Proofread by Peter Gong
Ma Tian’en was not ill, but Mrs. Ma fell very ill. At first, it was just a headache. Later, she gradually began to talk nonsense and always said that she heard the crying of children. She couldn’t sleep at night, and she looked more and more haggard. Naturally, the matter of proposing a marriage had been put aside. But there were more and more rumors. In just half a year, Ma Chaosheng was sick and Mrs. Ma fell ill. All of a sudden, so many things happened to Ma Family. It was inevitable that there were people talking behind the back.
Ma Tian’en, on one hand, had to manage the affairs of Ma Family; on the other hand, she had to take care of his parents, so she lost weight rapidly. Mr. Ma was OK. He just needed to take medicine on time. The condition of Mrs. Ma was not very good. There was no useful way after inviting several doctors. They only said that it might be mental depression and disharmony between Qi and blood. They prescribed some recuperation drugs which had not brought any effect.
As Mrs. Ma was ill, many people came to visit her. But it was unexpected that Mrs. Liu also came to visit, because the marriage discussion between two families did not go on. It was thought that Mrs. Liu would have some opinions with Ma Family, but Mrs. Liu brought many gifts, which made Mrs. Ma feel guilty.
Ma Tian’en happened to be in her mother’s room to take care of her. Seeing Mrs. Liu coming, she did politely entertain her. Mrs. Liu only brought two little servant girls. Ma Tian’en asked Yanzi to pick up the gifts while one of the servant girls stared at Ma Tian’en and refused to let it go. She almost dropped the gifts. Ma Tian’en, no matter how stupid she was, knew something went wrong. After a careful look, although the appearance had changed a lot, with her childhood memory and intuition, she realized that this servant girl was the second daughter of Liu Family —Liu Yujiao.
Here she really came. Ma Tian’en’s head was big as soon as she saw her. Ma Tian’en hadn’t seen her for so many years. This girl was much thinner and more beautiful than when she was a kid, but those big eyes which had always been fierce hadn’t changed a little since she was a kid. Thinking of this, Ma Tian’en said politely to Mrs. Liu, and then found an excuse and rushed back to her room.
Naturally, Yanzi followed Ma Tian’en and ran back in a hurry. She looked puzzled. How could her young master run so fast as if she saw a tiger.
“Young master, what do you have to deal with? I think you are running away, right?” Yanzi couldn’t believe and asked. Was there anyone young master was afraid of? Mrs. Liu looked very kind.
“You silly Yanzi, the servant girl in green is Liu Yujiao. Do you remember the fight she had with me when she was a child? At that time I condescended to her… ”
“I recall it. It’s the young lady who often chased you all over the yard!”
“What, I did not take it seriously because good men don’t fight with women!”
Then, all of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.
“Master Ma, may I come in?”
Ah, here she came. “What should I do? Run through the window? No, why should I run? I’m not afraid of her. She may not beat me now as she’s so thin now.” Thinking of this, Ma Tian’en calmed down again.
Yanzi had already run to open the door and welcomed Liu Yujiao in.
“It’s you. How can you be so beautiful? Can you teach me?” As soon as Yanzi saw that Liu Yujiao, who was fat as a child, looked as thin as a willow leaf, she was full of envy and forgot whose servant girl she was.
“Yes, but I want to have a word with your young master first.” Liu Yujiao’s voice was charming and full of girl’s sweetness.
“Eh, sister Liu, is there any misunderstanding between us?” Ma Tian’en thought, “what do you think of me? Can’t I change it?”
“You look at me.” Liu Yujiao’s voice suddenly became fierce.
“Ah!” Ma Tian’en was staring at her and didn’t know where to look.
“What’s wrong with me, ah, tell me!” Liu Yujiao’e got closer, which frightened Ma Tian’en back three steps.
“Well, you’re all right.”
“Would you like to go to my house to propose marriage?”
“It’s too abrupt. Can I think about it?”
“No.” Liu Yujiao refused flatly.
“In fact, you are really good, but I already have a sweetheart.” Ma Tian’en’s eyes turned and she said immediately.
Liu Yujiao looked up and down at Ma Tian’en. “Really? Then you tell me who she is, and if you tell me, I will not pester you any more.”
Ma Tian’en thought about it, then pointed to Yanzi with her hand, “It’s her.”
“You still want to cheat me!” Liu Yujiao got angrier. She was willing to marry him while Ma Tian’en was not and the latter even used a servant girl to prevaricate. Looking left and right, she saw that there was a feather duster in the bottle. With quick action, she picked up the bottle quickly and jumped behind the table.
“What I said is true. I really like Yanzi. We grew up together. She has been taking care of me, but she is a servant girl, so my mother doesn’t agree and I haven’t married until now.”
Yanzi went blank. When did the young master like her?
“Yanzi, do you think it’s true?” Liu Yujiao didn’t care about Ma Tian’en but asked Yanzi.
“I…” Yanzi looked at Ma Tian’en who looked at her with her imploring eyes. Then she said with great dignity, “I’m already our young master’s person!”
“You…” Liu Yujiao pointed to Yanzi and Ma Tian’en and turned and ran away, pushing the door open and slamming it behind.
“Yanzi, you need not to sacrifice so much.” Ma Tian’en was also shocked by Yanzi’s words.
“I am originally the servant of the young master.” Said Yanzi indifferently.
It was true, too. But it seemed that she could marry Yanzi. Anyway, she knew she was a girl and she wouldn’t betray her. Maybe this was an feasible way.
“Yanzi, I suddenly thought, you know, I can’t marry a girl, perhaps I can marry you, and you can spend my money at will, OK?” Ma Tian’en said it half jokingly and half seriously.
“Well, well, then Tian Fugui is going to call me sister-in-law, hahaha!” Yanzi could not help laughing at the thought that Tian Fugui would call her sister-in-law.
Not to mention that Liu Yujiao was angry, Ma Tian’en felt that she had come up with a way to solve the problem, and rushed to discuss with Wu Zhong. Today, Wuzhong was on vacation from Guozijian. When he saw Ma Tian’en hurry over, he thought that something happened. After hearing Ma Tian’en’s idea and looking at him expectantly, Wu Zhong picked up a fan and hit her on her head.
“What a bastard idea. If you do this, you will kill the life of Yanzi. And it’s going to hurt you, too. ”
“Why, Yanzi is originally bound to be always with me.” In fact, Ma Tian’en’s feeling for love between men and women had always been hazy, and she was not very informed. Because she was a girl, but was raised as a man, which led to the embarrassing situation in which she was not familiarized with what a man should know and what a woman should know.
Wu Zhong didn’t know how to tell her such a complicated problem, so he said, “Have you ever thought about what to do if Yanzi meets someone she likes one day? You are married but you are not a real couple, does that not hurt her?”
“Someone she likes? What is like? ” Ma Tian’en was thoughtful. She never thought that Yanzi would like someone else one day, or even thought that she would be attached to someone. As she saw beautiful girls before, she would say that she liked them, but she just liked the feeling when she saw them wearing beautiful skirts and beautiful jewelry, like flowers blooming. She had many friends like Tian Fugui, and they were like brothers, but what was like?
“To like a person is to have happy things to share with her, to discuss with her when encountering difficult things, to feel full of joy when seeing her, and to feel time flowing slowly when not seeing her. She will make you feel that there is no season in the four seasons that is not beautiful. When you see her, you are full of joy. When you don’t see her, you want to see her. That’s what you really like.” Wu Zhong said. Looking at Ma Tian’en, he felt that there was a stir somewhere in his heart.
“It is what ‘like’ is. However, many people have never met each other before they marry. What if I don’t like him when I get married? ”
Wu Zhong did not know how to answer the question. Marriage was often the connection between two families. It didn’t matter whether two people liked it or not. But he just didn’t want to tell Ma Tian’en these realistic words, for fear of destroying her newly established fantasy of future marriage.
“Become a couple and love each other without doubt. If the marriage is settled and you become a couple, you may try to like each other. Anyway, it’s still a long time before we get old. ” Wu Zhong thought for a long time and said something he didn’t believe.
Ma Tian’en listened to Wu Zhong’s words, looking thoughtful.