Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

The banquet lasted from the end of the day to the beginning of Xu Shi, and the last group was the Xu family's own family members and their helping daughters-in-law. After everyone had finished the banquet, the wives who helped cleaned all the dishes and put them away before leaving.

Zhu and Han packed some dishes for everyone who helped. The chefs who were invited also paid their wages. I also gave them red envelopes, and sent these people away happily.

Naturally, there is no rest at home, and we have to prepare dumplings to send to the bride tomorrow morning. The family members worked together until midnight.

The next morning, Jingya got up early. After dressing up, she put on her bright red wedding dress, and then sat there quietly waiting to welcome the bride.

The people from the Yue family who came to welcome the bride also got up. After breakfast, the trumpeters outside began to play. The Xu family started to distribute dowries. Since both families were in the town, Jingya found a porter to pick the dowry to her in-law's house. All the porters were wearing new clothes, with red silk tied around their waists, and the dowries were handed out in order. A total of twenty-eight pieces of dowry came out of the Xu family one after another.

The street was already full of people. When everyone saw the bride's dowry, they all praised it. "Oh, look at this dowry, it's twenty-eight tons in total, which is quite rare in our town. The bride's family doesn't seem to be too wealthy, but I really didn't expect that they would be willing to give it out like this. Some dowry.”

"Silly man, what do you know? Do you know that several nearby villages are raising a kind of silkworm? The Xu family was the first to produce it. The Yue family owns a silk and satin shop, and every year the Xu family's cocoons are Sold to the Yue family. I heard that the Xu family can buy one thousand eight hundred taels a year just from this cocoon, not to mention that their family has other income." Another person seemed to be more concerned about the Xu family's situation. Familiar, knows a lot.

After listening to this man's words, everyone suddenly realized, "I see, that means that the Xu family and the Yue family got married because of this? From this point of view, the Xu family is not considered high-ranking."

Behind the dowry distribution team are the trumpeters, then the groom's official, and behind the groom's official is the bride's sedan chair. Wenhan carried Jingya out of the house and put her on the sedan chair. After Pengcheng rode a horse around the yard, he dismounted and went into the house to say goodbye to the bride's relatives. Then he mounted his horse again and followed the trumpeter to Wangyue's house.

Everyone in the Xu family came out of the house. Seeing Jingya's sedan chair being carried away, Ms. Xue couldn't help but shed tears.

"Sister-in-law, you can't cry. This is a big day. Hurry, big brother is about to throw the water away." Zixuan Niang saw Mrs. Xue's appearance and hurriedly advised her.

Zhixin brought out the water for Jingya's dressing and poured it onto the place where the sedan chair was parked just now.

After the sedan chair left the Xu family, it was considered finished to marry the daughter. Everyone helped clean up the house, and then sat and chatted together. Today, the two couples who went to see off their bride were Zhiming and his wife, Zhide and his wife, Chen Tianfu and Chen Tianshun, as well as Zhixin's cousins. The rest were sitting at Xu's house and chatting.

The Lin Xing family and his wife also came here this morning, as did Zixuan, Ziwen, and Yumei. When Yumei saw Jinghan, she was too happy to let go, so the girls went to the backyard to play.

"Sister Yumei, I haven't seen you for a while, how are you? How are the tussahs you raised this year?" Jinghan asked, holding Yumei's hand.

"It's very good. I sold a total of one hundred taels of silver this year. My father said that I will keep all these silvers for me to use when I get married next year." Yumei said with a smile.

"What, you're getting married next year? Sister Yumei, when did you get engaged?" Jinghan was a little surprised. Yumei, who is slightly older than herself, is getting married next year. Isn't this too soon?

Yumei's face turned red, "The wedding was scheduled in the summer, and we said we would get married when winter comes next year. He is from the village, the eldest son of the Wu family, and my mother said it would be good to marry him, so what's the problem? I can still help." Yumei Ju felt a little shy when talking about her marriage.

"Wu family, the only family in our village named Wu is brother Haiming of the Wu family, right? Oh, that's not bad. The Wu family is considered a wealthy family in our village, and brother Haiming is also capable. Sister Yumei, This marriage is very good, it's great, my sister has found a good family." Jinghan is quite familiar with the people in the village. Although they no longer live in the village, they can still see these people in the mountains. This Wu family is the family of the two boys named Liangzi who he rescued back then. Wu Haiming's father is Wu Jiajun, a hard-working farmer. His family owns seventy or eighty acres of land, and they produce about forty feet of sticks every year on the mountain. They are considered a good family in the village.

Yumei's face turned redder when she heard Jinghan praise her marriage so much. Nodding, "Brother Haiming, didn't Ziwen love to play with Hailiang in the past? Our two families got along very well, so as soon as Aunt Wu said it, my mother agreed."

"That's good. Aunt Wu has a good temper and is easy to get along with. Sister Yumei, you really found a good in-law." Jingwan interjected at the side.

"Jingwan, are you envious? How about asking my third aunt to arrange a marriage for you as soon as possible?" Jinghan smiled mischievously, teasing her sister.

"Second sister, just be bad. I heard that my grandma is going to arrange a marriage proposal for you. Well, some people are quite smart, but they just can't see what the people around them are thinking. Be careful. If you miss something good, you will regret it later." Jingwan was not willing to be outdone and directly came back to Jinghan.

Jinghan was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding what Jingwan meant.

Jingwan sighed, "In front of Sister Yumei, I don't have to show off. When will Sister Yumei, Uncle Lin and the others plan to propose marriage to Brother Zixuan?" Jingwan really can't stand Jinghan's behavior. , I don’t know if he is really stupid or pretending to be stupid, so I might as well say it directly. Anyway, grandma has already revealed everything to the Lin family.

When Jinghan heard Jingwan's words, she was stunned, "Jingwan, you, what are you talking about?" Jinghan almost bit her tongue.

Yumei on the side couldn't help laughing after hearing this. "Jinghan, you usually look smart and smart, but why are you so stupid at this time? Let me tell you the truth, today my father and my mother are coming to propose marriage. How about it? Be mine. Sister-in-law, there will never be any disagreement between us. My mother likes you so much and won’t make things difficult for you. How wonderful.”

Jinghan felt as if her brain was running out of energy. How could this lead to the Lin family planning to propose marriage? It seems that he and Zixuan haven't said anything yet. Is it possible that they can just get engaged? No, she didn't want to get engaged just like that. Zixuan didn't say he liked her, so why did she marry him?

"No, I have to tell grandma, don't agree yet, I haven't thought about it yet." Jinghan stood up and walked to the front yard.

Yumei grabbed Jinghan and said, "You are so impatient, I haven't finished speaking yet. My eldest brother wants to see you, and he has something to tell you in person. If I don't hear your consent, my eldest brother won't do that." If you are reckless, let my mother propose marriage.”

Jinghan breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little grateful for Zixuan's thoughtfulness. "Your elder brother wants to see me? When?"

"Right now, he is waiting for you over there in the study. Brother Wenhan should be accompanying him there. Come on, let's go there. If you have anything to say, tell me clearly in person. If you are willing to marry him, you agree "If you don't want to, just refuse. What do you think?" Yumei also stood up and walked to the study together.

Jingwan thought for a moment and decided not to join in the fun. Fortunately, Jingxian and Mingyu were in front, otherwise they wouldn't have cared about that and wouldn't they have made trouble?

Jinghan and Yumei came to the door of the study all the way. Jinghan suddenly became a little scared and broke away from Yumei's hand, "Sister Yumei, I'd better not go in. Zixuan and I have nothing to say." Jinghan Han said and started to walk back.

At this time, the door in the study opened, and Wen Han and Zixuan came out. Wenhan glanced at Jinghan and said, "Jinghan, Zixuan has something to tell you. You don't have to run away, you have to face these things sooner or later. Just talk about it, even if the marriage fails, Our two families are just as close." Wen Han had no expression on his face when he said this.

Jinghan is afraid of her eldest brother acting like this. This shows that the eldest brother has the support of his family, so he acts like this. I am afraid that the parents are afraid that the elders will come forward. If it fails, the family will lose face, so they let the eldest brother come.

"Brother, I," Jinghan didn't know what to say.

Zixuan looked at Jinghan with a smile and said, "Jinghan, come in and talk. It won't take you too long. Brother and the others are outside. I just want to know what you are thinking." With that, Zi Xuan turned around and entered the house.

Jinghan had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow Zixuan into the house. The two of them sat down on both sides of the small table on the wooden couch.

"Since when did that little girl who has been following me grow up?" Zixuan still smiled gently, his eyes full of intoxicating tenderness, looking at Jinghan. "You know? In the past, I only thought you were my sister, just like Yumei. Later, your family moved to the mountains, and I realized that I missed you very much. I really wanted to see your carefree smile. , I saw your busy figure in the spring. Then I gradually understood my thoughts. It turned out that in my heart, you were not just a sister. Later, my father asked me to come to live with you. You don’t know how much I felt at that time. I'm glad, in this case, I can protect you as you grow up. Maybe you don't think about it at the moment, but I can see you often. Who would have thought that you, a little girl, are so busy every day, living in the town. Days are few and far between. You don’t know that every time you come back, I will be very happy. If it happens that I come home from a break, I will be depressed for a long time. But it is full of affection for Jinghan, and every word flows in Jinghan's heart.