On September 28th, Wu Shaoyang got married.
Jin Shanyao arrived early with her siblings. Since both the Wu and Miao Household were in business, most of the guests knew each other.
The three had just sat down at the banquet table when they heard a burst of firecrackers outside, followed by the matchmaker's loud shouts, "May you enjoy the spring outing, carry on the family line! May you cross the saddle and have a safe and peaceful life..."
As the sound grew closer, Wu Shaoyang, dressed in a bright red wedding gown, led his bride in. Miao Shuihua wore a pomegranate-red wedding dress, made of expensive fabric embroidered with gold patterns.
She held a round fan in her hand, which covered most of her face. Only her wrist was visible, and a simple silver bracelet was worn on her wrist.
Wu Shaoyang led the way, holding the red ribbon, glancing at her every now and then, unable to suppress the smirk on his face.
Someone nearby jeered, "What's the groom looking at? He'll have plenty of time to look after the wedding ceremony!"
A burst of laughter erupted.
Miao Shuihua's eyes curved slightly, then lowered as she followed him inside.
The couple stood in the main hall, and the matchmaker called out, "First bow to Heaven and Earth... Second bow to the parents... Husband and wife bow to each other... Ceremony complete, escort them to the bridal chamber."
Wu Shaoyang grinned foolishly and reached out to pull Miao Shuihua. The onlookers teased, "Groom... you haven't even consummated the marriage yet, why are you already touching her?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Miao Shuihua shot her a glare, and the men who had just been joking fell silent instantly. They had forgotten... Wu Shaoyang had married a shrew.
The tigress is fiercely protective of her food; anyone who tries to tease Wu Shaoyang will be scolded back by her.
Wu Shaoyang led Miao Shuihua into the bridal chamber, taking the fan from her hand. "Rest for a while, I'll go get you some food."
Miao Shuihua nodded. "I just saw Shopkeeper Jin. Don't forget to go and say hello, and see if there's anything I can help you with. Don't neglect him."
She heard that Anzhi Hall's renewal contracts with Shi Household Escort Agency were quite expensive, so she asked her when she had time if she wanted to travel by water. If so, she suggested giving her a discount, since Anzhi Hall was a major client.
"Okay..." Wu Shaoyang stared at Miao Shuihua and grinned foolishly, "You're so beautiful, I can never get enough of looking at you."
Miao Shuihua blushed and glared at him reproachfully, "Go and get busy..."
Wu Shaoyang sighed, turned and went out, but returned a moment later with the food. After setting it down, he went to the front yard to formally toast the guests.
In the front yard, Jin Shanyao and her two children ate while listening to the gossip of the others at the table. "Look how happy the Wu family is, they can't stop smiling. They really hit the jackpot this time."
"From now on, the Wu family won't have to pay for water transport anymore."
Another person scoffed, "They're just putting on a brave face. I heard the Miao Household girl is quite formidable; she married Wu Shaoyang without asking for anything, just one condition: she had to separate from the family and move out."
"Ah... separating the household so soon after getting married, aren't you afraid people will laugh at you?"
"What are you laughing at? Who dares to laugh! The Miao Household has already bought a house by the river and is just waiting to move in as soon as the wedding is over."
On the surface, it seems like the Wu family is getting married, but in my opinion, it's clearly Wu Shaoyang marrying into the Miao Household. The Wu family also wants to use the Miao Household for water transport.
From now on, they might find it difficult to even see their son!
Jin Shanyao, holding chopsticks, lowered her voice and asked curiously, "If someone marries into the family, what will their children's surname be?"
" Shopkeeper Jin..." Wu Shaoyang's voice suddenly came from behind, startling Jin Shanyao. She turned around abruptly, chopsticks in hand, with only one sentence in her mind.
Don't talk about people during the day, and don't talk about ghosts at night. She got caught just for saying that.
Wu Shaoyang, holding a wine glass, smiled broadly, " Shopkeeper Jin... I'm truly delighted to see you at the wedding."
Jin Shanyao smiled awkwardly, hurriedly picked up her wine glass and clinked it against Wu Shaoyang's, saying, "Happy... happy." She then tilted her head back and drank it all in one gulp.
Wu Shaoyang was not good at drinking, but seeing that Jin Shanyao had drunk it all in one gulp, he couldn't just take a small sip, so he had to drink it all in one go.
" Shopkeeper Jin, please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. If you run out of food, just have the maids bring it. Don't be shy..."
Jin Shanyao in agreement.
After Wu Shaoyang left, she moved closer to the woman again, "You still haven't told me whose surname the child will take?"
The woman glanced around furtively. "Of course he'll be surnamed Wu. We still have to maintain appearances. Whether he's marrying into the family or not is just a title. He's already living by the river; what's the difference between that and marrying into the family?"
Jin Shanyao suddenly realized, this is... She thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a word, so she turned to look at Meng Anci.
Meng Anci continued for her, "In name only."
With Jin Shanyao, she exclaimed, "Yes! This is it!"
Meng Anzhi added quietly from the side, "To put it bluntly, they're still part of the Wu family on the surface, but their hearts have long since drifted away."
Jin Shanyao at her. "You understood too?"
Meng Anzhi gave a soft "hmm," and said, "It's not hard to understand."
Just as everyone at the table was whispering,
Xiao Huzi appeared out of nowhere, his face still covered in firecracker debris, clutching two candies in his hand, and shoved them into Meng Anci's hand.
"Brother Anci... here... I specially grabbed this for you!"
Meng Anci looked down at the candy, then at the dark mark on his face, "What happened to your face?"
Xiao Huzi wiped his face, making it even more smeared. "It's from a firecracker. It's okay, I'm thick-skinned." With that, he took off running again.
October is the season for the Anzhi Hall to harvest medicinal herbs.
Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi spent their days traveling between various mountain peaks.
Meng Anzhi promoted several of the village elders to minor stewardships, assigning them to oversee various medicinal herb mountains.
For example, Crescent Moon Mountain was managed by Fan Er and two other people. It was Fan Er's first time in charge, and he was afraid of making any mistakes, so he kept reminding everyone to be careful not to cut their hands.
He would remind everyone to watch their step so as not to damage the herbs, and he would also occasionally tap the nearby trees with a stick to drive away snakes and insects.
When Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi arrived, Fan Er was busy loading the harvested medicinal herbs onto a cart, preparing to transport them back to the estate for unified processing.
"Is everything going smoothly?"
Startled by the question, Fan Er turned around abruptly and saw Meng Anzhi. He immediately gave a simple, honest smile.
"Miss, it's still the same work, but I'm always on edge, afraid that something might go wrong."
"It's alright, just go Dadan and do it. If you don't understand anything or make any mistakes, just let me know."
Fan Er nodded emphatically, "Yes, I understand..." Then he suddenly remembered, "Miss, the students from the Green Mountain Academy saw the young master coming from the nearby field ridge... Aren't you going to go and see?"
"We're not going... We want to wander around the mountain a bit more. Keep an eye on the time, don't let the workers work for too long, and make sure the river water is heated before drinking it, understand?"
"Don't worry, I've already explained everything."
"Alright... you go ahead with your work," Meng Anzhi said, and then she and Jin Shanyao checked the growth of the herbs. About half an hour later, they left Crescent Moon Mountain.