Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

Du Xingzhi's brows were clear and he spoke in a clear voice: "Xingzhi came here today to make amends. Last night, I was walking near the wall of your house and heard about my cousin, so I came here to make amends today."

The head of the village pursed his lips, his face darkened a little, and he said in a cold voice, "Oh, what a coincidence." There was obvious disbelief in his tone.

Du Xingzhi's expression remained unchanged, and he continued, "Although I didn't mean to snoop into your family's private property, it is certainly not what a gentleman would do. I will not hesitate to punish you in any way you want."

Seeing that his eyes were clear and his words were not evasive, the head of the village relaxed and asked, "It has already happened. Since you said 'once,' then there must be something else?"

Du Xingzhi nodded slightly, "There are indeed other things." He paused after saying this, as if he was organizing his words, "When my father was alive, he told me that the two families were interested in forming a Qin-Jin relationship, but from what I heard from you and your aunt and uncle last night, it seems that you are unwilling to let my cousin marry into our family?"

"Well, I know you are a good person. With your intelligence, you will achieve great success sooner or later. If your father were still alive, your daughter would be marrying up." When the head of the village heard him mention his deceased father, he was stunned for a moment. Thinking that Du Xingzhi in front of him was just a half-grown child who had just lost his father, his tone softened a lot.

But when he thought of the Du family's current situation, he changed the subject, "But your father just passed away, you have to observe mourning for three years, and you can't take the imperial examination. And your mother is ill, and the family depends on you alone. If your daughter marries, she will probably suffer for several years. She was spoiled by us and is weak, so we naturally don't want to see her toiling for a living."

As he was talking, the head of the village caught sight of the gift Du Xingzhi brought with him. He suddenly had an idea and tried to test him. He lowered his voice and said with regret, "Our two families have always had a harmonious relationship. If you tell your daughter that you have no interest in her and never mention this marriage again, then our family can provide some financial support for your path to the imperial examination."

Du Xingzhi understood what the village head said. He wanted to use money to break off the marriage and make him shut up. But his expression did not change, and there was no resentment of being looked down upon on his face. Instead, he looked at the village head with a firm look, "This is the second reason I came here today. I want to sign a bet with you."

"Huh? What bet?" The head of the village looked at Du Xingzhi, who had his back straight in front of him, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Let's make this marriage a bet for three years. After three years, the mourning period will be over, and it will be the autumn examination. If I pass the examination, the marriage between the two families will continue. If I am not capable enough..." At this point, his tone was a little difficult, "If I am not capable enough, the marriage will be annulled, and I will draw a clear line with my cousin from now on and never get close to her again. If she finds a good man in the future, I will also prepare a generous dowry for her."

The headman's pupils shrank slightly, and he couldn't help but grip the armrests of the chair tightly, and asked uncertainly, "Are you sure?" After all, this bet would benefit his daughter in every way, and he was afraid that the boy from the Du family had lost his mind.

"I am sure that my cousin is so affectionate, I will definitely not let her down. Please help me." Du Xingzhi said in a firm tone, leaning over to the head of the village and bowing deeply.

The village head thought for a long time before speaking, "I can agree to your request, but Nannan is devoted to you. Even if you are unlucky and fail to pass the imperial examination in three years, she will definitely not marry anyone else."

"Is my cousin awake? If it's convenient, can I meet her and talk to her in person?"

"That's fine, but she hasn't eaten or drunk anything in the past few days and is very weak. You shouldn't stay here too long." The head of the village waved his hand for him to get up, and called Mrs. Du in, asking her to clean up Lin Xi.

A moment later, Du Xingzhi entered Lin Xi's room. The door was open, and the Du couple stood outside the door, paying attention to the situation inside. The light inside the room was dim, and Du Xingzhi stopped half a meter away from the bed. She saw a slender figure sitting on the tent. Seeing the person coming, she called softly, "Cousin Xingzhi."

Du Xingzhi listened to her gentle yet heartfelt call and lowered his voice, "Cousin, I feel better now."

With just this sentence, the figure behind the tent seemed to tremble slightly, and there was a nasal tone in his voice, "Much better, thank you for your concern, cousin." After saying this, he raised his hand, as if stroking his hair, "Why did you come here suddenly today? I'm afraid it won't look good if I'm sick, so I can only talk to you through the tent."

Seeing her move, a sour feeling surged into Du Xingzhi's chest, "It's okay, your health is the most important thing. I brought some nourishing herbs, and I'll ask my aunt to stew them for you later."

"Thank you, cousin, but my aunt is still sick. I was also sick and couldn't visit her. You should take the herbs back to her." Lin Xi sniffed and advised softly.

"This is the medicine that I asked Doctor Hu to prescribe for you this morning. He said that you haven't eaten or drunk anything for several days and your body is weak. You need to slowly recover." Du Xingzhi shook his head slightly and instructed in a gentle voice.

"Hu, Doctor Hu, cousin, you know everything?" Lin Xi's voice was a little flustered.

"Well, I heard everything you said last night, so I came to see you today." Du Xingzhi took half a step forward and his voice became softer.

Lin Xi felt ashamed and embarrassed for a moment, and her words began to stutter, "See, what do you want to see me for?"

Du Xingzhi saw that the white curtain was wrinkled by her, and knew that her mind was wandering. He no longer tried to hide it and said everything in his heart in one breath, "I know that my cousin has me in her heart, and I also like my cousin."

"My cousin had already expressed her feelings to me that day, but I was stupid and cowardly as a man, and I was hesitant. After my father died, I was depressed and did nothing all day long, which made my grandparents and my aunt and uncle disappointed in me. My cousin went on a hunger strike in protest. I came here today to apologize to my cousin." He spoke sincerely and bowed deeply to Lin Xi.

Lin Xi was surprised and delighted by his words, as if her unrequited love for many days had finally been responded to. The stone in her heart fell to the ground, and the tears that she had been holding back for a long time finally fell down, hitting her snow-white clothes and leaving tear marks.

She cried so hard that she couldn't stop for a long time. Du Xingzhi didn't interrupt her. For a while, the whole room was filled with Lin Xi's crying. Lin Laoer, who was outside the door, heard his daughter crying so hard. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to rush in, but Du grabbed him back and glared at him, signaling him not to act rashly. He had no choice but to stand back in anger.

After a long time, Lin Xi finally stopped crying, but because she was too sad, she hiccuped uncontrollably when she stopped. Du Xingzhi found it somewhat funny. He didn't expect that she had such a stubborn personality, but also had such a lovely side. He hurriedly wrung out a wet towel from the copper basin beside her and gave it to her.