Good farming at the foot of Changbai Mountain

Chapter 30
Now that Huixin and Tao Qingnian's marriage has been agreed upon, no matter how unwilling the Tao family is, they have to go through the procedure of marriage negotiation.The northerners don't have too many rules. The omission in the front is directly a levy, that is, a betrothal gift and engagement.The Tao family chose the eighth day of October to come to the Xu family to give the dowry.

On the morning of the eighth day of the eighth day, Zhixin got up early to clean the yard.And these children in the family are also tidy and tidy, Mrs. Xue is preparing today's banquet in the kitchen.

It stands to reason that all the brothers and sisters-in-law should be present for Huixin's engagement, but Zhixiang is far away in Changbai Mansion and cannot come back.Zhiming and his wife worked for other people in the county, but they always had something to do, so they didn't call.As for Zhide, Mrs. Chen really felt that Mrs. Han looked down on the Xu family too much, and she felt a little blocked when she asked them to come back.So, the three sons didn't tell which one, but invited the head of the village and Mr. Xu's cousin and sister-in-law.

Zhixin went hunting in the mountains yesterday, in order to have a few more dishes today.Fortunately, Zhixin was lucky, he managed to kill two rabbits, one roe deer, and three pheasants, which is quite a lot.Xue took care of all these, and stewed the pheasant in the pot early in the morning.

Wen Han was also sent to the town yesterday to buy some meat and some fish. The Xu family only has such a daughter, why can't they lose face?
The Xu family is very popular in the village. I heard that the daughter of the Xu family is engaged today, and several daughters-in-law came to help, among them was Lin Zixuan's mother, the Fang family.In addition, Shitou's daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law who gave birth to a son, everyone came after breakfast and helped prepare the banquet in the kitchen.

At the beginning of Sishi, people from the Tao family came.Mr. Tao, the old lady, Tao Qingnian's elder brother Tao Qingfeng, his wife Yu Shi, plus Tao Qingnian and Qian Matchmaker.Everyone has things in their hands, a pair of geese, pork with four ribs, four boxes of tea, four boxes of snacks, and two sets of clothes for Huixin.

When Mrs. Chen saw that the Tao family was coming, she hurried forward with Mr. Xu to greet her. Matchmaker Qian hurriedly asked Mrs. Chen to take the things, and then let the Tao family into the house.Everyone entered the room and sat down. Although the old lady of the Tao family was a little unhappy, it was okay on the whole.

Old Mrs. Tao took out the prepared dowry gift, five taels of silver, and put it on the table. Mrs. Chen put the dowry gift aside with a smile.Then Matchmaker Qian published both Hui Xin and Qing Nian's Geng Tie, and wrote a marriage letter according to the above ages. The parents of both parties pressed their fingerprints on the marriage letter, and the engagement was considered final.There are two copies of the marriage certificate, each party holds one copy, and they have to go to the Yamen for filing.

After all this was done, Matchmaker Qian let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, congratulations, the two families will be in-laws from now on."

The two parties will then discuss the date of marriage, according to Chen's family, they will get married at the end of February next year.But Mrs. Tao quit and insisted on getting married in the first month, and Mrs. Chen couldn't be too stubborn with her.So they agreed to get married in the first month, and finally set the date of marriage on the eighth day of the first month.

The wedding date was fixed, and everyone chatted casually. The Tao family didn't quite agree with this marriage, so the words were a bit thorny.The daughter-in-law of the boss of the Tao family said sourly there, "Now that we are married, the dowry cost is five taels, and we also need a dowry gift. In total, we can't get down to two or thirty taels? It's better to raise a girl." , if there are too many boys, it will be difficult to marry a wife."

Xue Shi listened and laughed. "A son has the advantage of a son. Let's talk about the work in the field. Girls can't compare with boys. In fact, if a boy doesn't go to school, he will start working in the field at the age of 14, and he will generally get a lot of money. Eighteen or ninety-nine, almost twenty to get married. It costs ten taels and twenty taels to marry a daughter-in-law, and she has already earned it." On such occasions, it is naturally difficult to say anything else.But with Mrs. Xue's words, anyone can understand that Tao Qingnian has already earned out the cost of getting married.Tao Qingnian was able to save 20 taels of silver without telling his family, so the amount he took home in the past few years must be at least twice as much.

When the eldest daughter-in-law of the Tao family heard this, her face was not very good-looking, but she had no words to refute, because Mrs. Xue didn't say who it was.

Here Mrs. Xue saw that the time was almost up, so she hurried to the kitchen to see how the dishes were prepared.Seeing Mrs. Xue coming, Zixuanniang said: "Sister-in-law, look at today's dishes, stewed pork vermicelli, bracken pork, rabbit meat stewed potatoes, chicken stewed mushrooms, braised carp, vinegared cabbage, stir-fried roe deer Meat, scrambled eggs, and fried peanuts seem to be missing one dish, so what else?"

Mrs. Xue looked at it, and there was soaked fungus next to it, "How about some fried pork with fungus? There are exactly ten dishes, so this dish should be okay, right?"

Zixuanniang and the other daughters-in-law laughed, "Sister-in-law, this dish is better than the banquet for marrying a daughter-in-law. We won't be able to eat such a good dish during the Chinese New Year. They can't pick anything." Everyone praised The dishes prepared by the family today are relatively hard.

These people work quickly, and after a while, fried pork with fungus will be ready.Mrs. Xue hurried into the room and asked, "Mother, Aunt Tao, Aunt Qian, the food is ready, shall we chat while eating?"

Mrs. Chen nodded, "Okay, let's chat while eating, and don't just sit here."

So, Mrs. Xue and the helping daughter-in-law hurriedly put the tables on, one on the kang and one on the ground, and the rest of the children ate in the kitchen.Huixin only showed up at the beginning, and then helped out in the kitchen. Naturally, she couldn't eat with everyone at the moment, so Jinghan and Jingya brought the food to Westinghouse to eat with their little aunt.When the dishes were placed on the table, the old man of the Tao family smiled, "I said, my in-laws, the dishes in your family are hard enough. No one else has such good dishes for Chinese New Year." The old man Tao was also a little unhappy , but it has come to this time, it is useless to say that, it is better to get along well.There is still a Juren in this Xu family, dare to say what will happen in the future?

The village head here also said, "Isn't it? Our Zhixin is a capable person. We do a good job in the fields, and we can go hunting in the mountains in winter. Many of these vegetables today are brought back by Zhixin." Brother Tao, don’t worry, you can’t go wrong with the marriage of the Xu family. The Xu family is the most kind. Look at the Xu family’s sister-in-law. There are several daughter-in-laws in the family, and she has never quarreled with any of them. It's been three or four years, and I haven't quarreled with my mother-in-law." Everyone in these villages knows that, in fact, the character of the Xu family is obvious to all in the village, that is, the Wei family incident, but now everyone also agrees. Not to mention.

The old man of the Tao family nodded. Since his son insisted on marrying the daughter of the Xu family, he also found someone to inquire about some things about the Xu family.I know the village chief is telling the truth.In fact, a family like Xu's is good, they are honest, simple and honest, and they don't have any bad intentions.Even if the old woman put forward such a harsh condition, the family agreed, but it was just to help the two children. "Come on, Brother Xu, and Brother Zhou, let's have a drink. From now on, we will be relatives. Qingnian, who has been a doctor since elementary school, has been in Renjitang. Now he is also a decent doctor. In the days to come Don't worry about it, not to mention the rich and powerful, it's okay to be ordinary. When Huixin comes to my house, he can't bear the hardships."

Xu Chengkuan listened and nodded, "I'm relieved that I have my in-laws. We are farmers, so we are not afraid of hardships. As long as they are a happy couple, we are better than anything else."

The meal started at the beginning of noon and ended at the beginning of the afternoon, during which the old lady Tao only said a few words.Naturally, she was unhappy in her heart. Of the three sons in the family, the second child was the best looking.Originally, he hoped that the second child could find a wife with a better family background, so that the family could also enjoy some prosperity.But I didn't expect that the second child didn't know what was wrong with his brain. He was so optimistic about this farm girl and refused to agree to the Liu family's marriage. The old lady was so angry.Fortunately, the Xu family now has a Juren, which is not bad, otherwise, even if the Xu family paid 200 taels of silver, she would not agree.I came here today, and I was not in a good mood at first, but the Xu family members warmly entertained her, and the food was well prepared, so she couldn't find anything wrong with it.The old lady was suffocating, so she didn't want to talk.

Since they got married on the eighth day of the new year, the dowry had to be given before the year. The two parties discussed it and decided to give the dowry on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month.

After the banquet, the Tao family left. Mrs. Chen and Matchmaker Qian separated all the things that the Tao family had brought, kept half for their own family, and took the rest back to the Tao family. This is the rule.In addition, there were two new clothes made for Tao Qingnian, which were also taken away by them.Chen and the old man were naturally sent to the gate.Seeing the Tao family walk away, Mrs. Chen sighed, "Oh, this marriage is really worrying. If it wasn't for Huixin, I really wouldn't agree." After saying that, she returned to the east room.

The helping daughter-in-laws ate here and went home.It's not too busy now, but this woman is at home, sewing and mending inside and outside the house, doing everything, so she didn't stay in Xu's house much.Mrs. Xue also sent them to the door, greeted them all, and came to play frequently when she was free. After watching the daughter-in-laws leave, she turned and went back to the house.

Huixin came out from the west room and went to the east room. When she saw Mrs. Chen sitting on the kang, she went to her mother's side, "Mother, I'm sorry, it's all because of me." Huixin said that she was about to cry.

Mrs. Chen hugged her daughter, "Girl, don't be sad, I think the old man of the Tao family is quite reasonable. After you are married, be diligent and get along well with your mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Didn't you talk about the New Year?" ? I want to separate and go out to live alone with you. I guess this separation may take a year or two, and you have to bear with it for these two years. As long as it is not too big, the patience will pass."

(End of this chapter)