the complaints and testimonies. As for the defendants and witnesses, you may send your bailiffs to summon them.”

He Ze stood respectfully in front of the magistrate’s desk.

Magistrate Zhou flipped through the thick stack of papers in his hand, his face turning increasingly grim. Though he prided himself on his reputation for fairness and integrity, and his effective governance kept the people content in his county, he had never expected that within a mere village, there would be someone daring enough!

After carefully reading through each testimony, he suppressed his anger and turned to He Ze. “I’m curious, how did you manage to get all these testimonies signed and sealed?”

“This… is just about appealing to emotions and reasoning with logic. Sir, have you noticed that bribing Xingwen with these things, most people were reluctant to do so, but were threatened and coerced into it.”

“Indeed, some of these statements say that some people wanted to report to the official authorities, but couldn’t even see the magistrate… Hmph, it seems the magistrate’s yamen itself needs some cleaning up.” Zhou Wen flicked the papers in his hand, already calculating in his mind.

In this era, reporting cases in the morning is not like in ancient times where one could simply beat the grievance drum at the gate of the yamen. Instead, one must first write a complaint, submit it to the minor officials, then to the chief clerk, and finally to the county magistrate, gradually escalating the matter.

It’s unclear at this point which step went wrong. Nevertheless, He Ze’s business is considered done for now. After bidding farewell to County Magistrate Zhou, he left the government office and headed to his flower shop.

It was the season when grass grows tall and orioles sing, and business at the flower shop had improved significantly in these days. When He Ze returned to the flower shop, it was around noon. Before stepping through the door, he heard He An’s laughter: “Haha, your handwriting is clearly uglier than mine!”

“You write with your right hand, I write with my left hand. How can they be the same?”

“Why not? Didn’t we agree on this earlier? You use your left hand, why, backing out now?”

“Okay, okay, I…”

“Ahem!” He Ze coughed deliberately as he entered through the doorway.

The two at the counter were quite far apart, otherwise, what awaited wouldn’t be just He Ze’s two coughs.

He An didn’t notice at all, still in high spirits. “Ah Brother, you’ve finally returned!”

“Yeah, is Brother Luo here too?”

“He Ze, Brother He Ze, no no no, calling you that is too formal,” Luo Zhanming tapped the pen holder on his head, “how about you call me Zhanming, if you don’t mind?”

He Ze glanced at Luo Zhanming and then at the bewildered He An. He chuckled inwardly. What a joke!

But not wanting to spoil the mood, He Ze still forced a smile and said, “I’ll stick with calling you Brother Luo. As for me, whatever suits you.”

With that said, He Ze deliberately took Liu San to a corner of the backyard. “Has Luo Zhanming been coming often lately? Wasn’t He An quite annoyed with him? How come they’re so friendly now?”

“He’s been coming often. During your busy days, he practically came every day. At first, everyone was still unfamiliar with him, but later, after hearing that he’s your friend, and after getting along for a while, this kid looks good, speaks well, and is generous. He’s always hanging around He An’s place, so naturally, they’ve become close.”

He Ze caught the main point in Liu San’s words and slapped him on the head. “Generous… So you’ve been overly generous with him that you’ve sold He An?”

“What? How could that be? I just occasionally helped with some errands… Wait, are you saying he’s here for He An?”

“Otherwise?”

“I see… So this kid kept sending us away. Turns out…”

“Alright, from now on, if he comes again, keep a close eye on him. Immediately inform me if anything happens.”

“Don’t worry, if I don’t know, I won’t say. If I do, I’ll definitely keep an eye on him.” Liu San made a guarantee.

“Forget it. By the way, tell the old man. I can’t trust you alone.” He Ze rolled his eyes. “Who knows if he might have bribed you?”

With that, he turned and left.

Liu San stood in place, “…”

Old man He was obsessed with woodworking in the backyard. According to the drawings provided by He Ze, he had nearly filled a whole room, and some of them he had even improved himself. After a while, when he had some free time, he planned to open another shop around the flower shop. After many years of hopes, his wishes were about to come true. During this time, he had a smiling face for everyone he saw.

He Ze greeted him and returned to the village.

In recent days, Chief He Hong had come to see him twice, his head spinning with urgency. Since the matter was mostly resolved, it was best to inform him as soon as possible.

…

The conscription ended on March 21st, a half-month in total.

He Ze didn’t know the three men from He Familt Village who had gone, but they were all young. On the day they left, everyone in the village went to see them off, and He Ze was no exception. It was no longer a matter of money for the village. Due to the constraints of the times, He Ze couldn’t save everyone and could only do his best to protect his own relatives, loved ones, and others.

During this time, Lin Tianguai had been waiting at home for news of He Ze’s conscription. When the number of conscripts from He Family Village increased, he happily bought a small jar of wine and took a few sips. However, He Ze’s news did not arrive for a few days, but he heard that Shi Lizheng had gone in instead.

Several bailiffs rushed over, and later no one returned. In addition, valuable items in his yard were taken away by the bailiffs a few days later.

After asking around, Lin Tianguai learned that Shi Lizheng had been imprisoned for bribery and exploitation of the people over the years, and his family’s property had been confiscated and seized.

Lin Tianguai was frightened to the core. He had also given silver to Shi Xingwen! However, he didn’t know that He Ze had forgotten about this incident, so his worries were completely unnecessary.

When Lin Shou returned, he limped and had bruises on his face.

At this moment, Lin Tianguai paced anxiously in front of the door. When he saw him, he felt annoyed: “Why don’t you stay at home and take care of your granddad? Where did you go to cause trouble? Even when I’m not here, you’re never here. Are you hoping for your granddad to die early? Has your brain gone to the pigs like your brother? If I had known…”

Not mentioning Lin Fu was fine, but as soon as Lin Fu was mentioned, Lin Shou suddenly looked up. He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes fierce as if ready to devour someone.

He had never been like this before. Seeing him like this, Lin Tianguai’s mouth twitched for a moment, and he lowered the hand that was raised.

“What did you know about me? Did you know that you can send me to the stone quarry? I saw it, Brother, he’s at the stone quarry! How did you tell me before? You said he was playing around and got lost, and he would come back in a while! But now I know you sent him to the stone quarry. You sold your own grandson to the stone quarry!”

Those people at the stone quarry are not human. Brother was beaten to a pulp, crying as soon as he saw him, calling in pain. He wanted to take people away, but he didn’t have any money and was thrown out after being beaten.

He regretted it. He should have taken his brother away earlier.

Thinking about it, tears welled up in Lin Shou’s eyes. “You knew Brother’s brain wasn’t good, and you sent him to such a place! Are you sending your grandson to die?”

“When you sold Dad, I didn’t say anything. I knew the family was in difficulty and needed money; when you stopped giving granddad medicine, I didn’t say anything either, because the doctor said he wouldn’t last long, whether he took the medicine or not. But now, you sold Brother, and you sold him to such a place. Who’s next? No, I forgot, you won’t sell me, you have to keep me to carry on the Lin family line!”

“Xiao Shou, Grandfather, Grandfather had no choice, the family needed money, right? Your big brother… was also a waste of raising…” Lin Tianguai stammered.

“Waste, huh.” Lin Shou suddenly laughed. “So it’s not a waste to give money to this and that person?”

“You don’t understand…”

“Right! I don’t understand. I don’t understand your cold-bloodedness! This family is rotten to the core. I’m glad I understand now before it’s too late. Grandfather, this is the last time I call you. From now on, I won’t come back.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

Lin Shou took two steps back, glanced inside the house, and then ran decisively towards the intersection. Lin Tianguai was about to chase after him but stopped because of the painful groans coming from inside the house.