Bride Swap Backfire: My Cousin's Rebirth Made Us a Power Couple-Chapter 17 - 14: Chance Encounter

The next morning, the family rose just as the sky began to lighten.

Chen Song was in a hurry to get back to a case and couldn’t wait for his wife and daughter. He grabbed two buns, wolfing them down as he strode out the door.

He didn’t forget to call back over his shoulder with instructions, "Don’t try to drive our ox cart—you don’t know how, and you’ll just tip it over again. After you eat, head to the village entrance. Dashan’s ox cart will be waiting there. Take his cart to the county seat. Once you get there, don’t wander off. Finish your business and come straight back."

For all his earnest instructions, all he got in return was Xu Suying’s disdainful reply, "I know, I know. Just get going. Talk any more and you’ll get a mouthful of cold wind."

After Chen Song left, the three of them finished their meal. Chen De’an started to gather his books, planning to go to the county seat with his mother and sister, but Xu Suying shot him a fierce glare. "Do you have a death wish? Get back to bed and rest. You can return to your private school when you’re fully recovered, and not a moment sooner."

Chen De’an grinned cheekily. "But you said..."

"What are you talking about? I didn’t say a thing. Now get back to your room. If you’re really that restless, go read a few pages."

Chen De’an grumbled as he walked back to his room, muttering, "Other families favor sons over daughters, but in our house, it’s the exact opposite. Just look at how my sister is treated, and then look at how we two brothers are treated. I’m starting to suspect you and Dad just picked Yao’an and me up from a ditch by the river." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"If we were going to pick a child, you think your father and I would have picked you? You do nothing productive all day but flap your gums and gossip. Any family stuck with a son like you has truly drawn the short straw."

"Alright, alright, I can’t win against you. I know when to make myself scarce."

Their daily squabble once again ended with Xu Suying’s resounding victory.

Chen Wanqing tidied up the kitchen, then linked arms with her mother to go change her clothes. "Don’t always be so hard on De’an. He’s old enough to have his pride."

"If I didn’t knock him down a peg now and then, with his personality, his head would be in the clouds. Enough talk, daughter. If we dawdle any longer, we’ll be late."

Chen Wanqing glanced at the sun and, seeing her mother was right, said no more. She quickly changed her clothes, placed the two boxes of incense into a wicker basket, and left the house with her mother.

At the village entrance stood a large willow tree. The elderly Dashan started his route from here every day, driving his ox cart to take people into the county seat.

Since the Zhao Village was only about five or six li from Qingshui County, Dashan didn’t charge much—just one cent per person.

When the mother and daughter arrived, Xiulan and Lianhua were already waiting.

Of their two families, one was marrying off a daughter at the end of the year, and the other was welcoming a new daughter-in-law. They were taking advantage of the lull in farm work to go to the county seat to find some good fabric, either for a quilt cover or a wedding dress, and get things underway.

Xu Suying had been married into the village for over a decade, but she had only really gotten to know the local women three years ago.

Back then, after Meng Jintang’s death, two elders from the Meng Family had come with their servants to cause trouble. Just as they were about to smash a brick over Chen Wanqing’s head, Xu Suying screamed in terror, alerting the whole village.

The people in the small village were unsophisticated, but they were also fiercely protective of their own.

Seeing Xu Suying and her daughter at a disadvantage, they didn’t bother asking who was right or wrong; they just rolled up their sleeves and jumped in.

From that day on, Xu Suying started to venture out of her home and quickly became one of the group.

These days, Xu Suying would warmly greet the other women, and she chatted and joked with Lianhua and Xiulan, their conversation flowing easily.

The market had been held just yesterday, so fewer people were heading to the county seat today. Dashan was familiar with this pattern. He waited a short while longer, and when no one else appeared, he knocked his pipe against the large willow tree. "Let’s get going then."

Once they were all settled on the ox cart, Xiulan and Lianhua noticed the two boxes in the wicker basket on Chen Wanqing’s back.

The fragrance from the boxes was identical to the scent on her, so it went without saying that she must be on her way to the county seat to deliver incense again.

Everyone in the Zhao Village knew that the eldest branch of the Chen family was capable. Not only was the wife competent, but the daughter was as well.

Unfortunately, she was too capable, and her looks were too outstanding. She wasn’t someone a modest family like theirs could afford to marry into their household.

Both Xiulan and Lianhua had sons of marriageable age. It was a shame to see such a fine girl and not be able to snatch her up for their own family.

But no matter how much of a shame it was, they had to know their own limits.

Why should such a well-raised girl be given on the cheap to their unremarkable sons, who could do nothing but sell their brute strength to earn some Silver?

The two women enthusiastically praised Chen Wanqing again and again, complimenting Xu Suying on how well she raised her daughter. They added that all three children of the eldest branch were promising, and that she and her husband had plenty of good fortune to look forward to in their later years.

After this idle chatter, Lianhua lowered her voice conspiratorially and asked Xu Suying, "I heard your family’s old matriarch went to the county seat by herself yesterday? Goodness, it was pitch black when the old lady finally walked back on her own. It must have scared the daylights out of your father-in-law."

"Oh, really? I had no idea. My De’an has had a high fever these past few days, and I’ve been completely focused on taking care of him. I haven’t really been paying attention to what the old master and mistress are up to."

"Your father-in-law was frantic! He was just about to take your third brother-in-law to the village chief’s house to get everyone to form a search party. Luckily, the old lady came home just in time. But when he asked her about it, guess what she said? She claimed she felt cooped up and just went to the county seat for some fresh air. But if you’re going for fresh air, why not stop by the sesame-cake shop to see her husband and son? That way she could have taken an ox cart home. Wouldn’t that be better than walking all the way back by herself?"

Xiulan lowered her voice. "We all suspect your family’s old matriarch went to the bank to deposit her money. She’s notoriously tight-fisted and a real penny-pincher. Every year, she exchanges her loose copper coins and Silver for silver notes. But then again, what happens if those notes get moldy, or rot, or get chewed on by mice? I still prefer hard Silver. If I had even just a tael or two, I’d hide it somewhere safe. I’d never trade it for some flimsy paper note..."

Lianhua and Xiulan soon began to argue about whether Silver or silver notes were better.

Meanwhile, Chen Wanqing and her mother exchanged a look, a silent understanding passing between them.

’So the old woman must have gone to Li Cun’s home yesterday.’

Just as she had this thought, she heard Dashan’s loud shout, "Jing, my boy! Off to the bookstore to deliver books again? Come on, get on the cart. You kid, you know your old uncle goes to the county seat every day. You should just take the cart instead of walking this whole unnecessary way."

They passed through a small grove of trees with withered yellow leaves, and sure enough, a tall, straight-backed young man up ahead on the road turned his head.

He had a handsome face and a refined air. Even in the most ordinary set of blue robes, he not only possessed the calm elegance of a scholar but also a dashing and proper bearing.

Who else could it be but Zhao Jing?

Xiulan, Lianhua, and even Xu Suying all raised their voices excitedly.

"It really is Jing!"

"Jing, come over here! There’s plenty of room on the cart. Let Dashan give you a ride."

Zhao Jing opened his mouth to decline, but he knew Dashan’s character well. The man was kind-hearted to a fault and held scholars in the highest esteem. Today, whether he wanted to or not, he would have to take the ride.

Zhao Jing bowed to the old man. "In that case, it would be rude to refuse."

The ox cart pulled up, and Zhao Jing calmly sat down on the other side of the shaft, thanking Dashan once again.