"If that’s the case, there’s no need for you to go. Just sit here and wait."
Upon hearing this, Leader Chen was relieved. Recalling that Yang Chuxia had called Lord Land Officer ’uncle’ earlier, he asked, "Is Lord Land Officer related to your family?"
"Leader Chen, our village’s Land Officer and my grandfather are cousins, we are very close." Yang Chuxia replied.
Leader Chen, enlightened by the revelation, patted Chen Sheng’s shoulder, "You’re a lucky one, you came here to perform a play and ended up finding a bride." Turning to Old Yang, he continued, "It’s good to know that our Land Officer has a good relationship with us. I’ll feel more at ease when my disciple settles down here. You may not know this but, in his own village, my disciple was too oppressed to live a decent life and that’s why he left."
"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Yang Chuxia asked with a puzzled expression. Initially, she thought Chen Sheng was an orphan, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Leader Chen glanced at Chen Sheng and continued, "My disciple hasn’t been dealt a fair hand in life. If he had, he wouldn’t be in our line of work. His father died early, and his mother struggled to bring him up. After a few years, his mother died too. He used to till his own land with some assistance from his uncles and aunts and could have made ends meet. However, his relatives turned out to be wicked. The local Land Officer wasn’t good either. A wicked scheme was plotted and he was stripped of his house and land. Eventually, he was even driven out."
Sighing, Leader Chen added, "Luckily, our White Cloud troupe performed in their village that year and he left with us. Had it not been the case, I wouldn’t even want to imagine his fate. Having heard you say that Lord Land Officer is a relative here, I feel relief knowing that my disciple, being a foreigner, will not be mistreated."
"Haha, Leader Chen, you can rest assured about that." Yang Chuxia laughed, "At the moment, my aunt has some reservations about her future son-in-law. Once they are married, even without my uncle’s protection, my aunt being the person she is, will never allow her son-in-law to be bullied."
Hearing Ms. Liu’s name, Leader Chen’s forehead started to sweat. He remembered well how this formidable woman gave him and his disciple a sound beating when they visited asking for her daughter’s hand.
As these people chatted and laughed, Land Officer Yang appeared from his house. Old Yang introduced Leader Chen to him. Land Officer Yang was okay with newcomers settling in the village, especially when they were family. Thinking of an empty property near the entrance of the village, he took Chen Sheng over for a look.
The property at the village entrance was undoubtedly good. Land Officer Yang had previously tried to persuade Yang Chuxia to buy it, but she declined, citing its lack of tranquility as the reason. Now, it was sold to Chen Sheng.
With the land bought, Leader Chen started considering hiring stone masons and roof tilers.
Seeing that they had shown such commitment, Yang Chuxia felt that her family should show some support too. So, she introduced them to Uncle Old Gen.
Uncle Old Gen didn’t show any resistance. Therefore, the building of the new house for Chen Sheng and Yang Ruoqiu started in full swing.
After the land was bought and the house construction had begun, they couldn’t avoid throwing a betrothal party and setting a wedding date.
By now, the news had already spread out in the village, thanks to Ms. Luo’s gossipy nature coupled with visible signs of a house being built.
Old Yang took the reins and organized the betrothal party.
As for the wedding date, a fortune teller in town calculated that the eighteenth of April would be an auspicious day for a wedding. If they missed this date, the next best day would be somewhere in June or July.
Old Yang then boldly set the wedding date as well!