Chapter 43 "Many complaints, few words" is also colloquially known as "a wife-boosting destiny." ...
Ironically, even if she were to marry a dead man, the details of the marriage could only be discussed by the parents of both sides. Zhong Ying didn't even have the right to listen in. Unmarried girls are supposed to avoid suspicion and be reserved, and are traditionally not allowed to be present.
Ironically, the mastermind behind all of this was none other than Zhong Ying, the daughter, who was arranged in this conventional sense.
However, Zhong Ying has already portrayed herself as the "perfect victim," so it's believed that with her mother around, she won't harm her daughter.
About an hour later, the door to the main room finally opened again. Li Ming and Liu Hongyan, who had come to the Zhong family specifically to discuss this special marriage, said goodbye and left. Deng Xia then went to her daughter's room to convey some marriage-related information to her daughter, just like a mother in most families.
"The date is set for the 13th day of the second lunar month after the Spring Equinox," Deng Xia said. "Nowadays, it's generally encouraged not to accept betrothal gifts, or to give less privately. The Li family is willing to give 40 yuan, plus the more than 10 yuan that their fourth son had saved up. They are willing to round it up to a total of 60 yuan as betrothal gifts."
As Deng Xia spoke, she took the money out of her pocket and said, "You can keep it."
The thought of how the money came about made Deng Xia feel uneasy. She was still bothered by Zhong Ying's "forced" widowhood, so she simply gave it all to her daughter and let her keep it herself.
Zhong Ying's eyes lit up uncontrollably. Money! She hadn't touched money since she started living in this time and space, though she had handled eggs, which were used as money, many times.
Sixty yuan was not a small amount. Zhong Ying remembered the prices of goods at that time when she went to the market. Eggs were sold for five cents each, and it would take selling 1,200 eggs to earn sixty yuan.
Deng Xia continued, "The house was originally built for the fourth son of the Li family. They said that the house was originally intended for the young couple to live in after they got married, but now it will be given to you as well. The furniture inside will be fully furnished as soon as possible, and there will be no shortage of 'thirty-six legs'."
Zhong Ying was pleasantly surprised: There's a house too?
"Thirty-six legs" is a common saying, but it actually refers to a set of furniture: a wardrobe, a cabinet, a table, four chairs, and a bed. Acquiring such a complete set of furniture would cost a considerable amount of money, equivalent to two years' income for a rural family.
Li Ming and Liu Hongyan felt guilty, after all, their good daughter would have to live as a widow for the rest of her life because of their son. So when discussing the marriage, they were very generous in every way, and it felt more like an apology than a dowry.
It's not just money and houses, Deng Xia continued, "He has two brothers, and whichever family has more sons in the future will give one to you as an adoption."
Zhong Ying didn't want the child anymore. "Let's just forget about it. There's no need to go through all this trouble..."
Zhong Ying neither wanted to have children nor raise them. She had no feelings for children as a species, and raising other people's children would be using her future sisters-in-law as surrogate mothers, wouldn't it? Sigh, a law-abiding modern person wouldn't do such a thing. Oops, I refuse.
“How can a woman manage without a child? Who will take care of you in your old age?” Deng Xia glared at her. “And do you think you can get a son right now? Her eldest and second eldest brothers each only have one son. Just wait and see, who knows which family will get a few more sons!”
Zhong Ying felt a little relieved. "Wait," she said, rounding up to zero, just like the coffee shop she kept putting off visiting, the fitness videos gathering dust in her favorites, and the vacation that never materialized.
Deng Xia suddenly asked her daughter, "Are you there?"
Zhong Ying knew who her mother was talking about. Her mother usually omitted names these days, just like the character in a certain famous magical novel—"You know who."
Li Linshi is indeed elusive. Ever since he pinched Zhong Ying's face, this ghost has been in a low mood. Tsk tsk, he has a really big temper.
He had just followed Deng Xia into Zhong Ying's room, so it was clear that this ghost had gone to eavesdrop on the two families' discussions about the marriage.
Zhong Ying glanced at her and answered her mother's question, "Yes, I'm here."
Deng Xia stared at the empty space, gritting her teeth and saying fiercely, "Are you satisfied now?"
Li Linshi looked at Zhong Ying with a gloomy face, "Are you satisfied now?"
Zhong Ying nodded repeatedly, completely satisfied. She was very happy; having money and a house was an unexpected bonus. What more could she possibly want?
——
The marriage arrangements were finalized, and both families spread the word, though they embellished their public statements slightly, since being haunted by a ghost was not something to be publicized.
Thus, Zhong Ying was portrayed as someone who could not forget Li Lin's sacrifice to save her, and was determined to repay his kindness by marrying him. She was thus given the high praise of being "chaste and virtuous" and "loyal and devoted."
Zhong Ying was suddenly transformed from someone who was described as "cunning, lazy, greedy, and sly, with a bad temper; who would want such a wife?" to someone who is "a kind and righteous girl."
The transformation from a bad reputation to a good one left Zhong Ying speechless with mixed feelings, a situation that was both poignant and ironic.
Of course, not everyone thinks this way.
Zhong Ni found her cousin, Zhong Ying, and frowned as she looked at her, "Sister, why are you so upset?"
"No, I'm overthinking it," Zhong Ying said ambiguously.
Cao Fang, on the other hand, had a look of satisfaction on her face. "I've always felt that the two of you are destined for each other."
Li Linshi remained expressionless, but things had clearly fallen into chaos.
Zhong Ni couldn't see, but Zhong Ying could. She looked at her cousin and her aunt floating behind her, then glanced at the male ghost behind her out of the corner of her eye. Zhong Ying couldn't help but lower her head to hide the smile on her lips.
It was both strange and funny; each of them had a ghost following them, like some kind of guardian spirit or a Digimon.
Zhong Ni looked at her cousin, who was secretly laughing with her head down, and suddenly felt relieved. When she had just gotten engaged to Liu Guangtian, she couldn't help but laugh all the time. She felt that the sky was bluer, the water was clearer, and everything was so beautiful.
After that, Zhong Ying met Fan Dani, Fan Erni, and even some educated youths came to persuade her.
Zhong Ying looked at the female educated youth in front of her with some surprise. She and this female comrade named Yang Meijuan were not very familiar with each other. Even though they had worked in the threshing ground for a period of time, Yang Meijuan was closer to another female educated youth named Chen Lina. The two of them went out and came in together.
“Your thinking is wrong and outdated!” Yang Meijuan said righteously, trying to change the ignorant mindset of the village girl in front of her. “You shouldn’t risk your life to repay a debt of gratitude!”
Zhong Ying looked at her with bright eyes. So some women were already having progressive ideas.
Yang Meijuan blushed under her gaze, but forced herself to say, "We educated youth all know about what happened in the production team. Even if it meant risking our lives for yours, you shouldn't think like that. Besides repaying kindness with your body, there are many other ways to do so."
"Thank you, I know." Zhong Ying sincerely thanked her for her kindness, "but I still have to do it."
The heat in Yang Meijuan's ears disappeared, and she was furious. Her kind words of persuasion were met with her stubborn refusal to repent.
Zhong Ying watched the female educated youth storm off, somewhat puzzled. "Why was she angry?"
"Heh." Li Linshi sneered. Who wouldn't be angry when they meet Zhong Ying? Was he any less angry?
Two days later, Zhong Ying met another male educated youth, coincidentally the same one she had flirted with before.
Cheng Bin looked at the young girl in front of him with a complicated expression. He wasn't oblivious; how could he not sense her ulterior motives? She was simply thinking that one day she would return to the city and didn't want to settle down in this rural area to get married and have children.
Zhong Ying watched as the male educated youth's expression shifted from complex to resolute, almost like a face-changing act.
“If your parents forced you to do this,” Cheng Bin said resolutely, “then I will go and tell your parents that I am willing to marry you!”
Zhong Ying was stunned. "Huh?"
The male ghost beside her cast a sinister glance at her, "You and him had a past, didn't you?"
Zhong Ying waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, no need."
Are all men sick? Yesterday you ignored me, but today you're risking your life to save a prostitute?
Zhong Ying really felt speechless with complaints.
The older women were also talking about Zhong Ying.
"On the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, we grind tofu." Women from several families in the Tonggan production team gathered together and set up a large pot in Hu Dating's yard to make tofu.
Soaking beans, grinding them into a paste, filtering, boiling the paste, adding coagulant, and pressing them into shapes—this series of tasks requires the collaboration of many people to do well. While working, everyone chatted.
As Nie Ying pushed the millstone, she talked about the "news" in the production team these past two days, and looked disapprovingly at Deng Xia, who was pouring out beans, "Why don't you try to persuade your daughter? Why is she so stubborn about repaying some debt of gratitude? Isn't it better to embrace a warm-hearted man?"
The courtyard was full of married women; there were no unmarried young women, so people spoke without restraint.
Hu Dating chimed in from the side, "That's right, that's right. Young girls don't understand. You, as a mother, don't you know the benefits of having a man to warm the bed in the dead of winter? I've really felt that the bed is cold in winter all these years."
The man Hu inquired about died of dysentery six years ago, and she was another widow in the production team besides her third aunt.
Lin Shuhong and Hu Da were close, so she joked with her, "Why don't you find someone else? You've played matchmaker for so many others, why not do it for yourself too!"
Hu Datong laughed and spat at her, "I'm at the age where I should be enjoying my retirement, I'm not going to find a man to serve me anymore! Besides, we're talking about Zhong Lao Er's daughter now, don't interrupt me!"
The topic has circled back to itself again.
Deng Xia was speechless with bitterness. It wasn't that her daughter was stubborn; it was that a devil was! And the more Deng Xia thought about it, the more she felt it was Li Si'er deliberately getting revenge. After all, others might not know, but she did. It was her daughter who had tried to force him into marriage, which had instead led to his death. Yes, that must be it! That's why this devil wanted her daughter to be a widow for him—this was revenge!
The more I think about it, the more frustrated I get, like a tangled mess of hemp rope that I can't untangle!
Deng Xia was upset and, without thinking much, retorted to Hu's question, "Isn't this good? Once you marry him, the man is dead, and you don't have to serve him from a young age!"
The laughing women were suddenly speechless.
Everyone has been young once. When you first become a wife in someone else's family, you suffer more or less. You are busy with housework, raising children, and never have a moment to rest. But when you become a mother-in-law, you have a young wife who is filial and helps you. Only then does life finally get a little better.
The thought that Deng Xia's daughter started out like them, who had "endured years of hardship to become mothers-in-law" and were now living a good life, and that she was a widow in the production team leader's house, made Hu Daoting feel envious. "Your daughter is really lucky."
The third aunt, who was only asked by the other daughters-in-law to do light work like soaking beans, said with a smile, "Yingni'er is indeed lucky. Her birth chart is very good. Her Day Master is strong, which means she has a strong vitality. Her Eating God and Hurting Officer stars are well developed, which means she is smart and has her own opinions."
Upon hearing this, Lin Shuhong exclaimed, "Third Aunt, the team leader even had you calculate the birth dates of the two children?"
Third Aunt nodded, "Alright, let's do a proper calculation. The man is water and the woman is earth, and earth overcomes water, so the woman should be in a stronger position than the man."
"Isn't that the same as Zhong Lao Er's wife and her husband?" Nie Ying couldn't help but mutter.
Hu asked jokingly, "Yingni'er inherited her mother's temperament; whoever she marries, won't she always be superior to the man?"
The crowd burst into laughter and unanimously agreed.
Auntie San listened to their banter, her smile never fading from her aged face. What she didn't say was that in the man's birth chart, the wealth star was a favorable element, and it was strong, supported, rooted, and vigorous, located in the day branch of the marriage palace. This was a destiny of a virtuous husband who would help his wife, which is commonly known as a "wife-supporting destiny."
Thinking of the young man who had passed away, and then of Zhong Ying, the third aunt shook her head and sighed. It was truly a pity.
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Author's Note: Li Linshi: What a pity? I gave her all the money I saved up, and my house originally belonged to her too. I'm the one who bears the bad reputation, while she gets all the good. I really did bring her good fortune (gritting her teeth).
I feel that fortune telling based on birth charts is similar to tarot cards and astrology. I reject superstition; I only read things that sound pleasant and make me happy, haha.
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