"Me?!" Bai Zhantang was stunned, then waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no."
Seeing that he refused so simply, Tong Xiangyu's face suddenly darkened.
"Why? Why can't you and the shopkeeper do the same?" Guo Furong asked in confusion.
"Yes, haven't you all already..." the scholar said in confusion.
Everyone knows the relationship between Lao Bai and the shopkeeper. Now that I saw him saying this, I was naturally confused.
"Okay, I understand what Lao Bai is thinking." Xiang Nan started to stop him, "Lao Bai is worried about his identity and something will happen one day, so he doesn't want to implicate the shopkeeper."
Hearing what he said, Bai Zhantang suddenly felt like a confidant.
"Zhantang~" Seeing Bai Zhantang's reaction, Tong Xiangyu immediately understood, and couldn't help but feel more love in her heart.
"Old Bai, you are indeed very manly to think so." Xiang Nan nodded, "But have you ever thought about the shopkeeper's feelings? Will she fall in love with and marry someone else besides you? The shopkeeper's , you say it yourself.”
Guo Furong and Lu Xiucai both looked at Tong Xiangyu.
Tong Xiangyu shook his head resolutely, "Zhantang, I will be yours for the rest of my life."
"Old Bai, you see, the shopkeeper only has you in his heart." Xiang Nan advised, "Let's assume that if you are safe for the rest of your life and are not arrested at all, then if you don't marry the shopkeeper, right? it is a pity?
To put it bluntly, even if you are caught one day, your crime will not implicate the nine tribes. You and the shopkeeper get married as soon as possible, and when the time comes, you will have a boy and a girl.
Not to mention keeping it for yourself, even if it is for the shopkeeper, it will save her from having to wait for you all her life. Do you think I am right? "
"Yes, that makes sense. Old Bai, if you want to die, you will live for eternity. When you walk in the rivers and lakes, you should be afraid of wolves in front of you and afraid of tigers in the back." Guo Furong nodded and said, "Just listen to me and it will be done."
"Yes, Zi once said, "I will shrink from myself, even if there are thousands of people, I will go there." Lu Xiucai also nodded, "If you really love the shopkeeper, don't care about anything else."
"Zhantang..." Tong Xiangyu also called to Bai Zhantang.
"I..." Bai Zhantang still hesitated.
Seeing that everyone had said this, Tong Xiangyu was still hesitant, and his face darkened again.
Xiang Nan observed what was happening and quickly spoke again, "Okay, shopkeeper, don't push him. Marriage matters cannot be decided in one or two sentences.
In this case, if you don't get married first, why don't you just get engaged first? Three letters and six etiquettes finalize the marriage. Give each other a status so that the old man can be coaxed away.
Otherwise, if the old man really takes the shopkeeper back to Hanzhong, what will you do, Old Bai? Continue to stay as a waiter? Or go out and explore the world? "
"Yes, Lao Bai, get engaged first, then get married." Guo Furong advised.
"Old Bai, what Big Mouth said makes sense." Lu Xiucai advised.
Bai Zhantang finally nodded after hearing what he said.
Seeing that he finally agreed, Tong Xiangyu couldn't help but burst into laughter.
…
Later, Bai Zhantang told Tong Boda that he liked Tong Xiangyu and wanted to get engaged to her.
"Are you really willing to get engaged to my daughter? Don't you dislike her being a widow?" Tong Boda looked at Bai Zhantang and asked.
"Really, I'm telling the truth." Bai Zhantang nodded, "I don't think Xiangyu is a widow, I will marry her in this life."
"Okay, good son-in-law, good son-in-law, you have solved one of my worries." When Tong Boda heard this, she immediately said excitedly, "Let's do this. You can give me a price for the dowry. As long as I can afford it, one I don’t even press down.”
During the Ming Dynasty, although widows could remarry, it was not a decent thing after all. Even for people like Tong Xiangyu, whose fiancé died before they officially got married, it is still difficult to find a good wife to marry again.
Therefore, Bai Zhantang's willingness to marry Tong Xiangyu was really a worry for Tong Boda.
"No, no, my friendship with Xiangyu is priceless." Bai Zhantang smiled and waved his hand.
"Good son-in-law, good son-in-law, you are making this old man feel ashamed." Hearing what he said, Tong Boda was moved to tears.
"Dad, stop crying, why are you crying?" Tong Xiangyu quickly advised him when he saw this.
"Okay, without further ado, we will get engaged tomorrow." Tong Boda added, "Then we will go back to Hanzhong immediately, deliver the dowry, and then buy some houses and land. You two can decide whether to collect rent or open a shop. Ok, deal."
"Okay." Bai Zhantang and Tong Xiangyu both nodded.
…
Then, Xiang Nanxian attended the engagement ceremony of Bai Zhantang and Tong Xiangyu.
Originally, the ancient engagement ceremony was quite complicated, consisting of six steps: asking for the bride's name, asking for the name, accepting the blessing, accepting the invitation, asking for the date, and welcoming the bride.
Nacai means coming to the door to propose marriage; asking for name means asking for the name and the horoscope; Naji means giving some gifts to express the intention of getting engaged; accepting zheng means formally giving the betrothal gift; requesting period means finalizing the date of the wedding; welcoming in person That is to say, marrying a bride...
Because Bai Zhantang and Tong Xiangyu were already familiar with each other, and Tong Xiangyu was a widow after all, all the procedures were simplified. Just ask the yin and yang to make a horoscope, and then Bai Zhantang pays the betrothal gift and finalizes the wedding date. The engagement is completed.
Yin Yang was born in Qixia Town, and Xiang Nan invited him here.
Before coming, Xiang Nan gave all the instructions.
Bai Zhantang and Tong Xiangyu are naturally compatible, and their wedding date is set for next year.
Xiang Nan knew that the main reason why Bai Zhantang did not dare to marry Tong Xiangyu was because he was afraid that being caught would implicate her. However, it won't be long before he gets his get-out-of-jail-free gold.
At that time, all his previous sins will be forgiven. Then there would be no obstacle between him and Tong Xiangyu.
Although Tong Boda was a bit dissatisfied with setting the wedding date too late, since it was calculated by Yin and Yang, that day was the most auspicious day and the most beneficial to future generations, so she had no choice but to nod in agreement.
After seeing her daughter getting engaged to Bai Zhantang, Tong Boda rode back to Hanzhong with satisfaction.
"It's strange that my son-in-law will send you a dowry right away." He said with a smile, "If you have time, you can also bring Xiangyu to Hanzhong to play."
"Okay, I've remembered it all, please walk slowly." Bai Zhantang nodded.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Tong Boda off.
"Big mouth, thank you for this incident." Bai Zhantang patted Xiang Nandao gratefully.
It wasn't Xiang Nan who persuaded him, but he still didn't have the courage to take the first step. But in fact, after taking this step, he felt much more relaxed.
Although he and Tong Xiangyu were close to each other before, they had not confirmed their identities after all, so they always seemed to be separated by a layer of film.
Now that they are engaged and their identity has been established, that barrier has disappeared. The relationship became completely clear, and the level of intimacy immediately increased by an order of magnitude.
"You're welcome, Lao Bai, we're all friends." Xiang Nan smiled.
(End of chapter)
