Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11934

"Huh?" Liu's eyes widened and her mouth opened wide.

She slapped her thigh. "Oh my god, so that's how it is! I almost forgot!"

Yang Ruoqing raised an eyebrow: "We don't have any second marriages or remarriages among our families, only your fourth family has a precedent! Think carefully about how they came to your house for their wedding banquet, and no matter how you respond, you're not the same as us!"

Liu tried hard to recall, and then her face gradually turned red.

When He'er remarried to Li Lao Er, all the branches of the Yang family, including the second branch, sent their congratulatory gifts in a proper manner.

However, Yang Ruoqing, Mianmian, and Yang Ruolan, who were already married, also expressed their opinions, but their expressions differed from those of the other branches of the Yang family.

As for Ju'er and San Yatou, they are different from Yang Ruoqing and the others. They are sisters with He'er, so their gifts are more substantial.

"Do you remember now? Did the second wife's family go to the fourth wife's banquet empty-handed?" Yang Ruoqing then asked Liu Shi.

Mrs. Liu gave an awkward smile, "I've given you a gift!"

Yang Ruoqing smiled without saying a word.

Sun and Bao Suyun also realized what was happening. Sun said, "I remember now. I, Ba Mei, Suyun, and I delivered the gifts together. Before we delivered the gifts, Ba Mei even came to me to ask how everyone else was giving their gifts. She did the same as us."

Bao Suyun nodded gently, "Third sister-in-law is right, I remember now, there was such a thing."

Not far away, Yang Huazhong nodded silently, then turned back to his work, choosing not to participate in the conversation...

Yang Ruoqing had just helped Liu Shi 'regain her memory' when Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei came over to the front yard together.

"Third Uncle, Third Aunt..."

"Oh, Fourth Aunt, Fifth Aunt, and Qing'er are all here? That's great, everyone's here!"

Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei were initially surprised to see so many people in the backyard, but they quickly became less surprised.

Yang Ruoqing would visit her parents' home, making seventy or eighty trips a day.

Bao Suyun and Sun Shi had a good relationship. Unless she went to the restaurant in Qing'an County with Yang Huazhou, Bao Suyun liked to visit the third branch of the family whenever she was at home.

As for the Liu family appearing here... that's even less surprising.

Throughout the 356 days of the year, Liu likes to wander around everyone's house, except for her own room.

"Yongjin, Eighth Sister, what brings you here?"

Yang Huazhong, who had been silent for a while, put down his work, turned around, took off his gloves, and came over to greet them.

His main task was to attend to Yang Yongjin.

Yang Ruoqing and Sun Shi also greeted Cao Bamei.

All eyes turned to Yang Huazhong and Yang Yongjin, the father and son. Yang Yongjin said to Yang Huazhong, "Third Uncle, my eighth sister and I have come here to inform you about our two daughters' marriages."

Inform?

Yang Ruoqing noticed Yang Yongjin's choice of words, which meant that his idea last night had been approved by Old Yang and the Tan family. So now he was here to inform the others so that everyone could be prepared.

Suddenly, her sleeve was quietly tugged, and Yang Ruoqing turned her head to see Liu Shi winking at her.

His face clearly said, "How about that? I wasn't wrong, was I? We're doing it all at once!"

Yang Ruoqing ignored Liu Shi and turned her head, only to hear Yang Huazhong say, "Alright, let's go to the main room for tea and talk while we drink..."

Yang Yongjin stopped Yang Huazhong, saying, "Third Uncle, there's no need to go to so much trouble. It's very simple. I'll leave as soon as I finish speaking, so as not to delay your work!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Yang Huazhong looked at Cao Bamei again.

Cao Bamei had already squatted down on the other side of Sun's house, grabbed a handful of straw, and started twisting straw rope with him.

Seeing Yang Huazhong looking in her direction, Cao Bamei smiled and nodded, "Third Uncle, it's really a small matter, about the wedding banquet for the two girls."

"Oh!" Yang Huazhong pretended to be hearing this for the first time, looked away from Yang Yongjin, and asked, "What about the two girls' banquet?"

Yang Yongjin said, "Third Uncle, we originally planned to marry off one of our children every other day, with the eldest getting married first and the second child getting married later."

"I've been thinking about it these past few days. Everyone is busy at the end of the year, and it's not worth taking up seven or eight days of everyone's time because of my family's affairs. We really feel bad about it!"

"Seven or eight days? How could it take that long? Yongjin, you're just spouting nonsense..." Liu said with a forced smile, her lips pursed repeatedly, her expression full of doubt and disdain.

Yang Yongjin turned to look at Liu Shi, and was about to speak when Cao Bamei spoke up.

Unlike Liu's sarcastic tone, Cao Bamei was not angry. Instead, she said calmly, "The day before the wedding, everyone has to go and help. The wedding day itself is another day. The banquet for the daughter's return visit and the preparations before the banquet will take another two days. That makes a total of four days, doesn't it?"

"What about two daughters? That would be eight days, wouldn't it? Even if we try to overlap things, it would still take at least six or seven days, right?"

"This year, the Lunar New Year is on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and today is the 9th of the twelfth lunar month. That's only 20 days in total. My family's affairs have taken up six, seven, or eight days of everyone's time. So, the remaining days are very rushed for everyone to prepare for the New Year."

Cao Bamei spoke fluently and logically, her sentences were not only smooth and coherent, but also conveyed a calm, composed, and confident demeanor.

Taking all factors into account, Yang Ruoqing came to the conclusion that this idea was probably the main one for the couple, while the secondary idea was likely to save on the cost of the banquet.

But that might not be the case. After all, the second wife's family is also well-off. In addition, the second brother and sister-in-law are different from other ignorant parents who rely on their daughters' dowries to supplement their sons' income. They both love their daughter very much.

Therefore, when it comes to their daughters' marriages, they probably won't be concerned about petty details. Think about it, they're willing to spend the biggest expense—the dowry—so why would they care about a few tables of food and drink for relatives and friends?

In addition, women are usually more emotional beings, and when faced with doubts or ridicule from others or the outside world, they are more likely to become enraged than men.

However, today, faced with Liu's words about Yin and Yang, Cao Bamei was unusually calm and did not get angry. Instead, she patiently explained.

This shows that the couple had anticipated these events before they arrived, and had already devised a strategy to deal with them.

Sure enough, after listening to Cao Bamei's reasoned explanation and analysis, which revealed her concern for everyone, Yang Huazhong, Sun Shi, and Bao Suyun all showed expressions of sudden understanding. At the same time, Sun Shi offered her blessings: "That's wonderful! Double happiness at the same time, good fortune doubled again and again!"

"Third Aunt, thank you for saying that. We appreciate your kind words!" Cao Bamei was filled with gratitude. If she hadn't been holding a half-twisted straw rope in her hand, she would have wanted to hold Sun's hand tightly so that Sun could feel her gratitude.

Sun smiled and asked, "Then what date will you choose?"

This is also what everyone is concerned about, because it was previously set between the 10th and 22nd of the twelfth lunar month. Now that the idea has been changed, the date will probably fluctuate accordingly.

Cao Bamei looked at Yang Yongjin, "Can I say no?"

Yang Yongjin nodded with a smile: "Of course, this is a good day. Master Li said it's an auspicious day."

Cao Bamei turned to Sun Shi and said, "The wedding date for the two girls is officially set for the 24th of the twelfth lunar month."

"So late?" Liu exclaimed in surprise.

"Is it late? It's alright, isn't it? We gave them plenty of time to come back to their parents' home before the New Year!" Cao Bamei said.

"Why not? Look, let me calculate it for you!" So Liu started counting on her fingers as she spoke: "On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, we'll go to your house to help. On the 24th, we'll send our two daughters off to their weddings. On the 25th and 26th, your family will go to your two daughters' houses one after the other to deliver hair oil. Then on the 27th, both daughters will return to their parents' homes at the same time!"

Cao Bamei shrugged, spread her hands, and asked Liu Shi with a smile, "Yes, that's how it's arranged. We and our daughters will rest on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, and we'll officially celebrate the New Year on the 29th. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

……

Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei delivered the message. Cao Bamei also helped Sun Shi twist two straw ropes. The couple then left because they still had to go to Sun's house to deliver the message.

As for their two in-laws, the Wang family in town and the Sixi family in the village, they had already consulted with both sides of their in-laws when they went to the east room of the old house last night to discuss the matter with Old Yang and Tan. Only after obtaining the consent of both sides of their in-laws did Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei take real action.

After the couple left, Yang Huazhong carried a bundle of firewood to the woodshed to settle it. Meanwhile, Liu spat angrily on the ground.

"What do you mean by considering us all? Their schedule is so packed. In my opinion, they're just trying to freeload off us all. While helping them prepare their banquet ingredients, they're also taking care of their New Year's ingredients. These two are really good at scheming!"

Upon hearing Liu's words, both Sun and Bao Suyun gave awkward laughs. Sun said, "Fourth sister-in-law, don't say that, it's not that serious..."

Liu said, "How could it not be? Those meatballs, meat patties, ribs, chickens, ducks, geese... they're just trying to take advantage of our labor!"

"If they really don't want to freeload, why not get things done before the 20th? To put it bluntly, they don't want to do it half a month earlier because they're worried that all the New Year's goods and ingredients will spoil by the time the Lunar New Year arrives. So they're pushing the banquet back as far as possible, right up until the Lunar New Year. And then, after a couple more snowfalls, tsk tsk, the ingredients we prepare for them won't spoil until the Lantern Festival. It's a win-win situation!"

What Liu said... if you think about it carefully, hey, it actually makes a lot of sense!

At this moment, Yang Ruoqing also spoke up: "Second Brother made it clear earlier that Xiuxiu is getting married for the second time, so we from each branch of the family can just bring our own guests to the banquet. Xiuxiu will not be allowed to accept any gifts."

Since it's the first wedding, relatives and friends will definitely give gifts related to the embroidery.

"Since we're all going to the banquet and only need to deliver a gift once, it's no big deal for us to do some work for them for free!"

"Tsk tsk, Qing'er, you really can't do math!" Liu pointed at Yang Ruoqing, her tone revealing a hint of disappointment.

"Even if we only send one batch of gifts, at most we'll only have two banquets, one at noon and one at night."

"If we don't combine them, we'll have to eat four meals. To put it bluntly, the second branch of the family is the one who profits, while we're the ones who lose out, we're losing big time!"

Liu Shi hadn't eaten much at the banquet, and she was already thinking about how she would help with the chores. She wouldn't go to help in advance; the fourth branch could just send Liu Jinchuan as their representative. She would just bring her mouth to the banquet, and let whoever wanted to help with the chores go!

Liu left quickly as well, because she felt that the three households in the backyard were all pushovers and no one was on her side, so she didn't want to continue the conversation there; it had no emotional value.

After Liu left, Sun said, "We all have a general idea of ​​how many tables we'll need for the banquet and how much food we'll require."

Bao Suyun nodded: "Of course. Over the years, our Yang family has had no shortage of big and small events. We know all the ins and outs of banquets."

Sun then added, "As for what my fourth sister-in-law said about the second son's family taking advantage of our labor... we'll understand when we see the weight of the ingredients they prepare for the banquet."

For example, based on the scale of the banquet and the number of guests here, a banquet requires the meat of half a pig.

If you prepare an extra ten or twenty kilograms of pork on top of half a pig in case of unforeseen circumstances leading to a shortage of ingredients, then that's understandable; everyone does that.

But if you've prepared a whole pig for this banquet, far exceeding your emergency reserves, and the same goes for other food supplies, then it means that Liu's previous suspicions were true. The second branch of the family wants to take this opportunity to get everyone to prepare more food for the New Year...

Bao Suyun lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then said softly, "Third sister-in-law, even if the second branch of the family really intends to do that, let's not expose them. Let's just help them this once. It won't kill us anyway."

Mrs. Sun smiled gently, her eyes full of agreement. "I also think it's no big deal. We're all real relatives, there's no need to make a fuss over such a small thing."

"Besides, in previous years, their two daughters helped them prepare for the New Year. But this year, both daughters are married, so the family is short-handed and it's quite lonely. It wouldn't hurt for us to lend them a hand."

Yes, that's it.

Yang Ruoqing was tidying up the straw when she overheard the entire conversation between the two sisters-in-law.

Then, Yang Ruoqing just wanted to give them both 100 thumbs up. Their awareness was truly extraordinary.

The little schemes of the second wife are only natural; after all, it's the same whether you're herding one sheep or a whole flock.

Since we're having a family banquet this year and the kitchen is going to be bustling with activity, let's just do it together!