The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Yingbao’s face twitched slightly.

That Chu Man, about the same age as Brother Jiang Cheng, must be eighteen this year. She would turn nineteen after the New Year and is still unmarried.

And Chen Changping, around thirty-two or thirty-three, is thirteen or fourteen years older than Chu Man. Had he been born a few years earlier, he could practically qualify as her father.

“Grandmother opposes it, and so does Grandfather, but that matchmaker keeps pushing it.”

Previously, the wedding news between Chu Man of Chu Village and Jiang Cheng had been widely spread across Chuanhe Town.

Who would dare to marry such a woman?

Of course, those who are impoverished or old bachelors might not mind, but how could a reputable family like the one in Chu Village allow their precious daughter to marry into such a family?

Chen Zhao was worried and chatted with Yingbao for a while before taking his brother home.

After the previous flood, Old Chen Laoshuan had also built houses on South Slope, but only three tile houses were built, without even enclosing a courtyard.

The third son, Chen Changhai, also built three tile houses nearby, likewise without a courtyard, as they mostly still lived in the old house, simply having this one just in case.

The eldest son, Chen Changrong, did not build a house on the South Slope, considering it unnecessary.

It was only during the spring and summer seasons when there was more rain. The rest of the time, it was more convenient to live in the old house.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival and the family had come to the South Slope to celebrate the new house.

When Chen Zhao brought his brother home, he saw the eldest sister helping their third aunt cook in the kitchen.

Grandma Chen, of the Feng Family, sat on a wooden bench picking vegetables, while their grandfather was sipping tea from a teapot.

The old lady glanced at her granddaughter and instructed, “Let Xubao play by himself and come help with the vegetables. Your uncle and aunt will be here soon.”

Chen Zhao agreed and squatted on the ground to help with the leeks.

He heard his grandfather speaking with his grandmother, “After the holiday, our second son is going to the county school to study. We need to prepare some silver coins for him.”

Feng Chen, without looking up, said, “Of course, I have twenty silver coins on hand that I can give him.”

Mr. Chen took a sip of tea and shook his head, “If we give him this time, what will we do next time? I heard the county students often hold poetry and painting meetings together. Each time they have to chip in some money, our second son will inevitably be involved. Add to this the annual tuition fees and meal costs, twenty silver coins… I’m afraid they might just cover half a year’s expenditure.”

Feng Chen was not concerned: “Our second son can also earn money, and if worst comes to worst, he still has his older and younger brothers to help.”

Mr. Chen gave his wife a glance: “How much can we rely on his brothers for help? Our sons are all studying, spending a fair amount on annual tuition, ink, paper, and every year our eldest son also plans to take the examination, which will cost a lot.”

For each examination, they first had to prepare a gift for the mentor. The mentor would then help connect them with five other examinees forming a pledge group.

Afterwards, they would have to spend a considerable amount of money to hire someone for help, to contact a student who receives a scholarship for their guarantee, and whether the student passed the examination or not afterwards, they would have to show their appreciation to this scholarship student.

This process was something that an ordinary family could not afford.

Therefore, if Chen Changping wanted to study at the county school steadily, he must have the support of a well-off family behind him.

But Mr. Chen didn’t have much money left, and most of the family’s land had been divided among his sons. Now, he simply can’t afford to support his second son’s schooling.

The property that had been originally divided to Chen Changping had already been sold out entirely by that wasteful woman of the Han Family, leaving only a few dozen mu of mountain land and those lower-grade plots on the South Slope.

Looking to those plots for their son’s education, or even just to rely on them for food, was simply impossible.

Feng Chen frowned, “If this doesn’t work and that doesn’t work, then what should we do?”

The last time they went to Prefecture City, although the Wei Family had given them some money, how many times could that money be used for their household expenses?

Mr. Chen squinted his eyes, sipping tea, and said, “In my opinion, the Chu Family seems not bad. They said they can fully support our second son’s studies.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Chen was displeased and glared at her husband, “What’s not bad? How is the daughter of the Chu Family worthy of our second son!”

Although she had not seen the maiden from the Chu Family, the whole village would sneer at the mere mention of her.

The girl was known to be fierce and disrespectful. Just after she married into the Jiang Family, before even entering the bridal chamber, she had beaten the young master of the Jiang Family until his head was bleeding, and was sent back to her parents’ house in disgrace.

For this reason alone, her Chen Family could not accept such a woman.

Her own son, after all, was a scholar, and there were plenty of good marriage prospects. They weren’t desperate for the Chu Family’s proposal, especially since the Chu Family was not a good marital connection.

Upon seeing his wife’s fury, old Chen said, “I was just making a suggestion. It doesn’t have to be the Chu Family.”

However, finding a suitable match for their second son was the pressing matter.

Lady Han had passed away more than a hundred days ago, and no one would gossip about their son remarrying.

Moreover, there was a young child at home waiting to be taken care of, so even if they were to marry immediately after the festival, it would be understandable.

That night, a full moon rose in the sky.

Every household hung all sorts of lanterns outside their doors.

Now that the folks of Dongchen Village had money, they celebrated the festival even more grandly.

West Village, too, hung lanterns, though sparsely, and not as grandly as Dongchen Village.

In front of the Jiang Family’s main gate, a tall bamboo tower was erected loaded with more than twenty assorted lanterns.

On the south side of the tower, an altar was set up, overflowing with an offering of fruits.

After the children respectfully saluted the moon one by one, they lit incense, shouted cheerfully, and scampered off to the banquet.

That night, the Jiang Family set out four banquet tables. Their family occupied three tables, while the remaining one was taken by the guards of the Xiao Family and the servants of the Wei Family.

Xiao Chengyu was over the moon.

He was spending such a lively festival for the first time, with many companions, and he was beside himself with excitement.

Chui Zhaochen fearing that he would overeat, constantly urged him to eat less, but Xiao Chengyu declined to listen, trying every dish on the table, quickly filling his small belly.

Yingbao brought two jars of fruit juice from home. It was made from the water of the Pupil Spring in their cavern home, sweetened with honey, and mixed with a bit of Five Dingzhi herb.

“This is peach juice, very delicious, and it helps digestion too. Let’s all try some.”

She poured a bowl for every child and handed the rest to her mother’s table.

Wei Zhan and Xiao Chengyu drank the peach juice non-stop, repeatedly asking for refills.

After the banquet, the Second Aunt still led the children to release river lanterns and make wishes.

After releasing the lanterns, Wei Zhan and Xiao Chengyu refused to go to bed. Along with Jiang Jie, Jiang Wu, Yuanbao, and Huzi, they wandered around with lanterns in the village, looking at the colorful lanterns outside other people’s doors, and surreptitiously eating the offerings on other people’s altars.

The other children were not to be outdone and dared to steal fruit from other households’ altars.

The fruit and lotus seed cakes on the Jiang Family’s altar were the most and the finest, so they had the most children visiting.

Jiang Liu and her husband warmly watched the children snatch the offerings. When they saw the offerings on the table were about to run out, they went home to get more.

It was only when the moon began to set in the west that the children gradually began to head home.

Those who refused to leave were physically led by the ear by their parents.

Wei Zhan and Xiao Chengyu were also pulled by their ears by Yingbao and taken to Huzi’s house. This stunned the guards from Xiao Residence and the Wei Family’s servants.

This young lady was too fierce, she actually dared to pinch their young master’s ears.

They had to know, not even their own mothers had ever pinched their young master’s ears.

What was even more surprising was that the young master didn’t get mad, but obediently went to bed.

The several guards looked at each other and privately decided whether to report this exactly as it happened when they returned.