"Little Cai, you're still so young, it's too early to think about marriage," Chen Xiaomi said.
"It's not a wedding, it's an engagement." The saying "the first to strike wins, the last to strike suffers" might be a perfect example of this. Many parents in the past were very conflicted. They strictly forbade their children from dating before high school, as early dating was considered a deviant act by everyone.
After graduating from university, they urge you to find a partner as soon as possible. In many places, not getting married by the age of thirty is even more abhorrent than dating in your youth.
As children get older, many parents lower their standards when choosing a partner for their children.
If a woman is over thirty, the man's parents might be okay, but many of the woman's parents might only have one requirement for the man: as long as he is male.
However, when it comes to marriage, it all depends on fate.
Chen Xiaomi rolled her eyes and said, "Even if we're getting engaged, we can't choose a girl like that."
Chen Xiaomi knew Zheng Shi quite well; she was a troublemaker. Even if her daughter was a good person, with such a mother, if they got married, she would still come over every few days to beg for money.
“So I didn’t agree,” Lu Lin said.
Lu Lin originally thought that Aunt Zheng's matter was an accident, but he found that people were coming to propose marriage one after another. Of course, the other party could not be so obvious. They just brought their daughters to take a walk around, let Chen Xiaocai recognize their faces, and exchange a few pleasantries with Lu Lin.
When Aunt Zheng met Lu Lin, she praised her daughter to him, saying she was beautiful, smart, virtuous, and a lucky charm for the family.
Although parents always think their children are the best, Lu Lin still felt that Aunt Zheng's words were a bit exaggerated. How could one tell whether a little girl who hasn't even grown her hair yet be a lucky charm for the family?
Lu Lin originally thought that Aunt Zheng's matter was an accident, but a few days later, Lu Lin was shocked by how popular Xiao Cai was. Aunt Zheng's arrival was like opening a floodgate, and then the flood came in. There were even matchmakers coming to Lu Lin's door to ask what kind of girl Chen Xiao Cai liked.
Lu Lin said with surprise, "I really didn't expect so many girls to have taken a liking to Xiao Cai."
During this period, Lu Lin was constantly approached by people, mostly talkative aunties.
Once he's been targeted, the other party will inevitably nag him for a long time. But since the other party doesn't seem to have any ill intentions, and one can't hit a smiling face, he can't go too far.
Chen Xiaomi blinked and said, "It was a bit of a surprise."
Chen Xiaomi was initially worried that no one would want the vegetables, but she found that a lot of people were scrambling to get them.
"As long as I have money, that's all that matters," Lu Lin said.
He didn't accept any marriage proposals at all. However, some of the aunties kept mentioning, openly or subtly, the grandeur of Lu Chengyu's wedding, with its thirty taels of betrothal gifts and a bright red sedan chair. It was clearly a comparison to Chen Xiaolai's wedding, and it would be best to make it look like that.
Given Lu Lin's current wealth, following this approach wouldn't be a problem, but it's completely unnecessary. Lu Lin still believes in the principle of not flaunting wealth, especially since he feels that the security situation in ancient times wasn't very good. If this were to be followed, would the Lu and Chen families be able to sit still?
Lu Lin was fetching water in the yard when Chen Xiaocai came up and tugged at his sleeve.
Lu Lin glanced at Chen Xiaocai and asked, "What's wrong?"
Chen Xiaocai lowered her head, remained silent for a long while, then blushed and asked, "Is anyone going to arrange a marriage for me?"
Lu Lin nodded. "Yes, you're very popular. Many girls in the countryside have their eyes on you, including Zhang Ya. This girl is said to be the village beauty."
He couldn't understand why someone who looked like a shriveled bean was hailed as the "village beauty." However, since that's what everyone was saying, perhaps in the eyes of many people in this world, this girl was quite pretty.
Chen Xiaocai lowered her head and said, "I don't like those people, so please don't agree."
Chen Xiaocai disliked the village girls at all, not because of their looks, but because he felt they were only interested in him because they wanted a better life. Now that he was doing well, they wanted to take advantage of him, and he didn't want that. Besides, he already had someone he liked.
Chen Xiaocai hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't say the rest.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "I've already rejected you. You're still so young, what are you talking about getting engaged to? Work for another two years and save up some money for your future wife. And it's only sincere if you earn the money yourself. Your older brother and I still have to raise our child, we have a lot of burdens. We won't give you much money for your marriage."
Chen Xiaocai pouted and said, "I know, my wages are much higher now."
Wan Li was bought by Lu Lin. As long as he was provided with food, he didn't actually need to be paid wages. However, Lu Lin still paid him one and a half taels of silver a month. Now Chen Xiaocai has filled Wan Li's vacancy and is paid the same wages, plus commission. Chen Xiaocai's wages are very high. Chen Xiaocai patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I'll earn my own money for my wedding."
Chen Xiaocai was quite confident about saving up for a wife. He was only eleven years old, and if he were to get married, he would have to wait until he was at least thirteen or fourteen. His expenses were not very high, and if this trend continued, saving ten taels of silver a year would not be a problem. In three years, he would have more than thirty taels.
Lu Lin: "..." Chen Xiaocai is really arrogant!
The Zhang family.
"Mother, what did Lu Lin say?" Zhang Ya asked.
Ma said helplessly, "That brat Lu Lin said that Chen Xiaocai is too young and he's not considering her."
Zhang Ya said "Oh", "Didn't Lu Lin tell Chen Xiaocai?" Ma Shi was very confident in her own daughter, so after being rejected by Lu Lin, she directly talked to Chen Xiaocai in the store. Chen Xiaocai said that he was still young and didn't want to settle down.
Chen Xiaocai is such a simpleton!
Zhang Ya didn't actually like Chen Xiaocai. Among the girls in the village, Zhang Ya was considered pretty, and many boys in the village liked to fawn over her.
In Zhang Ya's memory, Chen Xiaocai was thin and small, withered and shriveled. The old lady of the Li family always said that Chen Xiaocai was unfilial and unlucky. Her grandmother also said so, saying that the Chen brothers were all jinxes who had killed their parents, and told her not to get close to the three brothers to avoid being infected with bad luck.
In Zhang Ya's memory, Chen Xiaocai always looked dirty and his clothes were tattered. In the past, Zhang Ya would always avoid Chen Xiaocai.
However, recently everyone's opinion has changed, and they are praising Chen Xiaocai, saying that she is very capable at such a young age.
Chen Xiaomi is wealthy. If she were to marry Chen Xiaocai, she might be willing to offer a dowry of thirty taels.
When Lu Chengyu got married, all the children in the village ran to watch, and afterwards, the grand wedding was talked about for a long time.
Zhang Ya was persuaded by her mother for a long time before she finally reluctantly agreed to accept Chen Xiaocai. However, she did not expect that it was all one-sided. Zhang Ya was not really willing to marry Chen Xiaocai in the first place, but she felt a little wronged after being rejected.
The first person in the village to propose marriage to Lu Lin was Zheng from the Zhang family. With her taking the lead, other people gradually came to Lu Lin's door.
In Zhang Ya's opinion, it was natural for Zhang Qian from the Zheng family to be rejected. That little girl was dark-skinned and fat, and she always spoke ill of Chen Xiaomi before. No wonder Chen Xiaocai would not like her. However, Chen Xiaocai did not like her either.
Zhang Ya initially felt that Chen Xiaocai wasn't good enough, and that her family had wronged her by marrying her off to Chen Xiaocai. She never expected to be rejected, and felt utterly humiliated.
"I wonder what kind of person Lu Lin is looking for for Chen Xiaocai."
Ma thought to herself: Chen Xiaomi is different now than before. The whole family works in town. Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi earn more than forty taels a year. What's more, Chen Xiaocai is also earning money. She should be able to save thirty or forty taels a year. In two years, she might have seventy or eighty taels. Several families have come to Lu Lin to arrange marriages, but he has turned them all down. Some people say that Lu Lin is truly worthy of being a member of the Lu family. Like Lu Chengyu, he looks down on country girls and probably wants to find someone from the city. However, Lu Chengyu is a scholar, while Chen Xiaocai is just a handyman. She is far inferior to Lu Chengyu.
Lu Lin rarely goes back to his hometown, so news from the village rarely reaches his ears. He has no idea how angry the people he rejected are. However, even if Lu Lin knew, he wouldn't care.
Grandma Shen was worried about the land in the village, so whenever she had free time, she would go to the countryside to take care of it.
Chen Chi sat in the car, somewhat lost in thought.
Granny Chen, driving the mule cart, asked, "Achi, are you alright?"
Chen Chi shook his head and said, "It's nothing."
Lately, besides weaving nets, Shen Chi has been working as a helper in the shop. He also knows that people from the village have come looking for Chen Xiaocai. Shen Chi doesn't know why, but seeing those people proposing marriage to Chen Xiaocai makes him feel uneasy.
Granny Shen looked at Shen Chi and sighed inwardly.
Grandma Shen also thought Chen Xiaocai was good, but now the gap between their family and the Chen family was too big, and they had already received too much kindness from Lu Lin, so they couldn't ask for too much.
Chen Chi kept his head down and didn't say anything.
Granny Shen returned to the countryside and went out, with Shen Chi following her.
"Chen Chi, get down!" A plump woman saw Chen Chi and walked over.
Chen Chi nodded.
"Chen Chi, you must be getting paid quite a bit, right?"
Shen Chi shook his head and said, "Not much." By weaving nets, Shen Chi can earn a few hundred coins a month. During this time, he helped out at the shop. Lu Lin said he would raise his wages, but Shen Chi was too embarrassed to ask for more. "Not much," he said, "but Chen Xiaocai should have quite a bit. He's the shopkeeper, and someone who can be a shopkeeper must have at least a tael or two of silver. I wonder where Chen Xiaocai learned his accounting skills."
Chen Chi remained silent. Arithmetic was a skill, and those who possessed it usually kept it to themselves. Family members could teach it to outsiders, but those who wanted to learn would have to pay a hefty tuition fee.
Chen Chi lowered his head and said, "Xiao Cai has more than me."
"The Chen family has many young men, that's all. He doesn't even look at any of the girls in the village. Does he have his eye on you? The Chen family is no ordinary family now. Chen Xiaomi must have saved up a lot of money." The fat woman looked Chen Chi up and down, her eyes full of contempt.
"I'm not very clear about what happened with Brother Xiaomi."
"You're so close to Chen Xiaocai, hasn't he told you about his brother?" The fat woman's voice turned sarcastic.
Even the slow-witted Shen Chi understood what the other person meant and couldn't help but blush.
When Granny Shen saw Zheng Min approaching Shen Chi, she rushed over hurriedly, asking, "What do you want with my grandson?"
Madam Zheng was not one to be trifled with, and immediately said, "Grandma Chen, why are you so angry? I was just praising your grandson a couple of times. He's so young and already knows how to seduce men. He's such a little flirt, always showing his face in public, he has no sense of propriety."
"You fat, dead woman!" Granny Shen was so angry that her face turned ashen. She brandished her rake and swung it at Madam Zheng.
Madam Zheng persisted, saying, "You have the guts to do it, but not the guts to let people talk about it? A young man getting so close to a young man, practically throwing himself at someone..."
"You damned old hag, you're talking nonsense! I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Chen Chi went back to the countryside, but was criticized by many people. Unable to stay in the countryside any longer, he returned to the town.
After returning from the pool, he was visibly downcast.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
