But even if they didn't know better, no one would rely on Lin Xiuzhuan's marriage proposal to belong to a small family.
Therefore, everyone felt a little incredible when they learned that Lin Yuanqiu's marriage had been decided and that the woman's family was the bastard son of the former Zhong Yongbo who had already separated and lived with another family. Several people who were close to him in the same year specifically asked Lin Yuanqiu for confirmation. You can imagine their surprise when they confirmed that they heard correctly.
Especially Gu Ping and Zhang Qingyuan, in their opinion, those like them who are already married and have children will do whatever they want after becoming Jinshi. Anyway, if they want to get a good marriage that will help their career, they have absolutely no chance.
As for Lin Xiuzhan, what a great opportunity. If he chooses the right Yue family, his rise to prominence will be just around the corner.
What a pity. What a pity.
Among those who were puzzled was Ding Dejin, who couldn't understand Lin Yuanqiu's choice. It's said that a boy from a farm family has finally changed his family background. Then, shouldn't he think about how to make the family stronger?
Just like himself, as early as when he first started studying, his grandfather and father told him about the responsibilities on his shoulders and maintaining the prosperity of the family. Therefore, I will only choose someone who is the right match or a higher level person for my marriage.
…
Lin Yuanqiu didn't pay attention to the surprise of his colleagues. For the only marriage in his life, he just wanted to be pure, without any interests or calculations involved.
Today, the official kitchen next door made lotus leaf chicken again. Thinking of how his father always praised it every time he ate it, Lin Yuanqiu hurriedly asked the clerk who brought the food to buy a few for him.
It's not yet a hot day, so the cooks don't have to control the quantity when making food, so the possibility of not being able to buy it is very small.
Sure enough, after a while, the clerk came over carrying three lotus leaf bags.
After Lin Yuanqiu thanked everyone, he put them all in the food box, ready to take them home when they were ready.
Thinking that his father must be eating lotus leaf chicken and having a few drinks tonight, Lin Yuanqiu's good mood was quickly aroused.
…
Because the two of them had reached the age of marriage, there was no delay in the wedding ceremony. After the acceptance, there was the question of the name, then the acceptance, and then the acceptance.
"Book of Rites: Shihunli" says: Those who accept the levy receive the betrothal wealth, and the levy is successful.
Therefore, Na Zheng is also called Na Bei. On this day, the man will send the prepared betrothal gift to the woman's home to express his intention to marry him.
The day for Lin Yuanqiu to send the betrothal gift was set on June 16th.
As for the betrothal gift, Lin Sanzhu and Feng spent all the money they had saved over the years.
The Wu family also took out the public share.
Originally, according to Old Lintou and Wu's wishes, they were planning to get more for their little grandson. However, Lin Yuanqiu did not agree, and just asked his grandpa to pay the same amount of betrothal gift as his cousin and the others.
Although Lin Yuanqiu already had thousands of taels in private savings, he was fully capable of raising all the betrothal gifts with his own money. But when faced with the money that his parents had saved for many years, Lin Yuanqiu still accepted it without hesitation, including the money given by his father-in-law, and he didn't refuse at all.
In Lin Yuanqiu's view, these pieces of silver have extraordinary significance and are indispensable.
Because the gift from the parents shows that the parents are satisfied with the daughter-in-law. And the one in the public house represents the entire Lin family's recognition of the new daughter-in-law.
To put it bluntly, if there is a conflict with the husband's family in the future, the daughter-in-law (granddaughter-in-law) can at least say "I am your matchmaker and the sixth marriage."
Therefore, he must accept such a betrothal gift for his fiancée.
Even though Lin Yuanqiu knew that such a quarrel would never happen in their family, his daughter-in-law must have the same qualities that other people's wives should have.
As for the total amount of betrothal gifts, Lin Yuanqiu has already planned it. In addition to what his parents and father-in-law gave him, Lin Yuanqiu planned to take out another thousand taels of silver from his private room.
That day, the teacher had already explained to him in detail the current betrothal gifts in the capital. Therefore, except for the royal nobles and high-ranking families, his betrothal gift of more than one thousand taels was considered above average in the capital. Lin Yuanqiu thinks it's good if it's not too much, not too little or too inconspicuous.
However, taking advantage of the holiday, Lin Yuanqiu went to the jewelry store to pick out two sets of gold-headed noodles, preparing to send them to the Zhong family as betrothal gifts.
Mrs. Feng was not idle either. When her elder sister-in-law and second sister-in-law bought betrothal gifts for Yuan Feng, Yuan Song and the others, she was extremely envious.
Now that it was finally her son's turn to get a wife, Mrs. Feng naturally wanted to help with the arrangements.
For this reason, Mrs. Feng also made a special trip to the Qin Mansion to visit Mrs. Zhao, and asked her for a lot of advice on the etiquette of recruiting people in the capital.
Mrs. Zhao naturally told Mrs. Feng in detail.
When she heard that the betrothal gift and betrothal money prepared by the Lin family totaled more than 1,500 taels of silver, Mrs. Zhao couldn't help but sigh in her heart. It was a pity that her niece missed such a wonderful marriage.
After returning home, Mrs. Feng started to make various purchases according to Mrs. Zhao's instructions. Sijing fruit and four-color candies are essential, as well as silk and satin clothing materials and wine gifts. By the way, I also have to buy the various dried fruits in the betrothal box.
Lin Sanzhu, on the other hand, took the banknote given by his son and walked out happily. Those windy footsteps quickly reminded Wu of the scene when San'er was chased all over the floor by herself carrying a big broom when she was a child. So, after all these years, her third child is still so good at running!
Lin Sanzhu didn't know that his mother was thinking of this terrible thing from his childhood again.
At this moment, he was preparing to go to Yahang with Ping An to see if there was any land to buy. If there was any, Lin Sanzhu was going to buy some, which would be a good betrothal gift.
Unexpectedly, after a whole day, Lin Sanzhu and Ping An almost visited all the Yaxing stores in the city, but they didn't see any paddy fields for takeout. In the end, the master and servant had to return to Nanluogu Lane empty-handed.
After Lin Yuanqiu put down the value, Lin Sanzhu hurriedly talked about the matter, "Yuanqiu, dad has opened his eyes today. Originally, dad thought that as long as he had money, there was no reason why he couldn't buy land. But today, dad has almost opened up the land in the capital. I went to all the dental stores, but none of them had land for sale. I heard those charlatans say that if you want to buy land, you have to queue up first, and then you have to wait for others to sell the land. When Dad heard this, he knew that this land must be I can’t buy it. Oops, dad is exhausted today.”
After hearing this, Ms. Feng on the side also said, "I'm really tired. Mother Lu and I walked to many shops yesterday, and my feet are still sore."
Although they complained that they were tired, the couple happily went out again in the morning of the next day after discussing what they should buy tomorrow.
Seeing his parents busy in and out every day, but with smiles on their faces, Lin Yuanqiu took back his words, "I'll arrange for Ping An and Lu Ma to buy some items."
I think my parents are enjoying it.
Lin Yuanqiu thought to himself, in this world, I am afraid that only the dedication of parents to their children, no matter how tired or painful it is, is always a joy.
It is said that "a baby of one foot and three inches needs ten and eight years of work."
Therefore, as a son, Lin Yuanqiu felt that he had to remember his father and mother's kindness so that they could not raise their son in vain.
After accepting the levy, it was time to apply, so Wu and Feng went to Daci Temple in the suburbs of Beijing. Just like last time, the two of them did not go to the temple on the mountain, but went directly to the fortune-telling stall at the foot of the mountain.
The incense in Daci Temple is very prosperous, and there are many women who go to the mountain to burn incense and worship Buddha every day.
As there were more people, many small vendors naturally came to do business. There were those selling sachets, fans, and snacks. The stalls were set up from the intersection to the steps at the foot of the mountain. They sold all kinds of gadgets. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it has everything.
In addition to the vendors, there are also many fortune tellers who have set up their stalls at the foot of the mountain, many of whom have accurate algorithms.
As time passed, news spread about the efficacious fortune-telling and horoscope predictions at Daci Temple.
Feng also heard what Zhao said, so she came here the last time she combined her horoscopes. As a result, she got a good meaning of "a talented man and a beautiful woman, and the melons are endless", which made Wu and Feng smile from ear to ear.
This time, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law asked the old man with a white beard to help calculate the dates. The old man gave three auspicious days: the second day of September, the twenty-eighth day of October, and the sixth day of November.
Wu and Feng thanked everyone and returned home happily.
After the auspicious dates were written on red paper and sent to the Zhong family, the Zhong family chose October 28th to welcome them in person.
Lin Sanzhu did the math and realized that it was already the end of June. So in four months, it would be the big day for his dog to get a wife.
Thinking of this, Lin Sanzhu felt filled with emotion. These days passed so quickly.
…
The weather in July is already extremely hot. On such a hot day, the most uncomfortable thing is probably for pregnant women.
Chunyan and Chuncao, who had been pregnant for nearly nine months, now had a belly as big as a drum. Pregnant women are already afraid of heat, not to mention it is still July.
Therefore, the two sisters didn't get much rest during this period. It wasn't that they didn't want to sleep, but they were so sweaty that they really couldn't sleep.
Not to mention three meals a day. Every time after a meal, the two sisters were almost soaked as if they had been fished out of water.
Looking at their wife's obviously thinner face, Zhou Zixu and Wang Wenchang felt heartbroken. But apart from fanning their wife more often when sleeping, they really had nothing else to do.
Originally, the two of them wanted to go to the Ice Bureau to buy some ice cubes, but the doctor said that pregnant women who were about to give birth could not use ice, alas.
Lin Yuanqiu thought more. Chunyan and Chuncao would give birth in at least a month. Confinement was even more difficult on such a hot day, not to mention the doors and windows had to be closed, and the room would be like a steamer.
So I have to think of a good way.
Lin Yuanqiu soon thought of the courtyard on the mountain in Xiaogaoshan Village. It was extremely cool to live there on a hot day. He remembered that the yard was built at home just to make the confinement period comfortable for his sisters-in-law on hot days.
So, why don't you think of something on this?
For example, we might as well buy a village with a mountainside. The area doesn't need to be too big, as long as there are mountains and water.
Originally, my farm was quite good, but now there are many chickens raised there, and it is not suitable for confinement in the past.
I just don’t know if there is a Zhuangzi dental store in Shanyushui, and whether the price will be very expensive. After all, I will definitely not buy Zhuangzi again like I did last time.
Thinking of this, Lin Yuanqiu took all his private rooms with him when he went out the next day. He wanted to take advantage of his lunch break to go to Li Yaqi's place.
Li Yaqi, who was taking a nap, did not expect Lin Yuanqiu to come over at noon. After standing up in a daze, he poured herbal tea for him.
But when he saw that Lin Yuanqiu was wearing an official robe, he was immediately excited. When did Mr. Lin become an official?
Thinking that the other party knew his name anyway, he would have to ask others about it, so Lin Yuanqiu did not explain much and only asked if there was any sale of the villa.
"To be honest, Mr. Lin, there is a villa in the villa, but the mountain is not high. Besides, except for a pond, the rest of the village is dry land and there is not a single paddy field." Li Yaqi quickly called Mr. Lin. .
"How big is it? What's the selling price?"
Lin Yuanqiu didn't care whether he had paddy fields with him or not. Besides, paddy fields in the capital had always been a best seller. If he had paddy fields with him, Zhuangzi would have sold them long ago. Who would he get?
After all, if you have paddy fields, you can grow food. In the eyes of others, such a Zhuangzi is a good and productive Zhuangzi.
As soon as he asked how old it was, Li Yaqi knew that Mr. Lin wanted to buy it. Oh, no, it was Mr. Lin.
Li Yaji moved quickly and quickly took out the booklet. When he turned to the page where the village was registered, he reported the area, "Mr. Lin, the villa covers an area of 292 acres, has 12 houses, and is sold for 1,300 taels."
Thinking of Mr. Lin's ability to bargain, Li Yaqi quickly added, "Mr. Lin, the seller has said that he will not negotiate the price."
Lin Yuanqiu naturally didn't know that his counteroffering skills were impressive.
At this time, he was converting the area of 292 acres. Lin Yuanqiu understood that this villa sounded large, but it didn't have much space when spread out on the mountain. Just like my village in Hengkeng Village, it is said to be more than 160 acres, but it looks much smaller than other villages that are all flat.
But the price is really not cheap. After all, there is not even a paddy field in this village.
Seeing Lin Yuanqiu's hesitation, Li Yaqi knew that it was a matter of price. To be honest, the price for the villa alone was indeed a bit high, but Li Yaqi had also visited the villa, and those houses were only built for a few dollars. Year. What's more, this Zhuangzi is on the outskirts of Beijing, and it takes at least half an hour for the carriage to pass by.
After thinking about it, Li Yaqi tried to say, "How about, Mr. Lin, you and I go over there and have a look. This village is not far away. We can get there in half an hour by carriage."
Since he wanted to buy Zhuangzi, Lin Yuanqiu would definitely go and check it out on the spot. No, before coming out, he specifically asked the Master for half an hour's leave, just so he could go see Zhuangzi.
But forget about taking a carriage. He came here on horseback, so it would be faster to just ride on horseback.
"Can Li Yaqi ride a horse?"
Upon hearing this, Li Yaqi immediately understood what Lin Yuanqiu meant, nodded quickly and said, "The young one knows how to ride."
They are just gibberish, and it is common for them to look after cattle and horses for others, so there is no reason why they cannot ride a horse.
Therefore, after saying "wait a moment", Li Yayi hurriedly borrowed the horse.
After about half a quarter of an hour, the two of them left the city.
The speed of horse racing was indeed much faster, and we arrived at the place in almost two quarters of an hour.
But when he dismounted, Li Yaqi's legs were shaking a little, and he couldn't help muttering in his heart. Master Lin looked so polite, but riding a horse was really too fierce.
