Spring scenery in the fields

Chapter 304 Shen Liang's Affairs

I talked to her about this last time, and I wonder if Lin Yue Niang asked, if she did, whether the girl went to see a doctor?

Miao Zhaodi's home.

Lin Yue Niang saw her in the yard, jumped out of the car without waiting for it to stop, walked in with a smile on her face, and took her arm.

"You're right. There's nothing wrong with that girl. It's not that she can't have children."

"Did the girl go to see the doctor?" she asked.

The girl is fine and can give birth to a child, so does that mean there is hope for Shen Liang in their family?

"Of course I did. I took the girl with me. The doctor said that the girl is in good health. How could I lie to you? If I lied to you, I would not be able to continue to be Yue Niang in the future."

Miao Zhaodi's face lit up with joy, and she turned to ask, "The girl's family knows that she can have children, so they should ask for a betrothal gift. Did they say how much they want?"

Lin Yueniang showed an embarrassed look: "I said that I want a betrothal gift of five taels and eight cents."

She has been a matchmaker for many years. Girls who have been married and divorced have a bad reputation. When she marries again, few families will ask for a dowry and they are eager to send their daughters away as soon as possible.

This family was the same. When they learned that their daughter was divorced and sent home because she couldn't have children, they found her and said they didn't want any dowry and that whoever was willing to marry her could take her away.

But now that he knew his daughter was able to give birth, he started to think about asking for a betrothal gift, and the first thing he asked for was five taels and eight cents.

"This... the betrothal gift is too high. Our family can't afford it." Miao Zhaodi sighed.

"I also know your family's difficulties. We have tried our best to persuade them, but they are unwilling to reduce the betrothal gift."

Lin Yue Niang let go of her arm, sat on the small stool, and continued.

"I have met all kinds of people over the years. The girl's previous family only gave 2.5 taels and 8 yuan as a betrothal gift, and they felt that they were at a loss, so they want 5.5 taels and 8 yuan this time."

No matter what the reason, if a wife is divorced and sent back to her parents' home, her reputation will be damaged, and no one will be willing to marry her because of the large betrothal gift she will be asked for.

If you can afford the five taels and eight cents betrothal gift, why don't you marry a virgin girl instead of one who has been divorced?

If her family could afford five taels and eight cents, she could find a virgin girl for Shen Liang, but unfortunately...

Miao Zhaodi sat beside her and said gratefully, "Thank you for your trouble during this period of time, but my family really can't afford so much money. Please find a good family for the girl."

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Shen Liang. If there's a suitable girl, I'll come find you again."

Lin Yue Niang looked at her profile and sighed in her heart. The family had no money, so it was not easy to find a wife.

On the other side, Shen Liang had just returned from cutting grass for the pigs. When he turned around, he saw Lin Yue Niang leaving their door.

He didn't take it seriously and took the knife to chop grass for the pigs.

Now that there is no thought of getting married, a girl will have to suffer if she marries into their family, so why bring harm to them?

If his parents hadn't urged him, he would never have gone to see Lin Yue Niang.

Ji Wenhe washed the cloth and went home, then hung it on the clothesline to dry.

Came to the kitchen: "Brother Shen, I saw Lin Yue Niang went to Aunt Miao's house."

Remembering that he didn't know about the girl, I told him about it.

Shen Rongshan said, "I talked to Brother Liang a few days ago. There are many weddings in the village. Aunt Miao and Uncle Zhuan are urging him to look for a bride. I have no choice but to listen to them."

"Brother Liang has no intention of getting married now. He wants to live alone and support his parents, but the old couple don't think so."

"I understand. We only have one son. We can't watch him die alone. We also don't want our family to be extinct until Shen Liang comes."

Ji Wenhe leaned against the door, crossed his arms, and turned to face outside.

"The lack of money at home is a major drawback. If we have money, everything will be easy. I don't think Shen Liang's marriage will be settled for a while. It's too early."

The wealthy families in the town married concubines one after another. Money was the most important thing, and everything else was incidental.

Shen Rongshan looked at her back and asked, "Wen He, if Brother Liang succeeds, and Aunt Miao comes to borrow money, should we lend it to her?"

She didn't reply, but asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I want to borrow it. Brother Liang and I grew up together, so we are very close. When I'm not at home, Aunt Miao and the others often come to take care of me. I'm grateful to them, so I want to help if I can."

"Then we'll lend it to you, but it depends on how much we're going to borrow." Ji Wenhe calculated in his mind, "The two Wenshan brothers are getting engaged, so we'll give the highest amount of 88 taels, nearly 18 taels, plus the purchase, so let's use 20 taels."

"After buying a pig and spending various expenses, I have about 27 taels left. I can lend them 5 taels at most. Add to that their own savings, and I should be able to make up 66 taels."

"The girl doesn't necessarily need that much betrothal gift. I think it's enough. If it doesn't work, lend them another 1 or 2 taels. But they won't get much money in the past two years, so just treat it as an advance payment of their wages."

Shen Rongshan looked at the fire at the bottom of the stove and replied, "Aunt Miao won't ask us to borrow so much money, at most three taels."

"Then let's wait until they come over." Ji Wenhe went to the jar to scoop water to wash the vegetables, then turned to look at him, "Let's try to build the house within four months."

"It's too cold to live in the cave in winter. There's no rush to build a wardrobe. I'll do it in the spring of next year. I also have old quilts and cotton-padded clothes at home."

"Tomorrow, let Yuanshan take it out for someone to re-stitch. Oh, and we have to buy some cotton. The two brothers are separated, so we have to make two new quilts."

He shook his head: "Not now, wait until they get married and let them live together first."

"Make it and keep it at home. Don't take it out to cover yourself. If you two get married in winter, it will be very expensive to buy cotton then. It's better to make it early and keep it."

There are all kinds of cabinets and tables in the house. Wait until next spring and let the two brothers take care of them, and let Shen Rongshan go out to sell the goods.

"By the way, Brother Shen, you should go to help on Xiaoya's wedding day," Ji Wenhe asked.

"Yes, Uncle Shen is looking for me." Go and help borrow a table and bench.

"It happened so fast. Anguo got married in April, and Xiaoya got married in July. The old ones left, and the new ones came. It's really sad to think about it."

If Shenjia Village had not declined, the village would be very lively now.

"Hey, Brother Shen, although everyone in our village has the surname Shen, our families are not related by blood. Why don't we see villagers marrying each other?"

In such situations, there are usually many childhood sweethearts, but she found that there was not a single pair of childhood sweethearts or lovers who liked each other in the village.

"There were some in the past," Shen Rongshan said. "Later, when there were fewer people in the village, we all grew up together and treated each other like brothers and sisters. We didn't have any other thoughts."

"There are pros and cons to marrying each other. The families are close and the girls can go home from time to time, but it is also easy to cause conflicts. Most families are still unwilling to marry with people from the village."

"I heard from the older generation that two families were married to each other, but because of a small matter, the dispute grew bigger and bigger, and the daughter and son were caught in the middle, and in the end, the two families never had any contact with each other again."