Free Web NovelChapter 418: Chapter 162: Everything is Ready (Part 2)
Mrs. Zhao smiled as she did her needlework. "This is just between us. Don’t you dare let your older brother find out. He’s a petty one. It’s one thing if your sister-in-law offends him, but just you try it and see what happens."
"Mom, he’s your son, alright. You’ve got him pegged perfectly. Tsk, isn’t that just like him? He’s so petty, his heart’s no bigger than a sesame seed..."
A young man’s soft cough came from outside. Xiang’er jumped, immediately swallowing the words on the tip of her tongue. She was so startled she started hiccuping uncontrollably, looking like a complete mess.
Mrs. Zhao didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry.
She peeked outside and saw her son enter the eastern room. "You little rascal," she scolded with a laugh, then hurried over to her daughter and handed her some water. "I’ve told you before not to gossip about people behind their backs. See? Your older brother caught you, didn’t he? Still hiccuping? Serves you right!"
...
The matter of Li’an marrying into Chunyue’s family was finally settled.
It was Chunyue and Mr. Zhao who personally went to negotiate with the old couple. The old woman made an outrageous demand: a "dowry" of one hundred taels of silver and five mu of fertile land.
Chunyue’s family only had five mu of fertile land, which was all that supported her and her mother.
They had also cleared five mu of wasteland to plant huangqi, but its harvest was still uncertain. If they really gave all five mu of their fertile land to the old residence, how would the family survive if the huangqi crop failed?
But the old woman stubbornly refused to budge. In the end, they had no choice but to invite a clan elder from the Chen family to mediate. The price was negotiated down again and again, finally settling on Chunyue’s family giving the old couple fifty taels of silver, plus the first three years of income from the five mu of huangqi.
In a small village, fifty taels of silver was enough to marry eight or ten wives.
During a famine year, you could probably get a wife for free... but that’s not a fair comparison, so never mind.
For an average family arranging a typical marriage, very few would give silver as a dowry. When a daughter married, most families would prepare two mahogany chests and two quilts. They would also include a water bucket, a descendants’ pail, a washbasin, a comb, and a few sets of new clothes. That was usually the extent of it.
All told, these items wouldn’t even cost five taels of silver.
Of course, the dowry and betrothal gifts from when Zhao Jing married Chen Wanqing were not the norm for most people, so they weren’t a good benchmark. For the old woman to demand "betrothal gifts" on the same scale as their wedding was truly outrageous.
Fortunately, the price was negotiated down repeatedly, and the matter was finally settled.
But with the marriage arranged, Chunyue’s family must have been completely wiped out.
Fifty taels of silver! Just look around the village—who could produce that much money all at once?
A family with four or five able-bodied workers might not even save a single string of cash all year. Yet this mother and daughter, who everyone thought were living in hardship, could actually produce fifty taels. Just how much must they have scrimped and saved?
"They probably haven’t eaten meat a day in their lives."
"Those two are so frugal, they make one meal last an entire day."
"Eating less and working more, weaving baskets in the dark in the dead of night. It’s a shame. They saved up so much silver, only to give it all away in one go."
Many villagers had their reservations. Some felt Li’an wasn’t worth that much money, while others thought the old family had gone mad with greed. But there were also more calculating minds wondering if Chunyue’s family, having produced fifty taels, might have even more stashed away.
In response, Chunyue gave the crowd a wry smile. "Even if you sold my mother and me, we couldn’t come up with that much money. The truth is, I sold my labor. Not into servitude, but Sister-in-law Wanqing hired me to watch her medicinal fields and paid my wages in advance."
At this explanation, everyone understood.
But that gave rise to an even bigger question.
"Wanqing is right here in the village. If something comes up with the medicinal fields, she can find someone to handle it herself. Why would she need you to watch them?"
"I heard someone say a while back that Jing is planning to go study at the prefectural academy, and Wanqing is definitely going with him."
"Even if both of them leave, Mrs. Zhao and Xiang’er are still at home. Don’t tell me they’re planning to go to the Prefecture too? No way, right?"
"Why not? Jing would never be at ease leaving his mother and sister at home alone. Hey, maybe Jing and his wife really do plan to take Mrs. Zhao and Xiang’er with them. Let’s just go over there and ask, then we’ll know for sure."
The group of villagers instantly forgot all about Chunyue and Li’an.
They rushed over to Zhao Jing’s house and began bombarding Mrs. Zhao with questions, all talking at once.
Mrs. Zhao had already been given the go-ahead by her son and daughter-in-law, so she began to tell them the news.
