Chapter 386 - Popular (1/2)
In the early morning, the silvery singing of birds woke up the sleeping earth. The little rooster that was in the back courtyard raised its head and puffed its chest before it valiantly stretched out its neck to crow, ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’. At the front and back of the house, all of the deep green leaves on the vegetables in the garden had shimmering drops of dew shining on them.
In between the rows of vegetables, there were a few matrons dressed in plain, patched clothing. They were picking the vegetables industriously and using clean water to wash the dirt off before placing them in bamboo baskets. These baskets would later be loaded onto carts that came from town.
At a corner in the front courtyard next to the residence, there was a grapevine twined onto a wooden frame with bunches of grapes heavily hanging. There were a few bunches that had ripened early and the deep purple fruits seemed to glitter like crystals and emitted a sweet aroma. The sight of these grapes made the matrons tsk in wonder and one of them commented, “Madam Liu, your family’s soil is really very good. Anything you guys plant turns out well and even ripens early. Like these grapes for example. Anyone else planting them can only harvest them at the start of autumn to eat. Your rack of grapes will probably be ripe in a couple days ah?”
“That’s right ah! Are these grapes a new variety that ripen early that the royal prince brought back from the western hemisphere?” Another young matron asked in a voice full of envy. Who didn’t know that the royal prince regarded the Yu Family highly? No one knew just how the Yu Family caught his eye, but he came over every day!
Madam Liu bent over and pulled all of the weeds out of one area. She smiled at the women working, “I also don’t know where this grape vine came from. When that girl, Xiaocao, planted it, I said that she was doing work for nothing as it wouldn’t live! It was only planted last year but this year it’s already grown a lot of grapes. When the grapes are ripe, each of you can bring two bunches back home so your children can taste them.”
“No need! If your family’s grapes entered the market now, I’m sure that people would buy them even at one tael a bunch! Tanggu Town has plenty of people with money to spare!”
“That’s right, that’s right! They even scramble to buy watermelons for five taels a piece. This year, your family planted over a dozen mu of watermelons and it still wasn’t enough to keep up with the demand. Especially the prefectural city’s demand. Cart after cart of watermelon was sent there and each cart earned around one to two hundred taels. That’s not watermelon anymore; they’re all pure money!”
This was also something to be envied but not obtained! The Yu Family had the talent at cultivating watermelons. It was said that in the neighboring village, there was a wealthy landlord, Li Sancai, who had heard that the Yu Family from Dongshan Village had made a fortune from planting watermelons. No one knew where he had gotten the seeds from, but he planted a few dozen mu of them. However, the Yu Family’s watermelons had all sold out now yet his watermelons were only about the size of a fist. Furthermore, these watermelons were few in between and couldn't compare to the yield of the Yu Family’s.
Madam Liu only smiled but didn’t say anything in response to these matrons. Her family had made quite a bit of money by selling the early ripening vegetables, watermelons, and braised food. Naturally, there were a lot of people who were envious. With the royal prince as their backing, no one dared to do any nasty tricks. However, there were plenty of people who tried to reproduce their success, like the neighboring village’s Li Sancai. Perhaps that man had gotten a batch of seeds that weren’t good which caused his melons to grow poorly. She didn't know whether they would be better once they were ripe…
The matrons’ discussions became louder and louder, so Yu Xiaocao opened the door to her room while rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. She used her other hand to ruffle through her hair, and it was obvious that she was still quite groggy.
There were a couple matrons in the field who had male children at home around Xiaocao’s age, so their eyes lit up when they saw her. Immediately, their voices became much more welcoming. Haixing’s wife grinned until her eyes became a line and said, “Oh! Xiaocao’s becoming more and more beautiful with time. Look at her little face, so white and tender. She resembles a well-bred young woman more than those daughters of the wealthy families in town!”
“What is that phrase...a natural born beauty! Dahai’s wife also has good looks. In fact, all of her children are perfect specimens. Dahai’s wife, is your Xiaosha fourteen this year? It’s almost time to find a wife for him…” In these past two years, the Yu Family had become one of the wealthiest families in the village. As their children got older, they became the target of everyone who had marriageable children and were now being eyed like a prime piece of meat by this pack of ‘hungry wolves’!
Madam Liu looked at the matron who had asked the question with a somewhat embarrassed manner and sighed before she said, “You all don’t know my children’s personalities. Every single one has their own opinions. As their mother, I can’t lightly make this decision without asking for their own opinions!”
Haixing’s wife’s eyes opened wide as she stated, “Since ancient times, don’t all parents with the help of the matchmaker decree the marriages of their children? As their mother, if you don’t take charge of this issue, who else would be able to?”
“That’s right, that’s right! Dahai’s wife, it’s not that I’m trying to use my seniority to lecture you, but you and Brother Dahai spoil your children too much! In all of our families, if our children don’t listen to us, then we would beat them! Didn’t both of my older girls have their marriages decided by their father and me? And look at them now, aren’t their lives pretty good?”
The matron who had asked about Yu Hang’s marriage prospects earlier was the wife of the village chief’s nephew. Everyone called her Older Brother Zhimin’s wife.
“That’s because you know how to raise children and love your girls, so you made sure to find them families that would take care of them.” Another matron next to her, who had a good relationship with her, interjected in a flattering manner.
Zhimin’s wife revealed a proud and smug smile and didn’t seem modest at all as she stated, “Since we’re on the topic of raising children, then I won’t be shy in saying that all of my daughters are good hands at both farming work and household work. Especially my youngest daughter. She has a fine hand in embroidery. She recently made a pillow cover that was embroidered with ducks playing in the water and it sold to the embroidery shop in town for one tael. The shop even said that they would definitely take her work in the future!” After speaking, she used a self-satisfied expression to glance at Madam Liu.
Madam Liu was concentrating on her task at hand and didn’t notice. Xiaocao, on the other hand, was currently washing her face and hands underneath the grape trellis and saw everything. She silently laughed inside. Recently, her brothers and sister were as popular as peach blossoms. Her older brother, who was growing handsome and had a steady and hardworking temperament, was the current target of a lot of people. However, she had a hunch that her older brother had a glimmer of a liking towards Older Sister Huifang. In the future, she needed to find some time to question him a bit.