Chapter 66 Discussing the Marriage Proposal
The room is all set up. Now, all that's left is to wait for the new furniture to arrive, add some decorations, and Zhang Fang will be able to move in.
“He treated Zhang’s mother like his own mother, and he’s feeling terrible right now, so I’ll go later. Anyway, Father has sent people to help the Zhang family with the funeral arrangements.”
Jiang Baozhu wasn't in a hurry and was just about to share her next plan when Xiao Xi's voice rang out from the courtyard.
"Miss, Sister Lin, Xiao Xi is back!"
Xiao Xi burst in, making a racket, and Jiang Baozhu immediately reverted to her usual self, remaining silent. She couldn't reveal her true colors in front of the talkative Xiao Xi for the time being.
"Look, these are wedding cakes I brought back from the village."
Xiao Xi brought over a package wrapped in oil paper. Her mother said that although the contents were a bit rough, it would be good to eat a bite to share in the good fortune.
"Then I'll have one."
Lin Yuesha broke it open and found that the filling was brown sugar and sesame. The cake was a bit hard and didn't look freshly made. The taste was okay, and the outer crust was a bit like the guokui from northern Shaanxi.
"Sister Lin, are the spiced melon seeds ready?"
Xiao Xi was still thinking about it on the way, so she kept urging her mother to return to the Jiang residence as soon as possible. The mother and daughter washed up and left before dawn, and did not arrive until noon.
"It should be healed."
Last night before going to bed, Lin Yuesha went to the tea room and tried a melon seed. The outer shell of the seed had a little bit of salt frost, and it was very flavorful.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xi immediately turned around and headed straight for the tea room, where she didn't come out for quite a while.
Jiang Baozhu and Lin Yuesha exchanged a glance and followed her inside. They saw Xiao Xi holding a few seeds in each hand, her cheeks bulging as she spat out sunflower seed shells like a little squirrel.
Jiang Baozhu: "..."
With new food available, Lin Yuesha prepared a pot of tea, pulled Xiaoxi aside to eat melon seeds, and listened to her recount her experiences in the village, keeping the conversation lively.
Meanwhile, the He family.
He Xing went to see the gentleman today and received some very important news.
One of his cronies, Young Master Xuan, whose family owns a calligraphy and painting shop, was suddenly stuffed with a sack and beaten up early in the morning when he went out.
A beating would have been fine, but Xuanzhi must have been arrogant and offended someone. However, that enemy was ruthless enough. They say you shouldn't hit someone in the face, but that person insisted on hitting him in the face, causing Xuanzhi's face to swell up like a pig's head, attracting onlookers all the way.
"That's outrageous! We have to find that coward who hit people. What kind of skill is it to put someone in a sack!"
He Xing spoke up for his cronies, while Xiao Qi in the corner lowered his eyes, concealing his merits and fame.
"Oh, right, I have some big news!"
One of the scholars took the initiative to start gossip, and while doing so, he glanced at He Xing furtively, saying, "Zhang Jing's mother is gone."
"We all know that."
Xiao Qi interjected, revealing that he not only knew about it but also bowed.
"Tingyun, that's not what I wanted to say."
The gossipy scholar glanced at He Xing furtively and chuckled, "I think Zhang Jing is about to rise to prominence. He's caught the eye of the Jiang family, who own fur shops!"
One sentence almost made He Xing fall to the ground. His eyes widened. This was impossible!
Which Jiang family are you referring to?
He Xing found it unbelievable. How could the Jiang family be related to Zhang Jing? As far as he knew, the two families had never crossed paths.
"Which other family could it be? There's only one family in our county that does fur business: the Jiang family."
After the gossipy scholar finished speaking, he watched the spectacle with great interest.
He Xing has always looked down on businessmen, and he and Xuan paper are birds of a feather. Ironically, the Xuan paper company, despite owning a shop, considers itself superior.
He opened a calligraphy and painting shop and felt good about himself, associating himself with scholars and even giving himself the elegant title of "Confucian merchant".
He Xing considers himself the son-in-law of the Jiang family, and now that he knows he was just being presumptuous, he's probably furious.
"Master Jiang sent servants to help the Zhang family with the funeral arrangements, which shows he took it very seriously. It seems he has taken a liking to Zhang Jing."
Scholars around him added insult to injury, each blow aimed straight at He Xing's heart.
After listening for a while, He Xing's face turned ashen. He could no longer sit still and ran to ask his teacher for leave, lying that he was feeling unwell.
When He Xing returned home, his mother was drinking tea and eating melon seeds, with the family helper behind her massaging her back.
The situation is dire; the money that was within his grasp is about to slip away, yet his mother isn't worried at all!
"My son, why have you come back so soon?"
He Xingniang yawned. Noon was a good time to take a nap, and she planned to go to the teahouse to watch a play in the afternoon.
"Mother, I need to talk to you."
He Xing looked serious but refused to continue, so He Xing's mother had no choice but to send the helper away.
Jiang Huai sent money to the He family every month without fail for several years. At first, He Xingniang was a little uneasy, but as time went on, she took it for granted.
When He Xing visited the Jiang residence, Jiang Huai would not only offer him a meal but also give him some silver, encouraging him to make friends with scholars and build good connections, which might prove useful in the future.
"You mean, Jiang Huai suddenly took a liking to your classmate?"
He Xingniang's expression froze, and she frowned in thought.
The Jiang family only has one daughter, Jiang Baozhu. Jiang Huai's family business will eventually be in the hands of his son-in-law, so Jiang Huai has always wanted to find a son-in-law who will live with the family. With the Jiang family's wealth, there are plenty of people willing to do so.
Jiang Huai was unwilling to compromise his somewhat dim-witted daughter; he had high aspirations and always wanted to find someone decent.
"Mother, what should we do?"
He Xing was somewhat anxious. His father was dead, and everything he had now depended on the Jiang family. Without the money Jiang Huai gave him, he would be even worse off than Zhang Jing.
"What to do, what to do?"
He Xingniang was even more anxious. Looking around at her neighbors, she wondered which woman was doing better than her. She didn't have to serve men and even found helpers to do chores. Her originally rough hands had become white and tender, and she had long since recovered.
Without the Jiang family's financial support, He Xingniang couldn't imagine what she would have become. Perhaps she would have been like those other women, washing clothes with ice water in the dead of winter, just because she couldn't bear to part with firewood.
She doesn't want to!
"My son, I'm going to the Jiang family right now to propose marriage for you."
He Xingniang made a quick decision: her son and Jiang Baozhu were childhood sweethearts and had known each other for many years, so he had an advantage over Zhang Jing.
The only disagreement was that He Xing wasn't really keen on marrying into the family.
"Let's marry into the family then. Let's get our hands on the Jiang family's money first, and then we can make other plans."
A true man can bend and stretch; what does it matter if he marries into another family? He can tell outsiders that he has always loved Baozhu and doesn't care about what others think.
As long as you have money, you can live a carefree life. What else can you worry about?
The Jiang family has always been He Xing's target, and Jiang Huai is a very capable person whose family's wealth is not just what it appears to be.
If Zhang Jing gets there first, He Xing won't get a single copper coin of that money. It would be better to take his life!
"Son, you're right. Once you pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, the Jiang family will certainly provide you with money and effort to pave the way. And once you become an official, whether or not you marry into the Jiang family will be up to us."
He Xingniang realized that she was not as smart as her son, so she first tricked Jiang Baozhu into her hands, and then waited to see what would happen to the others.
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