The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 493 Who's the Money Loser?
Gan's mother was overjoyed with this marriage, and privately told Gan's father:

"Fourth Sister's biological mother gave birth to nine children, and each of them was raised so well. Moreover, her brothers and sisters each had at least five children, making it a truly large and prosperous family."

Mr. Gan was naturally very satisfied, as the two families were considered a good match.

"Old woman, do you want five grandsons or granddaughters too?! Can you even afford to raise them all? Aren't the two Ganweixian restaurants enough to keep you busy?"

In just over two years, Ganweixian opened a branch in both the inner and outer city. Gan's parents found it too boring to stay at home, so they spent most of their time managing the stores.

Business is especially good in winter, and the couple is sometimes so busy they don't even have time to rest.

Gan's father was worried that his wife would be unwilling to return home to take care of their grandson.

Gan's mother said:

"With so many maids, servants, and young men serving us in our household, let alone if our youngest daughter-in-law had five grandchildren, even if she had nine like her mother, the old woman would still help raise them."

Your Gan family is the only male heir in your generation. I, your wife, have given you two sons and a daughter, which is enough to repay your Gan family ancestors.

but.

The two grandsons and one granddaughter do not have the surname Gan.

Fu Ge'er married the Eldest Princess. As a person of such high status and wealth, it is not something our family can interfere with as many children she wants to have.

I think the heavy responsibility of continuing the Gan family line will fall on the third son.

Ever since our family settled down in the border town, I've been worrying myself sick over my third son's marriage. I've seen plenty of good girls, some in their thirties and some in their fifties.

There were several young ladies from generals' families, all tall and clever, but the third son just couldn't find any he liked!

Although I haven't seen what the fourth daughter of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices looks like yet, I'm quite satisfied with the fact that her parents and siblings are skilled at bearing children.

Anyway, with this decree of marriage arriving, we've completed this last task!

Father Gan: "Old woman, you're right! Third son, you should work harder and try to have two children in three years!"

Gan Mingshou: "."

Previously, his requirements for his future wife were that she be fair-skinned, beautiful, have long legs, and be gentle and compliant.

Just based on his fair skin, seven or eight out of ten of the young women his mother had arranged for him to marry would be eliminated.

I thought he would stay single for a few more years and focus on his career.

Now it's all good, there's no chance to be picky anymore.

Fortunately, before the arranged marriage, his father-in-law secretly arranged for him to meet his fiancée, Fourth Sister.

Then, all his criteria for choosing a wife were thrown to the back of his mind.

Fourth Sister is lively and charming; her smile reveals two dimples, making her truly lovable to everyone.

As for the point about being round-figured.

As long as your facial features are good-looking enough, roundness or anything like that is not a flaw at all! Especially in certain aspects, it's a perk for men!
I'm almost twenty.

In this dynasty, he was considered an older bachelor, and he only regretted that the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had set his wedding date for next autumn. If only he could choose.

That's how it should be: whether you're rich or poor, getting a wife is the best way to celebrate the New Year!

Gan Mingshou hurriedly prepared to write a letter to his eldest sister.

He asked his older sister to help him procure some Kansai specialties as a betrothal gift for his fiancée. To do so, he even emptied his savings accumulated over many years.

Such hasty behavior earned him a good laugh from his parents.

Gan's father and mother: You little brat, you got what you deserved for being so picky!
Upon receiving the good news from her family that Gan Mingshou had been betrothed to the youngest daughter of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Gan Minglan was also happy for her younger brother.

He said to his two children:

"Your uncle, this old bachelor, is finally getting married! I know his father-in-law. He used to be very fond of the Wild Horse King. Next spring, we'll give him a foal with the Wild Horse King's bloodline. I guarantee your uncle will be very proud in front of his father-in-law."

If the family of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud didn't truly love horses, they wouldn't have worked at the military horse farm for so many years.

Giving the third son's father-in-law a fine horse was absolutely the right choice!
As for her future sister-in-law, her status as the elder sister-in-law means she can give away a ton of local specialties.

When Zuo Chijun read the letter, he learned that his uncle had spent all of his savings of 50,000 taels of silver to prepare a betrothal gift for his fiancée.

I couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

"Fifty thousand taels? My father's salary is only sixteen shi of grain a month. If my father were to save up his salary to marry my mother, how many years would it take him to do so?"

Zuo Wenkang: "When your father married your mother, it wasn't this complicated. Poor families have their own way of getting married, and noble families have their own rules for marriage. What your uncle is doing now is simply giving his all. This is an attitude, an attitude of valuing his future daughter-in-law!"

Zuo Chixia has his own understanding:
“From childhood to adulthood, I’ve always heard the old women in the village say that girls are a waste of money! My eldest and youngest uncles gave everything they had to get married, and my maternal grandparents and my mother had to subsidize them.”

I am well familiar with the laws and regulations of the imperial court. The betrothal gifts given by the groom belong to the bride. The bride can keep them at her parents' home or take them with her to her husband's home as part of her dowry. However, these gifts also belong to the bride after the marriage.

If you calculate it this way, the family loses more money if they have a boy!

Yuanyuan couldn't stand the words "worthless good-for-nothing." She clenched her fists, her little face tense, and her cat-like eyes wide open.

“We girls are not a waste of money! When I grow up, I will be a great general like my mother! I will go and rob the royal court of the Hu people and take all their gold. Brother, you and your brother can use the gold I steal to get married, so we don’t have to pay off the family’s silver.”

“Yuanyuan, if you say that, your second brother won’t be happy! Your eldest brother’s martial prowess goes without saying; he doesn’t even need to get married! Your second brother is now both scholarly and martial; he can pass the imperial examinations and go to the battlefield. Fight the barbarians? With your eldest and second brothers around, how could it be your turn to go to the battlefield?”
Don't worry! All the money in our household will be your dowry when you go to your husband's family. If your future mother-in-law dares to give you a hard time, just bury her in money! As for me and the fourth brother, we'll find our own wives through our own abilities.”

"But, my eldest uncle is a provincial governor of the second rank, and my youngest uncle is a vice minister of the Court of Imperial Stud of the sixth rank. They are both high-ranking officials, and my maternal grandmother and grandfather also need to spend money to get married."

Zuo Chijun looked innocent and helpless at his mother, whose shoulders were swaying with laughter, and drawled, "Mother."

Gan Minglan: "."

Watching two little ones, one not even ten years old and the other just over five, seriously discussing dowry and betrothal gifts, is just so comical.

Of course, she would never tell the two boys that the family had so much gold and silver that it would be enough for their grandchildren's grandchildren to get married.

It's a good thing that children are ambitious.

As for my daughter wanting to be a general, as long as she's happy with it, there's nothing wrong with that.