Chapter 35: Becoming the Top Scholar
Seeing the cat that usually lingered and refused to leave suddenly flee, Feng Yuzhen was surprised for a moment. She turned her head as if she had sensed something and saw Cui Jingkong standing inside the door, looking at her, at some unknown time.
The foot that he had caught in his hand before moved, as if the warm touch was still clinging to her skin. Shaking off the unnecessary thoughts in her mind, she stood up and walked to Cui Jingkong’s side, asking with concern, “Why don’t you sleep a little longer? I’ll go and bring the food over.”
Perhaps it was because he had just woken up, but Cui Jingkong didn’t feel like talking. His eyes were fixed on her, and he gave a slow nod, his expression surprisingly obedient, like a cat with its head bowed, waiting to be petted.
As Feng Yuzhen passed him and was about to go to the kitchen, her wrist was grabbed, and she was pulled back. Caught off guard, her back hit the doorframe. The young man’s clean scent suddenly pressed down on her. Feng Yuzhen quickly covered his lips, which were about to come down on hers, and complained in a low voice, “We’re still outside. Someone might see…”
Who’s there? And so what if someone is there? Cui Jingkong didn’t argue with her about this. He just waited for her to lower her hand and asked for confirmation, “So it’s okay as long as we’re inside?”
Feng Yuzhen pressed her lips together, the tips of her ears tingling. She didn’t need to touch them to know they were burning red again. Cui Jingkong was being relentless this morning, as if he had to pry a promise from her mouth that would grant him unrestricted access. He asked again, insistently, “Sister-in-law, from now on, as long as we’re not outside, you’ll let me kiss you?”
He was aggressive, deliberately misinterpreting her meaning. The gentleness he had feigned before vanished like a phantom. Faced with her brother-in-law, who was two years younger than her, Feng Yuzhen was at a complete loss.
She was troubled. It was too much. Even when she and Cui Ze were newlyweds, they had not been so clingy and passionate. The young man’s eyes could not leave her for a moment, as if they could not be separated at all.
Helpless, she gave in. As her figure disappeared into the house, the young man behind her hooked the door with his hand, and it slowly closed. After a while, when the woman came out again, she was slightly out of breath, her soft lips a vivid red.
Once a person moves in, it is very difficult to move them out again. For a person who has had a taste of sweetness, it is naturally even more difficult to return to the previous position of following the rules.
And so, the two of them continued to sleep in their separate rooms. Cui Jingkong had returned to his original side room.
After a thrilling night, for the next ten days or so, Feng Yuzhen would occasionally recall it with lingering fear. She had many nightmares, but she no longer dreamed of the man from the storybook.
Fortunately, there was Cui Jingkong at home. The autumn provincial examination had just ended, and he was too lazy to hold a book and read from morning to night. That was the behavior of a bookworm who was not clever. The saying that there was a beauty like jade in the book was just to deceive those pedantic people. With this time, it was better to do something with his widowed sister-in-law.
He was, after all, a reliable laborer. When he was free, Feng Yuzhen didn’t have to say anything, and Cui Jingkong would take care of everything. She didn’t have to lift a finger.
Afterwards, it was discovered that a corner of the fence had been worn down by a sharp object, revealing a gap the size of a dog hole. The drunkard had crawled in through here. Cui Jingkong had spent two days repairing and rebuilding it, and had also reinforced the doors and windows, even though they would probably be moving to town soon and would definitely not be living in the brick house anymore.
Speaking of moving, Cui Jingkong had previously taken a liking to a house in a good location. Feng Yuzhen had suggested that they go to town together at the end of the month to have a look. But after two days, he had said that there was no need to go.
When Feng Yuzhen asked, he would only curve his lips, mysteriously not telling her, and just said calmly, “Sister-in-law can rest assured. I guarantee it will be several times better than the previous one.”
All in all, apart from Cui Jingkong’s unusual temperament, he, like his own brother Cui Ze, was a very suitable partner to live with.
Except that he was too clingy—Feng Yuzhen thought with some embarrassment. Perhaps he was just too young and had never experienced it. He had fallen for her, and she was soft-hearted and easy to manipulate, which made Cui Jingkong inevitably addicted to the novelty of physical contact between a man and a woman. On the other hand, she deftly tightened the fishing net made of hemp rope.
The net was small, but thanks to its dense weave, although it was not easy to catch big fish, it could catch half a bucket of small fish and shrimp, which were delicious when stir-fried.
A few steps away from her, Qian Cuifeng also stepped into the river barefoot. She had come to retrieve the fish cage that was placed in the pile of rocks. It was almost the end of summer, and the stream was not turbulent, so there was not much to be gained overnight. Not many fish had swum in.
The two of them met and naturally chatted for a few words. Qian Cuifeng’s tone changed, and her expression became evasive. She lowered her voice and said, “Have you heard? A village down our river, a dead body was fished out a few days ago. It was so swollen that you couldn’t tell the nose from the eyes. The arms and legs were as thick as each other. I don’t know how many days it had been in the water.”
Feng Yuzhen’s heart suddenly tightened. She maintained her expression and followed her words, “Is that so? How creepy.”
“Isn’t it? But they said he was a local ruffian, always drunk and very annoying. He probably fell into the water drunk at night, and everyone was asleep, so no one found him.”
Qian Cuifeng sighed for a while. Seeing that the woman beside her was a little absent-minded, probably frightened by this horrifying murder case, she changed the subject and said casually, “Nothing is more important than life. Hey, speaking of which, one day, I got up in the middle of the night and vaguely heard some talking or something from the other side of the river. This area is not very safe. Zhen’niang, you have to be careful.”
These words made Feng Yuzhen’s blood run cold. She lowered her head, trying her best to hide her fear. She picked up the fish basket and said as if she were just making a casual remark, “Auntie must have misheard. Kong’ge’er came back on horseback not long ago. It was probably the horse that neighed a couple of times in the middle of the night.”
Auntie Qian did not notice anything unusual. She was just making small talk. The two of them went home separately. When Feng Yuzhen got home, Cui Jingkong saw her pale lips. The young man poured her a cup of water and said in a deep voice, “Did the authorities come to the door?”
Feng Yuzhen was still in a state of shock. She held the teacup in her hand, with no energy to drink. She just took a small sip and said weakly, “Auntie Qian said she heard some noise from our place that night. Kong’ge’er, I’m so guilty. Why don’t we leave for town early?”
“It’s nothing. Sister-in-law can rest assured.” Cui Jingkong’s eyes flashed. He suppressed the killing intent that had risen in his heart, warning himself not to be too indulgent at this critical moment and cause more trouble. He comforted her, “These two days are when the rumors are rampant. If we move away in a hurry without any regard, it will only increase the suspicion. Sister-in-law just has to remember that you have never seen him from beginning to end.”
He had always been reliable. Feng Yuzhen temporarily calmed down, but saw the young man suddenly turn his face, as if he had remembered something. He looked up and asked, “Sister-in-law, there’s a lantern festival in town in September. Why don’t we go and have a look too?”
Feng Yuzhen was stunned by his sudden invitation and subconsciously nodded in agreement.
In her anxiety, the matter of the drunkard did not cause as much of a stir as she had imagined. The villagers were simple. Perhaps they had never been more than two mountains away in their entire lives. Some trivial matters would be gossiped about, but when it came to truly horrifying and tragic events, they would fall silent.
Therefore, it did not cause much of a stir. What really made everyone in the village excited and talking was the arrival of the messenger of good news at the beginning of September, congratulating Cui Jingkong on becoming the top scholar.
When the sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out, Feng Yuzhen was cutting chives on the chopping board. She was startled, and the knife trembled. She almost cut off her finger.
Putting down what she was doing, she stood in the main room and looked out. She saw a man in a hat at the door, bowing repeatedly, his face full of smiles. Cui Jingkong stood before him, not dodging, his face showing no particular expression, just steadily taking the good news from his hand.
Feng Yuzhen didn’t understand. She took a step forward, and it was incredible: a team of musicians with red sashes around their waists, beating gongs and drums, and leading three horses, were all standing cheerfully in the yard.
Looking further out—she couldn’t see. As far as the eye could see, there was a dense crowd of people, surrounding the place. She had never seen so many people. It was as if the whole village had gathered in one place.
A loud and clear voice from the messenger of good news shot straight into her eardrums, breaking everyone’s nerves. “Congratulations to Master Cui on becoming the top scholar!”
In an instant, cheers, requests for good luck, and whistles erupted like a pot boiling over. It was as if a ladle of boiling water had been thrown into a flock of sheep, and the noise scattered in all directions.
Feng Yuzhen finally understood what was going on. She was completely stunned. Before she could react, her head was aching from the noise. She instinctively looked at the only familiar person present.
Cui Jingkong was also looking for her. He turned his head and saw his widowed sister-in-law standing timidly in the house, far away from him, as if she did not want to share in his joy. So he took two steps towards her and reached out to take her hand.
Feng Yuzhen shivered. The villagers were all outside now, their eyes fixed on the newly minted scholar. A single misstep would ruin her reputation.
She shook her arm, her reluctance obvious. Cui Jingkong had no choice but to take a step back and let go of her hand after leading her to the door.
Fortunately, their sleeves were wide, and no one noticed. Feng Yuzhen stood behind Cui Jingkong, feeling as if she were being scanned from head to toe by people she knew and didn’t know. Her legs couldn’t help but tremble.
She heard Cui Jingkong’s calm voice, with a hint of joy. He cupped his hands in a salute to the crowd. “I will be hosting a banquet at my home the day after tomorrow. I would like to invite all of you to grace us with your presence.”
In an instant, there were all sorts of auspicious words. Cui Jingkong had a perfect smile on his face and accepted them one by one.
When the crowd had finally dispersed, he turned around and saw that Feng Yuzhen’s expression was not right. She had been acting strangely twice in a short period of time. Cui Jingkong saw it and asked calmly, “Sister-in-law, what are you thinking?”
Feng Yuzhen came back to her senses and immediately looked up and smiled. “I was just thinking about how to arrange the banquet the day after tomorrow. I haven’t had time to congratulate you yet, Kong’ge’er.”
Cui Jingkong looked at her quietly and said thank you. The matter was barely over. Feng Yuzhen walked into the kitchen. Only when she was alone did her face truly become dazed.
She unconsciously bit her thumb and thought nervously, It’s different from the storybook. Everything has changed. In fact, since she had been reborn and had moved here, there had been many changes in this life.
For example, Cui Jingkong traveling back and forth between the academy and the west of the village, helping her several times, and even insisting on pestering her for her true feelings. Feng Yuzhen had only thought of these as minor changes that would not affect the main plot of the storybook.
But this time it was different. Originally, Cui Jingkong was supposed to be plotted against and have his results switched with Zhong Changxun, thus failing the examination. After three years of silence, he would take the autumn provincial examination for the second time and would then achieve the triple first.
In this life, Cui Jingkong did not have to endure that period of dormancy. She was naturally happy for him for avoiding the conspiracy and becoming the top scholar, but… what was the reason for such a big change in this life?
Moreover, how could the current Cui Jingkong, who was just a poor scholar, compete with the connections in Zhong Jide’s hands?
She was deep in thought and did not notice someone slowly approaching from behind. Until the young man’s two arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and his slightly cool face pressed against her ear, his voice a little disappointed, “I thought that if I became the top scholar, Sister-in-law would be happy for me.”
Feng Yuzhen was pulled back to her senses. Sensing the dejection in his tone, she quickly turned around to face him and comfort him. “I was just surprised for a moment. I didn’t expect Kong’ge’er to do so well. I’m overjoyed!”
Cui Jingkong stared at her beautiful face and caught the unnatural expression that flashed across it. His heart suddenly sank. He had known from the beginning that Feng Yuzhen had many strange qualities, but at that time, he had still been in control, thinking that he could wear down the closed shell and that his widowed sister-in-law would sooner or later open her heart to him and willingly reveal all her softness.
But even though their lips and teeth were intertwined, and she was in his arms, it was as if there was still something between them that he could not touch or grasp.
Cui Jingkong lowered his eyes, leaned in and kissed her on the lips, and mumbled, “Sister-in-law, don’t lie to me…”
Feng Yuzhen felt guilty and tacitly allowed his indulgence.
The woman wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, letting his lips travel down, unbuttoning her clothes, and reaching into her collar, leaving red marks on the pale neck he had longed for.