Chapter 71 Stay in the Village
Jiang Hongyu's hands began to tap on the table again. When should Ye Yunkang get married?
Ye Mingzhu shook her head: "Yunkang's aunt is very difficult to deal with. I'm afraid she won't easily agree to let the two of them get married."
She has gradually adapted to life here and knows that in ancient times, marriage was not just a matter between two people, but a matter between two families.
Ever since she and Jiang Hongyu got engaged, the villagers' attitude towards Jiang Hongyu has become better. The Jiang family built a house next to hers, and everyone tacitly accepted Jiang Hongyu as a live-in son-in-law.
Although no one regarded Jiang Hongyu as one of their own, their attitude was much better than that of the exiles at the village entrance.
Besides, after the two of them had verbally engaged, Jiang Hongyu sent a lot of betrothal gifts, and the marriage was officially settled.
But there has been no movement from Uncle Ye's family so far. Mrs. Lin has not returned to her parents' home, but Mrs. Wang Lin has come here again and again. It must be that Uncle Ye's family does not care much about this marriage.
"If she doesn't agree, then let's find someone else." Jiang Hongyu's tone was as flat as if he was talking about what to eat today.
"You mean Lu Jingya?" Ye Mingzhu recalled the woman she saw outside the restaurant and shook her head: "My aunt won't let her in."
Lu Jingya is a pretty girl, but she is light, thin and weak. Men like her, but her mother-in-law doesn't like such a daughter-in-law.
Besides, the Lu family was exiled here and their life was not satisfactory. I have never heard that her family values their daughter.
A girl from such a family is not even as good as the girls in the village. It would be strange if my aunt-in-law would like her!
"That's not necessarily true. Sometimes it's not always the mother-in-law who has the final say in marrying a daughter-in-law, nor is it always their family who has the final say." There was something else in Jiang Hongyu's smile that Ye Mingzhu couldn't understand for a moment.
"Forget it, as long as uncle's family doesn't bother us, it's fine if we just keep quiet." Ye Mingzhu didn't want to talk too much about Uncle Ye's family, as it would affect her mood.
Jiang Hongyu nodded: "Well, let's talk about something happy. This time I went out and helped the county government a little. The county government planned to let me work as a yamen runner."
Ye Mingzhu was stunned. Wasn't he exiled? How could he be a yamen runner?
Didn't they say the Jiang family couldn't take the imperial examinations? Didn't yamen runners count?
Jiang Hongyu shook his head. The yamen runners in the county government were just people hired privately by the county magistrate and had nothing to do with the imperial examination.
It turns out that there were not enough staff in the county government in ancient times, and some people had to be hired by the county magistrate himself.
For example, the legal advisor is equivalent to the county magistrate's personal secretary and adviser, the yamen runners are equivalent to the police and soldiers in the county yamen, and there are also long-time attendants, who are the county magistrate's servants. They have good treatment and high security, and most of them are arranged in advance by the county magistrate.
These people are not considered official members of the imperial court. If the county magistrate is promoted, the next county magistrate can let them leave at any time.
"The monthly salary is one string of silver. Although it's not much, it's a formal livelihood." Jiang Hongyu waved his hand and said, "I will be temporarily stationed in Pinggu Town. Starting from the first day of next month, I can have two days off every ten days."
One Guan is one thousand coins, or one tael of silver.
Ye Mingzhu praised: "I didn't expect the monthly salary to be so high."
Jiang Hongyu touched his nose. Ordinary yamen runners didn’t have that much money.
"I want to buy a cow so that it will be more convenient for me to go to town. Then I can find someone in the village to drive the ox cart twice a day and earn some money for tea and water."
"It would be better to live directly in the town so that you don't have to run around every day." Ye Mingzhu was considering the possibility of living in the town and whether she should buy a house first.
But it is inconvenient to go to the sea after living in the town, and it is not reasonable to come back to go to the sea frequently.
"I don't mind, but your relatives are here. Do you want to live in town?" Jiang Hongyu let Ye Mingzhu make the decision.
Ye Mingzhu finally shook her head: "We are used to living here, and it is convenient to go to the beach here. How about we rent a house for you in town?"
Jiang Hongyu shook his head without hesitation: "Mother doesn't like the town. She said that the people in Yuanshan Village are simple and honest, and it's a pleasure to get along with everyone. She doesn't want to leave. There's no need for me to rent a house in the town. It's not a waste of money."
Ye Mingzhu thought of Aunt Jiang who had to go out every day, and knew that Jiang Hongyu was right.
"I also had the opportunity to work as a runner in the county government before, but my mother didn't want to go to town at that time, and I was worried about her. Now that you and Yun'an are at home, I want to give it a try." There was a hint of loss, ambition, and confusion in Jiang Hongyu's eyes.
Ye Mingzhu patted Jiang Hongyu's arm soothingly. Just as she was about to speak, Aunt Jiang came back from outside.
When she saw Jiang Hongyu, there was obvious joy on her face.
Although Jiang Hongyu had gone out before, it was usually only for one or two days, and rarely for four or five days like this time.
"Well, you're not too dark or too thin, which is good." Aunt Jiang looked Jiang Hongyu up and down. "Let's cook a few more dishes tonight to welcome you. I'll go see if anyone has caught any big fish at the beach."
After Aunt Jiang finished speaking, she turned around and walked out the door. Her movements were so smooth that Ye Mingzhu was stunned.
"That's just the way mother is. You just have to adapt to it." Jiang Hongyu smiled at Ye Mingzhu. Although their life now is much harder than in the capital, his mother is much more casual than when they were in the capital.
That night, the Jiang family cooked a lot of dishes, including seafood, braised meat, and finally, at Jiang Hongyu's request, they fried a plate of vegetables.
After dinner, Jiang Hongyu said he was going to work as a yamen runner. Aunt Jiang's expression was very calm: "I will live here. If you want to go to town, take your wife with you."
Jiang Hongyu had an expected expression on his face and told Ye Mingzhu what he and Ye Mingzhu had discussed in the afternoon.
Aunt Jiang looked at Ye Mingzhu in surprise. Generally, children who grew up in the village would be eager to go to a better place. It was rare for her to be willing to stay in the village.
"Have you decided who to drive the carriage?" Aunt Jiang had a candidate in mind, but she still needed to confirm with the other party.
Jiang Hongyu guessed what Aunt Jiang meant: "Mom, I'm not familiar with the villagers. Mingzhu mostly knows people of the younger generation. Why don't you ask around in the village?"
Aunt Jiang nodded: "I'll go ask and tell you when I have a candidate."
Ye Mingzhu found the conversation between the mother and the daughter particularly interesting. They talked back and forth without a single word of nonsense.
In the next few days, Jiang Hongyu went out early and came back late, and no one knew what he was busy with. Aunt Jiang still went out early every day and came back at dinner time.
Ye Yun'an has officially started studying with Jiang Hongyu. Every day he is either busy practicing calligraphy or practicing boxing.
Ye Mingzhu is the most idle person in the whole family. From time to time, she goes to the space to check the changes of pearls in the pearl oysters, or designs various new jewelry.
Days like this made Ye Mingzhu feel extremely comfortable. Jiang Hongyu looked at Ye Mingzhu's increasingly relaxed demeanor with a smile in his eyes: "Aren't these days particularly good?"
Ye Mingzhu nodded and then shook her head: "It's good, but a little boring."
Jiang Hongyu lowered his voice and said, "I'll take you to see something exciting."
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