Yang Danian shifted the blanket behind him slightly, his eyes filled with deep affection as he gazed intently at Yang Dasao, who was doing needlework.

Her porcelain-white skin had also dimmed, her face had become thinner, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Yang Danian sighed deeply and quietly lay back down.

Sister-in-law Yang glanced at Yang Danian, who had fallen down, covered him with a blanket, gently stroked his sparse stubble, patted his pale face, and gave him a tender kiss.

She straightened up, took out a ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) she had made, and used a special stitch to finish sewing the hem of the ruqun along the bottom. She turned her head to look at the swirling snowflakes outside the window, and gently placed the sewn clothes in the wardrobe.

...

On December 31st, Yang's wife packed five sets of sewn clothes and braved the howling northwest wind to come to Xiaoyue's house. She opened the door and saw a room full of people in the east room. Yang's wife peeked in and Xiaoyue, with her sharp eyes, immediately waved to her.

Yang's wife found a secluded spot, sat down on the edge of the kang without making a sound, and then heard Xiaoyue's voice say, "Li Qianqian, one tael of silver."

Everyone in the room cast envious glances, and Li Qianqian's face flushed slightly.

As soon as Xiaoyue finished calling her name, she poured all the silver and copper coins from her purse onto the table, then reached out and took out a tael of silver, handing it to Li Qianqian, who awkwardly accepted the silver.

After giving Li Qianqian the money, Xiaoyue called out again, "Li Lei, eight qian of silver."

Seeing Xiaoyue pick out eight hundred copper coins from the remaining money and push them in front of Li Lei, Li Lei stiffly accepted the money, looked at Li Qianqian, and then handed the silver to Li Qianqian as well.

Xiaoyue then said, "Little Sister Lu, you also have eight qian of silver, but you didn't receive any wages. The wages were used to pay for the medicine, so you still owe me two liang and four qian of silver."

As Xiaoyue called out to each person, Yang's wife said, "Sister-in-law Yang, you took five sets of clothes and used them for five days. According to the monthly wage of 800 coins, you should be paid 200 coins. However, the initial price was 50 coins per set of clothes, so we will calculate based on the higher price and pay you 250 coins."

Xiaoyue then picked out 250 coins from the pile of loose change and handed them to Sister Yang.

Yang's wife immediately walked up to Xiaoyue, took the coin, and said, "I have something I want to ask you?"

As Xiaoyue threaded the silver and copper coins into her purse, she raised her head and said, "Speak, we're all acquaintances."

After thinking for a moment, Sister Yang humbly asked Xiaoyue, "After Yang Danian recovers, could you give him a job?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyue paused for a moment, turned to look at Sister Yang, and said gently, "Brother Yang, can you read?"

Sister-in-law Yang shook her head and honestly said, "I don't recognize her."

"Can you do something like cleaning the chicken coop?"

“If the work isn’t too heavy, Brother Yang can do it. Anything within your capabilities is fine,” Sister-in-law Yang replied calmly.

“Alright, come over here next spring. I’m planning to raise chickens, ducks, and geese on a large scale. In three or four months, I estimate that Brother Yang’s injury will have healed by then,” Xiaoyue continued.

“Okay, I’d like to get another size of fabric,” Sister Yang said to Li Qianqian.

Xiaoyue then advised Yang's wife, "Your wages are set at eight hundred cash a month. No matter how much you do, it's still eight hundred cash. Don't just focus on working; you also need to take care of your health."

Yang's sister-in-law nodded gratefully, and Li Qianqian pocketed the silver, jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed), and went to the storeroom to get the cut fabric for Yang's sister-in-law.

...

The next morning, a sprightly old man came to the village. He wore a dog-hair hat, a sheepskin coat tied around his waist with a hemp rope, and deerskin boots. Behind him was a lame boy, half a head taller than the old man. The boy carried a pastry box in his left hand and a jar of wine in his right.

The two men drove the mule cart and stopped in front of the Ge family's house. The old man got off the cart and tied the mule's reins to a big tree in front of the gate. The young man also got off the cart, without gloves, but carrying things in his hands, and went into the old Ge family's yard.

Grandma Ge and Ge Sanlin, who were chatting inside the house, noticed someone entering the yard. They immediately put on their shoes, pushed open the door, and went out to greet them.

As soon as Grandma Ge went outside, she saw Old Man Yan walking ahead. When Old Man Ge was still alive, they had been to the coffin shop. That day, Ge Erping left without even going in.

It made everyone unhappy.

Thinking of this, Grandma Ge quickly walked a few steps to Grandpa Yan and said warmly, "Grandpa Yan, please come in. It's so cold, why are you here at your age? Let the younger generation do what they need."

The younger one looked exactly like Old Man Yan, like a giant version of him. Old Man Yan turned around and called out to his son, "This is my second son, Yan Wu."

At home, they often call him Second Son, but he has a leg problem. Instead of responding to Old Lady Ge's comment, Old Man Yan introduced his second son.

Ge Sanlin hurried over to Yan Wu and took a box of pastries and a wine jar from him. As they walked, they made way for each other before entering the house.

After Ge Sanlin entered the room, he saw that Xiaodouding was playing on the kang (a heated brick bed), so he told Xiaodouding to go find Ge Erlin and his second sister-in-law, Xiaosun.

Upon hearing Ge Sanlin's words, Old Man Yan quickly waved his hand and said, "No need for that trouble. I came because the matchmaker told me your family doesn't want to hold a wedding. I didn't have any objections at first, but yesterday my eldest son came back from the county town, and I told him about Yan Wu's decision not to hold a wedding."

The eldest brother was very dissatisfied. He told me that his second brother wasn't a second-time bride, and besides, he had given a lot in gifts and favors through his connections in the county government. Our family was also a prominent family in the town. I thought about it and it made sense.”

Old Man Yan launched into a tirade against Old Mrs. Ge, who was stunned. Ge Sanlin, quicker to react, interjected, "May I ask what Yan Wu's elder brother does? Does he work in the county government? He must be very capable, right?"

Old Man Yan said with pride, "My eldest son and daughter-in-law live in the county. He is now the head of the county government. So when my eldest son told me this, I said that he would not only lose face in the county government, but I would also lose face in the town."

These words surprised both Grandma Ge and Ge Sanlin, who never expected that Ge Erping would marry into a family of such high status.

After hesitating for a long time, Grandma Ge asked timidly, "Our Niukou Village has oxcarts. Is that enough for a wedding procession?"

Old Man Yan, with his sharply defined features, said in a serious voice, "You don't need to worry about that. On the day of the wedding, my family will hire a covered carriage. All your family needs to do is prepare a brand new wedding dress for the bride."

Yan Wu stood beside his father, saying nothing. Old Man Yan nudged his second son, saying, "Go sit at the end of the kang (heated brick bed)." He sighed, as if making a decision.

"On the night of January 17th, I will give the bride six boxes of betrothal gifts. When the wedding party arrives the next day, the bride will take the betrothal gifts back with her. Our Yan family also cares about face."