Chapter 317 Regardless of gender, they all share the surname Li!
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Why is Jiang Qi so melancholy?
As early as when Jiang Shier of the seventh branch was jealous of Jiang Huai's ability to teach at the clan school and went to say sour things to the clan members, Jiang Qi knew that Jiang Huai would eventually leave Jiang Family Village.
Jiang Shier was jealous that Jiang Huai had passed the imperial examination at a young age and become a scholar, and that he could directly teach in the clan school under the arrangement of Jiang Shier, the clan leader.
Furthermore, it's because Jiang Huai is now the only one left in the fourth branch of the family!
The other branches of the fourth family had already fallen out over land distribution when Jiang Huai's father was still alive. Even though they lived in the same village, they rarely interacted anymore.
Not to mention that by the time of Jiang Huai's generation, there was even less affection between them.
It even got to the point where if you saw them on the street, you wouldn't even greet them.
That's why Jiang Twelve dared to speak ill of Jiang Huai, this scholar, in public.
In fact, after Jiang Huai's mother died, the other branches of the family wanted to seize the land and houses of Jiang Huai's branch.
However, when Jiang Qi saw that Jiang Huai had some talent for studying, he felt that he should help this child, because if he studied well, he might become an official in the future.
Even if one cannot become an official, passing the imperial examinations to become a scholar or a graduate can still grant the clan tax exemption.
Besides, how much food does it take to support one person? The land that Jiang Huai's father left him is enough.
In addition, Jiang Huai was already ten years old at that time, no longer a little child, and very easy to raise.
Therefore, under Jiang Qi's protection, Jiang Huai grew up well, studied at the clan school, and eventually passed the imperial examination to become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations).
Even so, Jiang Huai was still all alone in the clan.
That's why Jiang Twelve of the Seventh Branch dared to openly and secretly ostracize and bully Jiang Huai.
Jiang Shier is just wicked. After all, even if he covets Jiang Huai's family's land and houses, that's the fourth branch's business, and has nothing to do with him, a member of the seventh branch.
He's just malicious; he's jealous of Jiang Huai and can't stand seeing Jiang Huai doing well!
There are millions of people in the world, and all kinds of people exist. People like Jiang Twelve are very common.
Jiang Qi put down his pipe, exhaled a long puff of smoke, and felt a deep sense of sorrow.
According to Jiang Qi, he should have forced Jiang Huai to continue his scientific expeditions back then!
Perhaps Jiang Huai would have already become an official by this time!
Once he becomes an official, those people in the clan, like Jiang Twelve, will no longer dare to speak ill of Jiang Huai.
After all, there is a difference between a scholar and an official.
The ashes in the pipe crackled and popped. Jiang Qi looked at the bright sun overhead, but his heart felt utterly cold.
He lowered his head and looked at the vegetable garden in the yard, thinking to himself, "A fine man like me shouldn't have to become someone else's son-in-law!"
Huai-ge'er, you're not saying you're going to be someone's son-in-law.
He's fed up with the clan, fed up with petty people like Jiang Twelve, that's why he's thinking of leaving the clan under the guise of marrying into it, wanting to get far away from these people!
After Jiang Qi got up, put away his pipe and returned it to the house, gave a brief explanation to his family, and then left.
Jiang's eldest sister-in-law, who had been whispering in the kitchen, quickly went inside and asked her mother-in-law, "Mother, why did Father-in-law go out?"
Is this dish almost ready to be served?
"Never mind him. Tell Cai'er to go to the fields and call his father, his second uncle, and his youngest uncle to come home for dinner."
"Yes, I'll go right now."
Where did Jiang Qi go at lunchtime?
He remembered that a family in the village had indeed come to his house a few days ago to talk about wanting to buy a house.
One family in the third branch of the Jiang family had five daughters, but no sons.
The head of this household is the fifth in his generation, so let's call him Jiang Wu.
Jiang Wu married off his first four daughters one by one, leaving only his last daughter, Wu Niang, at home.
Now that Wu Niang is over seventeen, she has finally found a husband who can satisfy Jiang Wu.
Yes, Jiang Wu found a son-in-law for Wu Niang, someone who would marry into Jiang Wu's family.
This son-in-law was from the lower village. His parents were fertile and had many sons, but they couldn't find wives for all of them. That's why they asked a matchmaker to arrange a marriage for him. He was willing to become a son-in-law in a good family.
After they had settled on a match, they started negotiating terms. The other party's parents weren't malicious; they only said one thing: "We don't want the dowry, we just want our child to live separately from them."
This means they want to live separately. This request is not unreasonable. After all, many families who love their daughters will make similar requests when their daughters get married.
Although living together as a large family can reduce taxes and provide support in all aspects of life, it also means that no one dares to bully a family with many brothers.
However, with more people, there will be more gossip and disputes. People can even fight over a piece of meat or a piece of cloth.
Moreover, in families where parents are biased, it's fine if you marry the favored son, but if you unfortunately marry the unloved one, the daughter-in-law will suffer terribly.
In fact, the children born in this family may suffer as a result of their fathers' misfortunes.
Therefore, some families will say they don't need a dowry, or they will ask for a small dowry, but the daughter must agree to live independently and be a separate household, and the support for her parents must be discussed and clarified in advance before they will agree to marry her off.
This kind of situation usually involves wealthy families who have some money and are unwilling to skimp on their daughter's betrothal gifts, and will even add some to the dowry.
As for Jiang Wu, he planned to keep Wu Niang at home, find a husband for her to live with the elderly couple, and have their daughter and son-in-law take care of them in their old age and see them off in their final days.
So, Jiang Wu went to Jiang Qi's door to see which family in the village was willing to sell their house.
Or perhaps they're looking for a place somewhere to build a new house for Fifth Sister.
What a coincidence!
Jiang Huai is going to Lijiatun to become a live-in son-in-law, and Jiang Wu is looking for a live-in son-in-law for his fifth aunt, so it's a good idea for Jiang Wu to buy Jiang Huai's house.
So, the day after Jiang Huai returned to the village, Jiang Qi and Jiang Wu paid him a visit.
Jiang Huai readily agreed to sell his house to Jiang Wu. He was the kind of person who acted on his decisions immediately. In less than a quarter of an hour, after agreeing on the price, he stood up and said to the two of them, "Seventh Grandfather, Fifth Grandfather, there's no better time than today. It's still early, let's go to the government office to complete the transfer today."
On the fifth day after Jiang Huai left Lijiatun, he rented a horse-drawn carriage, which contained all his belongings, and drove it back to Lijiatun with the driver.
The day after Jiang Huai returned to Lijiatun, he knocked on the gate of Li Shiyue's house, carrying a wooden box containing all his belongings and six gifts he had bought in advance.
Inside the main hall of the Li family home, Jiang Huai stood and recounted everything he had done over the past few days.
"...Inside here," Jiang Huai pointed to the wooden box on the table, "is all my assets, including the land deeds to the land I inherited from my parents and the land allocated to me in the village, the money I got from selling my house in the village a few days ago, and all my savings over the years."
Aunt Zheng, Aunt Li, I sincerely want to spend the rest of my life with Xia Tian, and I am truly willing to marry into the Li family. I strongly agree that any children Xia Tian and I have in the future, regardless of gender, will all bear the surname Li!
Please, for my sake, agree to my marriage with Xia Tian!
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