From then on, Zhang Fangyuan played the role of Xu family's future son-in-law, and Xu Changren had to go to the city every five to ten days to change medicine or go for a follow-up visit.
Whenever Xu He asked him for help, he would quickly use a cart to send the person to the city's medical clinic. If Liu Xianglan came to call for help, he would put on airs.
Knowing Liu Xianglan's character, being too nice to her would make her feel that she was easy to control and even aggressive. In the end, after sending the person back, he had to eat a meal prepared by He Ge'er at Xu's house before leaving.
If it weren't for Xu He, he wouldn't have been so attentive to the Xu family. The betrothal money he gave was also for He'er's face. Although he didn't want to give the Xu family a bargain, he raised He'er after all, and the betrothal money was an explanation. If he didn't give it, the Xu family would definitely not betroth He'er to him. He might as well just consider it as spending money to avoid disaster.
Besides, He Ge'er also told him that his family became much more polite to him after they got engaged.
Zhang Fangyuan was happy that his engagement to Xu He had brought him a better life, and he was also glad that he would tell him these things.
The marriage was arranged urgently and he did not have much time to prepare. In fact, marriages in rural areas are not as complicated as those in wealthy cities. The betrothal gift and the banquet are both very decent if they are done well. However, one of them is expensive and the other is time-consuming.
Zhang Fangyuan counted the money he had on hand and found that he did not have much.
His income comes from buying and selling livestock. Now he can sell a pig every three to five days. After selling them, he has to look for buyers. In this way, if the market is good, he can sell five pigs in a month. Based on the transaction of five pigs, he can earn about 5,000 coins.
He sold two pigs in the first month of the year, and in February, as it is near the end of the month, he has already sold four, which means he has made about six thousand yuan. It cost more than four thousand to redeem the bracelet, plus the remaining silver, it was probably more than five thousand. However, after giving half of the betrothal money to the Xu family and spending it myself, I only had about three thousand on hand.
Although the income is already beyond the reach of ordinary farmers, there are many places to spend money recently.
He also had to give Xu He's family 1,600 wen, and the wedding banquet would cost at least a thousand wen. Apart from these large expenses, as there were new members in the family, he also had to prepare some new furniture.
Zhang Fangyuan looked around the house for a while. He decided that since Xu He was getting married, he should get a new wardrobe. Although he was a young man, he also loved beauty, so a dressing table was necessary. He also had to buy two new soft cotton quilts...
Zhang Fangyuan, who had never worried about spending money, started to worry for the first time about not having enough money.
He planned to sell another pig at the end of this month, and one and a half pigs before his wedding next month, and use the remaining half of the pork for the wedding banquet, so that he could temporarily free up the money he had.
"Brother He!"
Zhang Fangyuan was so absorbed in his thoughts that he entered the village without noticing. He stopped Xiao Hei and saw Xu He sowing corn seeds in the field beside the road. He jumped off the car and said, "I'll help you."
Xu He wiped the sweat from his forehead and felt a sense of relaxation when he saw someone he hadn't seen for two days. He quickly stopped Zhang Fangyuan who was about to come forward to help. How could he let someone who was already exhausted from a day out looking for livestock help him in the fields? "It's almost done."
Seeing that he didn't let him do anything, Zhang Fangyuan thought that the boy hadn't quite accepted his identity yet, so he didn't rush over and said,
"What do you want to eat tonight? I just came back from slaughtering an animal. We have fresh pork and offal."
Xu He was about to say no, but Zhang Fangyuan had already jumped back and lifted the cloth covering the freshly slaughtered livestock, allowing him to choose.
"Pick one, and I'll go to your house for dinner tonight." Zhang Fangyuan said with a smile, "This way I won't have to cook when I get home."
Having said that, Xu He had no reason to refuse. He climbed up from the ground and looked at the fresh pork, which was only divided into two large halves. He did not plan to take any of them. Firstly, Zhang Fangyuan would have to spend time and effort to cut them, and secondly, a piece of pork could be sold for dozens of coins.
"Pick some offal. Which one do you want to eat?" Xu He pretended to be calm and said, "I'll cook dinner tonight."
Zhang Fangyuan raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, and immediately took out the pig's stomach and heart. Xu He disagreed, as they were both sold at a high price, and it would not be cost-effective to send them to their home to eat: "How about the heart and lungs, and stew them with radish?"
"You don't like eating pig stomach and pig heart?"
Xu He looked at him and shook his head. Zhang Fangyuan knew what he meant, so he took out the heart and lungs and gave them to him. It was a big basket, enough to make a big pot of soup. Zhang Fangyuan also gave Xu He two pork kidneys and said, "Stir-fry them. I see that the green onions you planted are fresh, tender and green, perfect for stir-frying pork kidneys."
"Can."
The two looked at each other, both very happy. Their eyes met briefly, and then they withdrew their eyes shyly.
"Then I'll go back first and come back later."
Xu He responded, and Zhang Fangyuan drove the carriage back home. He planned to unload the pork and then send two pages of pork liver to his fourth uncle's house.
After Xu He finished sowing the last bit of corn, he filled half a backpack with wild boar grass and cut another half a backpack of cabbage into a full backpack. Then he carried the pig hearts, lungs and kidneys that Zhang Fangyuan had tied with palm leaves back home.
It was inevitable to meet villagers on the road, but there was no need to approach them to chat. From a distance, I saw Zhang Fangyuan's carriage parked on the side of the road to feed Xu Hezhu.
The villagers were jealous. Who could eat meat like this on ordinary days after the Chinese New Year? Even if they wanted to have some meat during the busy spring ploughing, they could only have a small piece of bacon stewed with cabbage. How could they eat all these fancy dishes?
Those who had seen the Xu family and Zhang Fangyuan getting engaged and said they were going to be unlucky were a little jealous. After all, the benefits of getting the meat were visible to the naked eye.
"Where did the pig offal come from? It's fresh!"
Liu Xianglan had just returned home from tea picking. She was about to scoop some water from the water tank in the yard to wash her hands when she saw Xu He coming back with heart, lungs and pork kidneys. She didn't even wash her hands and hurried to greet him.
"He said he wanted to come over for dinner." Xu He said.
Liu Xianglan smiled widely, although she didn't want to see that evil star, maybe because she wanted to eat meat, that was another matter.
"I guess you're back from slaughtering pigs again."
Xu He put down the backpack: "Yeah."
"Then go cook!"
Xu He said slowly, "I'll chop the pig grass first and then cook. If I'm late, the animals will make a fuss."
Liu Xianglan had been busy all day and had only a little pancake for lunch. She was a little hungry now. She looked at the meat greedily and said, "You cook first."
He turned around and shouted into the house: "Shaochun, come out and chop the pig grass!"
Xu Shaochun, who was in the house, came out upon hearing the sound, her beautiful eyes wide open in disbelief. She smelled so good that she was unwilling to chop pig grass. She was even more puzzled as to why her mother asked her to do such rough work.
"I still have to make medicine for Dad, why don't I chop it later?"
Liu Xianglan washed her hands and said, "The animals will be annoying later. I'll make the medicine for your father."
Seeing that her mother was blocking her from speaking, Xu Shaochun hesitated and refused to move. Xu He hurriedly carried the pig offal into the kitchen. He did not want to give her second sister the opportunity to push the blame on him.
"Mom~" Xu Shaochun drew out his voice and walked forward to hold Liu Xianglan's arm.
Liu Xianglan knew her daughter was being spoiled, but she didn't indulge her as usual. She just advised her, "The college entrance examination is almost over, and you won't be at home for long. You should learn to do some work, so that it will be better for you to go to the Fei family when the time comes."
"Mrs. Fei is such a capable person, there's no need for me to do all this. I will just accompany Mr. Fei to study."
Liu Xianglan said, "We don't know for sure whether we can win this time. Let's help with some work at home first. Butcher Zhang should be here soon."
"I'm going to make medicine for your father."
Xu Shaochun was so angry that she stamped her feet when she saw that her mother was increasingly biased towards Xu He. It was just that Zhang Fangyuan had taken some betrothal money and sent some meat on weekdays, but her mother treated him like a stranger.
Angrily, she moved out a small stool, took out the cabbage, and chopped it randomly with a knife.
Zhang Fangyuan arrived early and went straight to Xu's house after leaving his fourth uncle's house. His aunt had originally wanted him to stay there to eat fried pork liver, but when she saw that he refused, she laughed at him and said that he only knew how to run to his mother-in-law's house.
When we arrived at Xu's house, Xu He had already put the pig's heart and lungs into the pot and was cutting the pig's kidneys into small pieces. The pork kidney had to be sliced in the middle and the white fat in the middle of the kidney had to be taken out. If this layer of white fat was not removed, there would be a fishy smell. He buried his head in the work and did it so seriously that he didn't even notice Zhang Fangyuan coming in.
After I finished cutting the meat, I saw Zhang Fangyuan squatting under the stove.
Xu He looked at the man who was sitting obediently under the stove and throwing firewood into the stove. Under the light of the fire, his angular and resolute face was coated with a layer of soft glow, making him look much more approachable than usual. Zhang Fangyuan actually has a very handsome appearance, but he is handsome in an aggressive way. People who like him love him very much, but most people are afraid to look at him closely.
He paused in cutting the vegetables, and for a moment he couldn't tell the time, as if they were already an old married couple.
Zhang Fangyuan looked up carelessly, and their eyes met. Xu He withdrew his gaze and said in a voice that was not too loud, but loud enough for both of them to hear: "Are you hungry?"
“Somewhat.”
"It will be ready soon. I'll put the radish into the pig lung soup and start cooking."
Zhang Fangyuan agreed.
Xu Shaochun heard the rather heart-warming conversation between two people in the kitchen from outside, and his movements of chopping pig grass became a little more messy.
"I didn't expect that your second sister, who looks so delicate, actually has such strong hands that the chopped pig grass made such a loud noise."
Xu Shaochun blushed when he heard this.
After Liu Xianglan gave Xu Changren the medicine soup in the inner room, she saw two people cooking in silence in the kitchen. She exchanged a few polite words with Zhang Fangyuan. Although everyone living under the same roof had their own ulterior motives, they could not resist the delicious fried pork kidneys cooked by Xu He. The people ate their fill and enjoyed the meal, and for a moment they all forgot their grudges.
Xu He was also willing to do so. Seeing Zhang Fangyuan coming to eat, he beat several bowls of the fine rice at home and cooked them. After Zhang Fangyuan finished a bowl of rice, he would silently add more for him. The dish was already delicious with rice, and Liu Xianglan's eyes widened when she saw it, but she didn't dare to say anything at the dinner table.
After the meal, not only was the rice in the steamer completely eaten up, but the whole pot of pig lung soup was also gobbled up in no time. She thought there would be some left so she could take it to the tea factory tomorrow, but she underestimated Zhang Fangyuan's appetite.
After the meal, everyone in the Xu family was full, and Zhang Fangyuan was also very full, so he went home happily.
"You're so devoted to him even before you get married. You're really something!"
After Zhang Fang left, Liu Xianglan was so angry that she scolded Xu He.
Xu He cleaned up the dishes indifferently. When the meat was served to him, he didn't stop using his chopsticks.
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