CHAPTER 353: CHAPTER 353: THE WAN FAMILY PROPOSES MARRIAGE

He Dashu and his two sons were lazy and gluttonous, merely wishing to have He Cui’er marry into a wealthy family to subsidize them.

Older brother He Minzi quickly said, "Cui’er, mom is right, you can’t be dilly-dallying like this, you need to get on with it quickly to prevent other families from beating us to the punch."

He Cui’er’s mother said, "Your big brother is right. The Gu Family has made a fortune, and there are so many people eyeing them every day. If you don’t make a move now, once other families come to propose, the Gu Daya’s house will no longer regard us as worthy."

"Exactly, Cui’er. If this were over a month ago, taking your time wouldn’t matter, but now that they’ve opened a shop and even Lord County Magistrate has sent a plaque to congratulate them, you can’t afford to take it slow anymore." He Liangzi sat on the threshold, chewing on a reed, sucking the sweet water inside, and coaxing He Cui’er, "Learn from Lu Meihua, she succeeded because of her belly, you keep being so proper, when will our family be able to get rich?"

After toiling in the fields all day, he was dead tired. If Cui’er could quickly get married into Gu Daya’s family, or even swindle some silver, he wouldn’t have to work in the fields anymore and could enjoy a few days of ease.

He Dashu, after all, was a father and did not speak as bluntly as his sons, only saying, "You better hurry, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that’s beneficial to you. Otherwise, with our family’s situation, you’ll have to settle for becoming a concubine if you want to marry well."

He Cui’er could not sit still anymore; the Gu Family had truly prospered, even receiving a plaque from Lord County Magistrate. She really had to think of a way to secure Qi Kangping quickly.

And the news of Lord County Magistrate presenting the plaque to Gu Family’s Shop spread all over Qingfu Town within two or three days; people from ten miles and eight villages were all very envious.

Many families inquired about the Qin, Gu, and Luotian families’ situation, learning that their prime-aged sons and daughters were almost too happy to contain themselves; if not for the busyness of the farming season, these people would have long sought out matchmakers to come propose marriages.

After Gu Jinli and the others were done with the grand opening of the shop, they signed a contract with He Tieshu and He Dayuan as hired laborers to help out at the workshop.

Though they were doing miscellaneous chores, Gu’s Workshop paid well, offering a monthly salary of eight hundred copper coins. Both were very happy and cheerfully went to work.

Gu Daya’s house also hired Mo Kui to slaughter ducks—cleaning the feathers completely for three copper coins per duck.

Although duck feathers were tough to pluck, three copper coins per duck was a price that made Mo Kui very happy. He and Mo Xiangming were both nimble with their hands; after only a few days, they got the hang of it, and were able to slaughter over a hundred to two hundred ducks a day, saving Gu Daya’s family quite a bit of trouble.

Once the shop was on the right track, several families rushed to the fields to harvest soybeans; any longer and the pods would burst.

These families didn’t have much land, and with the help of He Sanlai and his wife, Wang Yongfu’s family, and Old Zhu Family, they managed to harvest all the soybeans in a single day.

After another two days spent transplanting the pre-cultivated bean sprouts and watering, they finally finished the work needed.

During spring plowing, Old Guo saw that these families planted soybeans using a different method and asked Third Grandpa about it. Third Grandpa said that the method of transplanting cultivated sprouts could increase the soybean yield. Old Guo was intrigued and, after the harvest, specially went to ask Third Grandpa how much their soybean yield per mu was.

"Six hundred catties per mu." Third Grandpa’s dark, tanned face was full of smiles, and he was elated when talking about it. He was a farmer, having worked the land all his life. High yields from the land made him happier than earning money from the workshop or the shop.

"Six hundred catties per mu!" Old Guo was astonished, "Goodness, that’s an increase of thirty percent in yield."

His own soybean fields at most yielded four hundred catties, two hundred catties less than that of the Qin, Gu, and Luotian families—a significant gap.

Rubbing his hands together, Old Guo said, "Brother Gu, how did you plant these? Would you be willing to teach me?"

"What’s not to teach about that?" Third Grandpa didn’t keep secrets and explained the method of transplanting cultivated soybean sprouts to Old Guo in detail.

However, seedling cultivation requires time, and now it’s the second season’s rush to plant, but it’s already too late to start seeding. Old Guo could only write the method down, waiting for next spring to plant.

After the farming rush, families from ten miles and eight villages began to become active again, inviting matchmakers to propose matches for several households.

Gu Jinli’s house, due to the incident with Matchmaker Lao last time, both Gu Jinxiu and Gu Jin’an had already declared they would observe mourning for the deceased clan members of Gu Family Village for three years, and would not engage in matchmaking during this period.

The ancients placed great importance on filial piety; such a statement once made, the matchmakers had no choice but to give up.

But what Gu Jinli didn’t expect was that she herself had become a target.

She pointed at her own face and said to Matchmaker Du, whose teeth were yellow, "You’re saying the village chief of Songzi Gully has taken a fancy to me? Wants to set me up with his eldest grandson?"

Matchmaker Du said cheerfully, "That’s right. The match is with the eldest grandson, no less. Once you marry over, you’ll be the eldest daughter-in-law, and in the future, you could be the village chief’s wife."

The village chief’s wife?

Hehe, Village Chief Xu is still jumping around lively. When Village Chief Xu dies, the position will go to his son, and only after the son passes away will it go to his grandson – that’s an event for decades from now. And yet they’re using it as a bargaining chip to propose marriage now; it’s ludicrously laughable.

Moreover...

"I am only eleven years old, not yet of age for coming of age." She was still a child, and yet people were trying to betroth her. Have these people lost their minds?

Matchmaker Du said, "You’re twelve by nominal age, not young anymore. Get betrothed now, and in two or three years you can marry."

"If I may, ’Get lost!’" Gu Jinli rudely gave Matchmaker Du a sweep with her broom, directly chasing her out the door: "Lunatic, get out of here. If you dare come to my house to talk marriage again, I’ll chop you up."

Matchmaker Du was quite frightened and protested to Third Grandma and Mrs. Cui, "Why is your young lady so fierce? Even hitting people, won’t you discipline her?"

"You people deserve a beating!" Third Grandma grabbed the broom from Gu Jinli’s hand, pointing at Matchmaker Du and saying, "Are you leaving or not? If you don’t leave now, the old woman will beat you."

Mrs. Cui also held a stick and stood by, saying, "I’ve already told you, the children of my house, none of them will engage in matchmaking for three years, Xiao Yu included. Better you leave at once, and don’t come back again."

Matchmaker Du left indignantly, "You’d better think carefully about this. By driving out the matchmaker, which matchmaker from ten miles and eight villages would dare to knock on your door in the future? How will your children get married then?"

"Pah, who needs you? If you private matchmakers don’t come, official matchmakers surely will," Third Grandma said firmly. Now that the family has money, they would seek an official matchmaker to arrange marriages for the children in the future. Those official matchmakers are reliable, not like these private matchmakers who all earn their keep through deception, having wronged many a young woman.

Gu Jinli didn’t have the patience to argue with Matchmaker Du. She just grabbed the broom and began to hit, making Matchmaker Du scramble away quickly.

Aside from her family, the Qin family also had matchmakers knocking on their door. Elder Qin simply said, "Both children have to observe mourning, no talking about marriage."

After he finished speaking, he even smashed a stone the size of a washbasin with one punch, scaring the matchmaker off, tumbling and crawling as she went.

Gu Dafu’s family also had matchmakers come to propose, but it wasn’t the Yuan Family they were representing; it was for Scholar Wan’s family from the town.