Chapter 123 [VIP]
Of the group, only Chen Qingyan was married; the others were not yet married.
Chen Qinghuai became the most sought-after candidate. He was only eighteen years old this year and had just passed the imperial examination. His father was the governor of the prefecture, so his future was limitless.
Those with a bit of foresight planned to marry their children to him. Although a scholar's status was not worth much, he might pass the imperial examination in the future, and his status would rise accordingly.
However, Fang Ling refused them all. She couldn't make decisions about her son's marriage. Her husband had already arranged a marriage for him with a daughter from the Bai family, and they were just waiting for the autumn imperial examinations to conclude before getting engaged. How could she dare to agree to anything recklessly?
When the matchmaker realized she couldn't arrange a marriage for Chen Qinghuai, she set her sights on Chen Qingsong and Chen Qingyun.
Chen Qingsong is only fourteen years old, and it is too early to arrange a marriage now. As for Qingyun, although Li Shi is anxious, she cannot just agree to anyone. Especially after what happened with Lin Sui, she is even more cautious about her daughter's marriage.
If they were to settle in the prefectural city in the future, they certainly couldn't leave Qingyun in the county town, so they refused all offers.
They thought that canceling these marriage proposals would solve everything, but unexpectedly, someone actually set their sights on Chen Qingyan.
The Song family in the county town were wealthy merchants. Actually, they had only run a grain shop before, but by sheer coincidence, they had stockpiled a large amount of grain in the shop before the flood. The family made a fortune from this grain, and after the flood, they became the richest merchants in the county town.
His family also intended to form a marriage alliance with the Chen family, and the original plan was for his youngest son to marry Chen Qingyun, but the other party refused.
It just so happens that he has a concubine's daughter, who is sixteen years old. Rather than marrying her to an ordinary man as his wife, it would be better to give her to Chen Qingyan as a concubine.
If Chen Qingyan were to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, they would have someone to rely on. Even if he failed, it would only mean losing a concubine's daughter, which wouldn't be a great loss to them.
After making the decision, Song Jincheng personally brought generous gifts to Cao Kun first, and then Cao Kun introduced him to visit the Chen family.
Cao Kun had done business with him before and they were old acquaintances. When he learned that Cao Kun was going to visit the Chen family, he didn't pay much attention. He just thought that Cao Kun was going to make friends with them, since many people had asked him to help them make connections recently.
Cao Kun said, "Brother Song, if you're not in a hurry, I'll take you there this afternoon."
"Alright, I'll treat you to a drink after this is done!"
After finishing his work as a porter in the morning, Song Jincheng came again in the afternoon, and Cao Kun took him to the Chen family.
Since Cao Kun had introduced them, Chen Qingyan and his group naturally agreed to meet them, so they invited them into the courtyard.
After exchanging a few words, Song Jincheng said, "I have a daughter who is beautiful, gentle, and very understanding. If you don't mind, I'm willing to give her a dowry of one hundred strings of cash..."
Chen Qingyan quickly replied, "My second younger brother is already engaged, but my third younger brother is still young and we don't plan to arrange a marriage for him yet."
Song Jincheng laughed and said, "Young master, you misunderstand. I'm not arranging marriages for your two brothers, but for you."
"I'm already married."
“What’s so strange about a man having three wives and four concubines? He can’t live with just one boy forever. My daughter is a newcomer, so I won’t fight for any title. She can be your concubine, and from now on we’ll be family.”
Before Chen Qingyan could refuse, Cao Kun, who was sitting next to him, suddenly stood up, grabbed Song Jincheng by the collar, and dragged him out.
"Hey, let go! Manager Cao, what are you doing?"
Cao Kun angrily said, "I thought you came to befriend my cousins, but I didn't expect you to try to put someone in my cousin's room. My sister-in-law is the most capable person in the world. How could my cousin possibly be interested in your stupid girl who is as dumb as a pig or a dog!"
After saying that, he forcefully threw the person out the door.
The noise outside naturally attracted the attention of the people inside. After coming out of the house and hearing the whole story, everyone was speechless.
Wang Ying glanced at Chen Qingyan and couldn't help but laugh when she saw his tense expression.
Chen Qingyan glared at him, implying that he could still laugh about something so important. "Let's cancel the lease on the house tomorrow, go back to our hometown in Qingshui Town to pay respects to our ancestors, and then head straight to the prefectural city."
Li Shi chimed in, "Yes, yes, it's time to head back early; we still need to prepare for the prefectural examination."
This incident put Cao Kun in a very awkward position, and after chasing the person away, he hurriedly went to Wang Ying to apologize.
"I really didn't know this person was going to be introduced to my cousin... I hope my cousin's wife won't take offense."
"It's okay, I'm not angry."
"I should have asked him earlier, this guy is just too unreliable!"
Wang Ying comforted him instead, "Don't take it to heart. I know your cousin's character. Even if you put a beautiful woman in front of him, he won't agree."
"My cousin is a gentleman, this is all my fault. I will never bring people here casually again."
After seeing Cao Kun off, Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan returned to their room to pack their things, putting all the odds and ends into the experimental field for easy departure the next day.
Wang Ying couldn't help but joke, "If someone introduces you to a beautiful young woman as a concubine, aren't you tempted?"
Chen Qingyan sighed helplessly, "Aying, don't tease me about this. It will not only damage her reputation but also hurt our relationship."
“I was just saying it casually, and they’ve already introduced me to their home, so I’m not even allowed to ask questions.”
Seeing his expression, Chen Qingyan knew he was jealous. She took his hand and said, "When I was bedridden, I swore to the heavens that as long as you don't abandon me, I will only marry you in this life. If I have any other intentions, I will never be able to make a name for myself."
Wang Ying clicked her tongue; the sourness made her teeth ache.
He was a man in his past life, so he knows what men are like.
His parents divorced because his father cheated on him first, which is why he doesn't believe in any of those bullshit vows.
"Chen Qingyan, I'll only say this once: if you are devoted to me, I will never betray you; but if you dare to be unfaithful to me..."
Wang Ying paused for a moment and then said, "I can't possibly hang myself on your tree. I'll definitely leave with my son, so you won't be able to find me even if you want to."
Chen Qingyan naturally believed what he said. He knew how capable his husband was, so he could only hold him tightly, afraid that he would leave him.
*
The next day, someone still came to visit, but when they arrived, they found the door locked and no one was home.
I asked around and found out that the family had already left this morning. As for where they went, they had no idea; they just waved and left.
At this moment, Wang Ying and her group were riding in a carriage heading towards Qingshui Town.
They had no idea what the town looked like since they left. The snow on the road hadn't melted completely, and there were still many ruins to be seen.
There used to be more than a dozen villages along this road, but after the flood, only three or four villages remained with smoke rising from their chimneys; the rest became deserted villages.
This was the first time the Chen brothers had truly experienced the ruthlessness of natural disasters. They had only heard about them from others before, but seeing it with their own eyes was completely different.
Especially heartbreaking was the sight of the withered bones by the roadside, long since gnawed bare by wild animals. The good news, however, was that the journey was smooth and they encountered no robbers, which relieved everyone.
As the carriage entered Qingshui Town, the sounds of vendors hawking their wares could be heard.
Chen Qingyun quickly poked her head out, "Mother, look, isn't that the peddler who often sells things on the street!"
Li looked over as well and indeed the boy looked familiar. She never expected that the peddler was still alive!
Continuing down the street, you can see several shops that are already open, mostly selling food and miscellaneous items.
When they passed by their shop, Wang Ying asked Uncle Chen to stop the carriage, and she got out and walked around. The shop's main door was gone; she didn't know if it had been demolished or washed away by water. The inside was a mess, full of mud and weeds.
They probably won't be coming back, and it's a shame to leave this shop idle. I'll ask Da Shun's family when we get back to the village if they'd be willing to come and open a general store here.
We got back in the car and continued driving home. As we approached our house, everyone's hearts were in their throats, fearing that the past six months had left our home in a terrible state.
As soon as the carriage stopped, the gate opened, and Chen Fang excitedly ran out, "Master, young master, you're finally back!"
"Chen Fang, what are you doing here?"
"Not only am I here, but Brother Ershun, Brother Tianju, and Brother Ma are all here too. Come in quickly!"
The carriage drove into the courtyard, and everyone got off one by one. They were surprised to see that the courtyard had been cleaned up and that even the main house had been repaired!
Li asked excitedly, "Did you build this house?"
Chen Fang shook his head, "This is a long story, Madam, please come inside and tell me slowly."
Once everyone entered the house, the main room was very warm because the stove had been lit in advance.
The furniture was all put back in its original place. Although there were signs of repair, it was clear that a lot of care had been taken in tidying it up.
Everyone sat down, and soon Ma Zhandong and Tian Ju also came over. The two knelt down and kowtowed to pay their respects.
Li quickly raised her hand and said, "Get up quickly, what's going on with this house?"
Ma Zhandong said, "This house was repaired by Uncle Chen Xi and his people."
It all started last autumn. After they left, everyone used the seeds Wang Ying gave them to survive until autumn. Just as the landlord had said, the land was more fertile after the flood, and even the lower-grade fields produced more grain than in previous years.
With grain in hand, every household was happy, and being able to eat their fill gave them hope for the future.
Because this year's grain harvest was plentiful, the imperial court didn't waive taxes, and the landlords said they wouldn't charge rent. Everyone couldn't possibly eat it all, so they decided to take it to town to sell.
When they arrived in town, they discovered that the landlord's yard had been occupied by a group of refugees who were eating, drinking, and relieving themselves inside. They had even taken down the doors and windows to use as firewood, leaving the place in a terrible state.
Upon seeing this, Chen Xi immediately gathered the villagers, young and old, to drive the people away. This was the ancestral home of the landlord; how could they allow those people to ruin it?
Taking advantage of the free time after autumn, he led more than ten men to start repairing the house.
First, the courtyard wall and gate were repaired to prevent anyone from entering again. Then, the main house was repaired because it had collapsed so badly that the entire roof beam had to be replaced.
Unable to find cedar, they used red pine instead. Although not as good as the previous wood, it was still sturdy and durable, and it was the best material they could find.
Upon hearing this, Wang Ying looked up at the brand-new roof beams above her head, and her nose felt a little sore.
This is probably a case of reaping what you sow. They gave them seeds and grain, and the villagers reciprocated by helping them repair their houses so that they would still have a place to stay when they returned home.
After resting for a while, everyone started to look around the various rooms. In Li's room, there was only a four-poster bed left. The rest of the furniture had probably been smashed and used as firewood by the refugees.
But it doesn't matter, as long as we have a home, we can buy those things later.
Yuanbao ran to the courtyard where his father lived. The courtyard where Wang Ying and the others lived was the best preserved in the whole house. The furniture inside was untouched, and even the bedding was still there, although it had long been soaked in water and become moldy.
Chen Qingyan quickly cleared the things out, while Wang Ying took a new set of bedding from the experimental field and laid it out.
Lying on the familiar bed, it felt like their wedding had just happened yesterday. If Yuanbao hadn't run over and called out, "Father, I'm hungry," he wouldn't have been able to stay.
Wang Ying still wondered if she was having a dream.
"Wait, Father will make you something delicious."
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