Chapter 21 Want a Dowry
Ye Mingzhu was cleaning the wooden barrel at home and some bowls, plates and jars in the kitchen.
The original owner's siblings had been eating at their uncle's house before. The things in the house had not been used for a long time and were covered with a layer of dust. Ye Mingzhu planned to clean them all out.
Tomorrow the Jiang family will build a house next to hers, so it will be somewhat inconvenient for her to work.
"Mingzhu is working? It turns out that people are diligent when working for their own family." Ye Yunkang's voice sounded at the gate of the courtyard.
As soon as Ye Mingzhu heard the sarcastic voice, she knew it was Ye Yunkang.
Of the three brothers from the eldest branch of the Ye family, only Ye Yunjian grew up with Grandpa Ye. He treated his younger siblings equally and acted like an elder brother. The remaining two, Ye Yunkang and Ye Yunshun, were taught by the Lin family to be extremely selfish.
"Why is my second cousin here at my house? Is he here to give me some chickens?" Ye Mingzhu suddenly remembered that her chickens were still in the main room. It would be better to take them back sooner rather than later, otherwise, after a while, Lin would think of them as her own.
"What chicken?" Ye Yunkang was stunned. He only knew that Ye Mingzhu and her brother would go back to their home for dinner, but he didn't know that they had to take the chicken back home too.
"My second cousin has eaten a lot of eggs in the past six months. Doesn't he know that there are more chickens at home?" Ye Mingzhu pointed out directly.
Ever since they brought the chickens to the main house, they could only feed the chickens and had never seen eggs. The original owner asked twice, but Mrs. Lin either said to keep them to exchange for money or that girls should not be greedy. After a long time, the original owner was too embarrassed to ask.
Now it's her turn, she won't spoil them, it's hers, she can't give away a single egg.
Ye Yunkang touched his nose feeling a little guilty. Of course he knew that the chickens in his house belonged to the second wife, but at this time he could only pretend to be stupid.
"I don't usually go to the backyard, so I really don't know."
Ye Mingzhu rolled her eyes in her heart. They threw all the work to Ye Yun'an, didn't they know that?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Ye Mingzhu's face turned pale. "If you have nothing to do, please help me get some water to wash the jar. It's full of dust."
Ye Yunkang dodged to the side, fearing that the dirty water would get on his clothes, but he still looked considerate.
"Aren't you engaged to that guy named Jiang? He's going to build a house next door, why don't you just let him do it?"
Ye Mingzhu stood up and poured the dirty water in the jar onto the ground. Ye Yunkang quickly dodged to the side, but a few spots of mud still splashed onto the hem of Ye Yunkang's clothes.
"Look at you, you're splashing water on me while I'm standing here. My clothes are all dirty." Ye Yunkang said casually, "I'll go back and change my clothes later. Bring the dirty clothes here and you can wash them for me."
"Hmph..." Ye Mingzhu just gave him a look of contempt. What good things was he thinking?
"Mingzhu, I heard that Jiang Jialiang's yard has become very big. Didn't his family come from exile? It has been so many years. Where did he get the money to build the house?" Ye Yunkang approached Ye Mingzhu and asked with pretended curiosity.
Ye Mingzhu didn't expect that he was asking about the Jiang family. "This is the Jiang family's business, how would I know? Second cousin, if you are so energetic, why don't you go to the sea to catch more pearl clams and exchange them for more silver."
Ye Yunkang asked for a long time but still couldn't figure out where the Jiang family's money came from. He went back home in dirty clothes, feeling a little annoyed.
Ye Mingzhu put down the jar in her hand, went back to the house to wipe her hands, picked up a backpack, and followed Ye Yunkang slowly to the Ye family's main house.
She didn't know why Ye Yunkang started to care about the Jiang family. Since he was so free, he might as well find something for them to do.
After Ye Yunkang returned home, he immediately went back to his room to change his clothes and threw the dirty clothes into the basin: "Mom, my clothes are dirty, remember to wash them for me."
Lin came out of the kitchen, full of resentment: "How many hands do you think I have? I don't have the time to wash my own clothes."
Ye Yunkang's eyes turned: "Mom, you help me wash first, and when I get married, I will let her be filial to you."
"Given your cousin's temper, let's just forget it." Lin muttered a few words in a low voice. Her niece was raised in pampering at home.
"I'll ask your sister-in-law to help you wash it later."
"Mom, if I marry a beautiful and hardworking wife to honor you, how much control will you have over me?" Ye Yunkang asked tentatively, thinking of the smooth skin.
"You'll be marrying Yujiao in half a year, so don't have any bad intentions!" Lin glared. "Your aunt wants five taels of silver as a betrothal gift, and she said she wants Yujiao to bring back a generous dowry."
Ye Yunkang thought about the six taels of silver he owed Jiang Hongyu and wondered how to get the remaining five taels.
"Aunt, I'm here to get my chicken." Ye Mingzhu had been outside the door for a while and heard everything before she spoke.
Lin's face, which was not good to begin with, turned completely dark. She thought Ye Mingzhu had forgotten about this.
Ye Mingzhu just said hello and went straight to the chicken coop in the backyard to catch chickens.
She has the original owner's memories and catches chickens from her own family.
"I just fed these chickens today." Lin was jumping up and down, trying to find a reason to keep one.
Ye Mingzhu glanced at the chicken trough next to her and said, "I'll bring some wild vegetables to my aunt tomorrow."
Lin choked and said, "I fed the chickens a bowl of bran!"
Ye Mingzhu laughed out loud: "Auntie, didn't you say that chickens can only eat wild vegetables and insects, and can't eat bran?"
This was what she said when Lin caught all the chickens from the second branch of the Ye family and ordered Ye Yun'an to dig wild vegetables and find insects to feed the chickens. Ye Yun'an asked her for bran.
Lin remembered what she had said before and glared at Ye Mingzhu.
Ye Mingzhu took the chicken away and looked back at Ye Yunkang who seemed to be lost in thought: "Second cousin has changed his clothes again. He is really getting more and more energetic."
When she heard Ye Yunkang talking about marriage just now, she always felt that there was something wrong. She remembered that Ye Yunkang didn't like his cousin from the Lin family very much.
It was really that cousin who was so pretentious, like a walking white lotus. The problem was that she was tall and strong, only half a head shorter than Ye Yunkang.
Lin Yujiao once lived in the main house of the Ye family for a few days. She was the kind of person who wouldn't even help when the oil bottle fell. I really don't know what Lin saw in her that made her want to marry her as her daughter-in-law.
Ye Mingzhu grabbed the chicken and left without saying much. Lin was so angry that she stood at the door and kept making indirect accusations for a quarter of an hour. It was Ye Yunkang who finally dragged her back.
"Mom, Mingzhu is getting married. Does she need a betrothal gift? You are her aunt, so the betrothal gift should be given to you." Ye Yunkang's abacus beads clattered.
Lin had been at home all day and didn't know that Jiang Hongyu was going to build a house next to Ye Mingzhu's. She pouted and said, "Where would the money come from for an exile who lives in a thatched hut?"
"The Jiang family is planning to build a large courtyard next to Mingzhu's house. How come they don't have the money? I think the betrothal gift should be at least ten taels." The more Ye Yunkang thought about it, the more it made sense.
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