Zhou Duan is the most famously "ugly" ger in the surrounding villages.
He has neither the slender figure of other gers and women nor their sweet, melodious voices. So when he reached the age for marriage, while his peers already had one child by the hand and another in their arms, he was still an "ugly" ger no one wanted to marry. His neighbors constantly mocked him, both openly and behind his back, leaving Madam Zhou worrying day and night.
One day, Zhou Duan hefted his hoe and was about to carry his load home. As he passed a rice paddy, faint cries for help drifted into his ears, carried intermittently on the gentle autumn breeze.
At first, Zhou Duan had no intention of getting involved. But the man's warm, mellow voice brushed past his shoulder like stalks of rice, making his heart itch for a moment.
He pushed aside layers of golden rice stalks and saw the most beautiful "ger" he had ever laid eyes on. He was countless times more handsome than the refined scholars described in storybooks!
Zhou Duan's ears turned red at once. He set down his hoe and carrying pole, then carefully carried the man home.
Song Gui'an is an unloved illegitimate son of a marquis, but his looks and talent have made his eldest brother's betrothed husband utterly infatuated with him.
The Marchioness knows exactly what's going on. Using a trip to the mountain to burn incense and pray as cover, she orders her guards to tie him up in a sack and dump him in a wilderness a hundred thousand li from the capital. He manages to crawl out of the sack, but collapses from hunger and exhaustion while trying to call for help.
When he wakes, he sees a handsome ger sitting beside him, looking rather awkward as he asks, "You're awake? Are you still hungry?"
The older woman standing nearby looks at him with such warmth that it's as if she's gazing at some priceless treasure.
Song Gui'an gently closes his eyes.
Rather than go back and scheme against the Marchioness and the others every day, he might as well stay in this little village for now and enjoy some peace and quiet.
Word spreads that the young, handsome teacher at the school in town has become the Zhou family's live-in son-in-law. He's not only strikingly handsome, but also courteous and well-read.
Most of the villagers scoff. They wait to laugh when the "ugly" ger Zhou Duan gets cast aside.
But they wait and wait, and not only do they hear no news of the two splitting up, they hear that Zhou Duan is pregnant. His beautiful live-in husband is even planning to buy a large mansion in the prefectural city for Zhou Duan and his daughter!
Later, when people mention the couple again, they hear that the pretty live-in husband has passed the provincial examination and gone to the capital to become a high-ranking official!
And that ugly ger Zhou Duan has become the wife of an illustrious official. How enviable!
[Reader's Guide]
1. Older wife, younger husband; handsome gong, sturdy shou; contrasting skin tones; four-year age gap.
2. A fictional historical food story. Assume all ingredients are available. The world follows the setting of the ending of "Beloved: My Cool, Distant Husband," where all genders are equal in every walk of life.
3. A warm, everyday family story about a family working together to make life better and better.
Theme: Hard work brings prosperity
