Chapter 90: Don't Envy Li Youshan's Family
"Second brother's wife, what are your niece's conditions and appearance? What are the conditions of the two young masters? They must marry someone from a wealthy family. There are few people from our peasant family who marry into the town, let alone the county.
Put away your thoughts. If Mr. Xie and Mr. Shen find out, they will no longer do business with us. Will you compensate for the loss? Get back to work."
Sun Xiuqin also knew that what her mother-in-law said made sense. She just wanted to give it a try, just in case she was liked.
Even if you can't be the main wife, being a concubine is fine. In the rich families in the county, even if you are a concubine, you will not have to worry about food and clothing, and you will have servants to serve you. It is much better than the farmhouse families.
But she didn't dare to say anything and stood up to go to work.
Zhao Suying sat next to Li Wanyue and whispered, "It would be great if those two young masters were from farming families, so mother could ask about marriage. Unfortunately, their families are good and we are not a good match. Hey, what are your plans for marriage in the future? How about asking a matchmaker to introduce you to someone?"
Li Wanyue closed her eyes speechlessly. If it were modern times, she would not even have graduated from college at this age, but here she would be considered an older leftover woman.
"Don't worry, mom. I'm not in a hurry. We'll meet when the time is right."
"Then wait a little longer. If you can't meet her this year, you can find a matchmaker next year."
Li Wanyue: “…”
"Mom, I'm going to go back to the room and lie down for a while." She stood up and went back to the room, fearing that her mother would continue talking about this topic.
After a tiring day, the family ate, washed up early and went back to the house to rest.
Li Wanyue was lying on the bed, which was covered with newly made fine cotton sheets and quilt covers. After washing, they were much softer than coarse cloth. The quilt smelled of the sun after being hung out to dry.
The pajamas are also made of fine cotton.
Living conditions improved little by little, and Meimei went on a date with Zhou Gong.
The next day, Li Wanyue lay down for a while before getting up. As usual, she taught the children half an hour's lesson. Today they started learning "Thousand Character Classic".
I can write simple words.
After dinner, Li Dachuan and Wang Guixiang's family changed into newly made coarse cloth clothes. They were reluctant to wear fine cotton clothes as they were afraid of being too conspicuous, so they prepared things to go back to her parents' home.
Li Wanyue brought her two bamboo buckets of shampoo and six bars of soap.
Wang Guixiang thanked with a smile. Soap was such a precious thing, and her little sister was willing to give her six pieces. It was really nice of her.
Li Wanyue asked Li Dachuan to take the opportunity to collect some mung beans and duck eggs. If he couldn't collect them, he could go to the town to buy some and also buy some lime.
Others picked out the remaining potatoes and sweet potatoes that could be planted and planted some more today.
The others will have to wait a few more days before they can be planted.
Sun Xiuqin watched Wang Guixiang return to her parents' home, tugged at Li Erhu's sleeve and asked, "Boss, when are you free, come back with me to my parents' home?"
Li Erhu nodded in agreement. Indeed, she had not returned to her parents' home since the Chinese New Year.
Sun Xiuqin was delighted and worked even harder.
The people under the locust tree watched Li Dachuan driving the ox cart by and started talking about it.
"Look at the Dashan family. They even have ox carts now."
"This ox cart was not purchased. It was rented from a restaurant."
"What's the big deal? They harvest so many bamboo shoots every day. Even if they sell them for an extra penny, they can still earn two hundred coins a day, which is about five or six taels of silver a month. It's only a matter of time before they buy an oxcart."
"That's right. Who would eat bamboo shoots in the past? I don't know how the Dashan family processed them. They're not bitter at all."
Yang Zhou sat aside in silence, thinking to herself: The bamboo shoots will be inedible by May, so how will they make money then?
Her future son-in-law's family is better, as the shop is open all year round. She doesn't envy Li Youshan's family at all.
Wang Guixiang’s parents’ home is in Hewan Village, less than half an hour away from Daohua Village.
As soon as we entered the village, the villagers began to wonder, whose ox cart is this? And why is it equipped with such a nice shed?
When the ox cart came closer, they realized it belonged to the Wang family.
"Guixiang, come back to see your parents."
"Yes, auntie." Wang Guixiang greeted with a smile.
"How filial."
When the ox cart passed by, the gossiping woman said, "Did you see that? Guixiang's family is wearing new clothes, and the colors are so bright. It seems that the Li family is having a good time now."
"The four Li family members are capable and must have made a lot of money. In the past, Guixiang always walked back to her parents' home, but this time she came in a bullock cart."
Some people also said something sarcastic: "It's just a piece of coarse cloth, not worth much money. You can see that he wears this clothes to show off. How can he have money? The ox cart must be borrowed, because the Li family can't afford to buy an ox."
…
As soon as Xiaolan, Xiaotao and Xiaoan arrived at the door, they shouted, "Grandpa, grandma, uncle and aunt, we are here to see you."
Then he jumped out of the car and ran into the yard.
When Old Man Wang and Old Lady Wang heard the voice, they came out with joy on their faces: "Oh, it's my good grandson, come here quickly and let grandma have a look."
Old Lady Wang took a few quick steps and embraced the three children. She looked at them and said, "Well, the little faces have become much younger and fairer. That's great."
When the Wang brothers and their wives heard the noise, they also came out from the backyard.
Li Dachuan and Wang Guixiang stepped forward to greet them: "Dad, Mom, Sister-in-law, and Sister-in-law."
"Hey, sister and brother-in-law, please sit down. I'll pour you some water." The eldest sister-in-law of the Wang family hurried to pour water.
Old man Wang asked his grandson to call back his two sons from the fields.
Li Dachuan took down the two backpacks and went to find a place to tie the ox cart.
Old Mrs. Wang looked at the things in the backpack: a bag of brown sugar, a piece of meat, a small cloth bag of rice, some rags, two bamboo tubes, and even a box of snacks. She felt a little uneasy.
She whispered to her daughter, "Guixiang, why did you take so many things? They are all precious things. These snacks are expensive at first glance. Only rich people can eat them. Your in-laws will be dissatisfied. When you go back, take half of them back."
Wang Guixiang smiled and said, "Mother, these are all things my mother-in-law asked me to bring here. Just keep them with confidence."
Old Man Wang reminded: "Your mother-in-law is being polite, but we can't accept all of it without knowing etiquette. Your in-laws have a hard time and still owe debts. Take these things back to help your father-in-law to replenish his health."
Old Lady Wang also said, "I heard that your sister-in-law got divorced and went home? This means one more mouth to feed, and life will be even harder. Our family can still get by."
Wang Guixiang boasted with some pride: "Dad, Mom, my sister-in-law is back home. She is very successful now. She can read and write and has learned a lot. In just over a month since she came home, the family has earned a lot of money. We have paid off all the debts and saved some."
As he said this, he took out two taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to Old Lady Wang: "This is the money to pay back our family."
Old Lady Wang was surprised: "Your sister-in-law has been married for three years, and she has become so successful?"
"Yes, please take it."
"Why would you need so much? I only lent one ounce of silver and I only need to pay one ounce back."
"This is what my mother-in-law wanted."
Old Man Wang said, "Old lady, please keep it. Guixiang is lucky to have found such a good husband."
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