Chapter 3

"Wonderful news, wonderful news! Brother Xie!"

"Matchmaker Liu? Please, come in..." Xie Dashu had been about to scold his second wife, but this interruption sent him to greet the matchmaker with a broad smile.

"Brother Xie, happy tidings have come to your family!" Matchmaker Liu sat down on a chair with an affected air.

Seeing that the matchmaker was keeping him in suspense, Xie Dashu played along. "Xiaoyu, we have a guest. Bring some tea."

Xie Xiaoyu was only ten, born in the second year after Madam Xie Sun married into the family,

the girl

of a boy-girl pair of twins. Xie Xiaoyu hurried into the next room to fetch a plate of roasted peanuts, then served Matchmaker Liu tea.

Holding her teacup, Matchmaker Liu said with satisfaction, "I've come on Third Zhou's behalf. His son, Zhou Jinian, has taken a fancy to your child."

Xie Ning pricked up his little ears. Just a moment ago, he had been thinking about becoming Zhou Jinian's bookboy.

Xie Yao stood up too. "Your big brother will go take a look."

"Which one?" Xie Dashu raised his eyebrows in confusion, three wrinkles creasing his dark forehead.

"Brother Xie, have you gone muddleheaded? Zhou Jinian is a man. Don't you have only one child of marriageable age?"

Xie Yao had just stepped into the main room when he heard Matchmaker Liu name him. "Ning-ge'er, of course!"

Everyone in the main room, along with Xie Ning in the side room, was utterly astonished.

Xie Dashu's eyes went wide and his mouth hung open. What was going on? Eldest Zhou's family had just broken off the engagement, yet Third Zhou's family was here to arrange one?

"What's with all of you? Third Zhou's family may be a little poor, but his son is at least a tongsheng. Besides, with Ning-ge'er's current condition..." Matchmaker Liu forced a smile and reached for the peanuts on the plate.

Xie Yao could not bear to hear what Matchmaker Liu would say next and cut her off. "There's nothing wrong with my brother! Whatever the Zhou family is planning, they can forget about insulting him any further!"

"Tsk..." Matchmaker Liu cracked open a peanut and asked, "Brother Xie, just tell me-is this child of yours getting married or not?"

Of course he was! But Xie Dashu could not work out what the Zhou family meant by this. Marriage might be decided by parents' orders and a matchmaker's word, but Ning-ge'er was his second son, whom he had cherished since childhood. Eldest Zhou's family had already done Ning-ge'er terrible harm by breaking off the engagement, and his heart ached for him.

Could he still trust the Zhou family?

Still, he had to admit that if Third Zhou's family was sincere about proposing, it really would be like sending charcoal in the snow.

Matchmaker Liu said, "Oh, come now! Zhou Jinian is a scholar, after all. He might even become a xiucai next year. Brother Xie, you should weigh this carefully! As the old saying goes, you can't keep a grown child at home-keep them too long, and affection turns to resentment!"

Both Xie Dashu and Xie Yao hesitated. Since the incident, no one had come to propose to Xie Ning. Now that someone finally had, it was the Zhou family again...

"Yes! Go back and tell Third Zhou to set a date!" Madam Xie Sun was more eager than anyone to get Xie Ning out of the house.

Matchmaker Liu happily grabbed a handful of roasted peanuts and stood up to offer her congratulations. "Then congratulations, Brother Xie! I'll go give them your answer. Once the date is set, I'll come back."

Matchmaker Liu stepped over the main room's threshold and left, eager to collect her reward money from the Zhou family.

Ignoring Xie Yao's glare, Madam Xie Sun looked at Xie Dashu, the head of the household. "It's such a good match. If Zhou Jinian becomes a xiucai next year and takes Ning-ge'er to the prefectural city, perhaps his illness can even be cured. This is happy news! As his stepmother, shouldn't I help Ning-ge'er seize this chance?"

It had to be said that Madam Xie Sun had helped Xie Ning agree to a good marriage. Zhou Jinian soon set a date and came to discuss the betrothal gifts. He agreed at once to Xie Dashu's requests and the gifts he asked for, without the slightest intention of bargaining.

Xie Dashu was very pleased with this handsome, serious, and thoroughly sincere son-in-law, and the marriage was settled just like that.

Author's note: You're free to speak, but if you dare use words to diss me, I'll definitely diss you back. Respect goes both ways.

[1. It was the outrageous relatives who suggested making him a bookboy as compensation. For your information: people who take advantage and still act as if they're doing you a favor are outrageous relatives! Reasonable, understanding people are good relatives!]

[2. A very serious explanation: 1. In ancient times, anyone who wasn't a man had to be married off, whether they wanted to marry or not. It was extremely cruel. 2. In ancient times, it was against the law for men and women to remain unmarried once they reached the prescribed age, punishable by fines or imprisonment, because large numbers of people were needed to work and support the elderly. This was also why the preference for sons over daughters was so severe in ancient times: men were laborers. This was also why ancient feudal thinking held that women's only value lay in continuing the family line.]

If you're interested, you can look up this aspect of history on Baidu yourself.

Thank you to the little angels who sent me Overlord Tickets or watered my work with nutrient solution between 2020-09-10 00:22:47 and 2020-09-10 23:58:10~

Thanks to the little angels who donated nutrient solution: Angela, 5 bottles; Senluo, 1 bottle;

Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard!

Chapter 3

In the thirty-sixth year of Qingyuan, in the seventh month at the start of autumn, the farmers of Great Well Village had just finished their summer sowing. They only had to wait another hundred days for the autumn harvest.

Taking advantage of this lull in the farming season, Great Well Village held a wedding that day. The groom was Third Zhou's tongsheng son, eighteen-year-old Zhou Jinian.

The Zhou residence bustled inside and out. The Zhou sisters-in-law gathered in the kitchen to prepare the wedding banquet's successive sittings, while the younger generation carried tables and arranged chairs in and around the courtyard. The girls and gers decorated the bridal chamber, waiting only for dusk to welcome Xie Ning into the household.

In the Great Qing Dynasty, weddings coincided with dusk, which the common people considered an auspicious hour. One explanation held that the sun belonged to yang and the moon to yin, and dusk was precisely when yin and yang changed places. "Yang departs and yin arrives," making it a suitable time for marriage.

Thus, having the wedding ceremony at dusk was a privilege reserved for a principal wife.

Only concubines and secondary wives entered the household during the day.

The Zhou family led along a large, fat pig with red cloth bows tied around its body. Behind it followed two groups of musicians. The instruments rang out, and the betrothal gifts were lavish.

The wedding procession numbered well over ten people. In the Great Qing Dynasty, a betrothal required at least six gifts and at most twelve. These ranged from expensive items such as gold bracelets to lesser ones such as sweet cakes. Zhou Jinian had gone straight for the highest standard, showing his sincerity to the fullest.

"That Ning-ge'er from the Xie family really was born lucky..."