Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11991

These ideas were the spiritual shackles hanging around women's necks in the feudal era, locking away their consciousness and souls, forcing women to passively accept and believe that men were born to have multiple wives and concubines, and that having many children meant having many blessings, while women had to bear children for men to continue the family line in order to gain status through their children and have someone to rely on in their old age.

These ideas, though outdated and selfish, can actually be seen as conforming to the social laws and environment of the time if viewed from a different perspective.

Because it was an agrarian society at that time, the main productive forces and production tools of the society came from human labor, agricultural implements, and resources such as cattle.

To use a farming family as an example, in a village, the family with more men is stronger and can do the farm work the best.

In rural areas, when it comes to building houses, digging wells, chopping firewood, or even competing for homestead land, having many fathers and sons or brothers is considered advantageous.

Therefore, in farming families, the emphasis was on having many children, especially sons. If a wife could not bear a son, she would certainly not be kept and the family would have to be divorced and a new wife who could bear sons would be married.

Some might ask, why must one divorce and remarry? Why not take a concubine?

Please, is it possible for a man from an ordinary family to afford to take a concubine? That's a privilege only the rich can enjoy!

This is true for ordinary small vendors in villages, and even more so for wealthy families.

Wealthy families have businesses that need to be inherited by their descendants, and in the case of merchants, the business needs to be taken over by the young master.

Those who aspire to officialdom hope their families will have successors, and that their families will produce three outstanding scholars (Tanhua) or both father and son will be Zhuangyuan (Zhuangyuan).

Those who joined the army hoped that like father, like son, that brothers fought side by side, and that fathers and sons went to war together.

The same was true for those hereditary noble families. If the old marquis or duke had no sons, or if the heir died young, they would be even more anxious and would take many concubines to try to have a son succeed them.

This applies to both small-scale and large-scale national perspectives.

When two countries go to war, it is always men who fight on the battlefield, and sometimes a whole group of them die in a single battle.

Therefore, in such an agricultural and cold weapon era, the role of men is evident.

Men also have a higher mortality rate, so their status was naturally elevated, and having many children, regardless of gender, was a common goal.

"Hua'er, just let Da'an handle this matter. Don't worry about it. Take care of yourself and the children. That's more important than anything else!" Yang Ruoqing said solemnly, holding Xiao Hua's hand again.

Xiaohua nodded, as if the heavy weight on her heart had been lifted.

The atmosphere immediately improved, Xiao Hua returned to her usual self, and Yang Ruoqing breathed a sigh of relief.

After the morning feast began, Yang Ruoqing took Tuanyuan and the others to eat. Luo Wuyou and Zuo Jinling were at another table, which was full of young people. Yang Ruoqing's table was full of women and children. Luo Fengtang and Luo the blacksmith were at another table.

Needless to say, the dishes on the table were top-notch. Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei were the couple who valued the most face in this area. They always competed to have the best food when guests came to their house, let alone today, when their daughter was getting married. All sorts of delicacies were served on the table in a dazzling display, which amazed many guests, who exclaimed that they ate to their heart's content!
Tuantuan and Yuanyuan sat between Yang Ruoqing and Wang Cuilian. The two little ones had played to their hearts' content earlier and had gotten up early today, so they were hungry by this time.

The two children, holding small wooden bowls and small iron spoons, ate meatballs one after another with great relish. The other aunties, grandmothers, and other women at the table praised them, saying that these two little ones were so easy to raise and ate so adorably.

Yang Ruoqing smiled inwardly as she watched the two little ones eating so happily. This time, the Luo family came to give gifts, and they were embroidered red.

Besides the basic items, a red envelope also contained eight taels of silver as a treasury. Apart from that, no gold or silver jewelry was prepared for Xiu Hong.

As for Xiuxiu, the Luo family didn't send any gifts because Yang Yongjin and his wife had made it clear beforehand that they wouldn't accept any gifts for Xiuhong; everyone could just come and eat at the banquet.

No matter how much these two little ones eat, they can't possibly consume 8 taels of silver, so Yang Yongjin's banquet was a worthwhile investment.

According to what Yang Ruoqing learned from Madam Sun and Madam Da Sun, the eldest sons of the Yang family had given each of the main branches of the family nearly six taels of silver as a dowry, in addition to the basic items. This was quite a generous gesture.

As for the brothers Yang Yongzhi and Yang Yongqing, in addition to the six taels of silver and basic items, it seems they also gave Xiuxiu an extra two taels of silver as a dowry...

The Sun family had a different relationship. Xiao Jie's father and Cao Ba Mei were siblings, so the Sun family gave Xiu Xiu a dowry of 4 taels of silver and Xiu Hong a dowry of 8 taels of silver. In addition, they also gave each of the two sisters a gold bracelet.

The Sun family probably gave the biggest gift among all the guests this time!

Yang Ruoqing roughly calculated in her mind, and put aside Xiu Hong, let's talk about Xiu Xiu. This time, for her second marriage, she would have at least 6 taels of silver and a gold bracelet as her dowry.

Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei must have prepared a sum of money for Xiuxiu. This girl is truly blessed to have been born into Yang Yongjin's family.

Yang Ruoqing left halfway through the banquet. Why? Because the "crying wedding ceremony" had already begun in the backyard.

The "crying wedding" ceremony is an indispensable part of a bride's wedding. The female relatives from her maternal side surround the bride, who sits in the middle on a small round stool covered with red cloth. She cries and tells each of her maternal relatives about her separation and reluctance to part, and the female relatives do the same.

Yang Ruoqing didn't want to go over to see, but the two little brothers ate quickly and were full early, so she was eager to go.

Yang Ruoqing was worried that Peony or Lily of the Valley wouldn't be able to handle the two little ones, so she put down her chopsticks and followed them.

When the women from the backyard arrived, they found that the women of the Yang family had split into two groups: one group was in Xiuxiu's room, and the other group was in Xiuhong's room.

Yang Ruoqing first peeked into Xiuxiu's room. Xiuxiu was sitting there, crying with her grandmother, Jin.

It's clear that Mrs. Kim truly misses her eldest granddaughter with the long head, even though Mrs. Kim is deaf and mute, has difficulty speaking, and her mind works much more slowly and sluggishly than normal people.

However, blood is thicker than water, and Jin's feelings for Xiuxiu were genuine.

Especially after what Xiuxiu had suffered when she married Li Wei, Jinshi had not forgotten. So now, filled with blessings for her eldest granddaughter's future and an overwhelming worry, and unable to express her concern and advice in words, Jinshi hugged Xiuxiu tightly. What was originally just a perfunctory wedding ceremony turned into a heart-wrenching affair for Jinshi, with tears and snot streaming down her face.

Sun was a blessed woman. Cao Bamei, Da Sunshi, and Liu were all in the room. Everyone was worried that Jin's tears and snot would soil Xiuxiu's wedding dress, so Sun and Bao Suyun came forward and coaxed and persuaded Jin to leave, helping her to a stool to sit down and rest. Jin sat on the stool, wiping away her tears, and sobbed for a long, long time before gradually calming down.

Jin's actions moved everyone else in the room, and Xiu Xiu herself had tears welling up in her eyes, lowered her head, and tears streamed down her face...

Cao Bamei was deeply moved when she saw her mother-in-law's affection for Xiuxiu. To be honest, Cao Bamei had harbored some resentment towards her mother-in-law for a while.

The reason is simple: ever since Yang Yongqing gave birth to her daughter and son, her mother-in-law has been their fourth wife's personal babysitter for years.

It was fine when she was still a baby girl, but back then, after giving birth to her, Ms. Mo was still in a daze. Let alone taking care of the child, she even had difficulty taking care of herself.

So everyone understood why Yang Yongqing needed his mother-in-law to help take care of the baby during that period.

However, when she gave birth to her son, not only was her daughter already three or four years old, but Mo's mental illness had also been cured, and she was fully capable of taking care of the child.

However, the mother-in-law had already gotten used to living with the fourth wife's family, so she continued to help them take care of the child.

Around that time, let's not talk about the second wife and the third son. The third son and the little girl were born around the same time.

Take Yongxiao for example. At that time, the second wife had a son named Yongxiao, but his mother-in-law did not come to take care of him. So, many times, Cao Bamei felt uncomfortable and even grumbled about it to Yang Yongjin in private.

However, Yang Yongjin didn't care about this. In his opinion, with three women in his own courtyard, how could they not take care of Xiao Sanzi and Yongxiao?
Back in Yongqing, the couple rented over a hundred acres of land from their third uncle to manage the crops, and with two children at home, they definitely needed their mother's help.

Because of her husband Yang Yongjin's oppressive power, Cao Bamei could only keep her dissatisfaction to herself. When she was with her other sisters-in-law, she would casually mention it in passing, but she never dared to do anything substantial.

But today, when Cao Bamei saw Jin Shi's reluctant attitude towards Xiu Xiu's marriage, and even took out her own savings to buy Xiu Xiu a pair of gold earrings, most of the resentment Cao Bamei had been harboring dissipated.

Of course, a small portion remains, and this remaining portion may not dissipate so easily.

Yang Ruoqing peeked into Xiuxiu's room for a moment, and then the women inside came out one after another, and then went to Xiuhong's room, which was separated by a wall.

Tuantuan and Yuanyuan didn't like the atmosphere of crying and huddling together, so the two little ones didn't go in earlier. Instead, they stood obediently beside Yang Ruoqing, tilting their heads and looking inside with puzzlement.

At this moment, seeing that everyone inside had come out, Yang Ruoqing led them and followed the group of women who were wiping away tears all the way to Xiuhong's room.

Suddenly, Tuantuan tugged at Yang Ruoqing's sleeve and stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong, brother? Why aren't you walking?" Yang Ruoqing also stopped and bent down to ask Tuantuan.

Tuantuan, her face puffed out like a steamed bun, didn't seem very excited. "Mom, I don't want to watch anymore."

"Huh? Why don't you want to watch it anymore all of a sudden?" Yang Ruoqing was even more confused. They were the ones who were in a hurry to watch it before.

Yuanyuan frowned, kicking at the pebbles on the roadside with her toes, and said in a muffled voice, "I don't want to watch anymore, I want to go home."

Yang Ruoqing glanced at her younger brother again, and now, as his mother, she was even more confused.

"Qing'er, what are you three doing at the door? Come in quickly, Xiu Hong is about to have her wedding!" Someone shouted from behind, and as soon as the shout was finished, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan grabbed Yang Ruoqing's hands and pulled her towards the front yard.

Yang Ruoqing was pulled out of the courtyard of the small second room in one breath, and then taken to the Luo family's courtyard, where they were handed over to Rong Gu.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, I suddenly don't want to watch the fun anymore. You take them and play. Oh, and call Mai Li'er too, only Mai Li'er can keep them in check when they're being naughty." Yang Ruoqing gave some instructions to Rong Gu, then turned and went back to the small room.

She is Xiuxiu and Xiuhong's cousin, and she will definitely be watching them get married today.

While the bride in the backyard was crying and making her way home, the male guests in the front yard were still drinking and chatting at several tables.

Nearly half an hour after the wedding weeping ceremony began, the process gradually came to an end, and the drinking in the front yard also came to a close without anyone noticing.

Whether it was the bride's family sending off the bride or the groom's family getting married, both sides began moving the dowry out of the second wife's storeroom.

Xiuxiu's dowry was going towards the town, so after it was moved out, it was placed on the right side of the courtyard gate, facing the town.

Xiu Hong married into the village, so her dowry was placed on the left side of the courtyard gate, and the carrying poles used to carry the dowry chests all faced the direction of the village entrance.

The men went in and out, carrying and lifting, and soon, with the small courtyard as the anchor point, the dowry, adorned with large red "double happiness" characters, was laid out in a row on both sides of the main road.

People were specially left here to guard the dowry. The procession was so grand that it attracted almost all the villagers of Qichengping Village to come out and see the dowry.

Why go into such detail, saying that 70% of the villagers came to watch the spectacle? This isn't just a casual remark.

Because of the remaining 30% of the villagers, 20% of them are gathered at Sixi's house today, which corresponds to Yang Yongjin's family getting married, so Sixi's family is naturally there to welcome their daughter-in-law.

Therefore, 20% of the villagers were relatives and friends of Sixi's family, as well as clan members with the same surname who came to offer their congratulations and help.

As for the remaining 10% of villagers, that naturally refers to the elderly who are sick and bedridden, or the babies who are just learning to speak and walk.

Yang Yongjin's family left someone outside to guard the dowries of his two daughters. Villagers were allowed to look at them, but not to touch them, for fear that some people might get handsy and damage them.

When Yang Ruoqing passed by the dowry, she glanced at it twice.

Xiuxiu and Xiuhong's dowries were almost identical, meaning that Yang Yongjin and Cao Bamei were truly fair in this respect.