Chapter 190 Engagement (Additional chapter for 50,000 recommended votes)
Is bamboo rat delicious?
That’s for sure. Even Xiao Qian, who is afraid of it, thinks it tastes better than chicken, not to mention the villagers.
But this thing is not easy to catch, especially in the bamboo forest. It can disappear in a flash. It can drill into bamboo holes and ground holes, and it is very fast.
Unless they are lucky enough to block them in a shallow or single-mouth hole like Zhou Silang and his men.
That day Zhou Wulang and his friends brought back two bamboo rats. The next day, the villagers ran to the bamboo forest on the mountain to look for bamboo rats, but they searched the whole morning and didn't even see their shadow.
They had no choice but to go down the mountain. When they got down, they saw Zhou Liulang playing with his friends, so they called him over and asked him how they caught bamboo rats.
Zhou Liulang is only thirteen years old this year, which is the age when he is good at bragging. However, no one believes him, so he gets anxious and reveals that Manbao caught a bamboo rat by himself.
The villagers were even more unconvinced. How old was Manbao? Could she run in the mountains with her short legs?
In response to this question, Zhou Liulang told the whole story of how they went to chase the bamboo rat, how they came back and found Manbao, and how Manbao had a bamboo rat tied in his hand.
At that time, Old Zhou was standing behind the crowd. At first, he listened to his son's bragging with great interest, but he was shocked when he heard the rest of the story.
Until now, not only Zhou Silang and Zhou Wulang blamed him for letting the cat out of the bag, but even Old Zhoutou blamed him for being too talkative.
He felt that if he hadn't been so loud-mouthed and let the matter be exposed, he wouldn't have punished Manbao by making her kneel and whipping her with a bamboo stick, and she wouldn't have been infected with the evil wind; he wouldn't have scared her, and she wouldn't have been frightened, and Manbao wouldn't have had a fever later.
So Old Zhou was so angry that he made him follow Zhou Sanlang to the fields to open up wasteland for five consecutive days.
No, all the brothers of the Zhou family were implicated and were driven out by Old Zhou to open up wasteland for the third brother.
Zhou Sanlang had already decided to open up a piece of land. After the winter break, he started to cut grass, dig trees and pick up stones in the fields.
Of course, when Zhou Dalang and his brothers were free, they would carry hoes and go to help, but they didn't go often because they were making compost at home.
Next year, my family is going to add 20 acres of land, which will require a lot more fertilizer. So although it is winter and we have some free time, there is not a single day that is really free.
They needed a lot of compost, so at most the brothers took over Zhou Sanlang's job so that he could go and open up the wasteland.
But Old Zhou got angry and simply stopped letting them hibernate. He got up before dawn every day, finished his housework, made compost in the morning, and went to the fields to help the third child open up wasteland in the afternoon.
It is winter and there is no work, but the life is more tiring than during the busy farming season.
Not only Zhou Silang and his younger brothers, but even Zhou Sanlang, the one who benefited the most, felt that it was a bit overwhelmed.
But Dad was angry, and obviously no one dared to disobey.
So, time passed quickly, and by the time they had cleaned up the wasteland, hoeed it, and spread fertilizer to nourish the land, the New Year's Eve was almost here.
Then, Zhou Silang was getting engaged.
Manbao, who has a fulfilling life and is busy every day, was shocked when he heard his mother say that she was going to prepare a betrothal gift.
She widened her eyes and asked, "Mom, who is my fourth sister-in-law?"
"It's the young lady from the Fang family. You've seen her before. Don't you remember her?"
Manbao was stunned. "When did you guys make this decision? How come I didn't know about it?"
Qian Shile said, "It's not you who's getting married, why should I ask you to be involved in every step? It's enough for your fourth brother to know."
Manbao looked at Zhou Silang and saw his delighted face, so he asked, "Fourth brother, so you knew this all along?"
"I know," Zhou Silang glanced at her and said, "If you weren't sick, we would have been engaged a long time ago. Maybe we could have gotten married before the New Year."
Qian glanced at him and said, "Do you think getting married is just playing house? You can just hold a wedding banquet once it's agreed? Go away, don't put all the blame on your sister."
But in fact, this matter is actually related to Manbao.
At that time, the two families were looking at each other together. The Fang family was reluctantly satisfied with the Zhou family, but their daughter was very satisfied with Zhou Silang, so they did not refuse the matchmaker.
Qian was also very satisfied with the young lady. She thought that the girl was generous, courageous and determined, so she told the matchmaker about it.
Since one of them didn't refuse and the other was interested, the matchmaker knew that this matter had an 80% chance of success, so she ran back and forth between the two parties a little more diligently.
During the two days when Manbao was sick, Qian was unable to help, but as soon as Manbao recovered, Qian took Zhou Silang to Dali Village again.
This time, they went to propose marriage openly. Qian and Cheng formally stated the situation of their two families and made it clear, which was considered as a formal confirmation of their intention.
After that, Zhou Silang could often go to the Fang family to show off.
However, due to Old Zhou's power, he rarely had time and could only go to Dali Village once every two or three days.
Either go for a walk with Miss Fang on the road, or go to Fang's house to work.
As a prospective son-in-law to be examined, working at the wife's parents' home is also part of the examination, which is the current customary rule.
At least that's the case in the village.
The Fang family will decide whether to marry their daughter to Zhou Silang after they have a good understanding of him and the Zhou family.
However, for those who can get to this point, it usually works unless the man's performance is really bad.
However, during that period, the Zhou brothers went out early and came back late, and Manbao was obsessed with his studies, so he didn't know about these things.
She didn't know that the candies she gave to her fourth brother out of guilt were eventually given to Miss Fang and became sweet snacks for her future sister-in-law.
After a month of investigation, the Fang family finally agreed to the Zhou family's proposal when the matchmaker came to propose marriage for the second time, and officially set the date.
So next, the Zhou family will prepare the betrothal gifts and then choose a date for the wedding.
However, Qian estimated that the chances of getting married before the New Year were slim, and after the New Year...
Qian thought for a moment and said, "No one lets a new bride marry right before the busy spring season. So I think we should wait until after the spring planting to get married, so that the young lady can have some rest."
Old Zhou nodded and said, "Then let's choose a date in May. By then, the spring rush is over and the weather is just getting hot. The new bride will have two months to adjust to the new life."
Naturally, the parents have the final say on this matter, and no one has any objections.
Qian's plan was passed on to the Fang family through the matchmaker. Cheng couldn't help but say to Fang the butcher, "The Zhou family is really kind. Although Zhou Si was a little short, the in-laws are reasonable. Erniu's life will be better in the future."
Butcher Fang nodded and said with satisfaction, "When Erniu said she had her eyes on Zhou Si, I asked someone to find out. None of the three daughters-in-law in their family got married before or after the Chinese New Year. They all got married after the autumn harvest. Our Erniu didn't get married at a good time, but this date is not bad either."
There is still a long way to go in cultivating immortality. Now that the inspection has just passed, the situation is still very tense, so, as you know... the book review area of the website is not open yet, so we have to be a little reserved.
(End of this chapter)
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