"Mom, aunt, the food is getting cold, let's eat first." Liu Doukou reminded.
Zhizi Moruo's mother, Zichuan Niang felt relieved when she saw Mu Zichuan's appearance.
"Okay, let's eat first," she said.
After dinner, Liu Doukou went to the kitchen to clean up the dishes, and the eldest aunt of the Mu family went to the kitchen to help and talk to her.
Here, Mu Zichuan helped his mother back to the west room, "Mom, I will let my eldest aunt and cousin sleep in that room. If there is nothing else, my son will go to the Luo family's old house first."
Zichuan's mother sat down by the bed, "Zichuan, mother has something to say to you."
Mu Zichuan's eyebrows moved slightly, "Mom, it's getting late today, or another day..."
"no!"
Zichuan Niang lowered her face and said coldly.
Muzichuan stood there, silent.
When Zichuan's mother saw this, she couldn't bear it. Her face softened a bit, she reached out and took Mu Zichuan's hand, and said in a low voice, "Zichuan, my good son, my mother is not afraid of death. She is afraid of death." After you die, you will be all alone in this world, with no one around you who knows how to live."
"Mom, stop saying these things, my son doesn't want to hear it," Mu Zichuan said.
"You have to listen even if you don't want to hear it, and you have to face things you don't want to face." Zichuan Niang said sharply again.
"I won't follow you around anymore. This time your cousin came to take care of you. It was mother and your uncle's idea."
"The real purpose is to bring you and Dou Kao together..."
"This is impossible." Mu Zichuan interrupted the woman.
"I am fifteen years older than Doujiao. I gave Douhao the name, and in my heart, I have always regarded her as the youngest sister. How could I marry her?" Muzichuan kept saying. Shake his head.
Zichuan Niang said: "What does it mean for a man to be fifteen years older than a woman? When you were in the capital, your mentor Mr. Zhang was already over fifty years old. Didn't he take a sixteen-year-old woman as a concubine? "
"My mentor is my mentor, I am me, I can't do it!" Mu Zichuan said.
"Furthermore, Daukou is in her prime, and she is born like a flower. She deserves to belong to her own family, and it should not be left to you elders to arrange it at will." He said again.
Zichuan Niang said: "My silly son, are you really stupid or are you just pretending to be confused? Are you really not able to tell the slightest bit about Daukou's feelings for you?"
Muzichuan was stunned.
Zichuan Niang continued: "Doujiao, I have been interested in you since I was a child. If she hadn't nodded, how could such a delicate girl like her give up her life as a young lady and only come to this village to take care of a patient of mine? "
"Dougang is sincere to you. Mom is someone who has been through this and can see it clearly."
"Kujiao is my biological niece, and she has no extraneous feelings for me. Mom is gone, and you two live together. Mom can feel at ease lying on the door panel. If you don't agree to Mom, she will die in peace!" said the woman.
Muzichuan said with difficulty: "Mom, why do you have to..."
The woman raised her hand and interrupted Mu Zichuan: "Okay, I have made it clear to you what needs to be said. You should think about it carefully. Your aunt will stay at our house for three days this time."
"In these three days, you must give me a clear answer so that I can give your aunt an accurate letter."
"Don't forget what you told me on the way back from the capital. You said that after you come back, I will make the final decision on your marriage!"
"If you still have me as a mother in your heart, you will fulfill your promise. If you don't want to fulfill your promise, I won't force you. Anyway, I am also a dying person. Anyway, just pretend that I never gave birth to you!"
…
Mu Zichuan left home with a few books and went to Lao Mu's house.
At night, he sat in front of the table, flipping through the books as he habitually did before going to bed, but he couldn't read a single column of words.
His mother's words kept echoing in his ears, which made him upset. Finally, he simply closed the book and got up and stood by the window, staring at the night outside in a daze, for a long, long time...
…
At Lao Mu's house, Liu Doukou and her mother also finished washing and sat on the bed.
"This is my cousin's bed. It's great. I finally have a chance to sleep on this bed. It's great!"
Liu Doukou stroked the sheets under her body inch by inch with her fingers, her eyes filled with joy.
Her mother came over and said to her: "You silly girl, why are you so excited about sleeping in this bed with your mother? If you were sleeping openly in this bed with your cousin Zichuan, then that would be I’m really excited and happy!”
"Mom, don't be ashamed to say such things!" Liu Doukou glared at her mother, pretending to be angry, but a hint of shy sweetness appeared on her pretty face.
The woman gently stroked Liu Doukou's hair and asked in a low voice: "How are you getting along with your cousin at your aunt's house these days? Is your cousin treating you well?"
Liu Doukou nodded: "That's good, that's good, but he is polite to me like a relative."
"I do laundry, he helps me fetch water, I cook, and he helps me stuff firewood. He seems to be attentive and friendly, but I always feel that something is missing, and I can't explain it," she said.
The woman was surprised and said: "Zichuan used to be a very clean person. Now that he can help you with so many things, it shows that he has changed a lot."
"Really?" Liu Doukou asked.
The woman said: "Mom, no one will lie to you. Doudou, you have to work harder to let your cousin and your aunt see your hard work and virtuousness, and let your aunt believe that you are the best of their old Mu family." A suitable daughter-in-law.”
Liu Doukou nodded lightly: "Don't worry, Mom, I will do it."
"However, there is one person who I don't like very much."
"Which one?"
"My aunt's goddaughter, Yang Ruoqing."
"Her?" The woman raised her eyebrows, "Why did she cheat on you? Did she bully you?"
Liu Doukou shook his head: "No, not only did she not bully me, but she also took good care of me. I originally regarded her as a big sister, but I felt that when my cousin looked at her, the look in his eyes was the same as when he looked at me. no the same."
"I can't tell you what's different specifically. Anyway, I feel that when my cousin looks at her, he is really looking at her."
"But when my cousin looked at me, I felt like he wasn't looking at me."
"Then are you looking at you or not? What you said has confused my mother!"
Liu Doukou shook his head, "I can't tell. Anyway, I feel that my cousin seems to regard her as one of his own. It was my cousin's bed. I helped him change the sheets that day. He seemed a little annoyed and told me not to move in the future."
"Later I found out that Yang Ruoqing had put the sheets on him."
After listening to what Liu Doukou said, the woman remained silent, but her eyes and thoughts began to move.
