Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

’Would she, like Juhua, one day feed eggs to a boy?’ Unconsciously, Liu Sanshun’s round, smiling face appeared in her mind. It was so comforting, not at all like her father’s face, which was always stern and made people uneasy.

The two of them had picked half a basket of black moss, along with some shepherd’s purse, and carried it to the riverbank to wash.

The few willow trees next to the blue flagstones had grown very tall, their branches swaying gracefully in the wind. Even the willow cuttings planted along the riverbank had grown into bushy tufts, their slender branches drooping to the ground. The small peach trees planted among them were also full of green leaves. One could imagine that in a few years, the banks of the Little Qing River in March would be a sea of pink blossoms and green willows.

Shaded by the willows, the sunlight was no longer so harsh. It filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled specks of light on the water’s surface and on the people washing vegetables by the river. Their cheerful laughter drifted downstream with the current of the Little Qing River.

The Yang Family wanted to help Laixi ask for Liu Xiaomei’s hand, but they didn’t know what pretext to use to sound out Mei’s mother. The Liu Family, meanwhile, had their own worries: plenty of matchmakers had come to their door for their third son, but this "San Jiangzi" stubbornly refused, spending all day busy at the fish ponds.

Contracting the village’s fish ponds had already kept him busy enough. This year, Sanshun had bought a piece of land near Jing Lake himself, and with his brothers’ help, had dug it into another fish pond. Now he was even busier, spending all his time in the river catching small fish and shrimp to put into the ponds.

You could say he had figured out a thing or two about raising fish. There were benefits to raising small fish and shrimp together with the larger fish, as some of the big fish ate them. Eels, too, fed on small fish, shrimp, and water insects.

He wasn’t so busy that he had forgotten about his own marriage prospects. On the contrary, there was a thorn in his heart, and he hoped that by keeping busy, he could soften it, and with time, forget it completely.

He had gone to meet some of the potential matches, but what did it matter how wonderful the Zhang family’s daughter or the Wang family’s daughter was? What did any of them have to do with him? As long as this thorn remained in his heart, there was no way he could agree to a marriage.

One day, he was carrying a shoulder pole with buckets of fish, casting nets along the river with Mei. Mei was also carrying a large shrimp net to catch shrimp on the side. As they ambled along, they ended up in front of Juhua’s house and happened to see Xiu and Juhua by the river, washing the wild vegetables they had just gathered.

Liu Xiaomei called out, "Juhua, Xiu, what are you two doing?"

Juhua was delighted to see the siblings. She quickly stood up and waved. "Mei, Brother Sanshun, you two are out fishing! Xiu and I gathered some black moss and picked some shepherd’s purse. Do you want some? I picked a lot, I can give you some."

Liu Xiaomei trotted over lightly, glanced at the wild vegetables in their basket, and said with a smile, "Better not. We have a big family, so a little bit wouldn’t be enough. I’ll go pick some myself tomorrow." She sat down by the river to catch her breath.

Seeing Juhua looking as carefree as ever, Liu Sanshun couldn’t help but feel a pang of frustration. ’She has no idea what’s on my mind,’ he thought to himself. ’I’m such an idiot.’ But his traitorous eyes couldn’t help but look at her, listening as she asked his sister if their family’s apricots were turning yellow yet, or if the plums were starting to blush red. He set down his pole and buckets and also sat on the grassy riverbank, quietly listening to them talk.

Juhua suddenly looked over at him and smiled. "Brother Sanshun, I was just talking about you with Xiu. You’re so good at raising fish, and now you even have your own pond. Right, Xiu?"

Xiu’s face was already flushed beet-red. Hearing Juhua call her name, she answered in a panic, "Ah! Yes... that’s right. Brother Sanshun... is very capable!" Her voice trailed off at the end, becoming barely audible.

Liu Xiaomei was long used to Xiu’s personality and didn’t think much of it. Liu Sanshun, however, felt a bit of second-hand embarrassment for her. ’This Xiu is just too shy,’ he thought, ’blushing just from saying a simple sentence.’

Juhua smiled at Xiu and said, "When the apricots at Mei’s house are ripe, we’ll go eat some together. You get along well with Mei, you’re familiar with Brother Sanshun, and Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu are good people too. You’ll see once you go."

Xiu shot a quick glance at Liu Sanshun and nodded shyly.

Liu Sanshun happened to be looking at her at that exact moment. Xiu’s blushing, girlish demeanor made him pause. He felt there was a certain meaning in the way she had glanced at him, and his heart stirred slightly. He remembered Juhua once telling him, "There’s a girl who has a secret crush on you." At the time, he’d been upset about Juhua’s engagement and hadn’t paid the comment any mind. Looking at the situation now, ’Could that person be Xiu?’

But then he thought again and decided it probably wasn’t her. Xiu blushed when she talked to anyone, not just him. So he pushed the thought aside and ignored it. Nevertheless, her timid and bashful appearance left an impression on him.

Spurred on by Juhua’s words, Liu Xiaomei also invited Xiu. "You should come with Juhua, it’ll be lively. In a couple of years, when all these fruit trees at Juhua’s house are grown, we’ll have to come to her place to eat. Juhua, I don’t care about the other fruit—we have those at my house anyway—but when you harvest the chestnuts in the fall, you have to give me some. I love that mealy texture."

Juhua laughed. "Do you even need to ask? Didn’t I give you some last year?"

As they were talking, Xiu stood up and said she had to go home. Juhua and Mei smiled and nodded at her without saying much—Xiu and her sister were always like that, never staying out for long.

As she was leaving, she passed by Liu Sanshun. She wanted to look at him, but couldn’t muster the courage to raise her eyes. She could only lower her head and hurry away.

After Xiu left, Juhua said to Sanshun with deep meaning, "Brother Sanshun, that Xiu is so shy. She blushes whenever she sees you." She had decided to give the young man a little nudge, lest he remain stuck in his emotional dead end.

Liu Sanshun instantly understood her meaning, and his expression turned awkward. Liu Xiaomei, not knowing that Juhua had told her brother someone liked him, said obliviously, "That’s just how Xiu is, especially demure. She’s always blushing. Her younger sister, Cui, isn’t much different. Not like us, we’re thick-skinned."

Juhua teased her, "And here I thought your face was always bright red too! How is that thick-skinned? It’s paper-thin!"

After a few more jokes, they all went their separate ways. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)