Chapter 364 - Yu Hangs Marriage (2/2)

She had already thought about the other girls in the village who were around the same age as her son. The village chief’s youngest granddaughter was younger than her son by two years and had been pampered since she was little by her grandfather and grandmother. At the age of eleven, she still had an innocent manner like a little porcelain doll. How could she possibly take up the mantle of being the eldest sister-in-law?

The Zhou Family’s Zhou Shanhu was good buddies with Xiaocao and Xiaolian, so they wouldn't have to worry about their relationships with her in the future. However, that lass was a bit carefree and wasn’t always careful with her words. She wasn’t a reliable girl…

And then there was Zheng Xiaocui, who had recently come over more recently to the Yu Family to play. Although the girl had decent looks, she was full of petty thoughts. In a glance, Madam Liu could tell that she had a selfish nature at heart. Most of the Yu Family’s businesses and wealth was all created by her youngest daughter, so, in the future, the Yu Family would not stint on her dowry. If Xiaocao had a selfish eldest sister-in-law, then she would definitely be unhappy by the size of Xiaocao’s dowry when the time came.

After weighing all of the possible prospects in the village, it was still Brother Shuanzhu’s daughter who was the most suitable. Although she wasn’t the most beautiful, she still could be considered quite pretty and cute. She had an egg shaped face and eyebrows curved like willow leaves. Her eyes were also not too large nor too small...her only flaw was that her lips were on the thicker side [1]. However, everyone always said that girls with thicker lips had good personalities and good fortunes.

Outer looks were only secondary. Huifang was also a hardworking little girl. It was said that the reason why the Liu Family decided to raise all of those chickens was because that lass came up with the idea. In fact, she even especially came over to ask Xiaocao for advice! Furthermore, she did almost all of the work in raising those two hundred some chickens and she was very good at handling all of the details. Even Shuanzhu’s wife didn’t need to do much with the chickens. Before she was occupied with raising chickens, Huifang also brought her younger sister and brother along to cut fishwort for the piggery. Between the three of them, they managed to earn a couple hundred copper coins in a month!

In addition, Brother Shuanzhu had a good relationship with her husband. Both of them were also realistic men and knew where their roots came from...the more she thought, the more Madam Liu thought that the lass Huifang was a pretty good match with her son.

Yu Hai noticed that his wife was tossing and turning on the kang bed as if she was a pancake being flipped around. It was obvious that she was having trouble falling asleep, so he quickly intervened, “Don’t think too much! Our son is still young and maybe in a couple of years he’ll have his own ideas and find someone he likes, right? Although they say that parents and the matchmaker should choose the child’s partner, we also need to consider whether our son wants to marry the girl or not, right?”

When Madam Liu heard her husband’s opinion, she thought he was right! It didn’t matter if she thought the girl was good or not. If her son didn’t like her, she couldn’t force him to marry her, right? However, at this time her son still wasn’t interested in pursuing girls, so she needed to strike early and advise him. He needed to know that finding a wife shouldn’t be based on the girl’s looks alone; her personality was the most important part!

The next morning, Madam Liu called her son over and secretly hemmed and hawed over the matter. At first, Yu Hang didn’t quite understand what his mother was talking about. Later on, once his mother became more blunt, his face started flushing a bright red. He exclaimed, “Mother, how old am I right now? Before I turn sixteen, I won’t even be thinking about finding a wife!”

Madam Liu slanted a look at her son and blandly stated, “I’m not telling you to decide on your future wife right now! I only want you to start considering your options. If there’s anyone you like and is a good choice, we can strike when the iron is hot and start negotiating with the other family. That way we can avoid all of the good prospects being stolen by other people in the future!”

“Are there any capable men who are unable to find wives? Even Uncle Ergou was able to find a wife despite his poor character, so why should we worry? Mother, if you have nothing better to do, you can go into the prefectural city to look around. Our family’s braised food shop has been open for about two months now yet you don’t even know what’s happening there!”

When the topic of the conversation came to the prefectural city’s braised food shop, Madam Liu’s attention was immediately refocused on it. She sighed and said, “It’s not as if you don’t know either. Our family will be selling vegetables until the first frost comes and your father spends all his time going back and forth between here and the prefectural city. But someone needs to keep an eye at home. If I’m not doing it, how is that okay ah?”

Yu Hang laughed, “Mother, isn’t there still me at home? Right now the weather is gradually getting colder, so fewer and fewer people are coming over to sell seafood. Third Uncle alone should be able to handle it. Thus, I can help you keep an eye on things at home. If you don’t feel comfortable with me alone, isn’t there also Xiaolian ah? Around half of the pigs in the piggery had already been used and we already have two storehouses filled full of fishwort, so Xiaolian can also find some time to help us here. How about the next time Father goes into the prefectural city, you also go along and take a look?”

The Yu Family’s vegetables were all more cold hardy than other people’s. Other people's cucumbers and string beans all started to freeze right after the start of autumn, yet the Yu Family’s vegetables were still able to grow without problems. The front courtyard’s spinach, lettuce and mustard greens were still as tender and delicious as before. There were also a few other vegetables that were growing out of season that still flourished in their garden.

There was a limited amount of vegetables the Yu Family could produce, so they were only able to supply Zhenxiu Restaurant and a few other families they were familiar with in town with them. There were a lot of families in town that didn’t lack money. All of them complained that the Yu Family didn’t plant enough vegetables for them to buy a portion. Yu Hai and Yu Xiaocao discussed this matter together and wondered if they could take a portion of the hundred or so mu they had on their farmstead and use it to plant some vegetables in the future. Although raising vegetables was more tiring than grain crops, it was more profitable as well!

After hearing her son’s advice, Madam Liu thought about the family’s situation. The front and the back of the west side of the courtyard were all planted with autumn vegetables, while the east side of the courtyard all had the usual matrons helping out to harvest. Normally, she only helped to weigh the vegetables and count the money. Her son should be able to handle everything on his own.

Madam Liu was still not completely convinced, so she stepped back and had her son manage everything on his own for a few days. She discovered that her son was even more nimble than she was and better at calculating receipts. Thus, she relaxed completely. One day, at the end of October, Madam Liu sat on the cart that transported live pigs to the prefectural city and entered the prefectural city for the first time in her life.

[1] Traditional standards of Chinese beauty preferred small rose bud-like lips on women.