The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 140 Accident
On the official road leading to the border town.

"Dede dede"

More than a thousand people marched in a grand procession.

The riders were in front, followed by about sixty horse-drawn carriages.

Inside a carriage at the back of the procession.

Gan Minglan was counting the days on her fingers.

After figuring it out, he happily exclaimed:
"Son, your eldest uncle should have gotten married by now! This time next year, your mother will become an aunt."

The little guy smacked his lips with regret upon hearing the word "marriage":
"Hmph! Couldn't Uncle wait until I'm a little older before getting married? I won't even get to eat the Eight-Bowl Feast! Brother Xia said the Eight-Bowl Feast at the wedding banquet is delicious!"

"Your eldest uncle can wait, but your eldest aunt can't wait for you to grow up before getting married! Your maternal grandparents are also waiting to hold their grandson or granddaughter!"

"Mom, could you talk to my uncle and ask him to wait until I grow up before he gets married?"

"Mom doesn't crave the Eight Bowls dish. Let whoever craves it say so."

"But I can't write yet! How am I supposed to tell my uncle?"

"Didn't your father and brother Xia teach you to recite the Three Character Classic? If you can read and recite it, you'll be able to write it soon! Once you've learned to write, write to your maternal grandfather and uncle and ask them to come to the border town. Then you can find a wife for your uncle in the border town, and you'll be able to eat eight big bowls of food!"

"Good duck, good duck!"

The mother and son immediately began making plans with great enthusiasm for learning to write and butcher pigs next year.

Ganjia Village, Leyuan County, three thousand miles away.

These past few days should have been filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, and the joyous celebration of a new bride's arrival.

Now the house is empty, and the gate is locked with an iron gatekeeper.

It turns out that Gan Mingfu's fiancée, Qi Dongyu, suddenly called off the engagement three months ago.

The Qi family runs an embroidery shop in Daming Prefecture, which has been passed down for three generations.

Her family's most skilled embroidery technique is to create exquisite and beautiful patterns of flowers, birds, insects, fish, and animals.

Each owner of the building was the daughter who was the best at embroidery in this particular craft.

To inherit the Qi family's embroidery building, the owner naturally cannot marry outside the family.

By the time it came to Qi Dongyu's generation, her mother had given birth to three daughters and one son, with Qi Dongyu being the youngest.

All three daughters are well-raised; each one is excellent in appearance, temperament, and skill.

The eldest daughter is the most talented in embroidery and has been chosen by the current owner as his successor.

His only son was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and had no talent whatsoever for the imperial examinations.

In recent years, the national treasury has become increasingly empty.

The imperial court did not restrict the children of merchants from taking the imperial examinations. As long as they donated a certain amount of money, the descendants of merchants could change their family's status through the imperial examinations.

My son is a good-for-nothing.

When it comes to the marriages of siblings, parents naturally have to consider many factors.

After a series of operations.

The eldest son-in-law who married into the Qi family was the youngest son of a silk shop owner.

The second son-in-law was the eldest son of a local gentry. Although he was a commoner, his maternal uncle was a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue.

The only son of the Qi family married the niece of the headmaster of Qingshan Academy in Leyuan County.

Gan Mingfu was the headmaster's most beloved and last disciple.

The headmaster got drunk at his niece's wedding banquet and showed off his disciple's knowledge and talent, which caught the eye of the Qi family's patriarch.

Finally, they asked the best matchmaker in Daming Prefecture, the Gan family, to propose marriage.

They made five or six trips with great sincerity.

They even arranged for the two of them to meet.

No fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl is ugly when she dresses up carefully.

Gan Mingfu glanced at it quickly and was fairly satisfied.

Given the relationship between the Qi family and the headmaster, they agreed to the marriage.

The two families have been engaged for over a year.

During this period, the Gan family never did anything impolite. On every holiday, Gan Mingfu would visit to deliver gifts and offer greetings.

The Qi family has expressed their satisfaction with this son-in-law on various occasions.

To outsiders, the two families were indeed a perfect match, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven.

Who dares to believe it.

Three months before the wedding, the woman suddenly wanted to call off the engagement!
But it turns out...

Under the arrangement of her second son-in-law, an official in the Ministry of Revenue, the Qi family sent several peony paintings to Shangdu.

Unexpectedly, he gained the favor of the Imperial Noble Consort.

The Imperial Noble Consort, who came from Daming Prefecture, specifically requested that this embroidery shop be sent to Shangdu to make embroidery for her.

This is an incredible opportunity!
It's the profit-seeking nature of businessmen.

How could Qi Dongyu, a beautiful and skilled embroiderer, be married off to the son of a butcher?

In the eyes of the Qi family, Gan Mingfu, their former prospective son-in-law, is now simply the son of a butcher.

What good is a great talent for studying?

The imperial examination system has been discontinued!
After receiving a hundred taels of silver as a thank-you gift from the Qi family, the matchmaker who arranged the marriage had no choice but to reluctantly bring the betrothal letter and a generous gift to deliver the message.

I was suddenly struck by terrible news.

The Gan family was completely dumbfounded.

The wedding banquet has been booked.

Invitations were also sent to relatives and friends.

Can't we just cancel the marriage like that?
Yang, the mother of Gan, had never suffered such a great loss in her life!
He immediately jumped up and berated the matchmaker mercilessly.

If her two sons hadn't been holding her back so tightly, she would have chased after the man and cursed him for half a street.

Back home, the fierce and shrewish woman immediately wilted.

Tears streamed down her face.
"Honey, I feel so sorry for our son! What did you hear from the matchmaker? She said it involves a noble person from the palace, and we should be careful what we say! Does that mean we have to swallow our pride and suffer in silence?"

Gan Hongzhen, the head of the family, remained relatively calm.

He comforted his wife for a few moments, then turned to his eldest son and asked, "What do you think?"

Gan Mingfu:
How should he read it? He wanted to lie in bed and cry while reading it!
Even if someone is more mature than their peers, they are still just a young person who is eighteen years old (by Chinese reckoning).

It would be a lie to say I'm not upset.

During the year or so that they were engaged, he and Qi Dongyu met three times.

He had given her exquisite hairpins and bracelets.

The other party also embroidered several purses and fan covers for him.

He thought.

Although their love wasn't exactly unbreakable, they were at least mutually attracted.

But it turns out...

When it comes to future prospects and personal gain, he, the son of a butcher, is nothing.

The young man's mouth was full of bitterness:

“Father, Mother! Your son has done nothing wrong, so naturally he has nothing to fear from what others might say behind his back! However, after this incident, Father’s business will likely be much more difficult.”

Gan Hongzhen didn't take it seriously:
"If this hadn't happened, our butcher shop wouldn't have been able to stay open! Those vagrants are utterly shameless, openly stealing while secretly robbing, they're practically ready to rob us!"

"Those damned refugees! They're nothing but hooligans and bandits!" Yang was seething with hatred as her income plummeted during this period.

Gan Mingshou, who had been squatting on the ground listening for a long time, suddenly raised his head and said:

"Father, Mother! Since my eldest brother won't be getting married anytime soon, why don't we all go to the border town to find my eldest sister?"

And you know what? As soon as he came up with this idea...

After thinking it over and considering the current situation, the whole family decisively accepted the suggestion.

The next day.

Gan Hongzhen sold the Gan family's butcher shop and some of the family's assets at a very low price.

Then, disguised as refugees, the whole family quietly left Leyuan County and headed straight for the border town.
(End of this chapter)