Chapter 47 Buying a Homestead
Jiang Yuan was well aware of what Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao had said, but he still wanted to do everything he could to make Hao Yu's wish come true.
He said, "Uncle Hao himself was unwilling. Since he finally agreed, let's start looking from twenty years old and work our way up. If we really can't find a suitable one, we'll relax the age limit."
He paused for a moment and then said, "In the past few years, the world was in chaos and many people died. There must have been quite a few girls who had to postpone their marriages to observe mourning."
This is also one of the reasons why he did not immediately persuade Hao Yu to relax the age limit.
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaozhi replied, "The villagers don't care about those things. If a family has a daughter who is about to be married, they won't make her obediently observe mourning."
Chen Zhao also said, "Those who are over fifteen years old are usually married off by their families during the mourning period."
Jiang Yuan had also considered this point, and he said, "Then let's go find people who are particular about these things."
There are still many scholars in Tang County; if all else fails, they can still find unfortunate girls who are widows.
Superstitious families might think those girls were cursed to bring bad luck to their husbands, but Hao Yu, a warrior from the battlefield, always scoffed at such notions.
He emphasized, "It doesn't matter if you've been engaged before. As long as the girl is the right age, upright, reasonable, and her family doesn't have any messy affairs, we can secretly investigate her first."
Wang Xiaozhi sensed something was amiss. "So you mean that once I find a suitable girl, you'll personally inquire about her again?"
Jiang Yuan nodded, "You can only trust about 20% of what a matchmaker says. As for other people, although they may not intentionally try to cheat you, their knowledge is certainly limited."
Jiang Yuan didn't want Hao Yu to marry him after all, as he was finally willing to get married. He didn't want Hao Yu to end up with a terrible wife and a terrible in-laws.
He will be going to Zijing Pass sooner or later than next year. After that, the only people who can stay by Hao Yu's side for a long time will be his wife and children.
He wanted to leave after Xie Wanniang was able to protect herself, and he also wanted to witness Hao Yu living a peaceful and happy life before he left.
Only when all the people he cares about most are living good lives can he strive without any worries.
Jiang Yuan took out a few pieces of silver that he had prepared beforehand from his sleeve pocket, got up and prepared to go home, saying, "Sister, take this money to do favors."
Wang Xiaozhi waved her hand forcefully, "I'm just asking for some information, there's no need to spend money, take it back!"
Jiang Yuan shook his head, "It's not like I'm asking you to inquire in the village. If you're going to go out, you'll definitely have to spend money."
In this freezing weather, doesn't his sister need to ride in an oxcart, drink hot tea, and eat something before going out?
She went over to chat with the aunties and older women she didn't know. Shouldn't she have offered them a handful of peanuts or soybeans?
Doesn't a young married woman need her husband to accompany her when she leaves the village?
They've both been busy with this matter. Don't the other members of Chen Zhao's family need to be appeased from time to time?
After all, although the Chen family made a living by farming, and in winter they had no other work to do besides going into the mountains to collect firewood, do housework, and take care of the children, there was obviously a difference between them being at home and not being at home, and between them working and not working.
Jiang Yuan was just a man of few words, but he wasn't stupid. He dodged Wang Xiaozhi's hand that was trying to stuff money into his mouth, saying, "If you don't take it, I'll go find someone else."
Wang Xiaozhi: "...Why are you using this trick again!"
Chen Zhao suppressed a laugh.
Jiang Yuan smiled as well, "As long as it's useful."
He lifted his foot and walked out, saying, "Brother-in-law, then I'll trouble you to take good care of my sister."
Chen Zhao nodded and followed behind him to see him out. "Don't worry, I definitely won't let your sister go out alone."
Although the world is at peace now, this only means that there will be no more wars in the short term, but it does not mean that there are no dangers in the world.
It's still quite dangerous for his wife, a young woman, to go out alone.
Pulling back the two children who wanted to run away, Wang Xiaozhi said to Jiang Yuan, "I won't see you off."
Jiang Yuan nodded and left his courtyard with Chen Zhao.
Chen Zhao warmly saw his brother-in-law off before happily returning to their room.
He really enjoyed helping his brother-in-law with chores. Firstly, they already had a good relationship, and secondly, his brother-in-law never let them do any work for free.
Unlike his sister-in-law and her brothers, who all treated their married sisters like thieves.
His sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law would bring gifts to their parents during holidays, and if they didn't bring enough, they would be accused of using the guise of giving gifts to freeload off their parents.
Not to mention how dissatisfied their brothers, sisters-in-law, and other relatives would be if their parents brought them gifts.
Leaving aside how Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk to gather information, let's just talk about Jiang Yuan.
After leaving Wang Xiaozhi's house, he turned around and went to Chen Lizheng's house.
He was there to buy a plot of land for a house. The plot next to Hao Yu's house had already been bought by Xie Wanniang, and the one he wanted to buy now was the one next to Xie Wanniang's.
Once they bought those two plots of land, the area at the end of the village that was originally a threshing ground created by Jiang Yuan's adoptive father was completely occupied by them.
The remaining wasteland wasn't enough for him to sell to another family. If others wanted to buy homesteads at the end of the village, he could only allocate a portion of the mixed woodland at the foot of the mountain for them to fence off their yards and build houses.
Fortunately, there is still a large open space behind Mingfu Village, and there are also several old houses in the village that were vacated due to the war.
Most of those old houses have collapsed. If someone buys a plot of land there, the first thing they need to do is not to build a house, but to clear the yard, which is quite troublesome.
However, Chen Lizheng was not worried at all that those plots of land would not sell, because he was certain that someone would choose them because of their location, especially those patriarchs who did not want their children and grandchildren to be too far away from them and who had a strong desire for control.
He accepted the money, wrote out the deed for Jiang Yuan's purchase of the house site, and put it away, planning to take it to the county town to get it stamped another day. "Are you planning to wait until next spring to build a house with that young lady from the Xie family?"
Jiang Yuan nodded, this way he could help Xie Wanniang to the greatest extent possible.
While thinking this to himself, Jiang Yuan said aloud, "My Uncle Hao is getting married, so I can't keep living at his house forever."
Chen Lizheng was unaware that Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu were not only relatives but also master and apprentice. He was first surprised that Hao Yu had suddenly changed his mind and decided to get married, and then subconsciously gave Jiang Yuan a few pointers.
“Even if your Uncle Hao doesn’t get married, you can’t live in his house forever.”
"He was willing to take you in when you were in your most difficult time; that is an immense favor."
“You’re a grown man. From now on, you need to stand up for yourself and support your wife and children.”
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