Chapter 2023 New Year Part 2
It wasn't long before Feng heard what Old Zhou had said at the village entrance. She immediately went to find Qian and asked, "Mother, Manbao wants to arrange a marriage for Erya. Who are you talking about?"
Qian: "...There's no sign of him yet, no rush."
"Erya is already that old, there's no need to rush. Girls of the same age as her in the village are already mothers of two children."
Qian continued to pull the dough without stopping her hands. "What are you afraid of? Liu Lang got married late, but he promised a good marriage, didn't he? If you have the ability, you will get a good marriage even if it's late."
Feng was thoughtful and felt that what her mother-in-law said was not wrong, but... she hadn't seen her daughter for two years and didn't know how she was doing.
Feng couldn't help but ask, "Mom, will you and Dad go to the capital again after the New Year?"
Qian thought for a moment and said, "No rush. If there are too many things to do at home, I won't go."
Feng really wanted them to go. Even if she couldn't go with them, they could still look after the children. Ertou and Erya were both in the capital, and they were not young anymore, so it was time for them to get married.
After Qian calmed her daughter-in-law down, she turned to Zhou Sanlang, who was repairing farm tools, and said, "Sanlang, it's getting late. Go call your father back."
In the past, this kind of thing was done by the children in the family, but now the children are not at home, Zhou Sanlang can only put down the work in his hands and call his father.
When Old Zhou was called back, he was still reluctant to leave. The villagers were also reluctant to leave. A few of his good friends followed him back, and then stood outside the wall of Old Zhou's house and talked for a long time before leaving.
Now the Zhou family is very respectable in Qili Village, and it seems that they are more popular than before.
This is not only because Manbao has become an official and is the most promising person in Qili Village, but also because of the influence of the Zhou family on Qili Village.
Many families in the village now grow medicinal herbs. They plant acres of yam, ginger and Ligustrum lucidum. Part of the harvested herbs is given to Zhou Erlang to sell in the county town, prefectural capital and neighboring counties; the other part is given to Zhou Silang to sell to more distant places.
They made a lot of money from this in the past two years, so when Zhou Silang brought back a dozen cows this time, four families in the village bought them.
The rest were sold to several nearby villages.
Because they were all from the same village, Old Zhou had less say in the price, and each cow was sold for about a hundred coins less than at the cattle market in the county town.
Old Zhou felt a little sad when he made this decision, but he said to his sons, "This is our family's roots. You go out to do business, and Manbao is an official in the capital. But no matter where you go, you will eventually return here, so we must give to our fellow villagers. Most of you brothers are away now, and you can't help our fellow villagers build houses, marry wives, or take care of the elderly. So we can only show our kindness in other ways."
Zhou Erlang and others nodded in agreement.
Old Zhou changed the subject and said, "But you can't give too much. The money in the family is earned by you working hard. Going out to do business is very dangerous."
Qian said, "A little kindness is a good deed, a big one is a grudge. Even if you are bringing a few of you cousins, you should still be careful about the limits. Give what you should give, and don't give what you shouldn't give. Otherwise, you will spoil good people."
This time when he came back, Zhou Silang planned to take his two cousins from the Qian family out, mainly to go in and out of the grassland. For many things, only his own people would risk their lives.
It's not that they haven't encountered any dangers. Last time, they added two vehicles due to lack of manpower. The people were hired on the spot, but they ran away when they encountered danger and stole some of their goods.
However, the three sons he brought with him and the people under Xiang Mingxue were stable, so Zhou Silang felt that it was more useful to have his own people.
Zhou Erlang is now in charge of the medicinal materials business in several nearby counties and the provincial capital. Every time he goes out, he invites young and strong people from the village and his uncle's family. However, he is only busy in autumn and winter, after all, the medicinal materials they grow are harvested at that time.
Because of these, the Zhou family is now very prestigious in the village, and even the village chief likes to come to Zhou Erlang to discuss things.
Of course, after Lao Zhoutou and the others came back, they went to discuss things with Lao Zhoutou.
This time, the village chief consulted Old Zhou about whether to offer a pig's head to the ancestors during the ancestor worship this year.
Qili Village used to be very poor. When offering sacrifices to ancestors, they would have chickens, meat and fish, but they never offered pig heads, after all, pig heads were very expensive.
The last time we sent a pig's head to our ancestors was because we heard that Manbao had become an official, which made the village lively.
The last time was because Zhou Yin’s injustice was redressed and he was posthumously named the Governor of Mianzhou…
The village chief brought this up to discuss with Old Zhou and ask him to pay the money. He didn't have to pay all of it, but he had to pay the bulk of it.
This is also a customary rule in the village. Whoever is richer will contribute more, after all, it is the blessing of the ancestors.
In the past, the Zhou family always contributed neither more nor less, and belonged to the middle group.
But Old Zhou was not stingy at all. He agreed without a second thought. He didn't even ask Qian for money. He paid for it himself and said to the village chief, "You must ask our ancestors to bless our family with prosperity and wealth, and that everyone in the family will be safe and healthy."
Village Chief: ...If he had this ability, why would we need to look for him? He would have prepared all the offerings for our ancestors himself.
But he said, "Don't worry, Uncle Jin, the ancestors will definitely bless your family."
Qili Village was very lively. The firecrackers started to be set off on New Year's Eve, and the most was set off on the morning of the first day of the new year when the ancestors were worshipped. The crackling sound continued until the third day of the new year when it subsided.
The capital was also very lively, but it was the ordinary people who were having a great time. Officials only met to greet each other and bowed this year. Officials did not even accept any holiday gifts except from their own relatives.
As for banquets, no one dared to drink and celebrate in a public manner unless they drank secretly behind closed doors.
However, as soon as the government office opened its seal on the eighth day of the first lunar month, seven or eight officials were impeached for drinking and feasting during the period of national mourning, and one of them was accused of taking a concubine during the period of national mourning.
Then, at Manbao's first grand court meeting in the new year, he witnessed the demotion of eight officials. The one who took a concubine was directly demoted out of the capital, from the fifth rank to the seventh rank, and was sent to a lower county to serve as a county magistrate.
Manbao was very alert, then became a little uncertain. After leaving the court, he took two steps to catch up with County Magistrate Tang.
County Magistrate Tang turned his head to look at her curiously and asked, "What's wrong?"
Manbao pulled him to a secluded place and asked in a low voice, "I know it's taboo for Guoxiao to take a concubine, but does sleeping together count?"
County Magistrate Tang's face twisted, and he lowered his voice, "Who would pry into the affairs of the boudoir unless someone's killed?"
"What if someone dies?"
County Magistrate Tang: ...
He looked Zhou Man up and down and asked quietly, "Who is it that has come to you for help?"
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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