"I had a client get these for me," Ye Caiping said with a smile. "These cassava plants are different from other cassava plants. We'll plant them here and take good care of them."
"Leave it to me!" Old Man Ye rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Old Man Ye used to hate working in the fields and growing vegetables, but now that he has some free time, he has fallen in love with growing vegetables.
He weeded and watered the vegetable garden every day, making it thrive.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Father," Ye Caiping said. "These cassava plants are a bit special; please don't tell anyone about this, Father."
Old Man Ye didn't ask any further questions: "Don't worry. By the way, I heard from Huan'er that you're planning to reclaim your eighty acres of land. Are you looking to hire farmhands or something? I'll take care of that!"
People who have worked hard for decades suddenly find it hard to adjust to a life of ease.
Seeing his enthusiasm, Ye Caiping smiled and said, "Alright, then I'll hand over my land to Father."
Anyway, Old Man Ye doesn't need to do the work himself; he can just stand at the edge of the field and give instructions.
"I'm going to plant sixty mu of cassava. The stalks and seedlings are in the warehouse on the far right of the workshop. Once we hire people, Dad will bring them to move them."
As he spoke, he handed the key to the warehouse where the seedlings were stored to Old Man Ye.
Old Man Ye didn't ask why so many cassava plants were being planted, and happily accepted them: "Let's plant these five first."
The father and daughter then began digging holes to plant cassava.
...
After taking over Ye Caiping's eighty acres of land, Old Man Ye was extremely busy.
In just two days, they recruited 30 farmhands, paying them 30 coins a day.
Next, Ye Caiping began to reclaim her 80 mu of land in a flurry of activity.
That afternoon, Ye Caiping was inspecting the workshop when she suddenly saw Ye Huan'er running over: "Mother, the Zhou family has come to propose marriage!"
Ye Caiping was taken aback: "Go back and take a look."
When Ye Caiping returned home, she saw more than a dozen boxes of gifts tied with big red flowers piled up in the courtyard.
In the living room, Old Man Ye and his wife, Madam Du, Ye Daquan, and even Madam Wei were sitting there.
The matchmaker was chatting with Madam Du when they suddenly burst into laughter.
"You're the matchmaker!" Ye Caiping greeted with a smile.
"Haha, how are you, Madam Ye!" The matchmaker shuddered as soon as she saw Ye Caiping, remembering Ye Caiping's deadly and sarcastic way of chatting last time.
Ye Caiping sat down next to Mrs. Wei with a smile.
"Matchmaker, let's begin!" said the unfamiliar old woman standing to the side. She was a servant of the Zhou family, called Aunt Liu.
"Yes, yes." The matchmaker stood in the center, smiling and bowing to Mr. and Mrs. Ye: "Mr. Ye, Mrs. Du, congratulations. I have heard that your Jinhua is a well-known good girl in Qinghe Village. After hearing about it, Mrs. Zhou immediately came to me to ask for your hand in marriage."
This is a festive remark. No matter where you propose marriage, the matchmaker will say the same thing. Different matchmakers may say different things, but they are all similar.
Even though I knew it was just polite talk, seeing the matchmaker's cheerful smile and the gifts piled up outside, I was still dissatisfied, and I was seven or eight parts of the time gone.
Ye Daquan and Madam Du were delighted to hear this and couldn't help but laugh.
Jin Hua, who had been hiding in Old Lady Ye's room, was both happy and shy, filled with anticipation and nervousness, her heart pounding.
The matchmaker said, "Let's talk about the betrothal gifts. The bride price is eighty-eight taels, and various gifts are carried in eighteen loads. Mr. Ye, do you have any other requests? You can make them."
Ye Daquan and Du Shi exchanged a glance. Eighty-eight taels was a lot for a girl in the village. For example, when Xiuxiu's mother asked for twenty taels, it was already an exorbitant price.
Although they have made a lot of money in the past six months, their mindset has not changed yet, and they still think that eighty-eight taels is really a good deal.
The two felt incredibly honored, never expecting Zhou Ziyang to value Jin Hua so much, not giving her even a small amount just because she was a peasant girl.
Jin Hua in the room was overjoyed. Eighty-eight taels of silver—if word got out, she would be second to none in the surrounding villages!
The Ye couple also felt that the Zhou family was sincere.
Madam Wei clicked her tongue twice and whispered to Madam Du, "This betrothal gift is really high! I heard that the Zhou family has servants! Jinhua is going to be the young mistress of the Zhou family and enjoy a life of luxury."
Mrs. Du was so happy she couldn't stop smiling.
Ye Caiping held her tea in silence, not participating in the discussion.
Seeing that Madam Du and the others were satisfied, both the matchmaker and Granny Liu smiled. Granny Liu generously repeated, "If you two have any other requests, please feel free to make them."
Mrs. Du was extremely satisfied and dared not make any more demands: "We don't care about the amount of money, as long as Jinhua can live a good life."
Aunt Liu laughed and said, "Once you're in the Zhou family, what's there to worry about? You'll have a good life."
The matchmaker said, "Madam Du, quickly bring out Jin Hua's birth chart!"
Mrs. Du had already prepared, and picked up a box from the coffee table and handed it over.
Aunt Liu opened it, and inside was Jin Hua's birth chart. She quickly put it away and said with a smile, "Then we'll head back now."
Seeing that they were about to leave, Du was a little confused: "Wait, what about Zhou Ziyang's birth chart? Weren't we supposed to exchange birth charts?"
The matchmaker was taken aback, but Liu Ma laughed and said, "No rush, no rush. Let's take Jin Hua's birth certificate back first, and then go to the government office to write a document."
Du and Ye looked at each other in bewilderment. What kind of operation was this?
Grandma Ye frowned: "Are you confused, or are we confused? When my three children got married, and my eldest grandson got married, both sides exchanged birth charts. How can you only give the bride's birth chart and not the groom's? Matchmaker Hua, has the government changed its rules?"
The matchmaker was also completely bewildered: "No? But you... aren't you taking a concubine? There's no way a concubine's family would ask for the man's birth certificate. The man's birth certificate is only exchanged with the wife's family. This is only for taking a good concubine, so they need the woman's birth certificate and then write a concubine-taking document at the government office. If it's a lowly concubine, they don't even need the birth certificate, they can just write a contract of sale."
Upon hearing this, the entire hall fell silent.
Jin Hua, who was in the room, was stunned. A concubine? How could she possibly be a concubine?
Instantly, a chill ran from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.
"What did you say? What is a concubine?" Ye Daquan's eyes widened.
The matchmaker, sensing something amiss, was startled: "It's a concubine? You... didn't know?"
Really?
After saying that, he looked at Aunt Liu.
Aunt Liu looked embarrassed and said with a smile, "Oh dear, she was a concubine after all, you—"
Du finally snapped out of her daze: "After all this talk, it turns out you're talking about taking a concubine?"
"Go to hell! My daughter will never be anyone's concubine!" Ye Daquan roared, jumping up. "What do you mean she was always a concubine? When did you ever say that? Huh?"
Aunt Liu took a step back in fright: "It was on our young master's birthday last time. Didn't our madam talk to you about it then?"
"Nonsense!" Madam Du trembled with anger. "I never uttered the word 'concubine' back then. That Madam Xie kept talking about marriage alliances. Who calls taking a concubine a marriage alliance?"
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