Peach Blossom Land On Longyin Island Chapter 10
bySeven days until the wedding!
An Xiaoyu raised her eyes to look at An Le, then turned to the solemn-faced Village Chief An Mu. Meeting the Village Chief’s gaze directly, her voice was firm: “Yes, I like An Le, and I am willing to stay in Longyin Village forever for him.”
The two stared at each other for a moment. Village Chief An Mu suddenly nodded slightly, and when he looked at An Le, he showed a kind smile. He said, “Le Le, do you also want to marry him?”
An Le was still reeling from the look An Xiaoyu had just given him. Hearing the question, he slowly recovered and turned his gaze to Village Chief An Mu, his expression slightly bewildered.
“What?” An Le asked.
Village Chief An Mu smiled faintly, his voice gentle and deep as he repeated, “Do you really want to marry Xiaoyu?”
“Ah… this…. Mmm.” An Le scratched his head, nodding awkwardly. Since things had come to this, could he really say no? An Le sighed silently. It was just a matter of delaying things for a while; agreeing wouldn’t hurt. After all, An Xiaoyu was going to leave eventually, and so was he.
“Good!” Village Chief An Mu suddenly shouted loudly, his voice booming with momentum, startling An Le.
There’s no need to be this excited, is there? An Le muttered under his breath, clutching his chest. However, An Le immediately understood the meaning of that “Good.”
Village Chief An Mu stroked his beard, smiling. “Since the two of you are in love and willing, and your parents agree, in Grandpa An’s opinion, there’s no time like the present. Seven days from now is an auspicious day. The two of you will get married then. Le Le’s parents, what do you think?”
“Great!!!” Before Father An and Mother An could reply, the surrounding villagers erupted in cheers and immediately swarmed forward to congratulate the couple’s parents.
The words An Le wanted to use to decline were swallowed by the boisterous noise and laughter.
“Hey, hey! Wait! I mean, isn’t this a bit rushed?” An Le tried hard to raise his voice, attempting to make his protest heard. However, the surrounding chaos meant no one paid him any attention, except for his sister, Su Su, who was clinging to his leg.
“Brother, Brother,” Su Su excitedly tugged at An Le’s thigh, looking up and shouting, “I’m going to have a sister-in-law!”
“You little troublemaker caused this,” An Le tapped Su Su on the forehead, sighing helplessly.
“Su Su, I was right, wasn’t I!” Another little girl squeezed through the crowd and pushed her way next to Su Su, saying triumphantly, “I told you that if you cried hard enough, Brother Le Le would definitely marry the merman!”
“Yaya, thank you!” Su Su excitedly hugged the little girl, chirping, “I’ll give you my favorite pearl.”
So, you two were the ones behind this. So young, yet already capable of acting and deceiving people. Both of you are such good actors—you must be the real siblings! An Le listened to the whole exchange and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Are you… alright?” An Xiaoyu had somehow moved right next to him and whispered in his ear. An Le flinched again, not startled by the voice, but by the breath that brushed against him when he spoke.
An Le took a step back, turning to glare at An Xiaoyu angrily. He was bursting with frustration but couldn’t vent it because of the crowd. He held it in for a long time, his face turning red.
An Xiaoyu, seeing this, didn’t realize he was angry. Instead, he asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell?”
An Le truly wanted to spit a mouthful of blood onto this person’s face!
“You! Come here!” An Le gritted his teeth, forcefully grabbing An Xiaoyu’s wrist. With his other hand, he pushed through the wall of people, struggling to break free from the crowd.
An Le dragged An Xiaoyu away from the throng, looking for a quiet, secluded spot. However, he saw scattered groups of three to five villagers playing along the entire coastline, and the sounds of cheering behind them were inescapable. An Le scanned the area and noticed a few small boats moored in a little cove by the sea, similar to the many boats floating on the water carrying flower lanterns. He pulled An Xiaoyu onto one, untied the rope, and pushed off with a pole. The small boat left the cove. An Xiaoyu paddled the oars, steering the boat out to sea, where it blended in with the many fishing boats.
The wind was strong out on the water, and An Le could finally let out his anger.
“An Xiaoyu! What is wrong with you! How could you make such a decision without telling me first!” An Le put his hands on his hips and yelled furiously.
An Xiaoyu released the oars, letting the small boat drift on the sea with the wind. Hearing An Le, he looked ashamed, lowering his head. “I apologize. I needed an identity to stay here.”
“Then go find An Linmian! She was so enthusiastic about you!”
“I don’t want to hold her back,” An Xiaoyu said.
“Ha! But you have no qualms about holding me back!”
“She is a girl; her reputation is very important.” An Xiaoyu looked up at An Le, scratching behind his ear awkwardly. “An Le, I won’t do anything to you. When I leave, you can marry again. This marriage won’t affect your future…”
“Marry again, and I’ll be remarried! Second marriages are looked down upon!” An Le blurted out.
An Xiaoyu: “……..”
An Xiaoyu stood with his head bowed, like a student punished for a mistake. After a long silence, he cautiously raised his eyes to look at An Le, stammering, “Then… I’ll go explain to the Village Chief and cancel the wedding.”
“Heh.” An Le sneered, glancing sideways at An Xiaoyu, speaking sarcastically. “Go ahead. Tell them this was a Mid-Autumn Festival performance you prepared to amuse them. See if they don’t throw you into the sea to feed the fish.”
“…….” An Xiaoyu scratched his head, remaining silent and motionless.
I knew you were all talk, An Le couldn’t help but roll his eyes internally. Having vented his anger, the sea breeze blew it away, and his mind calmed down considerably.
Honestly, he didn’t mind a fake marriage with An Xiaoyu. They were both men, so neither would lose anything. As for the reputation of a second marriage, he was going to leave Longyin Village eventually and had no intention of marrying anyone from the village anyway. Everyone in the village was related, and chances were, someone was his cousin or relative. The villagers might not know, but he was well aware that inbreeding could lead to birth defects. He strongly suspected the original owner was born mentally deficient precisely because of inbreeding. An Xiaoyu could use him as an excuse, and he could use An Xiaoyu as a shield. The original owner was seventeen this year, and most young men in the village married around seventeen or eighteen. Even without An Xiaoyu, Father An and Mother An would have started arranging a marriage for him within a year or two.
If he had to marry someone, An Xiaoyu was better than anyone else. An Le finally reached this conclusion.
“Fine,” An Le glared at the seemingly remorseful An Xiaoyu, saying irritably, “It’s just a marriage; neither of us loses anything. But we need to establish three ground rules.”
“Mhm, mhm, mhm, tell me,” An Xiaoyu’s face brightened, and he nodded obediently.
An Le rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “People in the village move out after they get married, you know that, right?”
“Yes, I heard Sister-in-law Yaya mention it.”
“So,” An Le glanced at An Xiaoyu, saying flatly, “You sweep the floor, you cook the meals, and you wash the clothes.”
“Mhm! Good!” An Xiaoyu nodded quickly without hesitation, his eyes shining as he looked at An Le, his expression serious. “Don’t worry, I’ll do all the chores. Do you have any other requests?”
“Other…” An Le thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, that’s all.”
An Xiaoyu grinned. “An Le, thank you.”
“Heh, you’re welcome,” An Le replied with a cold, forced smile.
The bright moon hung directly overhead, the sky full of stars, and the sea breeze was gentle. A long, ethereal melody, played on some unknown instrument, drifted across the water. An Le lay on the small fishing boat, resting his arms behind his head and staring blankly.
Mom and Dad, your son has done something incredible. Not only did I transmigrate, but I’m also getting married—to a man, no less.
He had never imagined in his previous life that he would ever get married, even if it was a fake marriage.
Thinking of this, An Le suddenly found it funny and laughed out loud.
“What are you thinking about?” While lost in thought, An Le heard An Xiaoyu’s soft, gentle voice. He snapped back to reality and turned to look at An Xiaoyu.
The bright moonlight illuminated the boat. An Xiaoyu sat quietly in the stern, his gaze like water, his expression gentle, and his high ponytail fluttering in the wind.
An Le scrutinized An Xiaoyu for a while. No matter how he looked at it, he wasn’t the one losing out. “If you were already married outside, wouldn’t this count as bigamy?”
An Xiaoyu paused. Before he could answer, An Le continued, “Hmm, probably not. After all, where you come from, having three wives and four concubines is normal. There probably isn’t a crime of bigamy.”
“No,” An Xiaoyu said. “I have never been married.”
An Xiaoyu’s tone sounded very certain. An Le smiled and said, “How do you know you haven’t been married? Have you recovered your memory?”
“No.”
“Then how are you sure you haven’t taken a wife?” An Le asked curiously.
An Xiaoyu tilted his head. “A hunch.”
“Heh heh, that’s not convincing at all,” An Le said lazily. “But even if you did have a wife, she wouldn’t be able to chase you here. I doubt the scene of the original wife beating up the mistress will happen to me.”
“Mistress?” An Xiaoyu asked.
“It means a third party who interferes in someone else’s relationship.”
“An Linmian?”
“…….” An Le sat up. “I said a third party who interferes in someone else’s relationship—a relationship, do you understand? Who is An Linmian interfering with?”
An Xiaoyu pointed innocently at An Le, then at himself, and said, “Didn’t we become sworn brothers?”
An Le was speechless for a moment. “Brotherhood doesn’t count. Only someone who interferes in someone else’s love is called a mistress.” An Le deliberately emphasized the word love. After speaking, he saw An Xiaoyu remain silent, and then he thought of An Linmian again. Annoyed, he lay back down, sighing, “How am I going to face An Linmian now? I just told her we weren’t related, and now we’re getting married.”
“An Le!!!” Perhaps because he was thinking of An Linmian, An Le felt he faintly heard An Linmian’s voice, full of fury.
“Am I hearing things? Why do I hear An Linmian’s voice?” An Le muttered to himself.
“No,” An Xiaoyu replied. “She’s here.”
A sharp-prowed small boat, like a narwhal, was speeding directly toward the side of their boat. An Le couldn’t make out An Linmian’s expression, but the speed at which the boat was approaching without slowing down clearly indicated the fury it carried.
An Linmian looked determined to crash into them. People from Longyin Village grew up by the sea and weren’t afraid of water. Given An Linmian’s swimming ability, she would be fine even if she fell into the sea.
But An Le was different; he couldn’t swim at all! He had only just learned how to row a boat in the last few months!
“Oh no, oh no, we’re going to crash! Turn around, turn around quickly!” An Le shot up in a panic, frantically directing An Xiaoyu to change the fishing boat’s direction. Just as the fishing boat turned forty-five degrees, An Linmian’s small boat slammed into them, narrowly scraping the side of An Le’s boat.
The boat shook violently a few times, and An Le swayed back and forth with the waves.
“An Le! You liar!! I’m going to die with you!!” An Linmian shouted, driving her small boat to wildly ram An Le’s fishing boat again.
An Le desperately clung to the gunwale, terrified of falling out and dying a second time.
“Stop hitting us! I can’t swim!!!” An Le yelled, his face pale and his eyes tightly shut.
The collision suddenly stopped. At the same time, An Le felt a pair of strong arms pull him into an embrace.