A few young girls from the village were chatting together.
“My mother said that Chen Chi is getting engaged soon.”
"I didn't expect Shen Chi to be settled so quickly. My mother said that even Shuang'er had a hard time settling down. Shen Chi is really lucky. Generally, the better off people in the village are, the sooner they are settled down."
Previously, some people speculated that Shen Chi's reputation was ruined, and probably no one would want her. Perhaps she would end up like Chen Xiaomi, getting married very late and becoming an old maid who couldn't get married.
Lu Tong is beautiful, and many people have come to propose marriage to her. However, the Tang family has high standards, so they have been dragging it out year after year.
Zhang Ya said sullenly, "It's hard to say, maybe there's a mistake."
Zhang Ya's mother, Ma, had previously proposed marriage to Lu Lin, but was rejected. She heard rumors that Lu Lin had betrothed Shen Chi, and she was nearly driven to death with anger.
There were rumors in the village that Chen Chi was shameless and was even offering himself to Chen Xiaocai, but no one thought that Chen Xiaomi would really set up Chen Chi for Chen Xiaocai. Now, many people felt like they had tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice instead.
“Since Matchmaker Wang said so, it shouldn’t be wrong,” a young girl said.
"But my mother said that Wang the matchmaker is a liar, she can even make the dead come back to life," a chubby boy said. After he finished speaking, he seemed to realize that he had said something he shouldn't have, and he covered his mouth timidly.
The Lu family.
Mrs. Tang said sullenly, "What is Chen Xiaomi thinking? She has already arranged a marriage for Chen Xiaocai. She didn't know to be more selective and just casually arranged a marriage for him. It's only because Chen Xiaocai is young and doesn't understand that he can agree. When Chen Xiaocai grows up, he will resent Chen Xiaomi. Marriage is not a child's play."
Lin Xiuer smiled, a hint of mockery rising in her heart towards the Tang family.
Mrs. Tang was very selective, but she went too far and didn't find anything good.
Lu Chengyu married a useless rich girl, and Lu Tong married a bookworm with a child in tow. Not long after the marriage, Lu Tong had already run back home several times because of arguments with her husband and mother-in-law. Each time she returned empty-handed to eat for free. Tang Shi didn't feel ashamed, but she did.
"It's because some people in the village are making a fuss, and this fuss has somehow turned a lie into a reality," Lin Xiuer said sarcastically. "I wonder how much of an engagement gift Chen Xiaomi will send on behalf of her brother."
Lu Chengyu's wedding was quite extravagant, and the villagers all thought Chen Xiaomi was rich. So, they were very curious about how much Chen Xiaomi would give as an engagement gift.
Tang squinted and said, "The people in this village are right. Shen Chi, that little Shuang'er, is quite cunning."
Mrs. Tang felt somewhat depressed when she thought about how her family had sold their land to Granny Shen.
Tang never expected that the Shen family would become in-laws with Chen Xiaocai. In a sense, the Lu family's land had fallen into Lu Lin's hands.
A few days later, Chen Xiaomi, Lu Lin, and Wang the matchmaker rented another donkey cart and went to the Shen family.
Lu Lin's family already had a donkey cart, but for the sake of appearances, Lu Lin rented another one.
Two donkey carts passed through the village, attracting many people to watch the spectacle.
Chen Xiaomi appeared before the villagers with her pregnant belly, which caused many people to murmur among themselves.
There were rumors in the village that Chen Xiaomi was infertile, but that has now been proven wrong.
Chen Xiaomi noticed that many people in the village were staring at his belly, and couldn't help but purse her lips.
Chen Xiaomi felt that the villagers all regarded him as a real man, and they must find it amazing that he had a baby.
The engagement gifts sent by Chen Xiaocai included rice, flour, bowls and plates, cloth, clothes, and shoes. The cloth was made of high-quality cotton, which was much cheaper than silk, but it was more practical. The most eye-catching items were two silver bracelets, each weighing nearly two taels of silver. All the items together amounted to about five taels of silver.
Such an engagement gift is already quite good in the countryside. Some poor families would only give rice, flour, cooking oil, cloth, baskets, and the like when it comes to engagements; bracelets are not included.
The engagement gift that Chen Xiaomi sent was already quite decent, but it wasn't too outrageous or breathtaking.
Given Lu Chengyu's example, some people felt that Chen Xiaomi was stingy. She had earned so much money, yet she was still being stingy. Some villagers originally wanted to marry their daughters to Chen Xiaocai, but they were actually planning to rip Chen Xiaomi off.
After delivering the engagement gifts, Lu Lin and the others returned home.
After the engagement was finalized, Granny Shen and Shen Chi agreed that Granny Shen and Shen Chi would return to town to work.
"Chen Chi is so lucky to have gotten engaged so early."
As evening fell, Grandma Chen's house was filled with people who had come to join in the fun.
"These bracelets are quite heavy. Two of them were given away for free. Chen Xiaomi really made a profit."
"Achi, you're so lucky!"
Surrounded by a crowd, Chen Chi's face was slightly flushed. Many people were saying nice things to her, but there were exceptions.
“I heard that Lu Lin bought a bear in town for twenty taels of silver. So, this deposit is nothing to Chen Xiaomi.”
The one who spoke was Zheng, who had first set her sights on Chen Xiaocai. Zheng hadn't expected that her random rumors about Shen Chi and Chen Xiaocai would actually hit the nail on the head. In her heart, she felt that she might have actually helped Chen Xiaomi, and she felt very frustrated.
Granny Shen smiled. Zheng's words clearly implied that Chen Xiaomi didn't take her grandson seriously. Granny Shen didn't take it seriously either, since it was only an engagement. It was already quite respectable that Chen Xiaomi could spend so much money.
She knew that Lu Lin had bought the bear for twenty taels of silver, but the pharmacy in Linzhen was only willing to pay eight taels of silver for the bear bile. It seemed that it was later taken to Liuzhen to be sold, where the pharmacy was more generous and offered twelve taels.
Bear skins are also worth a lot of money, so the total isn't much different.
“That’s quite a lot,” Granny Shen said.
Seeing Granny Chen smiling, and not discouraged by her words, Madam Zheng said somewhat irritably, "Chen Chi, I asked Matchmaker Wang, and she said that Chen Xiaomi chose you because she was not willing to work for others."
Chen Chi pursed her lips, thinking to herself: He's not some rich young lady, how can he not work? It's all the same no matter where he works.
Chen Xiaomi taught him arithmetic, probably hoping he would run the shop; running a shop is much better than toiling in the fields for a living.
“I can do the work,” Chen Chi said.
"Ah Chi, I didn't expect you to be so capable. There aren't many good men these days. If you find a decent one, you should hold on tight and not let my daughter go. You don't have that kind of ability." Zheng's words were barbed and sarcastic, making Chen Chi feel somewhat embarrassed.
"Your daughter is just too petty. That young man found her handkerchief, and she kept pestering him to pay for it. That's really shameless of her." Zheng was shameless, and Granny Shen didn't bother to give her any more face. "Granny Shen, what do you mean?"
Granny Shen glanced at Madam Zheng and said, "It was just a casual remark, why are you getting angry?"
Seeing that the people present were all just saying nice things to please Granny Chen, Zheng felt a surge of bitterness and got up to leave in a huff.
"Grandma Chen, don't mind her, it hurts her heart."
Grandma Shen smiled and said, "What do I have to be angry about?"
Once Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi's relationship was settled, the village's female workers knew that Shen Chi would now belong to the Chen family.
Nowadays, many people in the village sell their embroidery to Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi. Naturally, some people want to curry favor with them. Therefore, someone secretly told Granny Shen that the story of Shen Chi and Chen Xiaocai was first spread by Zheng Shi.
Although Granny Shen felt that Zheng was too vicious, ruining her grandson's reputation at such a young age, Granny Shen didn't want to argue with Zheng anymore. However, she didn't expect Zheng to come and try to sow discord between her and Zheng.
There were many guests coming and going, and it was quite late before Granny Chen saw them all off.
Besides the bracelet, all the engagement gifts that Chen Xiaocai sent were placed inside the house by Chen Chi.
After everyone had left, the grandfather and grandson finally had a chance to properly prepare the engagement gifts.
"Grandma, look at this."
"What?" Granny Shen was startled when she saw what Shen Chi had taken out.
"What, what is this?" Granny Shen held the two land deeds, her fingers trembling slightly.
The betrothal gifts sent by Chen Xiaomi were not excessive. Many people complained to Granny Shen that Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin had earned so much money, yet they were still giving too little, probably because they didn't really care about her grandson.
Grandma Shen felt that those people were just jealous because her grandson's marriage was good.
Chen Xiaomi has a lot of money, but that's her own business. She's already given more than enough; most people in the village don't even get that much when they get married.
"Grandma, is this the land deed?" Chen Chi asked.
Shen A nodded. "They are indeed land deeds." Two land deeds belonging to his own family.
Granny Shen had previously bought two acres of land from the Lu family for Lu Lin, and then agreed to exchange her own two acres of land for Lu Lin. However, because Lu Lin had already planted crops on the land, he told Granny Shen that he would transfer the land after harvesting the crops. As a result, the deeds for these two acres of land have now appeared in the box.
Since Chen Xiaomi has sent over the land deeds, these two acres of land deeds should also be considered as an engagement gift.
Granny Shen gritted her teeth. She had originally thought the two bracelets were the main prize, but it turned out that the land deed was the real prize.
These two land deeds are worth at least a dozen taels of silver, so compared to that, the two silver bracelets seem insignificant.
"Where was it found?" Granny Shen asked.
“In the bracelet’s box, there’s a hidden compartment; the land deed is in there,” Chen Chi said.
Granny Shen said nervously, "What happened? How could you just leave the land deed there like that? What if we hadn't found it? Could it be that Chen Xiaomi forgot where she put the land deed?"
Chen Chi hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, Xiao Cai told me."
Grandma Shen glanced at her grandson and asked, "Did Xiao Cai say something?"
Chen Chi nodded and said, "Xiao Cai said that this box was custom-made by a special person and it was very expensive. He told me not to lose it." Upon hearing this, Grandma Chen immediately understood. Chen Xiao Cai must have known that there was a land deed in the box, which was why she instructed her grandson in this way.
As the saying goes, one shouldn't flaunt wealth. Granny Shen felt that Chen Xiaomi and Lu Lin were quite sensible in their dealings; living a simple life was the real priority, and making a fuss over nothing was pointless. Lu Chengyu's grand wedding of a rich young lady was also meaningless.
"Good, grandson, you're so lucky!" Grandma Shen was in a great mood. Chen Xiaomi had bought two acres in one go, so she must be very satisfied with her grandson.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
