The second day of the Lunar New Year was the day Xue Laohu's family came to propose marriage.
Li Lanzhen and her three sons and daughters-in-law got up early to clean the yard.
After returning from the cafeteria, she took out a tea set and brewed some tea.
On the table in the main room, there was a plate of candy, a plate of melon seeds, a plate of peanuts, and a dish of fried soybeans.
Li Lanzhen also invited Li Erhan's family, as well as Han Shunde, Bai Houpu, and Xuan Shen.
Let them witness together the process of Han Yuemei and Xue Bao proposing marriage and exchanging betrothal gifts.
The sun shone warmly that day.
The children were chattering and laughing as they chased each other around the yard.
One by one, they would pull out a handful of sunflower seeds or a handful of roasted soybeans from their pockets and share them with their friends, as if presenting a treasure.
Li Lanzhen was surprised that the Crown Prince had come along, and he nodded and smiled at her.
We led them into the main room, arranged for them to sit down, and served them tea. Then we heard children shouting outside the courtyard gate.
"Here comes to propose marriage! Have some candy!"
"Time to present the betrothal gifts, time for some candy."
Li Lanzhen, Han Minghai, and Han Mingjiang came out together to welcome Xue Laohu's family inside.
Following behind Xue Laohu's family were Han Zhaoxiong, Han Youliang, Han Youtian, and several others.
They were all carrying baskets, and the contents of each basket were covered with red cloth.
As soon as Wu entered the door, she laughed heartily and shouted loudly.
"We've come to propose marriage and offer betrothal gifts. We wish to marry your daughter, Han Yuemei, and make her our daughter-in-law."
Her shout made everyone, adults and children alike, laugh.
They were ushered into the main room, and three loads were carried in and placed in front of the table.
Ms. Wu lifted the red cloth covering the basket and began to recite the betrothal gifts one by one.
"A pair of large white geese, two catties of brown sugar, one catty of white sugar, and two catties of maltose."
A wild boar, a pair of ducks, and a pair of wild rabbits.
Ten catties of wheat flour, five catties of white rice
..."
Li Lanzhen saw that they had also bought two sets of clothes for Han Yuemei.
One set of summer clothes and one set of autumn clothes. The autumn clothes are lined jackets, and they are all in fresh and light colors that girls like. They are all ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress).
A solid silver bracelet, a plum blossom silver hairpin, a pair of plum blossom earrings, and a silver chain with plum blossom pendants.
Li Lanzhen clicked her tongue inwardly. It seemed that they really liked her daughter and were genuinely good to her, as evidenced by the care they put into the jewelry they bought.
That's good, Han Yuemei won't suffer after marrying into the family.
However, my daughter, Li Lanzhen, cannot tolerate being wronged in her husband's family.
He's coming straight home!
Li Lanzhen thought to herself with a domineering air, her eyes taking in the lavish betrothal gifts they had brought.
He then instructed Han Mingxiang to fetch the gift he had prepared for Xue Bao.
Han Minghai also carried a load on a shoulder pole, with two baskets covered with red cloth.
This is a return gift for Xue Laohu and his group.
Li Lanzhen took the small bundle from Han Mingxiang.
Looking at Xue Bao, she said, "Xue Bao, from today onwards, you are half my son. This is a gift I'm giving you."
As she spoke, she opened her bundle and took out a dagger with a sheath.
The scabbard is exquisitely crafted and inlaid with blue gemstones.
Li Lanzhen also prepared two sets of clothes for him: a blue cotton short jacket and a black fitted outfit, along with a pair of black boots and a pair of white cotton socks sewn by Han Yuemei herself.
Li Lanzhen took out a black box from her bundle and took out a jade hairpin from it.
When Wu and Xue Laohu saw that Li Lanzhen had given their son such a valuable gift, their smiles widened.
"Xue Bao, here, this is for you, take it all."
Li Lanzhen showed everyone the gifts her family had prepared, and then handed the bundle to Xue Bao.
Ever since Xue Bao saw the dagger, his eyes have been burning with desire, as if he wanted to set the dagger on fire.
Li Lanzhen could tell from Xue Bao's eyes that he definitely liked him.
These were all found by searching through the space.
There were more than a dozen such daggers, but they were different in color, pattern, and size.
She thought she should take it slow, and that she should at least leave a handful for each of her son and grandson.
Xue Laohu and Wu Shi knew that Li Lanzhen had taken a liking to Xue Bao and that she genuinely liked him.
How could you not be happy if your in-laws liked your child?
Seizing the opportunity, Madam Wu asked, "Sister-in-law Lanzhen, when do you think we should hold the wedding ceremony and banquet for the two children?"
Li Lanzhen never expected that they would come to ask her about her two children's wedding date so soon.
He paused for a moment, then said, "Oh, getting married?"
After thinking about it, Han Yuemei is only 16 years old this year, while Xue Bao is 18.
Getting married too early, getting pregnant and having children too early, is very harmful to a girl's body.
“My dear in-law, look, Yuemei is only 16 years old this year.”
We've proposed and gotten engaged this year, and we'll hold the wedding ceremony next autumn. What do you think?
What else can we do?
Both Wu and Xue Laohu were naturally hoping to marry their daughter-in-law this year.
Not to mention Xue Bao, who was itching to marry Han Yuemei and take her with him wherever he went.
But when Li Lanzhen said that, they all smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Okay, our two families will hold a wedding banquet for the children next fall.”
During this period, the two teachers in the school managed all the children very strictly.
As soon as this ended, the children rushed towards the school.
The children who were specifically mentioned by Master Xu and were to participate in the scientific expedition in April were all very self-disciplined.
In addition to completing the books they were required to memorize and the characters they were required to write each day, they added extra studies for themselves.
Han Mingxiang has been working even harder lately.
Ever since they started living in Peach Blossom Spring and eating together in the large canteen, Li Lanzhen has always managed to find time to secretly add spiritual spring water from her space to the canteen's large water tank.
However, sometimes I'm too busy, or I'm away from Linglin Spring Water and it runs out.
During this period, she tried every day without fail to add spiritual spring water to the large water vat for each of her three meals.
Seeing how hard the children were working, Li Lanzhen just wanted to add a little more spirit to them.
Every night, she would cook a pot of red date and millet porridge in her own kitchen.
Then, they packed the food into bowls and delivered them to Han Mingxiang's courtyard.
After the New Year, Han Yinan, Zheng Sanwang, Han Qingfeng, Su Chen, and Han Zhidao all lived in Han Mingxiang's courtyard.
So we enjoy our late-night snacks together every night.
The children didn't understand why, but they all felt refreshed, clear-headed, and had excellent memory after drinking the rice porridge that Li Lanzhen brought them every night.
Lu Boyan is going to take the provincial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination).
However, Master Xu advised him to prepare more thoroughly and skip the special imperial examination in April, instead directly participating in this year's regular autumn examination.
At that time, he was more likely to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar.
Lu Boyan readily accepted Master Xu's suggestion.
He knew that he had been preoccupied with family matters for over a year and had not been able to study diligently.
When Man Niang found out, she felt very guilty, feeling that she had delayed Lu Boyan.
Tingyu comforted her, "How could it be your fault, Mother! It's all that old witch's fault!"
"Hmph! Father, you better prepare well and win the imperial examination in one fell swoop."
The couple smiled as they watched their daughter decisively clench her fist and wave her hand.
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