Chapter 4 Engagement

The two of them had the morning meal. Jiang Zhu picked up a few pairs of herbal teas prepared by himself from home and walked to Ye's house with Ye Annian.

　　The Ye family has not yet been divided. With five large tile-roofed houses, it is considered a wealthy family in the village.

　　When the two arrived at the Ye family, everyone in the Ye family, except for Mr. Ye Quan and his wife Wu Xianglian, Ye Chenghe and the second family's seven-year-old son Ye Anbai, had gone to the fields.

　　Jiang Zhu knocked on the door of Ye's house, but there was no movement inside.

　　Ye Anyian was a little uneasy. His previous experience in the Ye family had already cast a shadow on him.

　　Jiang Zhu didn't show it on his face, but the hand hanging in his sleeve quietly held Ye Anyian.

　　"Who?"

　　After a long while, an old woman's impatient voice finally sounded in the courtyard.

　　The door opened, and Wu Xianglian appeared at the door with an old face.

　　As soon as she saw Ye Anyian, Wu Xianglian's eyebrows stood up.

　　She raised her voice and said in a sinister tone: "Hey, you still know how to come back?"

　　"Yesterday, your father was severely beaten by the Wang family. Since you are not dead, why don't you come back and show your face?"

　　Ye Annian knew the virtues of this old woman and was too lazy to argue with her. He just said coldly: "I almost died."

　　"Then isn't this a good life?" Wu Xianglian rolled her eyes.

　　Seeing Jiang Zhu next to him, he sneered: "What do I mean, you are hooking up with another man. Why, someone is backing you up, and you are back to show off your power today?"

　　Ye Anian's face turned pale when she said that. Just when he was about to say something, Jiang Zhu took his hand and squeezed it gently.

　　"It's not about showing off one's power. However, there are some people who are very old and still spit out feces in their mouths. It's better to go back and drink more salt water to gargle, so as not to inflame others."

　　"You!" Wu Xianglian jumped to her feet angrily, "You, you... what are you talking about?"

　　Jiang Zhu ignored her, led Ye Annian around her, and went straight into the yard.

　　Although the old Ye family has not been separated yet, Old Man Ye and Wu Xianglian can't control Ye Chenghe's gangster.

　　Therefore, Ye Chenghe had to make the final decision on Ye Anyian's marriage, otherwise he would cause trouble and the entire Ye family would not be able to live in peace.

　　The Ye family has five rooms and a large yard.

　　Jiang Zhu stood in the courtyard, lowered his head and leaned over to ask Ye Anyian: "Which room does Ye Chenghe live in?"

　　His voice was not quiet, but Wu Xianglian cursed at the top of her lungs and covered his voice, making it seem softer.

　　Ye Annian stood beside him and saw him approaching to talk to him, but he only moved his mouth and did not hear the sound.

　　"What did you say?"

　　Jiang Zhu was stunned for a moment, recalling the scene when he called Ye Annian that night.

Ye Annian didn't respond at that time. He just thought he was asleep, but now...

　　"I ask, where does Ye Chenghe live?" He asked again, but his voice was still normal.

　　Ye Annian frowned: "What?"

　　He stared at Jiang Zhu's mouth carefully, trying to understand his mouth shape.

　　This time Jiang Zhu really realized that something was wrong. He raised his voice and asked, "What's wrong with your ear?"

　　"Oh." Ye Annian heard it now. He raised his hand and touched his left ear. His voice was light and showed a sense of nonchalance, "I was beaten by Ye Chenghe before, so sometimes I couldn't hear the sound."

　　Most of the time actually.

　　At that time, he was slapped so hard by Ye Chenghe that his ear was bleeding, but it was impossible for the Ye family to pay him for medical treatment. As time went on, he gradually lost hearing in his left ear.

　　"How long?" Jiang Zhu asked.

　　Ye Anyian frowned: "It's been several months."

　　That day was the birthday of Ye Anbo, the second roommate, and the family specially cooked a bowl of eggs in sugar water for him.

　　It turned out that Ye Anbo didn't like the food, so he pulled Fu Zai aside to show off. Fu Zai didn't like Ye Anbo, and he listened to Ye Anyian and didn't want to play with Ye Anbo, so he threw away Ye Anbo's hand and ran away.

　　Ye Anbai got angry and stood up to chase Fu Zai. As a result, he hooked his foot on the table and spilled the sugar-watered eggs.

　　Xiong Wazi sat on the ground and cried. If it was Fu Zai who did it, the second uncle would naturally go to her son and beat Fu Zai and force Fu Zai to apologize.

He was working on the side that day and saw the whole process. He stepped forward to protect Fu Zai and refused to apologize.

　　Ye Chenghe came out of the house angrily, slapped him hard indiscriminately, called him a stubborn donkey, scolded him for being stubborn, just like his dead mother, and deserved to be beaten.

　　Jiang Zhu didn't ask the reason in detail, he just raised his hand, gently touched Ye Anyian's left ear with his fingertips, and said, "It's okay, I can cure it."

　　Ye Annian felt a warm touch on the tip of his left ear, which made his ears feel warm, and his face also became warm.

　　"Then, thank you Dr. Jiang." He turned his head, still looking calm.

　　Jiang Zhu chuckled lightly and didn't care.

　　It seems that this young man's heart has become cold and needs to be warmed up slowly.

　　He took Ye Anyian's hand again and said, "Thank you all the time. You won't be too tired. Let's go and get engaged to Ye Chenghe."

　　Ye Anyian pursed his lips, did not respond, and took Jiang Zhu to the house where Ye Chenghe lived.

　　Ye Chenghe lives in the westmost house. The house is in the corner and looks dark and narrow.

　　Ye Anyian stepped forward and knocked on the door, shouting "Dad" emotionlessly in a low voice.

　　"roll!"

　　——Bang!

　　There was a roar in the room, followed by the sound of heavy objects hitting the door.

　　"Little bastard! Do you even know how to come back?!"

　　"Where did he die yesterday, causing me to be beaten!"

　　His scolding was so unpleasant that Jiang Zhu's face instantly darkened and he took a step forward to block Ye Anian behind him.

　　"Uncle Ye, it's me." He said while suppressing his anger.

　　The closed door opened with a bang from the inside.

　　A middle-aged man with a bruised face, a bare upper body, and a white cable tie on his arm walked out with a dark face.

　　When he saw Ye Anyian and Jiang Zhu, he was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly: "You little bastard, I told you that you won't die that easily!"

　　"Yesterday, the Wang family said that you died on the road and came to settle the score with me. They forced me to return the deposit of five taels of silver and even gave me a good beating. What the hell are you doing, are you going out to hook up with a man? "

　　"He is the Jiang Langzhong in the village. He saved me yesterday." Ye Anyian said coldly with no expression on his face.

　　"I don't care who he is!" Ye Chenghe spat, "If you're not dead, go back home and cause me to get beaten!"

"I'm telling you, you'd better go to the Wang family now to apologize, beg Wang Hu to marry you, and get back the twelve taels of silver as a bride price from me, otherwise..."

　　He threatened him fiercely, but in the middle of his words, Jiang Zhu interrupted him: "It's not that troublesome."

　　"I'm going to marry Ye Anyian. How much do you want as a bride price?"

　　"Otherwise I'll be killed..." Ye Chenghe was stunned.

　　When he realized what Jiang Zhu was talking about, an exaggerated smile suddenly appeared on his swollen and deformed face.

　　"You want to marry this little bastard? You'll get fifty taels of silver!"

　　"Are you crazy?" Ye Annian frowned and gave him a disgusted look.

　　He guessed that Ye Chenghe would take the opportunity to kill Jiang Zhu, but he didn't expect that he would dare to do it.

　　"Damn it! What the hell did you say?"

　　Ye Chenghe was so angry that he raised his hand to slap Ye Anyian, but Jiang Zhu grabbed his wrist.

　　"Uncle Ye, when it comes to marriage, peace is the most important thing." Jiang Zhu had a smile on his face, but the fingers that pinched Ye Chenghe's wrist pressed against the tiger's mouth, tightening tighter and tighter.

　　"Hiss, ah ah!"

　　Ye Chenghe screamed in pain: "Fuck, let go!"

　　"I can let it go, but I hope my uncle will take it seriously when it comes to the in-laws." Jiang Zhu said warmly, but the strength in his hand did not loosen at all.

　　Ye Chenghe howled and changed his tone: "Seriously, seriously, why can't I be serious?! Let go!"

　　Jiang Zhu then stopped his hand, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, and wiped the hand that had touched Ye Chenghe clean little by little.

　　Ye Chenghe grimaced in pain. His left arm was still wrapped with a white cloth. It was injured, but now it's healed. There were also two black and blue finger marks on his hand from this bullshit guy. Damn it. unlucky!

　　"I said fifty taels of silver, you take this little bastard away! Even if it's a penny less!"

　　"The Wang family's betrothal gift is ten taels of silver, and I will also contribute ten taels of silver." Jiang Zhu said bluntly.

　　"You have a damn good idea!" Ye Chenghe rubbed his wrists while still shouting.

　　"Oh?" Jiang Zhu looked at him thoughtfully.

　　Perhaps the cold light in his eyes was too terrifying, and Ye Chenghe shuddered subconsciously: "You, what do you want to do?"

　　"Didn't I just say that marriage matters must be discussed with sincerity." Jiang Zhu smiled gently, "Has Uncle Ye really thought about it?"

　　"I...why am I not sincere?"

　　Ye Chenghe was so embarrassed by his smiling face that he took a step back, scratched his neck and said, "Only thirty taels, no more!"

"Ten taels." Ye Anian said coldly, "If you don't agree, I will tell the Wang family that you deliberately caused this incident yesterday just to extort money from them."

　　"You! You fucking little bastard..."

　　Before he finished cursing, Ye Chenghe shut up, because Jiang Zhu had already stepped forward and stepped into the door of his house. Although there was a smile on his face, his eyes were terrifying, as if he was looking at someone. A dead dog.

　　"Uncle Ye, this is the gift money. You must keep it." Jiang Zhu smiled.

　　Ye Chenghe:...

　　A heavy bag of silver ingots was stuffed into his hands. Ye Chenghe swallowed, feeling as if his hands were a little hot.

　　"Brother Nian!"

　　Suddenly a loud teenage voice came from behind him. When Ye Anyian turned around, he saw a young man wearing a plain blue shirt waving to him excitedly.

　　It is Zhao Le, the youngest brother of the Zhao Lizheng family.

　　"You were homeless yesterday. I went to look for you with Sister Xiaomei, but there was only an empty wedding sedan on the road. After searching for a long time, there was no sign of anyone."

Zhao Le ran to Ye Anian, with a worried look on his face, and lowered his voice: "What's going on with you kid? How did you get involved with Mr. Jiang? Is he sincere in his willingness to marry you?"

　　"I'm fine. I had a cough on the road yesterday. Doctor Jiang saved me." Ye Anian briefly told what happened yesterday to reassure Zhao Le.

　　Zhao Le was considered a person who treated him well in Yueya Village. When he went to the river to wash clothes when he was sick, Zhao Le secretly stuffed steamed buns for him.

　　"Stop gossiping, Le Boy, get down to business first. It won't be too late for you two to chat later."

　　Zhao Lizheng also came over at this time, interrupting their chat, and the three of them entered Ye Chenghe's house together.

　　At this time, Jiang Zhu had already given the bride price of ten taels of silver to Ye Chenghe. When he saw Zhao Lizheng and the others arriving, he said, "Uncle Zhao, you are here just in time. Please be a witness for me and An Nian."