After dinner, the elders were chatting in the main room. Chu Yi treated the wounds of the two wild geese in the corner of the courtyard. He also clipped their wings and built a fence so that they could be kept in his own courtyard before being recruited.
Chu Li pulled a few pigweeds from outside and squatted aside to feed the geese carelessly: "Brother, have you thought of a way to pay the bride price?"
"Well, brother is just about to discuss this matter with you." Chu Yi said, placing the wild goose in the newly fenced fence, patted the dust on his body, and led his younger brother back to their house.
Chu Yi took out a navy blue purse from the inside of the kang cabinet and poured all the coins and coins inside it onto the kang!
"My father left some money for us when he left. Just remember not to tell anyone about this. There hasn't been any big expenses in these years. Plus the one tael we got from selling wild geese today, the total is now twelve or three." One hundred and seventy-two articles.”
Chu Li didn't know what his brother meant by saying this, but he was a little surprised: "Brother, aren't the wild geese in the yard?"
"Your cousin Chu Ping is very good. I caught two pairs today and sold one pair."
As he spoke, he took out the one tael in his arms and put them together, and then said: "Brother, I want to discuss with you, take four taels from here as a betrothal gift, and leave the rest for you to study. Okay. ?”
Chu Li shook his head and pushed all the money on the kang to Chu Yi: "Brother, take it all, I won't go to school!"
"The village school only requires three hundred copper coins a year, so there is no need for you to drop out of school to marry my brother!"
During the Qian Dynasty, literati were highly respected, and the trend of scientific examination essays and anthologies was prevalent. As long as the family was not in trouble, most boys would be sent to learn to read and read!
There are schools and private schools all over the country, and they have opened as many as three schools in mountain villages to educate children!
At present, Chu Li is still in the enlightenment stage and does not cost money. Those who really spend money on studying are people like Chu's parent and grandson Chu Ren.
If you have passed the imperial examination, it means you have some ability to study. Then you need to go to a university or private school in the town or even the county to study. This is the beginning of the real road to the imperial examination!
Early the next morning, Chu Yi went to his grandfather's house next door as soon as he got up.
Chu Ping was still asleep in the bed, and he was pulled up in a daze: "Cousin, why did you come here so early?"
"I have something I have to entrust you to do, and I have to keep it a secret from others for the time being." After Chu Yi said that, he took out the things in his arms and handed them to his cousin Chu Ping. He also told him his plans and remembered them all. After getting off the bus, I returned to my yard.
Yesterday, I had already delayed a day's work. Today, I can't delay any more, so I can only entrust the matter to my cousin Chu Ping.
September 30th, the last day of September, the Chu family is going to the Shen family today to receive the ceremony!
After receiving the levy, the betrothal gifts are sent to the girl's home.
Accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums, Chu Yi held two wild geese with red ropes tied around their necks. He followed Matchmaker Qin at the front, followed closely by his younger brother Chu Li, holding a tray covered with red cloth. Next came his cousin Chu Ping and Chu Yi’s younger brother Zhao Cheng, who were carrying wine, tea, cakes and other betrothal gifts. Finally, they were followed by Uncle Chu and his wife and other relatives of the Chu family!
As soon as Xiapin's team entered Hexi Village, villagers were attracted by the sound of gongs and drums to watch the excitement. Children from various families and adults who had nothing to do followed them to the door of Shen's house.
Matchmaker Qin stood still and shouted with a smile: "The Shen family has a daughter from hundreds of families, and the second son of the Chu family is the first! The Shen family is opening the door quickly, the Chu family is here to hire!"
With Qin Matchmaker's festive voice, the door of the Shen family opened with a click. Everyone in the Shen family happily welcomed the Chu family and the villagers who came to join in the fun, holding boxes full of melon seeds and wedding candies to cheer everyone up!
Matchmaker Qin directed Chu Ping and others to place the betrothal gifts in the Shen family yard, signaling to the neighbors who were watching the excitement to be quiet. Then she took out the gift list she and Chu Yi had drawn up last night and spread it out. He cleared his throat and sang: "The first male should get married, the first female should marry and have a family; a thousand miles of marriage is tied by a thin thread, and a man and his daughter will love each other for a hundred years! The second son of the Chu family asked to marry the youngest daughter of the Shen family, and specially prepared a pair of wild geese. Two jars of fragrant wine, two cans of tea, four boxes of pastries of various colors, six taels of patterned silver, a pair of plain silver bracelets, a pair of silver bracelets with wishful patterns, a pair of silver earrings with peach blossoms, and a silver hairpin with peach blossoms..."
If Uncle Chu was here and heard this gift list, he would be very surprised. Didn't he agree to collect a bride price of twelve taels like Chu Ren did at the beginning? Why did it become six taels and some silver jewelry?
Chu Yi originally thought of making it up to ten taels, but then he thought about it. If grandpa and grandma knew about it, they would probably put all the extra seven taels on the third uncle's head!
Although adding three ounces and adding seven ounces is a blessing, there is no chance that his son will go over his head. When he falls down, his third uncle will inevitably be reprimanded. If the tired third uncle is not a good person, it will be bad.
He simply asked his cousin Chu Ping to go to the silversmith's shop in the town for him and beat all the four taels of silver into silver jewelry!
Every time Matchmaker Qin mentioned something, she would open it and show it to everyone. The first ones were not bad. Although wild geese were harder to catch, the season was right now. As long as they were willing to spend time, they could always catch them. No one else could hire them. There was nothing unusual about this, until the tray Chu Li was holding was opened, and the villagers who came to join in the fun began to talk.
"Aunt Li, I think those two pairs of bracelets cost two or three taels of silver, and they also paid six taels of betrothal money. Doesn't it mean that the Chu family's life is not as good as it used to be? It doesn't look like it, right?" The Wang family's daughter-in-law said a little I don’t understand, how can someone still pay betrothal money and buy jewelry even if they are ruined?
Aunt Li who was asked didn't quite agree: "Two or three taels? Counting the silver hairpin and earrings, I'm afraid there must be four or five taels!"
The Liu family's mother-in-law who came to join in the fun explained: "Daughter-in-law of the Wang family, you have just married into our Hexi Village. You may not know it well. Unlike your mother's family, the villages near us are surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the cultivated land is also fertile. , As long as you are willing to endure hardships, your life will not be too bad! Even though they are all working in the fields, as they get older, who doesn’t have enough money to save, not to mention that the Chu family has some skills! "
Aunt Li also said: "Yes, if it weren't for the fact that the Chu family has had too many troubles in recent years, everyone in the family would point to Chu Yi. Who wouldn't want such a handsome and skilled son-in-law?" !”
Mother-in-law Liu looked at the things on the tray and marveled: "The bride price of six taels of silver is nothing here, it's just an ordinary amount, but it's really incredible that such a lot of silver jewelry is given as a bride price. I’ve seen it before, how can a country woman use such expensive things!”
The Wang family's daughter-in-law was a little dissatisfied, but the truth told by Mrs. Liu was that her natal village was indeed poor. She thought it was a good thing to marry her off for only two taels of silver. Now that she knows the true situation of her husband's family, she feels very unhappy. !
Aunt Li curled her lips and said in a low voice: "That's right, no matter how good our life is in the countryside, we never see the eldest daughter or daughter-in-law wearing gold and silver. What's more, the entire Chu family is useless. They are all useless." Pointing to this Chu Yi, if the next one is so extravagant, it seems that he doesn’t know how to live a good life. I don’t know what he will be like in the future!"
Everyone in the Chu family had been invited to sit down by the Shen family. After listening to these words, the eldest uncle Wang felt like nails were pressed on the stool. She couldn't sit still. Her face, which was originally black and yellow, was even more tense now. He looked up, without any smile, and his pair of cloudy little eyes were even more wandering.
The eldest uncle, Mrs. Wang, secretly guessed that when her eldest son got married, she married the only daughter of a scholar who taught in a private school in the town, and her parents-in-law only paid twelve taels of bride price!
Her Chu Ren family is the hope of the old Chu family in the future!
The second child just married the daughter of a drugstore and was given a bride price of sixty taels. Why did he also get so much silver jewelry! I'm afraid there are only four or five taels, so why should I?
Could it be that she and the head of the family have gone back less recently, so that the second elder's Menghulu was deceived by the second elder? no! She had to go back quickly to check on her mother-in-law!
After collecting the gifts, Matchmaker Qin rolled up the gift list again and handed it over to the Shen family together with the betrothal gift.
Different from the day of the marriage proposal, Shen Luzhu could show up today, but there were too many people in the yard before. Now the villagers who were joining in the fun dispersed one after another, and Shen Luzhu came out to greet the elders of the Chu family one by one.
Chu Yi saw the wood-carved peach hairpin on Shen Luzhu's head and thought that she must have put it on specially today. The corners of her mouth slightly raised. She seemed to look better than the last time the Shen family's cousins got married!
Shen Luzhu was serving some tea and pastries with his sisters-in-law to the guests and his elders. He felt as if someone was looking at him. He looked up and saw that it was Chu Yi. After thinking about it, he walked over with the pastries. Then he saw Chu Yi's slightly surprised eyes. , suddenly changed direction and stood in front of Chu Li: "We meet again, you must be Chu Li!"
Chu Li also didn't expect that the sister of the Shen family would come to say hello to him, so he quickly stood up and said, "Hello, sister of the Shen family!"
"Good boy, I'll treat you to some pastry!" After saying that, he stroked Chu Li's broken hair on his forehead, placed the pastry on the small table between Chu Yi brothers, and turned to face Chu Yi while no one was paying attention. He said four words silently, regardless of whether Chu Yi understood it or not, and left after saying it, so cool and unrestrained!
Chu Yi stood in front of the closed door of Shen's pharmacy for a moment, hesitating whether Shen Luzhu just said "front yard pharmacy" or not. Finally, he opened the door and saw that she was indeed inside, and he was relieved. He breathed: "You want to see me if you have anything to do?"
Shen Luzhu patted the stool next to him and motioned for him to sit down. Then he reached for the blue cloth bag on the table and handed it to Chu Yi: "Here, it's for you." Then he pointed to the hairpin on his head and said, "This is the hairpin. Thank you gift, I like it very much!”
Chu Yi pinched the blue cloth bag in his hand and was a little surprised: "What is it?"
"Aniang said that October is the birthday of you and Chu Li, so she made a pair of soft-soled shoes and a book bag."
Ever since the thug took Chu Yi's hairpin, Shen Luzhu had been thinking about whether he should give Chu Yi some gift in return. It happened that my mother-in-law said that both Chu Yi brothers were born in October, so she just did this. Fortunately, She was an art student in her previous life and has good hands-on skills. It is not difficult for her to do needlework and needlework!
After hearing this, Chu Yi opened the package in his hand and rubbed the thin stitches with his fingers: "It's really well done. Ali must also like it very much. Thank you!"
For some reason, seeing him looking at the pair of shoes carefully, Shen Luzhu suddenly felt a little embarrassed: "Thank you for what, I said it was a hairpin as a thank you gift... By the way, where did you buy this hairpin, in the town? The style is quite unique!”
"I didn't buy it."
"Didn't you buy it? Then, is it possible that you made it yourself?"
Shen Luzhu heard from his grandfather and father that Chu Yi's coffin-making skills were very good, even surpassing that of the Chu family's grandfather, but he didn't expect that in addition to making coffins, he could also make such exquisite hairpins. What a skilled craftsman! He is simply amazing!
Shen Luzhu suddenly felt that he couldn't handle the thank-you gift. Chu Yi was so attentive and even made a hairpin for her with his own hands. It seemed like he had found a treasure!
Chu Yi saw that the girl next to him had very expressive expressions. He was surprised for a while, annoyed for a while, surprised again, and finally looked at him with admiration!
There were so many thoughts in my mind for a moment, just because of the shining starlight in those black eyes!
For a long time, thousands of words turned into one sentence: "Well, as long as you like it!"
