Chapter 624 Dahe Town Officially Renamed

The Zhao family is experiencing a series of joyous events.

First, they held a celebratory banquet for Zhao Dawang and Wang Damai's son, and then they immediately arranged the wedding for Chunhua and Afu.

The Shen family of three had already gone to the capital. Afu was all alone in Ping'an County, but Old Madam Shen had left him a courtyard.

This courtyard is located on the main street of Ping'an County. It can be used for business operations in the front, and there are several side rooms in the back, which can accommodate even four or five children.

After returning from the capital, Afu partnered with Old Man Zhao to open a carpentry shop. Both of them were quite skilled, and after the market opened up, the business gradually stabilized. In order to focus on preparing for the wedding, Afu also hired a twelve-year-old apprentice to help.

The couple held a grand wedding ceremony in this courtyard, and many people from the village came to attend the celebration.

The wedding banquet was to be cooked by Cheng Fang, who had worked in the kitchen of Dahe Banquet for more than a year and had learned everything she needed to, and was gradually able to work independently.

When Chunhua becomes pregnant and gives birth, the main restaurant of Daheyan will need her to support it, and Wei Hongyan will be her assistant.

The villagers sat in the courtyard eating their meal, chatting in small groups.

"Cheng Fang's cooking skills are really good, and there's not much difference between his dishes and those made by Da Shan's wife."

"I have to say, Cheng Fang has become more and more outstanding since leaving the Xu family. She's twenty-one this year, right? Will she still be able to get married?"

"Isn't she a jinx to husbands? Not many men dare to marry her. I heard she used to learn martial arts from Master He. Men can't control her."

"I guess I'll never get married in my life, I'll become an old maid."

Listening to the villagers' discussions, Cheng Wanwan couldn't help but say, "A woman doesn't necessarily have to get married. If she has the ability to earn money, she can live a comfortable life."

Despite Cheng Wanwan's status, some women and old women still raised their objections.

"It's good to be rich, but it's not a good feeling to be old without anyone to keep you company."

“Grandma, you have four sons. You don’t know the bitterness of not having children. Cheng Fang is impressive now, but when she’s in her thirties or forties, she’ll be envious of others.”

"A woman's life is only complete after she gets married and has children..."

Cheng Wanwan opened her lips, but said nothing more.

Trying to persuade the ancients with modern ideas is just playing the fool.

In this era, without pensions, nursing homes, or policies, a woman's destiny is marriage, without a doubt.

She thought of the maids in her courtyard. They were getting older, and she wondered if it was time to find them good homes.

After returning from the banquet in Ping'an County, Cheng Wanwan talked about this matter with Granny Qi.

"The palace maids are all released to marry when they turn twenty-five. If there are women who do not want to marry, they can stay in the palace as aunts or nannies," Granny Qi said. "Grannies like us all encountered some troubles when we were young and chose to become self-combed. Ninglan and the others are all beautiful young girls. It would be best if they could get married, but it's okay if they can't. They won't suffer if they follow Lady Gong."

Cheng Wanwan nodded in understanding.

In wealthy families, maids were either released when they reached a certain age or assigned to the household's stewards or servants.

These maids are all very beautiful. If they were just released like this, they might attract the attention of some ill-intentioned people. Therefore, she had to take good care of arranging marriages for them. In this way, even though the maids got married, they could still stay by her side and work. This way, she wouldn't have to keep bringing in new maids.

Cheng Wanwan kept this matter to herself, needing to ponder it slowly.

At the end of the first month of the lunar calendar, Dahe Village ushered in the biggest event in its history - Dahe Village was officially renamed Dahe Town.

Prefect Zhu of Huzhou, the new magistrate Wei of Ping'an County, magistrates from various nearby counties, as well as magistrates Lin and Ge, all came to offer their congratulations.

On the side of the main road in Dahe Town, there is a standing stone, about six or seven feet high, covered with a red cloth and tied with red silk, which looks very mysterious.

The road leading into the village has been widened by at least five times, making it very spacious. Some officials stood in the middle, surrounded by ordinary people.

"Today is the 28th day of the first lunar month, a bright and sunny day, and a good day for our Dahe Village," said Magistrate Zhao in a loud voice. "After a year of hard work from all sides, Dahe Village has finally become Dahe Town. From today onwards, we are all people of Dahe Town, Ping'an County, Huzhou City, Yunnan Province. Next, please welcome the Prefect and the Lady of Sui to unveil the red cloth for us!"

Prefect Zhu gestured for her to enter: "Lady Sui."

Cheng Wanwan smiled and nodded, then walked to the left side of the large rock. In ancient times, the right was considered the place of honor, so the most honored person here was naturally the prefect.

Prefect Zhu stood on the right, and together with Cheng Wanwan, they grabbed one end of the red silk cloth and pulled hard.

The red cloth was torn open, revealing the bare stone underneath. It was a huge, long stone that Tiezhu and his men had searched for for seven or eight days before finding it. Then they invited the best stonemason in Ping'an County to carve three characters on it: "Dahe Town".

These three characters, full of heroic spirit, were dyed red with cinnabar and tinged with silver powder. This silver powder was made by breaking up ten taels of silver and melting it in. Dahe Village is now the richest place in the surrounding area, so ten taels of silver is no big deal. This was unanimously agreed upon by the entire village.

At this moment, the sunlight falls, and the three characters "Dahe Town" shine so brightly that it is hard to look directly at them.

Prefect Zhu smiled and said, "Now, I hereby announce that Dahe Village is officially renamed Dahe Town. During the first ten years of the town's transformation, taxes on all industries, agriculture, and commerce within the jurisdiction of Dahe Town will be halved. In addition, Huzhou will allocate funds to support the construction of Dahe Town..."

The onlookers applauded enthusiastically, their hands turning red from the excitement.

The people of Dahe Village were happy to become residents of Dahe Town, the craftsmen who had already settled there were excited about moving in, and the village leaders of neighboring villages decided to follow in Dahe Town's footsteps and work hard... Of course, there were also envious outsiders, but so what? In the face of absolute strength, jealousy and envy were just a joke.

After the unveiling ceremony, Zhao Tiezhu led the officials to the council office of Dahe Town to discuss some details.

Meanwhile, people from other villages arrived with their luggage.

More than a hundred simple courtyards with blue bricks and tiles have been built around the market in Dahe Town. These are specially prepared as accommodations for newly settled craftsmen. The rent is 300 coins a month. If you rent for ten years, the courtyard will belong to that family.

After the artisans moved in, Dahe Town truly took on the appearance of a town, and the market became incredibly lively.

The new residents needed to buy things, which revitalized the market. The original residents of Dahe Village found an open space and started setting up stalls, selling tables and chairs, beds and cabinets, pots and pans, rice, oil and salt, and all sorts of other miscellaneous items...

With the development of the market, not everyone in Dahe Village farms for a living anymore. For example, in Old Mrs. Zhu's family, there are no able-bodied adults. Now, she, an elderly woman, takes care of Hu Zi and the three children left behind by Widow Zhang, and they run a preserved egg business. Another example is Wang Yongcheng's family. He is the patrol team leader, Aunt Wang runs a braised food business, Da Mai is married, and Ni Qiu needs to go to school. There are so many things to do at home that it's impossible for Da Mai to do them all by herself, so they rented all their land to Manager Yan to raise pigs, while they themselves focus on their business...