That day, An Ning and An Dashan had just returned from the fields when they saw the village chief and a man who looked like a yamen runner walking towards the An family. An Dashan and An Ning quickly quickened their pace. When the two groups met, An Dashan asked, "Is there something going on between the village chief and this official?"
The village chief said, "This is the official from the post station. He said he has a letter from the border to give to you."
The yamen runner handed a thick letter to An Dashan and said, "Now that the letter has been delivered, I have something else to do, so I won't keep you any longer."
An Dashan didn't have much silver on him, only two taels of silver in his purse, so he stuffed the purse into the hand of the yamen runner and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sir. This is a small token of my appreciation. I hope you won't despise it."
The yamen runner didn't think it was too little, he put it in his clothes and said, "The post station will have a car going to the border in two days. If you have a reply letter, just send it to the post station."
The yamen runner didn't say much, and turned away. The village chief followed him to see him off. An Dashan waited until the two of them were far away before taking An Ning home to see what was written on the letter.
Back in the main hall, An Dashan said to Gao, "Mother, look, Dayong has sent us a letter."
Gao was also happy to hear this and said, "Ningning, come and see what your brother wrote in the letter."
An Ning was also very curious, so he opened the envelope and started reading. The letter first expressed his thoughts about his parents and sister, and then mainly talked about two major events that happened recently. The first was that An Yong had made great contributions and was awarded the title of General Dingyuan, a fifth-rank official. The second was that he was favored by the governor, who wanted to marry his daughter to him, and asked him to ask his family if they agreed. An Yong also said in the letter that he and the governor's daughter had a close relationship, and hoped that An Dashan and Gao would agree.
After An Ning finished reading the letter, she found no movement. She looked up and found that An Dashan and Gao were dumbfounded. An Ning did not move either, waiting for An Dashan and Gao to digest it.
An Dashan and Gao Shi reacted after a while. After all, this was much easier to accept than An Ning's ability to produce so much grain out of thin air. An Dashan and Gao Shi reacted with both joy and worry. They were happy that their son became an official and was about to get married, but they were worried that their future daughter-in-law was the daughter of a governor and whether it would be difficult to get along with her.
An Ning had no choice but to comfort them: "Dad, Mom, don't worry. I believe that from my eldest brother's perspective, this future sister-in-law is definitely a very good person. Even if the future sister-in-law is not easy to get along with, the worst that can happen is that we can continue to live in Huaishu Village and not disturb them."
An Dashan and Gao Shi felt relieved when they heard An Ning's words. Gao Shi said, "It's a good thing for Dayong to get engaged, but it's better to have an elder by your side."
So An Ning suggested: "This is easy, mother, it is inconvenient for you to go out with your big belly, why don't father and I go to the border again?"
An Dashan was worried that the winter wheat in the field would soon mature, so he said, "What about the crops in the field? This is the first year we planted winter wheat, and I want to see the harvest!"
Gao stretched out her hand and pinched An Dashan, saying, "Which is more important, the son or the crops?"
An Dashan looked at the somewhat angry Gao and muttered softly, "All are important."
An Ning was so happy watching this scene. After she had laughed enough, she said, "Dad, let's go find my uncle and his family to help! My mom is pregnant at home, and we are worried about her, so we asked grandma to bring my uncle and my cousin over. My mom also wants to bring my cousin and Sister Chun Ya together."
Gao immediately said, "Okay, okay, Ningning's idea is good, let's listen to Ningning!" During the Chinese New Year, Gao told her sister-in-law about this matter. Her sister-in-law was very tempted, but her nephew was still not open-minded and didn't want to get married so early, so the matter was delayed. But Gao didn't want to miss such a good girl, so she kept thinking about it!
The three of them made a decision, and An Dashan said, "Ningning, I heard from the yamen runner that there will be a car going to the border in two days. Why don't we follow the car from the post station to the border in two days? It will be safer this way."
An Ning naturally had no reason to disagree. Seeing that An Dashan had made up his mind, he said, "It's better to do it today than to wait for a better day. I'll bring my mother-in-law and my eldest brother-in-law here this afternoon."
Gao nodded, and An Ning said, "Okay, I'll go cook, and you can go after dinner."
An Dashan nodded and said, "Okay, just do something simple."
An Ning agreed and went to the kitchen. There were steamed buns from yesterday in the kitchen. An Ning put the buns in the pot to steam them, made some egg drop soup, fried some loofah, and a simple lunch was ready.
After lunch, An Dashan went to An Ning's grandmother's house. When An Dashan arrived, the door of An Ning's grandmother's house was locked and the whole family was taking a nap.
An Dashan could only knock on the door. When Uncle Gao heard someone knocking on the door, he hurried out and said, "Who is it?"
An Dashan quickly said, "Brother, it's me."
When Uncle Gao heard An Dashan's voice, he walked over quickly and opened the door. An Dashan drove the mule cart in, tied up the mule, and said, "Brother, I came here this time because I want to ask you and mother for help."
Wang came out at this time and said, "Dashan, if you have something to say, just tell me. There is no need to talk about helping or not helping each other."
An Dashan said with a smile, "Da Yong sent a letter today, saying that he was appointed General Dingyuan of the fifth rank, and was going to get engaged to the daughter of the governor. Ning Ning and I are going to the border, but we are worried about home, so we want you and big brother to help take care of Ying Niang and help harvest the crops in the fields. The wages will still be paid according to the previous price. Is this okay with you?"
Wang was the first to react as the head of the family, and asked, "Dashan, is everything you said true?"
An Dashan nodded and said, "It's true."
Wang slapped her thigh and said, "Great, I said Dayong is a promising guy. Wait for me, I'll pack my things and go with you."
An Dashan stopped Wang and said, "Mom, wait a moment. Yingniang specifically asked Yunfu to go with us."
Wang was an experienced woman, and she immediately understood her daughter's idea. She said to her eldest son, "Go and ask Yunfu to pack some clothes and go with you."
Uncle Gao didn't react, but his wife did, and said happily, "Mom, let me clean up!"
Then she turned and went into the room to pack some clothes for her eldest son. Gao Yunfu asked in confusion, "Mom, I'm going to work. Why are you taking out such nice clothes?"
Cui ignored her stupid son and said, "Just wear whatever clothes I give you. Why are you talking so much?"
Gao Yunfu was scolded by his mother for no apparent reason and had no choice but to shut up.
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