Cheng Wanwan and Mrs. Zhao sat down in the house.
She went straight to the point and said, "Ergou is quite young now. I'm thinking of marrying him a wife."
"This matter should be done quickly." Old Mrs. Zhao slapped her thigh, "To tell you the truth, I have been secretly watching people recently. There are many girls in our village who are very good. When the time comes, I will find an excuse to kill those few. The girl invites the family to visit, and you ask Ergou to take a sneak peek, and we will go to that house to propose marriage to the one we like..."
Cheng Wanwan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and lowered her voice and said: "Mom, the person has been decided, it is Yingying, the eldest daughter of the Cao family."
Mrs. Zhao was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Er Gou, this guy must have saved Taishang Laojun in his previous life, and he is able to marry such a good wife back. That girl Yingying is good-looking, and she is not squeamish either. It’s just a treasure. But the Cao family is different from our village families. There must be a lot of things to pay attention to when marrying a girl, so we can’t be too vague.”
"That's what I mean too." Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "It's just that I don't understand much about this matter, so I came here to ask my mother."
"First we have to find a matchmaker. Matchmaker Zhao in our village knows everything. First let her go to the Cao family. This is called nacai. She is to ask the Cao family if they are willing to marry their daughter." Mrs. Zhao said these things The source said clearly, "If the Cao family is willing, the matchmaker will go back with a gift and ask for the other person's name and birth date. This step is called asking for the name. The next step is for us to go to the temple with the birth date and divination to see if it is suitable. It is suitable for marriage, and a rough wedding date must be set..."
Cheng Wanwan listened carefully, and after listening, his head felt big.
She only has one thought now, which is that she hopes that San Niu's future partner will be a young girl from a similar family background, so that the marriage will be much simpler.
She said: "Then please let mother and matchmaker Zhao talk things over first. Tomorrow I will go to the city to buy the gifts that the matchmaker brings to your door."
Mrs. Zhao immediately said: "You don't know what to buy. Let's go together tomorrow morning."
Cheng Wanwan nodded. She was in a state of confusion. Having the old lady help would save a lot of trouble.
She took out a piece of silver from her sleeve and handed it over: "This is the gift money to give to the matchmaker first."
After the marriage between the two families is officially confirmed, the matchmaker will have to pay a sum of money. On the wedding day, the man will also give the matchmaker a big bonus.
Old Mrs. Zhao pushed her money away: "I have saved Ergou's matchmaking money a long time ago. It's all the wages you gave me these days. Ergou, three cows and four eggs, all three children have a share..."
The old man opened a cloth bag, which was full of copper plates and some broken silver.
Cheng Wanwan's heart moved slightly. All the old people in the world were the same. They were reluctant to eat or wear the money they earned, and kept it all for their descendants.
The old lady was a bit rude sometimes, but she really cared about the child.
Qian Cheng Wanwan did not refuse, asking Ergou to be filial to his grandma in the future, which would be better than anything else.
Early the next morning, Cheng Wanwan and Mrs. Zhao got on the carriage to Ping'an County. It was getting colder and colder now. The north wind blew in the morning. It was too cold to ride in the bullock cart. Zhao Ergou Sitting outside driving the car, he is a strong young man, and the strong wind is not a big deal to him.
The carriage bumped all the way to Ping'an County and stopped at the door of Zhao's restaurant.
Mrs. Zhao had long heard that Zhao Ergou was going to open a restaurant, but she never had the chance to come to the city to see what it was like.
She jumped off the carriage, crossed the threshold and walked in. She immediately saw a small pool and a small rockery at the entrance. After walking around the entrance, she saw an empty lobby with all the tables and chairs temporarily removed. The floors are being re-tiled.
"These floor tiles look too precious." Mrs. Zhao twitched with distress, "Why are you so particular about stepping on things under your feet?"
Cheng Wanwan hurriedly put her arm around her old man's shoulders and went out: "Just let Ergou keep an eye on this, let's go shopping."
Mrs. Zhao knew that her eldest daughter-in-law didn't like to hear this, so she could only swallow the words she had not yet spoken with difficulty.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law decided on what to buy on the way, including tea, cloth and wine. These are the necessary door-to-door gifts for those who want to accept the gift. After the first two steps are over, it is time to propose marriage and betrothal. There are many things to prepare for the betrothal gift. It's just too much. You can't let a girl bring a bunch of dowry when you get married, but their family only prepares a gift of ten taels of silver. This will break someone's back.
Cheng Wanwan and the old lady went to the cloth shop first, bought some various kinds of cloth, and spent a dozen or so taels of silver casually.
There is no woman who doesn't love shopping in this world. Mrs. Zhao originally cared about money, but in the end she didn't bother to worry about it anymore. She just bought whatever she liked. After a while, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had their hands full of things.
But these are not enough.
Cheng Wanwan knew that Cao Yingying had many Zhuangzi shops, which were converted into silver coins, at least about five thousand taels of silver.
Even if she couldn't prepare a betrothal gift that could match the dowry, at least it couldn't be too shabby.
Of course, no matter how much dowry she prepares for Ergou, she will also allocate the same property to her other three sons. In short, she will never favor any one of her four sons.
When the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were walking on the street, there was a sudden commotion in the main street.
Two government officials came on horseback and posted a list on the notice wall in the main street. People passing by gathered around to see what was going on.
Cheng Wanwan couldn't squeeze in, so he could only listen to what those people said.
"Oh my god, there are refugees in Huzhou."
"I've long heard that the floods in the south are very serious. There is no harvest, and the refugees are homeless and starting to move around."
"The weather is getting colder and colder. If these refugees don't find a place to stay, they will definitely freeze to death on the road."
"Didn't you see what the notice said? There are so many refugees that the magistrate of Huzhou can't solve them. Even the city gates are closed. We can no longer go to Huzhou in the near future."
"God, refugees will not come to our Pingan County."
"Master Shen has made full preparations a long time ago. Don't worry, we will definitely not let the refugees enter the city."
"..."
Everyone looked at each other with a look of panic on their faces.
Cheng Wanwan's heart was a little heavy. In the past summer and autumn, you could easily find wild vegetables and fruits in the fields to fill your stomach. But today, when the weather got cold, it was no longer possible to survive in the wilds. The displaced refugees began to wander around in search of a place to stay. .
The whole country knew that Huzhou had a bumper harvest this year, and the refugees must have heard about it and gathered in Huzhou.
It's just that the taxes and grains handed over to Huzhou have long been sent to all parts of the country. What ability does the prefect have to take in these refugees?
If Huzhou does not open its city gates, these refugees will continue to flee. Then where will their next destination be?
Cheng Wanwan put everything into Mrs. Zhao's hands: "Mom, go back to the restaurant first, and I'll go to the county government office."
She hurried to the county government office gate.
Magistrate Shen was reading cases in the study. His usual job was to review cases, write documents, and then go to the magistrate's side.
However, Huzhou closed the city gate last night. He will not have to report to the magistrate for at least half a month. Not having to go does not mean that he is free. There are still many things to do. In addition to daily trial cases, he also needs to be ready at any time. Observe the movements of the refugees and prepare countermeasures...
"Sir!" Master Yuan walked in from the study door, "Suiru is here."
