Su's father never dreamed that the person he was inquiring about was actually Yi Xiaofan's second uncle. Could he say that his grandson was not good?
To avoid repeating himself, Su's father inquired with several people and got the same result: Yifan was a good kid.
When Su's father returned home that evening, his wife asked, "How did Yi Xiaofan do after all that running around?"
The husband said, "We don't have any relatives in Yicun. I asked around among a few people in the village, and they all said that the boy is good and capable."
Just then, Su Wei returned from the fields with a hoe on her back. Her mother asked, "Wei'er, your father just came back from Yi Village. He asked a few people and they said that Yi Xiaofan is a good kid. What do you think of him? If he's suitable, talk to your sister-in-law and we can settle things."
Su Wei said, "I can't really say for sure. I just feel like the person is alright. As long as you and Dad think it's acceptable, then let's go with it?"
The daughter doesn't mince words when speaking to her parents; she answers very directly.
The mother said, "As long as you're willing, that's fine. I'll go to Zhang Li's house and talk to your sister-in-law, and tell the groom's family to prepare for the engagement."
After listening to her mother's words, Su Wei didn't say anything more. She filled a basin halfway with water from the water vat, washed her face first, and then sat on a stool to wash her feet.
The next evening, Zhang Li arrived at Su Wei's house. Su Wei and her father had just returned from working in the fields. She said, "Sister-in-law, you're here! Please have a seat!"
Su Wei moved a stool for Zhang Li and placed it on the ground. They all sat down on the stool, and Zhang Li said, "I just came back from Yicun. They said they'll be holding a banquet at home tomorrow noon with only two tables to finalize your marriage. What do you think? Yi Xiaofan is waiting for my reply at my house."
Su Wei said, "Go back and have Yi Xiaofan come over so my father can meet him. If my father is willing, then we can finalize the deal."
Zhang Li was overjoyed to hear this and said, "With you saying that, the marriage is settled!"
After finishing her sentence, Zhang Li walked towards her home.
After Zhang Li left, Su Wei, who had worked for half a day and was covered in mud, carried a basin of water into the house.
Su Wei closed the door, took off her clothes, quickly wiped herself down, sat on a stool to wash her feet, and then changed into a dress.
She carried the basin into the yard and poured the sewage on the ground.
Just as Su Wei put the basin on the ground, Zhang Li arrived with Yi Xiaofan.
Yi Xiaofan sat down and talked with Su Wei's family for a while. These kinds of things can be resolved by meeting and talking. Yi Xiaofan then said goodbye and went back.
Matchmakers in those days had to juggle both ends; to put it bluntly, they were just errand runners. Unlike now, where you can just make a phone call, back then, you often had to walk and run to deliver a single message. Being a matchmaker back then was really tough; it was a life of running errands. If things went well, everyone was happy; if they didn't, they would be blamed.
After Yi Xiaofan left, Zhang Li asked, "You've all seen the person, what do you think?"
Su's father said, "I've met the person, so I don't need to come home anymore. You can go to her house again tomorrow with her and her daughter. If it goes well, then we can finalize the marriage."
Su's father's arrangement made sense. The matchmaker was running around, and it wouldn't do to deprive her of a single meal. If she didn't go, what would she eat? As long as he didn't go, the Yi family could arrange a banquet.
That's how it was back then. On the engagement day, if the woman's family had to arrange two tables of food and drinks for just one male guest, there was no rule that the man and woman should sit at the same table to eat. That was the reason why Su's father didn't want to go. What was the point of having several people eat with him?
The next day at noon, Zhang Li brought Su Wei and her daughter to Yi Xiaofan's house, where Yi's mother welcomed them inside.
Yi Xiaofan's family was considered an average family in the countryside, with three main rooms and three side rooms.
Yi Xiaofan is getting engaged today, and her older sister Yi Cuiping is here too.
The engagement required a large banquet, so the Yi family specially hired a chef.
Only Su Wei and her daughter came today; no one else was invited to accompany them. Yi Xiaofan's mother and sister dined with the three of them. Wine was served, but since they were all female guests, no one drank.
After lunch, Yi Xiaofan and Su Wei exchanged tokens of their love, and Yi Xiaofan gave Su Wei a 200 yuan gift, thus sealing the marriage.
Mother Yi took out a gold bracelet and handed it to Su Wei, saying, "This gold bracelet was part of my dowry when I got married. Today, I'm giving it to you."
Yi's mother reached out and took Su Wei's wrist, helping him put the bracelet on. Su Wei smiled and said thank you!
Yi Xiaofan's older sister, Yi Cuiping, gave Su Wei a pair of jade bracelets. From then on, Su Wei became Yi Xiaofan's fiancée. To be precise, she was the second Li Yuzhu. This was just the beginning of her unfortunate life.
For more than two months, Yi Xiaofan has not caused Dong Qing any more trouble. He and his wife have made a lot of money fishing, and recently many people have followed suit and started fishing.
Dong Qing's prediction was absolutely correct. There were only so many fish in the river. With more competitors, there weren't as many fish to catch, so his income naturally dropped significantly.
Lying in bed that night, Dongqing said, "Wife, our son is over 100 days old now. Fishing isn't enough to make money anymore; we need to think of other ways to earn money."
Li Yuzhu asked, "Money is hard to earn these days, what good ways can you come up with?"
Dongqing said, "When my older sister first got married, before her work unit allocated her an apartment, she would go back to her hometown to stay every day after get off work. I often visited her. In the late 1970s, her village had a 1980-type tractor, but now that the land has been distributed to individual households, it's no longer needed. I passed by her village the day before yesterday, and that tractor was still parked at the village entrance. My sister's father-in-law is the village party secretary. I'm thinking of asking my sister's husband to go back and talk to them about buying that tractor."
After hearing this, Li Yuzhu looked at her husband in disbelief and asked, "Why did you buy such a big tractor? Besides, do you even have the money? Even a used tractor would cost several thousand yuan!"
Dongqing said, "Of course I'm useful. My older sister's father-in-law is the village party secretary. We can borrow the car on credit first, and pay it back when we earn the money. Why not do business that doesn't require investment?"
Li Yuzhu said, "Unless you tell me exactly what you're hauling, I really don't dare let you buy the car. What if you don't make any money? You won't be able to sell it, and even if someone wants it, you'll lose money. Nobody wants it at the original price!"
Dongqing said, "Your hometown is a porcelain-making town. I'm thinking of wholesaling some plates, bowls, and basins locally and selling them in other places. That should bring in a good income."
Li Yuzhu nestled in her husband's arms and asked worriedly, "When I was a girl, I worked in a porcelain factory. I went back to my parents' home half a year ago to visit my old friends at the porcelain factory in town. The porcelain factory couldn't sell any of the goods they fired, and the warehouse was overflowing. If we were to do this kind of business, we wouldn't need to invest any capital. My dad could just buy as much goods as he wanted from the porcelain factory on credit. If he couldn't sell them, he could just bring them back and return them to the factory. At most, he would only lose money on fuel. There's not much risk in this regard. But what if it doesn't work out? What about the tractor you bought? How about this: we borrow the tractor for a few days to try it out. If it really doesn't work out, we can return it!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com