Chapter 3 The Benefits of This Marriage
Baihe Town is thirty miles away from Pingshan County. By the time Xie Yuduo and his family arrived at the house before sunset, the Shen family's woolen yarn shop had just closed.
The Shen family father and son closed the shop and went home for dinner.
Today Yunhua bought a fish, so Chen Qi cooked a pot of fragrant fish soup and stewed a fresh egg custard for his younger brother Chen Ji who doesn't like fish.
My sister-in-law cooked a dish of fried leeks and dried tofu, which my parents loved, and added a few plates of pickles and a big pot of thick rice porridge, which made a very sumptuous dinner.
"Hey, there's fish to eat today!"
My brother washed his hands and came over. When he saw the fragrant fish soup on the table, he was so happy that his mouth watered.
"Humph, I hate eating fish the most. It's troublesome and pricks my mouth." The younger brother pouted.
My sister-in-law brought over a bowl of golden egg custard and placed it in front of my younger brother, saying, "Look, this is your favorite egg custard. It's all yours. No one will snatch it from you."
My brother's pouting mouth immediately opened wide and he said with a smile: "Thank you, sister-in-law!"
Mrs. Qiao touched his head and said with a smile, "Don't thank sister-in-law, this is steamed for you by Xiaoyue. If you want to thank someone, thank your sister!"
The eldest brother served fish soup to everyone one by one.
"I guess it's Xiaoyue'er's cooking skill. Only her fish soup can be so fragrant."
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately added, "I guess this fish must have been bought by my wife herself. Only fish bought by you can be so fat and tender!"
My parents and my brother and sister-in-law were all there. When they heard this, they couldn't help laughing. Although my sister-in-law laughed too, she was embarrassed and hit him on the back with a hammer while laughing.
The eldest brother put down the soup bowl with a smile and said, "It's too light, it doesn't hurt!"
This caused everyone to laugh again.
There are few rules in rural areas, and there has never been a custom of not talking while eating or sleeping. Dinner has always been an occasion for the family to talk and laugh.
My parents would always tally up how much money was collected today, my eldest brother would tell everyone about the difficult customers he met today, and as for my sister-in-law and Xiaoyue, he would also ask everyone what they would like to eat tomorrow.
The topic at the dinner table today was naturally the Xie family who came to visit us this afternoon.
Zhang was talking while picking up some food for Xiaoyue.
"Speaking of which, they're considered a wealthy family in Pingshan County. They run a herbal medicine shop, and I heard they have five storefronts! Look at the two big black horses that rode over today, they're fat and strong."
"He can take on the responsibility. Judging from the child's words and actions, he seems to have seen the world." Father Shen nodded.
"He's just a little older, five or six years older than Xiaoyue. Tell me, with such a large family business, how could he have waited until he's this old?"
Zhang was still worried silently. What she didn't say out loud was, "Maybe there is some hidden illness? Please don't ruin my Xiaoyue'er's life."
The eldest brother said, "His father said that he has been in charge of purchasing medicinal herbs for the shop in recent years. He is not often at home, so he has been delayed."
"That being said..." Zhang was still worried.
"It should be true. Today, just before the shop closed, the second son of the Lu family came to buy thread. I know he often goes to the county town, so I asked him about it. He said that he often sees his eldest son in the county town. He is the cousin of the second branch who came today. I have never seen the second son of the eldest branch. The shop assistants all say that this second master is often out buying medicinal herbs and is indeed not often at home."
After hearing this, Zhang felt somewhat relieved and continued.
"Another advantage is that I run a herbal medicine shop at home. If someone has a headache or a fever, I can come to my house and take care of them..."
Shen Qi's heart sank when she heard this.
Originally, my mother said the same thing when I got engaged to the Xu family five years ago.
"I have a clinic at home. If someone has a headache or a fever, I can take their pulse and prescribe medicine right at home. That's a benefit..."
My mother talked about this benefit for three years, until the Xu family broke off the engagement two years ago, and then she stopped talking about it.
Everyone heard this but didn't pay attention. It was only when the sister-in-law noticed Chen Qi's expression and gave her a look that Zhang realized she had said the wrong thing. She quickly stopped talking and changed the subject.
"There aren't many people in my family. There are only two boys in this generation..."
"Three."
The Shen family's father suddenly interrupted. "There's another one in his second uncle's family."
"Hey, how do you know? I'm afraid you heard it wrong. His second aunt only said that he has a son and a daughter."
"You heard right. His second uncle said that his aunt has a little son."
After these words were spoken, everyone was silent for a moment.
In rural areas, there is basically no concept of keeping a concubine. Even if the wife dies, if she is older, it is rare for her to continue having a concubine.
It seems that the Xie family is indeed a wealthy family in the county.
However, my family has a tradition of raising concubines. If Xiaoyueer really marries him...
"Are the children of his aunt's family also considered his children?"
The younger brother, who was busy eating, asked a question out of the blue when he saw that no one was talking.
I only know that my mother's sisters are my aunts, and I don't know any other terms.
When this was said, everyone laughed again.
"Little kid, don't talk nonsense."
The eldest brother patted the younger brother's head gently, signaling him to continue eating the eggs.
The younger brother swallowed a mouthful of egg and couldn't help but speak again.
"I like that guy. He's tall, strong, and looks powerful. If I fight Ermao from West Street, he'll definitely help me win!"
Amidst everyone's laughter, Chen Qi stood up with a red face, and stuffed the egg in the soup into his mouth across half the table.
"You're probably not up to the task of marrying into a family like this. You'd better eat a few more bites and go fight for yourself!"
It was dark. Shen's parents always turned off the lights and went to bed early, but today they were still asleep.
Looking at the light in her parents' room, Chen Qi tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
The group of men from the Xie family that I ran into today suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
She counted on her fingers.
Five people came from the Xie family today.
The only female guest talking with her mother was her second aunt. Chen Qi felt that she had a rather harsh look on her face and a hint of arrogance in her eyes. She also disliked the shrewd way she looked around. But after all, she still had a smile on her face and appeared to be in a friendly manner.
The two male guests who were walking in front and talking to my father at that time looked about the same age as my father. They should be the two elders of the Xie family's father and second uncle.
The two young men walking behind and talking with the eldest brother looked somewhat similar at first glance. They were both tall and looked very upright.
She was just a little thinner, with a paler complexion than normal people, and had a bit of a girlish delicacy.
The other person was taller, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. He walked steadily and had an inexplicable fierce and imposing aura.
At that time, I had just taken a look when I was forced to pull Xiao Si away in a hurry, and I didn't have time to take a closer look.
As for what his eyebrows and eyes look like...
She turned over and thought for a while, but she really couldn't remember.
“Ahem…”
The sound of Daddy coughing loudly in the room from a distance woke Chen Qi from his thoughts.
Hey, why do I need to recall his eyebrows and eyes...
In the past two years, I have dated so many people, but I always received a rejection message the next day.
For a wealthy family in the county like the Xie family, I'm afraid the news will spread faster.
After tomorrow, I will never meet this person again in this life, but I am still here thinking about his face and nose, which is just adding to my troubles.
Thinking about the many families she had met, Chen Qi felt calm. It was obvious that those families were unlucky and believed in the rumors about women bringing bad luck to their husbands. She must be the one who couldn't make up her mind and her mind must not be clear either.
Even if you marry into such a family, you will only suffer from troubles for the rest of your life.
But if I really stay at home for my whole life, even though my brother and sister-in-law say they don't mind me, after my parents pass away, will I really become a burden in the eyes of others?
Chen Qi sighed, feeling somewhat frustrated that his talent was not appreciated.
After sighing for a while, she saw that the lights in her parents' room were finally turned off, so she turned over and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, Chen Qi got up at dawn. Her parents and brother got up even earlier and went to the store to work. Only her sister-in-law and brother could sleep in.
Chen Qi first cooked rice porridge, then walked to the back door, reached out and touched the chicken coop, and sure enough, there were three hot eggs.
She thought to herself, there are still a few green onions at home, and then go to the front street to buy a basket of bean sprouts...
Snap! Snap!
The door knocker at the Shen family's back door rang.
“Here it comes!”
Chen Qi responded, put the eggs by the window, and walked quickly to open the door.
The door opened, and standing outside was the matchmaker Xue who had just come yesterday.
Looking at the pretty girl in front of her, Matchmaker Xue smiled so much that her eyes were closed.
“Miss Shen, great joy!”
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