Chapter 134: People who can’t find wives are all from families who are too poor to even lift the pot lid.
“Hey, this kid, once the family was divided, everyone’s bravery seemed to have grown bigger, now none of them take my words seriously anymore, huh?” Old Man Ye grumbled as he returned to the room.
Upon entering, he saw Madam He and Ye Jiu sitting cozily by the kang, and he began to complain, “Old woman, the fourth’s courage has grown bigger and bigger. I haven’t even asked him to come in and talk about that soap business yet, and right off the bat, he told me he was busy and asked me to come back and talk to Xiaojiu.”
With each son not listening, Old Man Ye felt like he had swallowed a fly—it was extremely uncomfortable.
“The Wang Family’s sister-in-law came today and said that the news of our family’s division had spread, and the girl’s family no longer agrees to the marriage because of what the fourth said.
We were talking about this when, coincidentally, the fourth came back and overheard us, now he must be feeling terrible.
Asking him to talk to you about other matters at this time, isn’t that making things difficult for yourself?” Madam He didn’t seem to care and then complained, “Don’t you know your own son?
He’s simple and straight, sometimes speaks without thinking through, and if you get angry with him, you might as well anger yourself to death!”
“The marriage is off?” Ye’s heart suddenly twitched, “What should we do now?”
In the past, the third brother married into another family partly because we were poor and couldn’t afford the bridal price.
Now it was the fourth brother’s turn. We finally had some money, but then the first and second brothers separated from the family. If the fourth’s marriage falls through because of this, what are we to do?
At that moment, Old Man Ye felt like a huge stone was pressing on his heart, stuck and unbearable.
It was his own fault, really. In those years when the harvests were good, he grew ambitious and sent the third brother off to study, hoping for a great future. However, he didn’t anticipate that studying would burn through money. In just a couple of years, the family couldn’t afford it anymore.
Back then, the Silver was spent, and the third brother didn’t even continue his studies. When it was time for him to get married, the family couldn’t provide a bridal price, and coincidentally, a family in town took a liking to him, and he straightforwardly left to become their son-in-law.
Now, it was the fourth brother’s turn, and Old Man Ye felt immensely anxious.
“Mom, I also asked the fourth brother to buy you some red bean cakes. Why don’t you try them to see if they are tasty?” Ye Jiu was on the kang with Madam He, sorting out things in a carrying basket, completely oblivious to Old Man Ye’s distress.
Madam He had already heard about the soap business from Ye Jiu, knowing that the family would have a significant income soon, so she was not as worried as before.
Ye Jiu handed a piece of red bean cake up to her mouth; Madam He bit off a piece and then, taking another bite, said affectionately, “It’s delicious. I’ve almost lived my whole life and have never tasted such delicious red bean cake. My daughter is filial and capable.”
Hearing one sugary sentence after another, Old Man Ye looked at the mother and daughter sitting on the kang, feeling even more upset inside.
“I’m speaking to you, old woman. Now that the fourth is in such a state, don’t you worry at all?” Old Man Ye stood up and spoke.
“What state? Isn’t he doing fine? He’s healthy and doing chores energetically. Just listen to those sounds of work outside, his spirits are good!” Madam He said while eating the red bean cake.
“I’m talking about the fourth’s marriage. Next year he will be seventeen, and at this age when others are already married at fifteen or sixteen, his marriage is still unsettled!” In this era of marrying at fifteen or sixteen, there are those who might not have wed by seventeen, but those are from families too poor to scrape by.