"Qing'er, may I ask you a question?" Mu Zichuan suddenly said again.

Yang Ruqing smiled, "As long as it's answerable, you can ask anything."

Mu Zichuan's eyes flickered, he took a deep breath, and organized his words in his mind, "Qing'er, I mean hypothetically, if, if..."

“If I hadn't been that scholar who couldn't even carry a bucket of water back then, if I hadn't said those pretentious words like 'a gentleman stays far from the kitchen,' and if I had been like Feng Tang, eager to do all the dirty and tiring work for you without complaint, would you reconsider and resume our engagement?”

Yang Ruqing was focused on tending to his wound when she suddenly heard him ask that. She straightened up and withdrew her hand.

"My goodness, my daughter and Fengtang's child are both nine years old now. Why are you still asking such childish questions? What ifs, what ifs... there are so many what ifs in this world!" She said with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

“Qing’er, just answer me, satisfy my curiosity, okay?” Mu Zichuan sat up straight, his eyes tinged with anxiety.

Yang Ruqing shook her head and replied very directly, "Sorry, I can't answer that question, so I can't satisfy your curiosity."

Let me know if you have other text you'd like me to translate!

She had never made these assumptions. She lived and acted solely by her own heart; it guided her, leading her to make the most correct choices.

“Qing’er, just look at me, my hand is burned. I’m so pitiful that I can't even hold a pen now. Show some sympathy and answer me, okay?” Mu Zichuan pleaded again, raising his hand and waving it gently.

This is a test.

Yang Ruqing curled her lips, "Mu Zi川, please make it clear that I'm helping you now because we are siblings. That's why I haven't avoided anything. My Tang Ya Zi didn't stop me either."

"I consider you my brother, and my niece trusts you so much. Please don't ask these embarrassing questions, okay?"

Mu Zichuan's face flushed instantly, and he sat there feeling embarrassed.

Yang Ruqing didn't want to embarrass him too much, so she changed the subject and said, "You're almost thirty years old. Can't you just fulfill your godmother's wish and marry a woman into the house? It doesn't matter if she's tall or short, fat or thin."

"Look at the situation today. If you had a wife by your side, you two could work together and take better care of your mother-in-law."

Upon hearing Yang Ruqing urge her marriage, Mu Zichuan frowned and glanced at her, saying: "Some things cannot be compromised."

Yang Ruqing said: "Brother, you always say you want to be a filial son. I'm going to say something unpleasant, but you really aren't doing a good job as a filial son."

"Your godmother's illness is half caused by worrying about your lifelong affairs. I'm going to say something unlucky, her illness might not last until the New Year. So, in her last days, can't you do something that would put her mind at ease?"

“You know what she cares about most!” she said.

Mu Zi Chuan stopped talking, stiffly sitting there, his face very ugly.

Yang Ruqing tidied up the medicine bottles on the table and said, "Leave this medicine here. Apply it again before you sleep tonight. Don't get wet all day today."

"As for the meals, I'll just cook them at home and bring them over later. You can't use your kitchen for now, so let it air out for a day!"

After saying that, she turned and left Mu Zichuan's house.

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Yang Ruqing originally thought that bringing two portions of lunch over at noon would be enough, but unexpectedly, a table full of dishes was set up at home.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! ?

Why?

Because both of Mukizukawa's uncles, aunts, and cousins from his aunt's family all came to visit their mother.

Sending the food to Mu's house would definitely be unrealistic. How many trips would it take using lunch boxes back and forth?

So, she simply set up a table as a female friend at home. When it was time to eat, she had Mu Zichuan lead his relatives over for dinner.

Of course, his aunt's family knew Yang Ruqing and Luo Fengtang's identities. Hearing that the general's wife had personally cooked a meal to entertain them, they were all astonished and showered them with thanks and compliments.

Yang Ruqing actually wasn't fond of this. In the village, her status was simple; those titles and whatnot were only used outside.

"Zichuan, why is there one person missing?"

As Luo Tiejiang kept him company, Yang Ruoqing took advantage of the dishes being served and lightly touched Mu Zichuan's arm while he was drinking with his two uncles.

Mu Zi Chuan understood, and under the pretense of leaving his seat, followed her to the back garden.

"Qing'er, is there something the matter?" he asked.

A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes, seeming to appreciate her gesture. There was a moment of unspoken intimacy and understanding between them.

Yang Ruqing brought her gaze back from the front yard and asked him, "Didn't you say six people were coming to eat? Why are there only five?"

Mu Zichuan was taken aback for a moment, then said: "Cousin Doukou didn't come. She asked me to bring my uncles and aunts over first to have a meal. She stayed by my mother's side to accompany her and wait until after dinner, I will bring her a portion."

"Dou蔻?" Yang Ruqing smiled. "Liu Dou蔻? That's a nice name, isn't it? It makes me imagine a bright and youthful girl."

Mú Zichuan also smiled, "Really? To be honest, I gave this name to my cousin."

"Did you choose that name for yourself? How old is your cousin, then? Was it chosen at birth or did she grow older and ask you to change it?" Yang Ruoqing asked curiously.

In this farmer's household, when giving birth to a child, many fathers and mothers couldn't read even half of the characters.

So they just casually gave the kids names like "Ah Mao" and "Ah Gou" for boys, and "Flower Flower" and "Grass Grass" for girls, all just to make it easier to raise them.

Some families may not know how to choose a name themselves, but they don't want to accept vulgar names. So they will give gifts to the village teacher who can write or ask some respected people to help them choose a name.

Like Muzi Chuan and Luofeng Tang, these names are said to have been given by several respected elders in Changping Village at the time.

As for the names of these grandchildren of Old Yang's family, they were all thought up by Old Yang himself. After all, Old Yang could read a few characters.

Okay, back to the point. Let's hear what Mu Zichuan has to say.

He smiled and said, "I remember that I passed the Xiucai exam when I was fifteen years old. That year, my aunt gave birth to a niece."

My uncle came to my house and asked me to help him pick a name for his daughter. I gave him a few suggestions, and they chose the name Doukou in the end.

“Wow,” Yang Ruqing exclaimed, “Then they must have wanted to bask in your scholar’s good fortune at the time, so they let you name your cousin. Right?”

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

Muzi Chuan nodded.

He stood with his hands behind his back, chest held high, and said, "Time flies. Fifteen years have passed in the blink of an eye. I am no longer the naive young man I once was; I'm now a mature adult."

"And the little cousin who used to cry so much has grown into a graceful young lady. Time truly flies!"

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