Chapter 18 The Yang Family Cancels the Engagement
Li Sandong looked at it carefully and nodded: "Yes, these are quite simple."
"Okay, help me make it in the next two days. Then you can chop the antlers into small pieces, put them in a basket, and soak them in the river at the entrance of the village. It will take seven or eight days, so find a secluded place."
"Why? Doesn't the clinic accept it?"
"I don't want to sell it anymore. I want to boil it into glue, which is useful. By the way, please ask if anyone in the village has a broken water tank. I'll buy it for two cents. It doesn't matter whether it's big or small. I'll buy three or four."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Li Sandong didn't ask any more questions. His sister must have her reasons.
"Pick some pine and cypress branches for me when you come back."
"Got it." Li Sandong rushed out.
Li Wanyue turned and went to the kitchen. Seeing this, Li Xiaolan immediately followed her.
"Aunt, are you cooking tonight?"
"yes."
"Then I'll help you light the fire."
Li Wanyue smiled and said, "Xiaolan is really sensible."
Li Xiaolan was delighted to be praised and she immediately started to light a fire skillfully.
Li Wanyue first broke the bones, then added onion, ginger and spices and stewed them.
Cut the lean meat into shreds and add radish to make a stir-fried meat and radish dish.
It would be nice to have some celery, but there is none at this time of year.
A plate of stir-fried wild vegetables and some brown rice, and you're all set.
In the evening, the family sat around the table. Sun Xiuqin looked normal and Li Kang also lowered his head, wondering what Sun Xiuqin had said to him.
The children looked at the fried radish and meat and smelled the fragrant bone soup, their saliva flowing uncontrollably, but they waited politely for the adults to start eating first.
Li Youshan picked up a piece of wild vegetable with chopsticks and said, "Eat it."
"Eat more." Zhao Suying picked up a piece of lean meat with chopsticks and gave Li Wanyue. This child is a good one. She wanted to supplement the family, and she was afraid that she would spend a lot of the little money she had.
"Thank you, mother."
"We're a family, why be polite?"
Although brown rice is still hard to swallow, the family still enjoys it with shredded pork and bone broth.
"Dad, is Zhang Laizi here today?"
"He came. He didn't want to come at first. He said he wanted to see the village chief, so he came here reluctantly. He didn't work seriously. After being kicked a few times by Erhu, he became obedient."
"That's fine. I hope he can learn his lesson."
The Li family had a delicious meal.
Li Wanyue gave Li Dachuan fifty cents and asked him to help buy some quicklime.
Although Li Dachuan was puzzled, he did not ask.
The small mountain village returned to silence at night, with the occasional sounds of insects and dogs barking.
The next day, Li Dachuan went out to work at dawn with two coarse flour cakes in his pocket. Li Youshan and Li Erhu went to plow the land. Together with Zhang Laizi, they would finish plowing the land after one more day of work.
Li Sandong went to the garden behind the house to make tools.
Because I was learning carpentry, there were always some scattered pieces of wood at home.
The next day, at daybreak, the Li family had tidied up the house. Li Wanyue was sewing her underwear in the house when she heard a voice coming from outside the yard.
"Sister-in-law Li, are you home?"
Zhao Suying walked out of the main room and saw Yang Lian'er's mother, Yang Zhou, walking into the yard.
She hurriedly greeted her warmly: "Oh, it's Lian'er's mother, come in and sit down."
Then he went to the kitchen, poured a bowl of brown sugar water and handed it to Yang Zhou.
Yang Zhou took it and looked a little unnatural.
"Mother Lian'er, what are you doing here today?"
Yang Zhou drank some red sugar water and said, "Sister-in-law, Sandong and my Lian'er have been engaged for a year. I came here to ask when the engagement will be made."
The smile on Zhao Suying's face froze for a moment, and she said apologetically, "Mother Lian'er, you also know the current situation of my family. I would like to marry Lian'er as soon as possible, but we can't let her down. Wait for a while, we are also making money, and we can propose in a year at most."
"Sister-in-law, I heard that when Yue was divorced, the Gao family gave her ten taels of silver as compensation. Can't they use it to propose marriage first? I know your family's situation, and I don't ask for much. Six taels will be enough. I can also give her a red wedding dress and a piece of silver jewelry. Ten taels of silver will be enough."
Zhao Suying wondered if she had heard it wrongly. Ten taels of silver? Not much?
The smile on her face faded a little: "Mother Lian'er, my Yueyue was divorced, not divorced. The money has been used to pay off debts, and I really can't take it out now.
Besides, for a peasant family like us, five taels of betrothal gifts are already quite a bit, but yours is six taels of betrothal gifts, plus wedding clothes and jewelry, isn't that a bit too much?"
Yang Zhou put down the bowl in her hand and said, "Sister-in-law, you have watched my daughter Lian'er grow up since she was a child. How many people in our village can compare with her in terms of appearance? She is also very skillful. The handkerchiefs she embroiders can be sold for ten cents each in the embroidery workshop in town.
Most of the families the matchmaker mentioned were wealthy families in town, but she just fell in love with Sandong. You just told her to wait, but if you can't save up the money for the betrothal gift after a year, or if something else happens, won't my Lian'er be delayed? If you delay any longer, she will become an old maid."
Zhao Suying's face darkened. Is this a curse on their family?
Li Wanyue was also listening quietly at the window. The meaning was quite obvious, he just wanted to cancel the engagement.
After a moment, Zhao Suying said, "Right now, our family really can't afford the betrothal money, and we still have debts to pay. You don't believe we can save enough money in a year, so what do you want us to do?"
Yang Zhou seemed to hesitate, then sighed and said, "Although your daughter Yue has divorced and returned, it is not pleasant to hear, and my daughter Lian'er can't afford to delay.
Since we can't propose, why not cancel the marriage first, so that you don't feel burdened. When you have more money, if my Lian'er is not engaged, then the two families can get married. What do you think?"
"Is this what Lian'er meant?"
"Marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words. I can be the master of my daughter's affairs."
Zhao Suying remained silent, she knew Sandong liked that girl, if the engagement was cancelled, Sandong would be upset, but her family really couldn't afford the betrothal gift under the current conditions.
"Mom, just do as my aunt says." Li Sandong appeared at the door at some point and spoke expressionlessly.
"Three buildings..."
"Mom, Aunt Yang is right. Don't drag Lian'er down. Give the engagement letter to Aunt." After saying this, Li Sandong turned around and went to the backyard.
Zhao Suying sighed, went to the inner room, took out Yang Lian'er's engagement letter and handed it to Yang. Yang immediately took out Li Sandong's engagement letter from her arms and put it on the table.
"Sister Li, I'll go back first."
Yang smiled, stood up and left.
Zhao Suying came to the backyard with a frown on her face. Seeing Li Sandong sawing the wood in his hand with an expressionless face, she felt upset and said apologetically, "Sandong, it's all because of your father and I that we are incompetent and ruined your marriage."
Li Sandong shook his head, his voice a little hoarse: "Mom, I'm fine. I know what Aunt Yang is like. She came here to cancel the engagement today, and she must have asked Lian'er for her opinion. If Lian'er disagrees, Aunt Yang will not ignore her daughter's wishes. Since this is Lian'er's wish, let her do it. I don't have to have her."
Zhao Suying sighed: "I'm glad you can think it through. Our family will work hard to make money and find a better marriage for you in the future."
"Yeah." Li Sandong responded.
Until Zhao Suying left, he looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, suppressing the bitterness in his heart. The scenes of getting along with Yang Lian'er from childhood to adulthood flashed through his mind. From now on, she would have nothing to do with him.
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