happy old days

Chapter 12

If you don't prepare, you don't know. For the first time, Jinniang has a new understanding of dowry. In addition to clothes and jewelry, carrying boxes, footbaths, and washstands, everything that can be used in daily life must be prepared.Assortment of things to see.

Because I heard what my brother-in-law said, there is only one wedding room, and Jinniang doesn't want to buy too many things, so I can buy it when I have my own house.

Mrs. Wang was not happy, "When your third aunt Jia Xing got married, she still had 24 liters. You can't miss her. When your sister got married, the family was nervous, so I bought 24 liters."

Jinniang closed her mouth, thinking that when Aunt Xing got married, there were quite a lot of furniture in the dowry, and each table was fully furnished. In this era, dowry is very important for women. Usually, when getting married, the dowry is decided at the meeting. , often the natal family will ask for more, the more the man gives, the more attention is paid to it, and the woman does not want people to say that she is selling her daughter, so she gives more dowry, which also represents the love of the parents for the daughter, so as not to The daughter went to her husband's house and was bullied.

Of course, the peasants are not so rich, and some people really regard marrying their daughters as "selling" their daughters, hoping that their daughters can marry well and improve the living conditions of the family, and even give their daughters to wealthy households as concubines, so that there is no dowry .For example, the daughter of the third aunt’s family in the village had a complete dowry because she married into a rich family in the county, and the dowries of Jinniang’s two sister-in-laws were only purchased with hire money, and the family probably didn’t have much.

When Manniang became a monk, the family didn't have much money, but even so, the parents didn't withhold the dowry money, and gave it all to Manniang, and even added some. Speaking of which, the two elders are not bad to their daughters and sons. After all, it may be more distressing for the daughter to marry to other parents.

With the friendship between the Chen and Yang families, she is not afraid of Jinniang's suffering in the past, but the mother is always afraid that her daughter will lack something, worrying about this and that, and if she doesn't let her do it, she will feel uneasy.Wang's maternal love for Jinniang warmed Jinniang's heart. When she thought of marrying and leaving her mother soon, she felt very sad.

The days have entered the 28th of the lunar calendar in the middle of the busy day, which is the time for the big appointment.

On the day when the betrothal gift was given, the Chen family got up early. By this point, everyone in the village knew that the Chen family and the Yang family were married, and they all came to watch the fun. They also wanted to see what the betrothal gift was about. The eldest son came back after serving in the army for six years. The two villages are not far apart, but there are eight villages in ten miles, relatives are connected to relatives, and the news is very well-informed. The news of the return of the eldest son of the Yang family has spread all over the world. This is also a legend.

The Chen and Yang families didn't ask for anything about the dowry. The relationship between the two families is good, and the Yang family won't lose Jinniang. It would be bad if they asked too much.

Mr. Yang really cared about the elder son's marriage. To him, the status of the eldest son was different. The Chen family and the Yang family had been friends for decades, and this marriage was arranged by the old man of the Chen family.Mr. Yang has another plan in mind. The sons in the family are all grown up, and even the fourth is engaged. The family is going to be divided. Before the eldest son didn't come back, he was a little hesitant. passed.So this heart must be biased.

Yang Zhenhai has been away for six years, and he still had contact with his family in the first two years. He entrusted someone to send back all the money he had in his hand. He saved more than 80 taels. Father Yang used the money to buy land for 40 taels. , The rest went to marry the two sons, and he and his mother saw a doctor, and there was nothing left.However, in the past few years, the field has produced more than 30 taels, plus some savings. Father Yang wanted to give all the money to his son, but Yang Zhenhai did not agree.

"Father, you keep this money. After the year when the fourth child gets married, there will still be a sum. The dowry for the second and third child is only ten taels. It's not good for me as the eldest brother to be too different from them. The dowry comes according to the usual practice. I have all the money." I pay by myself, and the fourth child will keep the rest of the family money. He will have to go to the township examination in the coming year, and it will be a comparison of expenses. I want to add ten taels more to the second child's hire price. I will go up to the mountain tomorrow to see if it is possible. It’s enough to hunt a whole fox, make a scarf for Jin Niang, and send some leathers I brought back with me.”

Father Yang thought for a while, the eldest son was capable, and he had enough money, so he nodded, "In that case, let your eldest aunt help you with the dowry."

"Well, send the money to her tomorrow."

On the second day, Yang Zhenhai sent the money for the dowry to his aunt.

"Zhenhai, why are there so many?" His eldest aunt asked in surprise when she saw the 40 taels of silver notes handed over by Yang Zhenhai. She was the one who arranged for the marriage of the two sons of the Yang family.These 40 taels are enough to marry a daughter-in-law in the city.

"Well, my father gave some, and I added the rest myself. I had some savings before, so the dowry is still in accordance with the usual practice, but Aunt Dongxi picked out the finer ones, and I bought the jewelry from Yancheng Jubaozhai. "He didn't want to wrong Jinniang, but he couldn't go too far, too conspicuous would be bad for Jinniang.Less quantity is nothing but good things.

The eldest aunt also understood her nephew's thoughts when she heard it. The jewelry from Jubaozhai is not cheap, so she smiled and said to Zhenhai, "Okay, don't worry about auntie's work. I think it's better to go directly to Yancheng to buy the betrothal gift. I just haven't seen it for a while." I met your sister, and I will take this opportunity to visit her." Her daughter married to Yancheng, and she was married at a high level, because there are mothers-in-law and younger brothers and sisters, and she can't come back once a year, so she has to pay for it. Go see it when you're a mother.

Lying on the kang with his uncle at night, the eldest aunt sighed, "Zhenhai from the fourth family is considered promising, you can see that it is not ambiguous to spend 40 taels."

"You, didn't I say it before, there must be some reasons for Zhenhai's six years of walking, you see that he looks like an ordinary soldier now, he just doesn't know how to come back, let's say he has been wandering outside for the past few years , I have fallen down anyway.”

"The fourth family is in a hurry. With this money, even a lady in the county can marry. The second daughter of the Chen family is still a little girl, so it's not suitable no matter how you look at it." The aunt's tone was also a little sour.

"Don't say that again. The old man of the Chen family decided to talk about this marriage. The old man can say it. He married the girl from the Chen family to Zhenhai, but he didn't expect it to fall on the second daughter in the end. He just When I get back, I’ll tell you, if you didn’t agree to tell Zhenhai about your niece from your mother’s family, don’t regret it now.” The uncle complained a little bit in his heart, since when the kid came back, he saw that he was promising.

"Could it be my fault?" the aunt said with a bit of anger in her tone. Although she saw Zhen Hai's disfigurement at the beginning, she thought that her niece from her natal family was not too young. The conditions of the Hai family were good, so I introduced him to him, but when I heard that Zhenhai had a scar on his face, he refused and blamed her.

"Okay, you don't care about your natal family's affairs in the future, they are all shallow-sighted."

The eldest aunt didn't say anything, but she also had some thoughts in her heart. It was because her sister-in-law spoke too harshly, and the niece couldn't understand what she was talking to.

"Also, don't go out and make noise about Zhenhai's betrothal gift, just cover it up, even though it's all his own money, let his two sisters-in-law know, it's not sure how to make a fuss."

"I know that." Naturally, she wouldn't say it out loud, and she wasn't the one who broke her tongue. Before Zhenhai left, she left five hundred yuan for her to go to Yancheng, and said that she would wait for her. The matter is done, and there is another big thank you, I guess I can't lose her.And seeing that this eldest nephew might be useful at home in the future, no one offended him because of those two, but she knew that Zhenhai had a big temper, when the nephew in the neighboring village beat his younger brother, This Yang Zhenhai was guarding the gate of his house and insisted on calling back. Now he has seen the world from the outside, but this nature is hard to change.She didn't think that this person would change as soon as he said it.

Yang Zhenhai went up the mountain the next day. Their village was right on the edge of the Qingshan Mountains, with high mountains and rivers.Standing on the top of the highest mountain and looking at the endless scenery, there are many wild animals in the mountain, no one dares to go, and there is no return after going there. There are also some hunters in the villages near Qingshan, but few have a good death.After a long time, no one entered the mountain.

Yang Zhenhai was a scout in the army before, and his skills were much stronger than Orion's. Later, when he was a guard, he also learned a few skills from the masters. Maybe it's nothing in the big family, but no one can match it in this mountain, let alone I have been through the more dangerous dense forest in the south before, so it is very easy to come and go here.This time I came back and entered the mountain twice. Father Yang was very worried at first, but seeing his son brought back the prey unharmed, he didn’t care. His heart was still very sour. His son was good in the past, but he was still worse than now. Far away, this skill can only be practiced in the situation of life and death.

This time when I entered the mountain, something happened. I didn't see a fox, but I ran into a big cat.The adult white tiger is still a male.Hey, this fur is much better than fox fur.

So when the betrothal gift was sent to the Chen family, as soon as it was opened, the people in the village praised it. This was the first time that the Yang family gave a white tiger skin as a betrothal gift.Looking at the expressions of the Chen family, they were all envious and jealous.The hire price is 20 taels, which few companies can afford in recent years.

Other things are quite satisfactory, nothing out of the ordinary, just look more refined.Except for the tiger skin, there are ten more skins than the other two daughters-in-law, all prepared by Yang Zhenhai himself, which makes sense.

Seeing the betrothal gift, Jinniang felt a little more at ease. When she showed the betrothal gift, others just took a look at it. When she came back to take a closer look, everything was in good condition. The jewelry was very well made. The top of the box is made of muslin, but the bottom is brocade. According to Wang, it is not something that can be bought in this county.

Regardless of Yang Zhenhai's considerations before or the intentions of the present dowry, you can see that Yang Zhenhai attaches great importance to her, so she is more at ease.I can also see that Yang Zhenhai is a careful person, which gave her another feeling. She actually thought that the man was a man who said he was a man, and that he was the kind of man who would not care about women. , it looks different now.

(End of this chapter)