On the second day, Zhao's father and son drove two mule carts to take Li Jianmin and others to the shop, while Li Yan stayed at home busy making soy sauce.
Today she has to go to her uncle's house on behalf of her mother. It is expected that he will not be back today, so she has to prepare the goods for the next two days!
I got up at dawn and worked until 9:00 a.m. before I finished preparing two days' worth of goods.
After Li Yan had packed up, she packed up the two quilts made by her mother, one of which was a little thinner and the other looked like it was for winter use, and moved them to the mule cart.
At this time, the father and son of the Zhao family had already returned from the market. Li Yan asked them to park the mule cart in the yard first. She knew how to drive the cart, but she didn't need to ask someone to take her there specially.
Lin watched her daughter pack her clothes for the next two days, put on the small shoulder bag she had made for her, said goodbye, and was about to leave.
Lin stuffed ten taels of silver into her daughter's small bag and said, "Try to give this money to your uncle. If he's still stubborn and refuses to accept it, give it to your aunt. His marriage will cost a lot of money, and without money, it won't work out!"
Listening to her mother's instructions, Li Yan nodded, led the mule and walked out the door.
Mrs. Lin looked at her little daughter, who was about to go out alone with a tall mule, and she felt uneasy: "Wait a minute, I'll ask your uncle Zhao to take you into the city!"
"Mom, I won't be back today. I'll have to wait for him to come back. Besides, I've walked this road countless times. It won't be a problem!"
Li Yan still feels that she is an adult in her heart, and does not have the consciousness of being a child!
"No! Just treat your mother as if she is in peace! I'll give your Uncle Zhao some money to take the boat back, so you don't have to worry about it!"
But Mrs. Lin was adamant that she would not agree. She wanted her daughter to drive the cart to the city by herself. She was so small that she might run into some bad guys or even fail to control the animals, causing the cart to overturn. She would be left alone and no one would be able to help her!
Since her mother said so, Li Yan had no choice but to go down the mountain first, find Zhao Da, and ask him to take her to the city. Then she gave him some silver and asked him to come back by boat!
"Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Zhao!" Li Yan said to Zhao Dadao who was driving the car.
Zhao Da cracked his whip, urging the mule to set off, and said to Li Yan, "What are you talking about, young lady? This is not hard work at all!"
Life nowadays is so much better than back home. I don’t have to suffer from hunger or struggle for a living. I live in a spacious house and can save some money every month. This was something I could never have imagined before!
When Li Yan arrived in the city, it was dinner time and the snack shops were already busy.
Li Yan put the luggage in the car at the soy sauce shop first, asked Zhao Da to go back first, and went to the store to help.
"My sister is busy and can't come. We can handle it here!" Li Jianmin said as he continued to mix the noodles.
"It's okay. Once I'm done here, I'll take my cousin with me!"
Just like yesterday, many diners came into the shop soon, and the shop was full of diners from inside to outside. Fortunately, the scallion oil noodles were served quickly, so the customers didn’t have to wait too long!
When most of the diners had left, Li Yan said to her cousin, "Brother, I'm going to take my cousin home first. My uncle is getting married tomorrow, so we won't be coming to the restaurant. If you're short of manpower, you can hire someone to help tomorrow!"
"Okay, I understand!"
After being busy for several days, Li Jianmin has become familiar with the job. His sister's soy sauce shop sells a limited amount of soy sauce every day, so one person is enough. He just needs to hire someone to wash the dishes in time, but it's not a big deal!
After explaining the matter, Li Yan pulled a mule cart and took her cousin with her, and the two set off immediately.
"Should we take a detour to the academy and pick up our cousin?" Li Yan asked.
"No need, brother, I didn't go to the academy today!"
In that case, there was no need to wait. Li Yan drove the mule cart skillfully and took her cousin towards Linjia Village.
When Li Yan arrived at her uncle's house, Mrs. Guo saw the two of them and hurriedly stepped forward to greet them: "Come in and sit down. Are your mother and the others coming today?" After that, she stepped forward to take the reins and led Li Yan into the yard.
"My brothers and sisters are still young, and my coming would only cause more trouble. So I won't be coming today. I hope my aunt won't blame me. My mother asked me to bring two newly made quilts for my uncle!"
Only then did Guo notice the two large bulging bundles on the mule cart.
"What's strange about that? It's normal for her to be unable to leave because of her child. Qing'er, take the quilt to your uncle's room."
Then he said to Li Yan, "You've come back at the right time. The Zhou family will be here to deliver the dowry soon. Come and see the excitement!" After that, he went back to work.
She was very busy today. She asked people to slaughter pigs and sheep and prepare food for tomorrow's banquet. Fortunately, several familiar neighbors came to her house early in the morning to help, washing dishes and borrowing tables, chairs and benches.
The two of them had just put the quilt into the box when they heard the sound of firecrackers outside and the sounds of children playing in front of the door. It must be the Zhou family's wedding party that was about to arrive.
The two of them also ran outside the yard to join in the fun, and saw a group of eight people carrying loads walking towards them. The loads were wrapped tightly with bright red silk cloth, which looked very festive.
Compared with the villagers of that era, the dowry brought by the Zhou family was already quite a lot, although it was not possible to see what was in the boxes at the moment.
Li Yan could also guess that most of them were what the bride would need for her future life in her husband's family.
Large items include boxes, beddings, cloth, silk, and clothes for all seasons; small items include combs, bowls, plates, chopsticks and spoons. Families with a little money will give more silver as a dowry. Those from wealthier families will even give land and shops as dowries to their daughters when they get married.
The so-called grand occasion of ten miles of red makeup is to prepare all the things that the bride needs in her life, which shows the good intentions of the parents!
Looking at the eight loads of dowry placed in the yard, the villagers standing outside the door watching the fun were extremely envious.
"The second son of the Lin family has found a good wife!" a villager sighed.
Another villager nodded and said, "That's right. Look at all the dowry I have. My wife only brought a box of wood when she married me!"
Then he said enviously, "Hey, have you heard that the Zhou family's dowry includes a box of rare medicinal herbs?"
"Just be content. The clothes my daughter-in-law wore when she married into my family were bought with my own money!"
Several men watched the excitement and complained about how their wives married them.
Li Yan stood behind a few people, listening to their idle chatter, her mind drifting away. In this world, there are those who spend half of their family fortune to get their daughter married, and there are also those who treat their daughters as bargaining chips to exchange for benefits.
Will she be able to help women with nowhere to go in the future? She doesn't know yet.
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