Chapter 184 Bottleneck Period
That morning, the Su family was in high spirits and went to the Yang family to propose marriage with betrothal gifts.
Cotton, cloth, honey, brown sugar, two bags of new rice, two goats, and some pheasants and rabbits.
On behalf of the Su family, Old Lady Su and Su Bucheng brought Su Laoer and invited Wang Sanlang, Pei Sanlang and others to accompany them, and they went to the Yang family in a grand manner.
Su Laoer was wearing a new cotton-padded jacket sewn by Yang Chunhua, which was neatly packed. He looked ten years younger, honest, simple, handsome and well-proportioned, and stood out among the crowd.
The children have a day off today, so they all followed along to watch the fun.
Since she had nothing to treat the villagers, Su Ying bought some soybeans and fried them, and then delivered a bowl of fried soybeans to every household as a way of announcing her wishes.
Old Man Yang opened the door wide and his family was waiting there early. They were stunned when the betrothal gifts were brought into the house.
"This, this! Are you going into the mountains?" Old man Yang was so surprised when he saw the goats, pheasants and rabbits that he stood up suddenly.
They are all poor people, so just do it as a token of your appreciation. Have you ever thought about asking them to go into the mountains to hunt? Isn't that a form of torture to death?
"No, I don't know who threw it at the gate of the yard last night. It's just right to be used as a betrothal gift." Su Bucheng lied.
The Yang Dalang brothers, Pei Sanlang and others who had followed Su Bucheng into the mountains guessed where the prey came from, and unconsciously looked at the innocent and cute Atang in the crowd.
The little girl was crunching fried soybeans with Xiao Tao and Su Lu, watching the fun. Those who didn't know the truth might have mistaken her for an ignorant child.
If Su Ying hadn't stopped him, Atang would have wanted to catch a few big wild boars.
Xiao Hei, Hua Hua and Bai Jialang hadn't seen each other for a long time. They were so happy to see Atang that they chased the wild beasts in the mountains and made them run all over the mountain.
The goats were a mother and her baby goats. The one that ran slower was caught and taken away together.
"Did the goat come here by itself?" Old man Yang felt dazzled. He actually saw a live goat with its cub.
"Who knows? He's eating grass at the gate of the yard, so I brought him here too." Su Bucheng wanted to laugh after he said that.
It's just that Ah Ying is mischievous. She talks nonsense with her eyes open, whether it makes sense or not. It doesn't matter whether others believe it or not, what matters is that she believes it herself.
"This goat really came here by itself. It looks like it's injured..." Old man Yang was still thinking.
"Hmm!" Yang Dalang poked his father.
Old man Yang looked at his eldest son in confusion. The eldest son blinked. Old man Yang didn't ask any more questions because he knew there was something strange.
"Uncle, aunt, this ewe is still feeding her lamb. There is milk. You can squeeze the milk for your wife to drink to nourish her body." Su Laoer said with a red face.
"Hahaha!" A burst of laughter broke out among the crowd watching the excitement.
"Mr. Su Erlang, you should still call me uncle and aunt. You should call me dad and mom. Accept all the betrothal gifts. From now on, you two will be one family!"
"Dad, Mom!" Su Laoer didn't hesitate and actually knelt down and shouted.
"My dear son-in-law, please get up quickly, please get up quickly!" Gao hurriedly helped Su Laoer up.
The more the mother-in-law looked at her son-in-law, the more satisfied she became. He was much stronger and stronger than Wang Wulang.
"Congratulations, Chunhua, you finally have someone to rely on!" Madam Zheng and several widows came to congratulate her and gathered in Yang Chunhua's room chattering.
Yang Chunhua's face flushed with shame and her brows were raised with joy. She looked gentle, charming, bright and pretty. Where was the sorrow she once had?
"Thank you, Pan'er!" Yang Chunhua whispered.
"What are you thanking me for? Su Erlangjun is really great! Didn't you see how well-groomed and presentable he is? He is a man worthy of entrusting your life to.
The Su family is hardworking and smart. If you marry one of them, you won't have to work so hard anymore! It would be great to have a loving husband and a child!
"God has finally compensated you for what he owed you!" Madam Zheng said happily.
"Pan'er!" Yang Chunhua held Madam Zheng's hand, and the two looked at each other in silence, everything was said without words.
If Zheng Pan'er hadn't made it clear, she and Su Erlangjun would not have known whether this was really going on or not.
The village elders all came to pay their respects, presenting a few pounds of rice, some vegetables, or some preserved meat from their home collection to express their gratitude.
Only Old Man Wang was missing.
The old couple sat sullenly in the dim thatched hut. Old man Wang listened to the noise outside, his eyes blank and silent.
Old Lady Wang sobbed softly; the noise deeply hurt her heart.
"This is too much! No, I need to talk to Yang Shoudao! Why? We haven't even agreed to let our daughter-in-law come home, and the Yang family can't wait to marry her off!"
The more Old Lady Wang thought about it, the angrier she became. She decided to break up the marriage, making it difficult for herself and others to live with it.
"Old woman, forget it!" Old man Wang called out to his wife.
"Old man, are we just going to let this go? Poor Wulang, he lost his child and his wife ran away.
Lying alone in the ground after death, it’s all because of us, as parents, being useless, we couldn’t even keep a wife, wuwu…”
"Okay! What's the use of crying? If your heart has run away, what's the point of keeping you?" Old man Wang scolded his wife.
"Is it such a good deal for the Yang family?" Old Mrs. Wang was unwilling.
"So what if it's cheap? So what if it's not cheap? You and I are about to die, who else can we do anything to?" Old Man Wang sighed.
"We should listen to Sanlang and adopt a son for Wulang. Then, a hundred years from now, there will be people burning paper for us and Wulang."
Old man Wang finally faced the reality. What if his daughter-in-law stayed? He still had to face the problem of adopting a child. Otherwise, who would burn paper for him a hundred years later?
In this case, it doesn't matter whether the daughter-in-law stays or not. It's better to part ways amicably while the affection remains. During festivals and busy farming seasons, everyone can visit each other and help each other.
The three Su Shichen brothers huddled in the house, looking dejected.
They were powerless to change the situation, and they didn't want to congratulate against their will, so they hid in the house and refused to see anyone.
Su Boyan and Su Ying came to invite them to watch the fun, but were refused. They just said that their feet hurt. They had walked all day the day before and the blisters on their feet had not gone away.
Su Ying looked at him and stopped trying to persuade him.
The three brothers were being stubborn and the more they were persuaded, the more they became unwilling to accept. It was a happy day and Su Ying had no time to care about it, so she decided to talk about it another day.
It's okay to hide in the house, as long as you don't make any noise or cause any trouble.
There are so many things to do next, including the winter wheat in the fields, the planting of two rice crops next year, the production of vermicelli and honey in the village, the planting of kudzu root, konjac, and oil tea trees, as well as the ongoing road construction. Each and every one of them requires a lot of energy.
The relocation to the new house and school building after completion, as well as the marriage of the new bride, must also be arranged and considered one by one.
Although building a house saved material and labor costs, daily meals and entertainment were still a huge burden, and the Su family's savings were soon exhausted.
It is impossible to just bring the bride home for the wedding in two or three months. At least the villagers have to be treated to a meal, and even if they do less, it will still cost a lot.
Su Ying's mind was racing, trying to think of something to make a small fortune and fill this funding gap.
Things are moving in a good direction, but many things still require time and effort. We are not gods who can make things happen with just a click of the finger.
A lot of vermicelli was sold, but as the raw materials were consumed, the output could no longer be increased.
Honey harvesting also requires time intervals. Naturally grown tea fruit, konjac, kudzu root, and fern root have to wait until next year, and artificially cultivated ones have to wait two or three years.
The way to make money is at a bottleneck, and I can’t think of anything else that can be converted into cash in the short term.
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