BYBOTE Chapter 32: A Vast Grassland Overhead

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Zhang Yangfan’s face was extremely grim. He stared at Jiang Baining as if a demon was glaring at the thing he despised most in this life.

That was almost not the way one should look at a person.

Qin Guizhi was still immersed in the sorrow of losing her unborn grandchild and hadn't noticed her son's abnormal behavior, let alone whether Zhang Sheng should be present in the house at this moment. She simply found it unbelievable. Ever since Jiang Baining got pregnant, she had never made him do farm work, nor had she let him suffer any grievances. He had spent his days at home eating and drinking well, just so nothing bad would happen to him. So how had he still gotten frightened?!

After the doctor was sent away, Qin Guizhi came in to see Jiang Baining's pale face and extremely panicked expression. "What exactly happened?! I've practically treated you like an ancestor, offering you up to the heavens, and yet you still got scared? How did you get scared? Who scared you? Speak up!"

Jiang Baining didn’t dare to look at Zhang Yangfan, nor did he dare to look at Qin Guizhi. He twisted the fabric of his clothes with his hands, unable to say a word.

Qin Guizhi finally thought to ask her son, "Yangfan, tell me, what happened? How did my precious grandchild disappear while I was away in the fields?"

She had been working even harder than before, thinking of earning more money so she could buy delicious food for her grandchild in the future. Who would have thought that the child would be gone just like that?

Zhang Yangfan took a deep breath, seemingly unwilling to say more. He shifted his gaze from Jiang Baining with an emotionless expression and said, "Mother, I want to divorce him."

Qin Guizhi was stunned, but before she could say anything, Zhang Sheng spoke up first. "You can't do that!"

"That's right, Yangfan, you're being too impulsive." Qin Guizhi thought about how much money the family had spent to bring Jiang Baining into the household. Besides, although he had lost the baby now, couldn’t they try for another in the future? The doctor had said as much before leaving. No matter what, Jiang Baining was still better than Luo Fei—hadn't Luo Fei been married for a while now without even getting pregnant?!

"I said I want to divorce him! If I had known he was such a shameless person, I never would have married him in the first place!" Zhang Yangfan was furious, but he still restrained himself from airing their dirty laundry in public. His words were squeezed out through gritted teeth, and his gaze was not on just anyone—it was fixed on Zhang Sheng.

"What do you mean by that?" Qin Guizhi remembered that when she returned, the doctor was already there, Jiang Baining was lying on the kang bed clutching his belly, and there was a pool of blood on the bedding. She had been so shocked that she hadn’t had the chance to ask what had happened. But what did this have to do with being shameless? Suddenly, she followed her son's gaze to Zhang Sheng.

"Ask them yourself! I’m too ashamed to even say it!" Zhang Yangfan spat, shaking his sleeves in fury. He turned his back on Jiang Baining, looking as if another glance would make him unable to resist strangling him. If not for that sachet today, would he have gone his whole life without knowing that Jiang Baining had been involved with his cousin?! To think he had even been reflecting on his own actions on the way home, regretting that he had pushed Jiang Baining in anger. Meanwhile, Jiang Baining had taken advantage of his brief absence to put a green hat on him in his own house!

"Zhang Sheng, you tell me—what on earth is going on?!" Qin Guizhi looked at one, then the other, suddenly realizing that the atmosphere in the room was all wrong.

"Second Aunt, I... I like Baining!" Zhang Sheng seemed to have steeled himself, speaking as if he had no other choice. "If my parents hadn't forced me to stay quiet back then, I would have told Yangfan long ago. I was against this marriage from the start!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Qin Guizhi slammed her hand on the table. "Baining is your sister-in-law! What kind of outrageous talk is this?!"

"I'm not talking nonsense! I like Baining, and Yangfan doesn't deserve him!"

"And you think you do?" Zhang Yangfan sneered, casting Zhang Sheng a look of contempt. He remembered how Zhang Sheng had gotten so furious when Luo Fei splashed him with water at the wedding. He had found it odd at the time—after all, Zhang Sheng usually had a good temper. So it turned out that it wasn’t just about being splashed with water?

"Even if I'm not worthy, I'm still better than you! At least I treat him well. And you? Before you married him, you promised to treat him well, but you changed as soon as he entered your household! Don’t think I don’t know that you still have feelings for Luo Erbao! You call yourself a scholar? You've disgraced scholars everywhere! You lust after someone who's already married, yet you dare to talk about morality? I spit on you!"

"So what if I still think about him? If Jiang Baining hadn’t deliberately let my mother see that his plum blossom mark was fresh and bright, would I have married him? Luo Fei is better-looking than him and knows how to protect his husband’s dignity—at least he’s not shameless like Jiang Baining! And what about Jiang Baining? The only thing he had over Luo Fei was that he could conceive faster! Oh, and now he’s even lost the baby. If you two were so afraid of me catching you together, why didn’t you just go die somewhere far away?!"

"Zhang Yangfan!" Jiang Baining originally didn’t want to speak, but at this moment, he couldn't hold back anymore. "Can you speak with a clear conscience? Your mother only ever nags me about having a child, as if she’s a completely different person from before our marriage! She even scolds me behind my back, saying that if I don’t get pregnant within a month, she’ll have you divorce me. And you? You know all this, yet you pretend not to see! I know that ever since Xi Yanqing proposed and you saw Luo Fei, your heart has never been with me. You only think about Luo Fei and won’t even share a bed with me. Tell me, how am I supposed to have a child? With whom? In my dreams?! I have no choice but to figure it out myself! My plum blossom was originally—"

"Slap!"

Before Jiang Baining could finish, Zhang Yangfan raised his hand and slapped him. "Shameless!"

"Zhang Yangfan! How dare you hit him?!" Zhang Sheng saw the red mark rising on Jiang Baining’s cheek and couldn't hold back his anger. He pushed Zhang Yangfan in rage. Zhang Sheng was naturally stronger—how could a man who worked the fields all year be the same as someone who spent most of his time reading or wandering about? Zhang Yangfan was shoved so hard that he crashed into the edge of the kang (heated brick bed).

"Ah!" Zhang Yangfan held onto the kang for support, pointing at Zhang Sheng like a teapot. "You dare push me?!" Even a clay figurine has some temper, let alone Zhang Yangfan, who wasn’t particularly mild-mannered to begin with. Being pushed like that, his temper flared, and he started fighting Zhang Sheng.

Would Qin Guizhi, the doting mother, just stand by as her precious son was bullied? Of course not! She rolled up her sleeves and joined the brawl, scratching Zhang Sheng’s face like a furious cat.

Jiang Baining sat on the kang, watching the chaos, feeling dizzy. Then, he did something no one in the room expected. Ignoring the doctor’s orders, he got off the kang and joined Zhang Sheng in beating up Zhang Yangfan and his mother.

Though Jiang Baining wasn’t strong, his actions ignited Zhang Sheng’s determination. Encouraged, Zhang Sheng summoned all his strength and knocked both Zhang Yangfan and Qin Guizhi to the ground!

"Jiang Baining! You ungrateful wretch! How dare you hit me?!" Qin Guizhi stood up, her hair now a bird’s nest. "Just wait! I’ll make sure Yangfan divorces you! Let’s see if you can ever find another husband!"

"Pah! Like I’d be scared of you?!" Zhang Sheng grabbed Jiang Baining’s hand. "If they divorce you, good! If no one else will marry you, I will!"

"Jiang Baining, think carefully—once you leave this house, don’t ever think about coming back!" Zhang Yangfan sneered. He didn’t believe Jiang Baining would throw away his reputation so easily.

"Then I won’t come back." Jiang Baining took a deep breath and looked at Zhang Yangfan. "You never truly cared about me. Why should I stay here just to be despised?" If he hadn’t fallen for Zhang Yangfan’s sweet words, if he hadn’t believed that Zhang Yangfan would treat him well forever, he wouldn’t have married him in the first place.

Jiang Baining turned and left without taking anything. But before he could take more than a few steps, Zhang Sheng grabbed his hand.

Zhang Sheng crouched in front of him. "You’re still weak. Let me carry you."

Jiang Baining hesitated only for a moment before climbing onto Zhang Sheng’s back.

As he rested against Zhang Sheng, a memory surfaced—Luo Fei’s words to him on his wedding day.

—Jiang Baining, don’t get too smug. Zhang Yangfan is no good. In fact, I should thank you. If you hadn’t lured him away, I never would’ve realized he was just a selfish scumbag!

Wasn’t that the truth? What was so great about Zhang Yangfan? Just because he was a scholar? How ridiculous—Jiang Baining had gone to such lengths to keep his attention, even subtly ensuring that his plum blossom looked fresher than others to catch Qin Guizhi’s eye. Even though he knew he shouldn’t be with Zhang Sheng, he had still gambled everything on a reckless decision.

He had been overjoyed when he found out he was pregnant. But now, all he felt was regret—regret that he hadn’t seen the truth sooner.

Zhang Yangfan, on the other hand, was having similar regrets. The thing he regretted most was giving up Luo Fei to marry Jiang Baining. Though Luo Fei had moved on, Zhang Yangfan couldn’t help but wonder—if he had never abandoned Luo Fei, would Luo Fei now be standing by his side, defending him, instead of standing with Xi Yanqing?

But there were no "ifs" in life.

However, there were plenty of plasters.

The doctor, who had barely settled back home, was called to Zhang’s house once again. After treating Qin Guizhi and Zhang Yangfan’s wounds, he left behind a pile of ointments, saying they would be fine once applied. Even so, Qin Guizhi whined all night, despite using ten plasters at once.

The Jiang and Zhang Sheng families, feeling somewhat guilty about the fight, didn’t escalate matters. But within days, word had spread throughout the village—after all, the fight had been so loud that even the neighbors had heard it. To make matters worse, Qin Guizhi, still bitter, went to Zhang Sheng’s house to stir up more trouble.

As a scholar, Zhang Yangfan was entitled to a tax exemption on sixty acres of land under Yuqing Kingdom’s laws. Since his family didn’t own that much land, they had been sharing the exemption with Zhang Sheng’s family. But now? After what Zhang Sheng did? Zhang Yangfan wasn’t about to do him any favors. He sent his mother to reclaim the exemption rights.

As far as Zhang Yangfan was concerned, that settled things—he was done with Zhang Sheng’s family. As for Jiang Baining, he had already written the divorce papers. However, since Jiang Baining had just suffered a miscarriage, divorcing him now would ruin his reputation. So, Zhang Yangfan planned to delay it for a while and only told others that Jiang Baining had returned to his parents after a marital dispute.

But Qin Guizhi failed to understand her son’s intentions. Seeing the divorce paper, she assumed he was just too reluctant to deliver it himself. Without consulting him, she marched straight to Jiang’s house and handed over the divorce paper. By the time she returned, she realized her son had only stepped out for a moment—to use the latrine. But it was too late. The divorce paper could not be taken back.

The Jiang family was not to be trifled with. Jiang Baining’s mother, who had only one son, was furious. She went around the village, telling everyone that Zhang Yangfan was useless—both in character and in bed. After all, look at how badly he had beaten her son!

Some villagers had seen Jiang Baining’s injuries firsthand, so they believed her. Before long, the entire Huaping Village was abuzz with rumors that Zhang Yangfan was "incompetent."

Whenever this happened, Zhang Yangfan could only argue, "If I were truly incapable, then where did Jiang Baining’s child come from?"

He wanted to claim the child wasn’t his—that Jiang Baining had been unfaithful with Zhang Sheng! But that would mean admitting he had been cuckolded! How could he ever show his face again?

What infuriated him most was that even after all that, people still whispered behind his back and looked at him with strange expressions—especially at his lower half!

What are you looking at?!

The sheer frustration nearly gave both Qin Guizhi and Zhang Yangfan internal injuries. If it weren’t for the upcoming provincial exam in August, which required significant preparation costs, Zhang Yangfan would have left the village immediately. He couldn’t stand the villagers’ strange gazes any longer.

Meanwhile, Luo Fei, sewing a large pair of underpants for Xi Yanqing, smirked. "You always say this village loves gossip. Tell me, where don’t people love gossip? They have nothing better to do besides farming, eating, and sleeping. At least Zhang Yangfan provided some entertainment."

"Who said there’s no entertainment?" Xi Yanqing squeezed Luo Fei’s soft hand. "You just won’t let me dig deeper."

"You pervert, be serious!" Luo Fei smacked his hand away, feeling that "digging" sounded far too suggestive.

"I am serious—just not when we're alone." Xi Yanqing took the fabric from Luo Fei’s hands, leaned in, and asked, "So, when will you let me plow your field?"

Luo Fei rolled his eyes. "When your thing learns the art of bone-shrinking, okay? Now scram!"

"You have bones in your dick?" Xi Yanqing, taking advantage of the hot weather and the fact that both of them were only wearing inner garments, pulled open Luo Fei's waistband to take a look. He gave it a squeeze. "Nope, nothing there."

"Xi Yanqing!" Luo Fei’s voice was practically a cry of despair. In fact, sometimes he wanted to try it too, but he was scared! It was so big!

"It's just a pinch, it won't do anything." Xi Yanqing rested his head on Luo Fei’s lap. "Hey, wife, I want to trouble you with something."

"What is it?"

"Can you sew a few drawstring pouches for me? That Dr. Liang—I ran into him while gathering herbs yesterday. He hasn’t been in great health these past couple of years and doesn’t want to go up the mountain anymore, so he’s interested in buying herbs from me. I figured I'd make a few pouches as a bribe. You should see his medicine bag—it’s so worn out, there’s hardly any place left to patch it up."

"Don’t doctors have money?"

"They do, but that old man has a quirk—whenever he has money, he likes to collect rare herbs. He doesn't sell them after collecting; he just cherishes them and takes them out to admire from time to time."

"Alright, I’ll make them once I finish this."

"What’s that?"

Luo Fei mischievously placed a pair of underwear with only one side stitched on Xi Yanqing’s lap. "Hehehe..."

Xi Yanqing pinned Luo Fei down and started playfully nibbling on him.

Luo Fei was quick with needlework, and within two days, he had finished making six drawstring pouches for Xi Yanqing. Xi Yanqing happily put on his underwear embroidered with nightshade flowers and headed out with the pouches.

Unfortunately, he ran into Zhang Yangfan on the way. Zhang Yangfan took one look at all the pouches in Xi Yanqing’s hands and snorted. "Selling things your wife made again? Xi Yanqing, you really have some nerve."

Xi Yanqing gently stroked the fabric bag his wife had made, smiled, and said, "Not as much nerve as you. But since you’re so clever, why don’t you guess a riddle?"

Zhang Yangfan figured Xi Yanqing wouldn’t come up with anything too sophisticated, and he rarely got the chance to show off his intellect. How could he pass up the opportunity? "Alright, let’s hear it."

Xi Yanqing looked Zhang Yangfan up and down. "Tall and skinny, green on top, winking at me—what is it?"

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