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Bonin Extra - Proposing a Marriage at Home (Part 1)
The capital is bustling with pedestrians and bustling in all four seasons, but during the New Year it becomes even more crowded. Cold food coincides with Tomb Sweeping Day, and it is also a great season when spring is warm, flowers are blooming, and vegetation is lush. There was a constant flow of people going out to pay homage to their ancestors, and women from the boudoir who were rarely seen on weekdays also made appointments to travel around this day.
As the saying goes, beauties and gentlemen are good-natured, and their bright beauty is eclipsed by such a group of pretty beauties, which naturally attracts many young men to flock here.
Bonin has never cared about these things. He has been a scholar in the Hanlin Academy for more than a year. He always keeps to himself and does not have close friendship with others. Fortunately, he is a person who immerses himself in writing books and writing history and never competes with others. , so he gets along quite well with his colleagues, and Hehua always reminds him of some tips on how to get along with others, so at times like this, he never refuses when colleagues invite him to go out.
Over the past year or so, Bonin has grown much taller than before. After crawling around in books for so long, he has long since lost the dark and wild nature of the mountain village boy, and has become more elegant. However, at such a young age, he always kept a straight face and acted like he would not disturb strangers. He stood under the tall magnolia tree, which was like a magnolia that could only be seen from a distance, making people afraid to approach.
"Hey, Boning, you still have a straight face when everyone comes out to play. I heard that Liu Hanlin and Guo Hanlin were interested in proposing a marriage proposal for you, but you declined them. Now that everyone is out for an outing, you also have a straight face. You look dispensable, are you not enlightened yet or are your horizons too high?" Song Yanjin, who entered the Hanlin Academy with Boning, stepped forward and bumped him with his shoulder and asked.
Song Yanjin's name was very strict, but he was a carefree northerner. Although he wrote excellent articles, his behavior was a typical northern man. Among many colleagues, he was the only one who was not afraid of Bonin's coldness and always He came up to talk with a smile. As time passed, Bonin felt embarrassed to be separated from him anymore, and gradually became a very good friend in the eyes of outsiders.
"You also know that I have no interest in outings. When I was a child, I never saw any kind of mountains and rivers at home. What's the point of looking at the hills here?" Bonin frowned. In fact, it wasn't that he didn't want to be gregarious. When he was in college, he also loved to talk and laugh. But after arriving in the capital, I met more and more people, and the relationships became more and more complicated. I also saw things like laughing openly and stabbing secretly. Gradually, I couldn't let go until I wrapped myself up tightly. To be honest, he no longer wants to get involved in these frivolous things, and his family does not ask him to be granted the title of marquis or prime minister. Now it is more in line with his own wish to be buried in a pile of books.
"Who told you to look at the hillside? Didn't you see those girls' houses not far away, all blushing and stealing glances at you! You stand here with such a talented and elegant appearance, and you steal all the limelight from me! You kid, you don’t even take it to heart.” Song Yanjin said and elbowed Boning again, “Why don’t you tell me what kind of wife you want, brother, I’ll keep an eye on you, please hurry up If my son has a family, I won't have to break my love."
"You have the nerve to say this kind of thing. You are still a student, and you are not afraid of being laughed at." Boning really couldn't stand this guy who was so generous with his words, especially Song Yanjin, who was physically strong and healthy. There was a handsome man, and the two of them sat together under the tree, attracting more and more eyes from all directions.
"We brothers, why don't we be embarrassed to say something personal?" Song Yanjin smiled at the ladies who looked over shyly from a distance.
"You continue to fuck here, I'll go to a quieter place for a walk." Bonin shook the goosebumps on his body and walked straight towards the secluded place behind the mountain.
Around the Qingming Festival, the capital has not yet bloomed, and there are only magnolias and peach blossoms vying for beauty. One is tall and noble, and the other is dazzling. They do not blend with each other like water and fire, but they are both pleasing to the eye.
There are many peach blossoms in the front mountain, and most of the tourists gather under the peach trees, either reciting poems or playing in the boudoir. There are many tall magnolias in the back mountain. The deeper you go, the quieter you get. Without the noise in front, your nose is full of magnolias. The fragrant fragrance made Bonin take a deep breath and couldn't help but miss his family.
Now Zhu Yongxin, Fang and Jasmine are all still in their hometown in the north. Borong follows Sun Jianyu as an official in Jiangnan Road. The Hehua family runs an academy in Jiangnan. Shuanzi is now older and is no longer satisfied with the small shop. Learn to do large-scale business, Hehua wrote in a letter a few days ago, that boy seems to be a real moneymaker, and now he is doing a decent job.
There have been letters from her family urging her to get married more than once, and He Hua has also mentioned it many times, openly or covertly, in her letters. If Yuanyuan hadn't been too young to be separated from her now, she would have come to the capital long ago due to her temper.
Boning thought about He Hua's anxious appearance, and couldn't help but bring up a smile on his lips. He still looked like a cold-faced Shujishi on weekdays.
Little did he know that his smile stunned the people hiding on the roadside. His feet gave way and he rolled out of the grass.
"Who is it?" Bonin took a few steps back warily, leaning against a thick tree with his hand on the money bag around his waist, thinking he had encountered a thief lurking here.
Unexpectedly, after taking a closer look, what rolled out was a girl in coarse cloth, sitting crookedly on the mountain road, her long hair was stained with grass clippings, her face was covered in black and gray patches, and she was covering her ankles. Groaning and whining in pain.
"Girl, are you okay? There are many words." Although he still had doubts, the other party was a girl after all, so Bonin had no choice but to ask.
"Oh, no...it's okay!" Xu Rou frowned and rubbed her ankle. It seemed that it was really sprained. She could already feel the swelling and pain now. It should have gradually swollen, and there was also throbbing pain inside. But when I saw a man's smile, I sprained my foot. How could I say such a shameful thing? I had to grit my teeth and said, "I didn't stand firm. Sir, please help yourself!"
Seeing her saying this, Bonin thought that she must not be a philanderer. Seeing that the little girl's face was pale in pain and cold sweat broke out on her forehead, he felt compassion and walked a few steps forward: "The mountain road here is remote. Few people come, so if you really hurt your foot, don't hold on. If I really leave, I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for anyone to pass by today. It's still very cold in the mountains at night, and there might be snakes, insects, and rats. Ants or beasts, it's too dangerous for you to stay here by yourself."
When she heard that there were snakes, insects, rats and ants, Xu Rou's face became even paler. She looked at Bonin with tears in her eyes and said, "Sir, to be honest with you, I escaped from my master's house and now I have nowhere to go." Go, sir, if you have a kind heart, can you lend a helping hand? I would be very grateful."
Bonin looked at her with some suspicion, but he didn't say anything about the questions in his heart. He hesitated for a moment and said: "You wait here for a while, I'll go out and hire a woman to carry you out." After that, he quickly returned to the front mountain. I found a strong woman, gave her some copper coins, turned back and put Xu Rou on her back, avoided crowded places, hired a mule cart and went directly back to the city.
Bonin sat sideways on the shaft of the carriage and asked into the carriage: "Girl, where are you going?"
When Xu Rou heard this, she hesitated for a long time and said: "There is no place to go. Sir, you are a good person to the end, so just take in the civilian girl! The civilian girl doesn't have much ability, at least she can help you with washing and cooking, or just be a girl."
"I'm alone and don't need a girl." Bonin frowned when he heard this. He didn't have much salary. Although his family didn't lack his own money, he still wanted to save some money to honor his parents. There was no spare money to hire a girl.
"A civilian girl doesn't need monthly money. All she needs is food, drink, and a place to live." Xu Rou pled anxiously, "Just do it."
Bonin had no choice but to take the man back home. He lived not far from the Hanlin Academy. He rented a small courtyard with only three main rooms with clear tiles. The east side was built with mud bricks. In the kitchen, a grape trellis was set up on the west side, with a stone table and benches placed under the trellis. He also placed a lounge chair. It was elegant to lie under the trellis and read a book in the summer.
The mother-in-law fetched water and washed Xu Rou's face. After the stains on her face were washed away, a fair and delicate little face was revealed, with big black eyes staring at Bonin.
Bonin's heart tightened inexplicably, and a strange feeling spread from the bottom of his heart to his whole body. It seemed that even his limbs were trembling. It's just an illusion.
"Ahem, this girl..." Bonin touched the tip of his nose and said.
"My lord, just call the folk girl Xu Rou." Xu Rou's cheeks turned red when Bonin saw her, she lowered her head and whispered.
"Then you don't need to call me an adult, just call me "Brother Zhu". Bonin stood up and said, "You have an injury on your foot and you have nowhere to go, so you can stay here for a few days. Let’s wait until the foot injury heals before worrying about it.”
In the bedroom of the east room and the study of the west room, there was now an injured woman. She had to place her on the kang in the east room. She also hired the old woman to come for an hour in the morning, noon and evening to help cook and serve. Bonin himself used a stool in the study. He made a random bed with a wooden board and fell asleep temporarily, thinking that he would wait until his foot injury healed before making any plans.
In the following days, Boning went to the Hanlin Academy as usual. Although Xu Rou's foot was injured, she was still diligent. In her free time, she often held the furniture and helped clean up the house. The two of them could only meet sooner or later, but one's heartbeat was racing and the other's. His cheeks were red and he couldn't even speak a word.
After a few days, Xu Rou's feet were much better. Her normal walking was no longer affected, and her range of activities was also expanded. During the day, she would occasionally go to the West Room to help organize the study utensils and books.
Bonin didn't see any difference on the first day, but on the next day he saw that the books were organized according to general categories. During dinner, he said a little embarrassedly: "Thank you for helping me organize the study. I'm used to reading books randomly." ”
"Actually, it's not a mess. It's just that I have nothing to do, so I just find something to do for myself." Xu Rou said with a red face and lowered her head. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe and reward. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
Bonin Extra - Proposing a Marriage at Home (Part 1)