The yard is still divided into front yard and back yard. The original front yard of the old house has been almost doubled, plus the yard in front of the newly built three rooms, there is a total of three or four acres of land, which is quite luxurious! The backyard is still facing the lake, and it is no smaller than the front yard. When the lake goes down in autumn and winter, there will be a lot of fertile land!
Before pulling the yard, Yu Hai approached the village head and offered to buy the land with money so that some people in the village would not raise their opinions.
The village head also has his own considerations, Yu Hai's network now far exceeds that of him as the village head, not only his relatives who are generals, but even the future head of the Zhou family treats him differently. It is said that Princess Jing, who built another courtyard in Xishan, also likes the little girl of Yu Hai's family very much. There are only advantages and no disadvantages in making friends with such people. Maybe one day it will be useful to others.
At first, he was desperately unwilling to accept Yu Hai's money for buying the land. Afterwards, after Jing Yu Hai explained the truth, he took a little money in a symbolic way. The price of homesteads in the village is already low, and the village chief deliberately lowered the price, making it almost like a free gift. Yu Hai said that he remembered this favor.
Time flies, but time is hard to stay. In a blink of an eye, the autumn harvest is over, and winter comes quietly. Families in Dongshan Village began to hoard firewood and food for the winter. Due to the severe drought in Northeast China, the crop failure also affected the price of grain in the north. The price of polished rice and white noodles has been rising all the way, and even coarse grains have risen a bit compared with last year.
The eldest son of the village chief who is doing business in other places sent back news that the drought in the Northeast had a great impact. Although the emperor allocated food for disaster relief, what actually went to the common people was not enough to support them through the severe winter. The people in the Northeast, who had relatives elsewhere, packed up their belongings and fled. Refugees also began to appear everywhere.
Dongshan Village is fine. Although there is less rain after summer, it is relatively uniform and has little impact on the crops.
Before I knew it, it was the day when Xiaocao's sister-in-law Yu Caidie got married. The day before the wedding, relatives and friends all have to add makeup. Although he has a grudge against Zhang, Yu Hai is Cai Die's second brother after all, so naturally he won't make things difficult for her on the big day.
On the first day, Yu Hai took his little daughter to the town. He wanted to buy a pair of silver bracelets for his little sister, but he didn't believe his eyesight, so he brought Xiaocao with them.
Xiaocao has no ill feeling towards this cowardly and kind-hearted sister-in-law. I heard that the family my sister-in-law is going to marry is doing well, and Mrs. Zhang, who is full of the youngest son, will definitely not prepare too much dowry for my sister-in-law. In the ancient women's family, the dowry represented the importance her natal family attached to her, and it was also her confidence in her husband's family.
In addition to a pair of dragon and phoenix bracelets, Xiaocao also chose a pair of hairpins and a pair of red coral earrings. Unexpectedly, coral jewelry is quite expensive in Tanggu Linhai. A pair of red coral earrings is actually more expensive than the dragon and phoenix bracelet and hairpin combined. However, dozens of taels of silver are really nothing to the current Yu family.
After thinking about it, I went next door to the previous melon shop and chose a few rulers, all of which were fine cotton cloth that the peasants were reluctant to wear. The godmother said, for a married girl, there must be some fabrics for the bottom of the box!
In Tanggu Town, Yu Hai and his daughter also encountered some unkempt refugees. He was placed outside the city gate by the newly appointed county magistrate. He lived in a simple shack and ate porridge donated by some wealthy families. The winter in the north is long, I wonder if these people can survive the long and severe winter...
Yu Hai stood at the refugee gathering place for a long time, almost looking everyone over carefully, as if he was looking for something. Xiaocao thought it was her father who felt sympathetic, so she bought some coarse-grain steamed buns and asked the steamed bun shop to send them over. It's not that she can't afford white flour steamed buns, but she still understands the reason why Sheng Mi's kindness fights against Mi's hatred.
There were not too many refugees outside Tanggu Town at this time, Yu Hai distributed the steamed buns to everyone one by one, in exchange for countless words of gratitude. While sharing the steamed buns, Xiaocao noticed that her father was asking about Liu Hu from time to time. Who is Liu Hu? Why does dad care about him so much
Back home, during dinner, Yu Hai sighed and mentioned his sister who married far away in the Northeast: "My poor sister, I haven't heard from her for several days. I don't know how the disaster in their village is going. Will they live like those refugees? Nowhere to go…”
Liu comforted softly: "Don't worry, those refugees have no relatives to vote for. Dongshan Village is your eldest sister's natal family, and you are her younger brother. If she really can't make it through, she won't come back."
Yu Hai shook his head slowly and said: "You also know that my eldest sister hates Mrs. Zhang so much that even if she begs outside, she won't come to the door. Although I have sent a letter to tell her that we have separated, I am afraid that she will In order not to cause trouble for me as a younger brother, I went to escape elsewhere... "
"Probably not. If it were me, I would choose a place I am familiar with for my children to suffer less! Wait a minute, maybe your sister is already on the way!" There are four children, and the youngest is only one year older than Shitou, so they should not disregard their children for the sake of integrity.
Xiaocao thought for a while and said, "Father, is my uncle's name Liu Hu?"
Yu Hai nodded heavily. Her guess was really good. Today in the refugee camp, Dad was inquiring about the news of the aunt's family.
There was nothing to say all night, and the next day was the day for Yu Caidie to add makeup. Originally, Yu Hai planned to put down his things and come back. But many people in the village came over to put on makeup because of his face. They said a few words when they saw this, and chattered a few words when they saw that, and they couldn't get away for a while.
Yu Caidie's handkerchief and the daughters-in-law of good people in the village gathered around the east room to congratulate her. Yu Caidie's face was flushed, she lowered her head shyly, and occasionally showed a shy smile.
Her dowry is placed in the main room, a total of six sets. In rural areas, it's pretty good. After all, she is her own daughter. Although Mrs. Zhang loves money, she will not be harsh on the dowry. For the six sets of dowry, in addition to the betrothal gift given by the man, she added another ten taels of silver into it, and also gave a box-pressing gift of six taels or six taels of money.
When Yu Hai came to put on makeup, Mrs. Zhang didn't go out. When the men came out to the yard, the little girls and the big wives surrounded them. Yu Caidie's good sister Li Xiaomeng joked with a smile: "Caidie, take a look at what good things your second brother added to you, such a big bag!"
Another round-faced little daughter-in-law said: "It's definitely not bad. Brother Da Da's family is the second family in our Dongshan Village to live in a brick and tile house! That house is similar to that of a rich family in the city. With cornices! What a style!"
Li Xiaomeng nodded and said with a smile on his face: "Yes! Yes! I heard that the yard alone is several acres of land! Brother Dahai has made a lot of money by growing early-maturing vegetables in his yard. The spring of next year will definitely be better than last year Earn more!"
A daughter-in-law who obviously had pink eye disease curled her lips and said sourly: "If you have money, you may not be willing to part with it! Look at the old floral cloth wrapped outside, I don't know what year it is. I don't even want to part with the burden, Is everything in there alright?"
Mrs. Zhang stood silently behind the crowd with no expression on her face. Suddenly, her expression became a little ferocious, and she strode up, smiled at the girls and wives, and said loudly: "Cai Die, look at what good things your second brother added to you!!"
Her voice made the ears of the people in the room hurt, and even the men in the yard could hear it clearly. Zhang originally thought that since what she did when she was young was exposed, Yu Hai held a grudge against her, and would definitely not send any good things over. She just wanted to let everyone in the village know that when Yu Hai was rich, he would look down on his parents and siblings, to see how he would behave in the village in the future.
She quickly opened the slightly old furoshiki, revealing the red, blue, and flowery ruler heads inside, and there were five or six kinds of them. A little daughter-in-law exclaimed and picked up one of the muslins with red flowers on a blue background, and said repeatedly: "Wow! It's muslin!"
"Let me see, let me see!!" Li Xiaomeng squeezed over, touched it lightly with her hand, and said enviously, "Really! Look at this texture, this pattern...the fine cotton cloth I saw in the cloth store last time , the hand feel is not so good, and it costs fifty cents a foot! This piece of cloth is at least six feet long, and if it is finer, it can be used to make a whole suit of clothes."
"Tsk tsk! Six pieces of fine cotton cloth, each six feet... at least four or five taels of silver, brother Da Da is really generous!" The round-faced young daughter-in-law rubbed a piece of fine cotton cloth gently, reluctant to put it down for a long time.
Yu Caidie watched from the side, with a smile on her lips and tears in her eyes. She turned her back and lightly tested the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief: Second brother is still the one who loves her...
Li Xiaomeng looked through every piece of cotton cloth, and suddenly a delicate wooden box fell out from the innermost piece of cloth. She fished it quickly in her hand, trying not to fall. Looking at the beautifully carved box, she knew that the things inside were precious, and she couldn't afford to pay for it if it broke!
"What is this?" The girls and daughters-in-law gathered around, looking curiously at the box in Li Xiaomeng's hand.
"I know! Last time I went to the town to go to the market, I was separated from my family, and I somehow went to Dongcheng District. The houses there are so magnificent! Among them is a jewelry shop, which is the largest and most magnificent. The noble lady in silk and satin who came out from inside was holding such a box. I inquired quietly, and the cheapest silver earrings inside cost several taels of silver a pair!!" The villager who spoke The youngest daughter of the elder family, who is one year younger than Caidie, has already agreed with her that she will get married next month.
Li Xiaomeng's hand holding the box trembled, it was dangerous! Fortunately, it didn't fall!
The youngest daughter of the village head's family eagerly urged: "Xiaomeng, open it and have a look!"
"What are you looking at! It's nothing more than a pair of earrings, and the matter of a few taels of silver is worthy of your twittering!" Seeing that Yu Hai couldn't be ashamed, Mrs. Zhang stretched her wrinkled old face like a shoehorn. Yes, I reached out to pick up the jewelry box in Li Xiaomeng's hand.