Chapter 427: Chapter 427: Marrying a Wife Should Be Marrying a Virtuous Woman
“YingEr, don’t fuss! Let’s listen to what your cousin has to say first.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Sisi quickly pulled back YingEr who was trying to drag herself out.
“Di Cheng, which girl is it? There’s no need to be so shy in front of Third Auntie, come on, just say it! So I can give you some advice!”
“Wow, Di Cheng, you’re not bad! We’ve been living and eating together every day and I didn’t even know about this. Which girl is it? Hurry up and tell! Let me tell you, when marrying a wife, choose a virtuous one. Don’t make the same mistake I did, I… ”
From the side, Shou Hou, who had been busy, squeezed over and climbed onto Di Cheng’s shoulder with a face full of experienced advice.
His bitter gourd-like face made everyone present want to laugh but held it back, as they were worried about hurting his feelings. Holding back their laughter was quite hard.
“Shou Hou, to be honest, Cuihua isn’t that bad to you. Don’t take your blessings for granted!”
After laughing for a while, Liu Sisi finally held back her laughter and said seriously.
“What blessings! Not only is she strong, but she also brings a string of troubles everywhere she goes. I’m already so tired just cleaning up her messes… ” Shou Hou said with a dejected face.
“Although she’s strong, doesn’t it perfectly make up for your weakness? As for her ability to cause trouble…”
Liu Sisi smiled and said, “When has she ever let you get hurt? Hasn’t she always protected you and stood in front of you? It’s true that she has a larger figure, but that’s what her parents gave her. She’s never wronged you. You mustn’t get stuck in a dead end and not be able to climb out.”
Liu Sisi’s words left Shou Hou speechless, and he froze on the spot.
After a while, he sighed softly and rubbed his face: “Each family has its own problems that you would not understand.” After saying that, he walked away with a despondent expression.
Di Cheng looked at his retreating figure with an expression of pity.
“Just a few days ago, when work started… Cuihua came to ask for money again…”
Di Cheng wanted to say more but stopped.
Liu Sisi raised an eyebrow in surprise, glanced at Shou Hou who was pretending to be busy on the other side, and was left speechless too.
“So, which girl is it, and has your mother gone to propose marriage yet?”
She brought the conversation back.
Di Cheng shook his head gently: “It’s… Feng Qian’er, the second daughter of the blacksmith next door… Her father has already said that if you want to propose marriage, you have to give 100 taels of silver, and also have property in the town or county. So…”
“Wow! Such high demands? Is Feng Qian’er that beautiful?”
Liu Sisi was also taken aback by this demand!
To know that in this day and age, families willing to spend 100 taels of silver on a marriage proposal were basically wealthy! For ordinary farmers’ families to come up with 100 taels of silver, selling their entire property wouldn’t even be enough!
Di Cheng’s face grew even more embarrassed: “Qian’er is alright… it’s just that her father is really hard to deal with. So…”
Liu Sisi thought for a moment: “Telling me about this doesn’t do much good! Your parents are in good health and your grandparents are still alive. As your Third Aunt, it’s not my place to interfere. It would be overstepping. How about this: you communicate with your mother first and see what she says before discussing anything else?”
“I’m afraid that’s even more impossible. Third Aunt, you also know the situation of our family.”
Di Cheng’s face turned from flushed to a bitter smile, “Before the new year, it was good that you reminded me, so I hid that portion of the silver elsewhere. On New Year’s Eve, when I arrived home, my mother searched me and even went through the quilt corner…”
This was indeed something Ms. Wang was capable of!
Seeing Di Cheng’s heartbroken expression, Liu Sisi couldn’t bear it and came up with an idea.
“Even if it can’t be said, it must be said. However, don’t just approach her directly, choose a good day to do it, at least when your mother is too superstitious to make a scene. That way, even if she disagrees, Third Aunt and Third Uncle can help you…”
After speaking, she taught him some more details thoroughly, and then led Da Mao and YingEr out of the bookstore.
The small town was getting more and more prosperous recently. The sounds of gongs and drums outside were urging everyone on. Seeing Di Yelei and the others who had already loaded their required items onto the carriage waiting at the door, they called out with a smile.
“Let’s go! Let’s walk around the avenue before we go back!”
Although they frequently went in and out of the small town, the family rarely went shopping recently, making this walk in the avenue a novel experience for everyone.
In the middle of the avenue, people dressed in colorful makeup, wearing ghost masks, and walking on stilts passed by. Accompanied by loud noises and gongs and drums, the team dancing the lion dance went from the beginning to the end of the street and then turned around from the other side of the street.
Along the way, fortune children with red rouge on their cheeks were particularly amusing, asking for reward money.
The group all watched happily, and when they saw the fortune children carrying trays, they took out scattered copper coins from their arms, ready to reward them.
“Mom! Let me give to the fortune children. Let me reward them!”
YingEr tugged at Liu Sisi’s sleeve, shaking it incessantly.
Da Mao followed suit, shaking Liu Sisi’s sleeve as well.
“Okay! You guys give. Come! Each of you give half—”
As she spoke, she handed out half of the money in her hand to each of them.
On the side, Zhang Yun and Di Xuan were also beaming, placing the copper coins in their hands into the tray, making a rattling sound.
The two children had successfully passed Elder Mr. Xu’s assessment today and were very happy. The action of giving reward money was exceptionally generous and carefree!
After the fortune children thanked them, they continued on and walked in front of Liu Sisi. YingEr and Da Mao had already prepared the copper coins, eagerly throwing them onto the copper tray, laughing heartily.
Da Mao especially, perhaps because of eating well and sleeping well recently, had not only become much stronger but also had a much rounder and rosy cheek, no longer showing signs of malnutrition and shrinking.
Since Liu Zhi’er left, Liu Sisi had moved him to sleep beside her at night. The child was indeed likable, always curling up into a ball and sleeping quietly in the innermost part of the bed, without turning over all night.
At the moment, he and YingEr stood together, silently laughing until their eyes were only two slits.
He still couldn’t change the habit of not liking to talk.
Once the fortune children and the lion dance crowd had passed by, the group came in front of a sugar cake shop just as they were buying snacks for the children. Liu Sisi curiously looked at Zhang Yun as he took in his whole appearance and subsequently asked.
“By the way, Xuan’er had a trace to follow for the test, but what about you, Yun Er? What did Elder Mr. Xu test you on?”