Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 140 Engagement
No matter what era, strength is the only way to win respect.

As soon as the engagement gift was placed in the yard, Li's relatives' impression of Qu Shaoyang immediately changed.

"Oh, this young man is really good-looking, he is a blessed young man.

My cousin has good vision and found such a good son-in-law for Xiuyun."

One of Li's cousins ​​praised Qu Shaoyang after seeing him.

Li glanced at her sister-in-law and thought to herself, that's not what you said last night.

Of course, I can only mutter this in my heart and cannot say it out loud.

On the surface, Li was smiling and in a harmonious mood. She happily took out red envelopes and gave money to the porters and drummers.

In fact, before the porters and drummers arrived, Qu Shaoyang had already given them their wages, which could be considered a reward from the girl's family.

So everyone happily accepted the reward money and left the Chen family.

After those people left, they closed the door and invited Qu Shaoyang and his three companions to the main hall and sit down.

"These two are Xiuyun's uncle and aunt, and these two are Xiuyun's uncle and aunt.

We don’t have many relatives here, so we specially invited them all here for your engagement.”

Since ancient times, there has been a saying that the mother's uncle is the most important. Although Li has no brothers, his cousins ​​are not too far away and are also Chen Xiuyun's uncles.

If anything really happens in the future, I will keep my word.

When Qu Shaoyang heard this, he immediately greeted his two uncles.

Since Qu Shaoyang was so generous and gave a generous betrothal gift, the two were very polite to him and talked and chatted with him with a smile.

The two parties sat down and exchanged a few words, and then the matchmaker stood up and spoke.

"Mr. Chen, Madam Chen, I am here today to present the betrothal gifts on behalf of Mr. Liu. Here is the betrothal gift list, please review it."

As she spoke, the matchmaker took out a piece of red paper from her sleeve. On the red paper were written the names and quantities of the betrothal gifts outside.

The betrothal gift list and dowry list are both in duplicate, with the man and woman each holding one copy.

The dowry list will be sent to the man's home along with the dowry when the woman gets married.

If the amount is huge, it may be necessary to record it in the government file to prevent the man from embezzling the woman's dowry.

Because a woman's dowry is protected, the man cannot embezzle it for any reason.

A woman's dowry can only be left to her own children. If the woman dies in her husband's family and has no children to inherit, her parents' home can take back all the dowry according to the dowry list.

If a husband's family covets a woman's dowry and word gets out, not only will they be criticized, but if things really get out of hand, they can also be sued to the authorities.

Of course, after most women get married, their dowries are gradually used to supplement their living expenses, and very little is left.

Doctor Chen took the list of betrothal gifts and handed it to Chen Yunhan, asking him to check it.

After confirmation, the betrothal gift list was put away.

Afterwards, the two parties exchanged engagement letters and wrote marriage certificates, and the marriage was officially settled.

Just wait for the wedding date to be set, and then come and get married.

After the engagement ceremony, the woman has to prepare a banquet to entertain the man's relatives, friends and matchmaker.

Moreover, several dishes at the banquet had to be prepared by Chen Xiuyun to show that she is virtuous and capable.

The dishes for the banquet were prepared in advance.

Here, Doctor Chen and others were chatting with Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan, while over there, Li took her daughter and two sisters-in-law to the kitchen to busy themselves.

It didn't take long for the wine and food to be ready. The table was set in the main hall, and men and women sat down separately. The banquet prepared by the Chen family was very sumptuous. When the dishes were served, Li even pointed out which dish was made by Chen Xiuyun.

Everyone praised the dishes, especially those made by Chen Xiuyun, which won everyone's praise.

Doctor Chen and Mrs. Li kept smiling as they listened to the compliments.

Everyone was toasting each other, chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere at the banquet was very harmonious.

When Li's relatives learned that Qu Shaoyang's family owned hundreds of acres of land and employed more than a dozen servants, the smiles on their faces deepened and they kept respecting Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan.

The meal took a long time and ended at the beginning of the afternoon.

Then Li divided the wine, tea and other items in the engagement gift into two parts, keeping half for herself and letting Qu Shaoyang take the other half back. This was the rule of engagement.

Even though Qu Shaoyang and Chen Xiuyun's marriage was settled, the early spring was too busy, and both families had to leave some time to prepare, so the wedding date was scheduled for October or winter this year.

At that time, the crops in the fields had been harvested and there was basically nothing to do. It was a good time to get married, celebrate the New Year, and have a baby.

It was getting late, so the master and the disciple got up to say goodbye and left with the matchmaker.

Before leaving, Li handed the matchmaker a big red envelope as a thank you gift.

The matchmaker was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. She said that this matchmaking was the most cost-effective one and that there was no need for much talk. Everything went smoothly and the thank-you gifts from both families were also very generous.

The marriage has been decided, and Liu Dongshan has finally put his mind at ease.

It is now the end of the first lunar month, and they still need to buy some more things here. It will be the end of the first lunar month when they return home.

This year, spring comes early and is short, so we have to start preparing for spring ploughing just a few days after the first month of the lunar year.

The master and the disciple had to hurry up and get their work done, and then go back quickly.

So, the next day, the master and his apprentice took Xingjiaxingye to the orchards around Kuandian, where they ordered a lot of pear, plum, peach, apricot, chestnut and other fruit tree seedlings from people, and agreed to pick them up after the Qingming Festival.

Then, I went to some other places and found many good varieties of soybeans, sorghum and corn.

There were so many things I bought that the horse sleigh couldn't hold them all.

Moreover, the weather warmed up early this year, especially in the past few days when the temperature rose significantly. Liu Dongshan was worried that the ice on the Yalu River could not bear the weight and he might not be able to travel on the river on the return trip.

So he bought a half-used horse-drawn carriage locally, which was just right for loading his things and traveling back.

We couldn't go back along the river, and the ground was melting during the day and freezing at night, so the road conditions were bad.

So they walked slowly on the return journey, and by the time they arrived at Maoer Mountain, it was the first day of February.

"Oh, you're finally back. What took you so long? How's Shaoyang's marriage going? Is it going smoothly?"

Lin Ruolan had been waiting at home these days, fearing that something might happen to these people when they went out. After finally waiting for her husband and apprentice to come back, she hurried to ask.

"The marriage is going smoothly, the engagement has been finalized, and we are just waiting for the winter to hold the wedding.

Didn't we buy a lot of grain seeds? It just took a few days. How's your family? Is everything alright?"

During these days away, Liu Dongshan missed his family very much, and as soon as they saw each other, he hurriedly asked about them.

"It's nothing, everything is fine at home, the two children can eat, sleep and work.

The fence you built can hardly contain them anymore, they are always trying to climb out.

Xiaozhi went back to school on the 16th day of the first lunar month. The teacher tested his homework all day long. Our Xiaozhi always got excellent grades, and the teacher always praised him.

I don't have to worry about the family affairs, Jiang Chunfu is leading the team and doing a good job."

When Lin Ruolan heard that her apprentice's marriage was settled smoothly, she felt relieved. So she walked into the house while talking to Liu Dongshan about family matters.

(End of this chapter)