She used her clever words and flattery to stay at the matchmaker Zhen's house for several more days, and finally got engaged to the only son of the Wei family in Kuanxiang.
July 1st.
Xiaoqing was married off to the matchmaker Zhen's family.
The two alleys are separated by only one street.
It's just a few dozen steps away.
The Wei family gave three taels of silver as a betrothal gift. Xiaoqing took out one tael from it, and added it to the one tael of silver she had originally promised to give to Matchmaker Zhen. She put the two taels of silver into her hand before leaving, as a thank-you fee and also as a hush money. After all, Matchmaker Zhen pretended to be her family member and even took out a piece of cloth from her own pocket to give her as part of her dowry.
"Tch, only two taels? What a waste of the money I spent on cloth! It's a disgrace that I let this orphan girl use our family's name to get married, and let her live in our house eating and drinking for free for so long. She's heartless and stingy to the core! Bah!"
After the wedding party left, Matchmaker Zhen looked at the two taels of silver in her hand and was furious.
That piece of cloth cost her a full four strings of cash; she thought she could swindle all the dowry money from it.
So it's only two ounces.
It's like giving alms to beggars.
So after all that work, she only earned an extra 6 strings of cash. What was she after?
“Mother, didn’t Miss Xiaoqing give you money? She didn’t eat and drink for free.” Dazhuang defended Xiaoqing. Now that’s even worse, Matchmaker Zhen got even angrier. But she only had this one son, so she couldn’t scold him. She could only slam the door shut to show her dissatisfaction.
Unfortunately, Dazhuang was a hopeless straight man. As soon as the door closed, he went straight back into his room without even trying to coax his mother.
The matchmaker, Zhen, was so angry that she sat in the courtyard cursing and swearing.
Xiao Qing had no idea.
She has arrived at the Wei family's residence.
The man she married today is named Wei Dachuan.
He is the only son of the Wei family, and is 28 years old.
Wei Dachuan's first wife died in childbirth. She gave birth to four daughters in total. The eldest daughter is thirteen years old, the second daughter is twelve, the third daughter is eleven, and the youngest daughter is ten. Because it was his second marriage, the Wei family did not hold a banquet. They simply gave Xiaoqing a red cloth to cover her before marrying her into the family.
They didn't even perform the traditional wedding ceremony.
Even though the wedding was rather simple, Xiaoqing was still very satisfied.
Because Wei Dachuan's family was the wealthiest among the families she had been looking at these past few days. The Wei family's house was a single-courtyard house with two side rooms on the left and right, totaling nine rooms.
It was much larger than the cramped house of the matchmaker Zhen.
Moreover, the Wei family also had a small shop at the city gate, which mainly sold sugar-coated fried cakes, and it was said that they could sell two taels of silver every day.
Although they weren't as wealthy as the Bai family, for a maid like Xiaoqing to marry into such a family was already a great honor.
Most importantly, although Wei Dachuan was a widower, he had no son.
As long as she marries into the Wei family and gives birth to a son, she can secure her position.
At this moment, Xiaoqing is sitting on the wedding bed.
She felt a mix of nervousness and secret delight.
Before she even left her "bride's home" in the morning, the matchmaker Zhen had told her that there was a custom in Shuangqiao Town called "enduring the bride's time," which varied from family to family. Some families required the bride to sit on the wedding bed for a whole day, while others had to kneel in the ancestral hall for a whole day.
If she couldn't endure it during that time, she would be sent back to her parents' home and the engagement would be called off.
Women who are jilted find it difficult to remarry and are often forced to cut their hair and become nuns, or hang themselves from trees with a rope to preserve their family's reputation.
Xiaoqing was uneasy the whole way. She felt that the Wei family had a lot of money, so they probably had a lot of rules.
They might make her kneel for a whole day.
Unexpectedly, it was just sitting.
It seems the Wei family is indeed a good home.
Xiaoqing was once again relieved that she hadn't agreed to take the birth control pills, and even more relieved that she wasn't as foolish as Xiaosu, who had eagerly become someone's maid.
Holding onto expectations for the future.
Xiao Qing sat there for a whole day, until the pale sky gradually darkened, filled with the glow of sunset, and was then covered by a dark quilt. The light in the room grew dimmer and dimmer until she could no longer see her own fingers.
Xiaoqing's hair was disheveled, with stray strands falling down.
Her forehead was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and her eyelids were drooping with sleep.
While the door was closed, she clenched her right fist and gently pounded her calf.
After sitting for so long, my legs below the calves were swollen and went numb countless times.
She hasn't eaten a single grain of rice or drunk a drop of water since morning.
My stomach was growling loudly, like thunder.
But from the moment I entered the house, the door was never opened again.
Xiao Qing was getting restless. She could vaguely smell the aroma of food. Could it be that the Wei family was having dinner and hadn't called her?
Or have you forgotten her?
Xiaoqing stretched her neck, trying to look out through the crack in the window, but she couldn't see anything. The window was tightly closed. So she slowly lifted her bottom up, getting off the bed for the first time since she had been sitting on it.
Because she had been holding one position for so long, her legs didn't react in time and went weak, almost causing her to fall to the ground. Luckily, she was quick enough to grab the edge of the bed, which prevented her from falling flat on her face.
Xiao Qing's thin eyebrows furrowed into a V-shape in distress, and her legs felt as if they were filled with lead.
"Creak—"
Just as she was about to lean on the table and walk to the window to peek out, the door was pushed open from the outside.
Xiaoqing quickly sat down, afraid that someone would find out she had gotten out of bed.
"Come out, the lady is calling you."
She was a maid from the Wei family named Xiaochun. She was rather ugly and looked several years older than her.
The Wei family only had two servants, a maid and an old woman.
"Okay, I'll go right away."
Xiao Qing quickly replied.
She stood up again, this time feeling better than before; her legs weren't as weak. She moved slowly, like a baby just learning to walk.
Her marital room with Wei Dachuan was in the very middle of the left-hand room.
The Wei family ate in the main hall of the house.
Compared to the dimly lit side room, the main room was brightly lit with three candles.
The glaring candlelight made Xiaoqing's eyes sting and want to cry.
She had no choice but to close her eyes halfway.
That makes me feel a little better.
"What are you standing there for? Come and serve the food." The old woman sitting on the right said to Xiaoqing with a serious face.
This person is her mother-in-law, Madam He.
"Yes, Mother."
Xiao Qing obediently walked over, picked up the serving chopsticks, and helped her pick up food.
She had indeed worked as a maid.
With just a glance from Mrs. He, she knew which dish to pick up.
There were only three people sitting at the table: Wei Dachuan and his parents.
Wei Dachuan's four daughters were not allowed to sit at the main table; they could only eat at a low table to the side, where there was only one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a soup.
On the large table were three meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, one sweet soup, and one clear soup.
The square table has four corners, and Xiaoqing felt that the remaining side would belong to her in the future.
Just as she was lost in thought, Mrs. He coughed heavily.
"Cough cough—"
"What are you standing there for? Serve Da Chuan and your father some food. Do I have to teach you these manners? As the new bride, it's not just about serving food. Starting tomorrow, you have to wake up before me, come to my room every day to pay your respects, and help me with my washing up. And those maids, although they're a waste of money, they're still my granddaughters. You're not allowed to bully them. If I find out that you're abusing your status as a stepmother, I'll make Da Chuan divorce you."
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