"Mom, don’t worry, Brother An and I will have a good life together."
"Hmm, I’m not worried either. Anyway, the two of you won’t be far from our home, one shout away and we can hear you. If I hear you mistreating Brother An, I’ll beat you up. Don’t think that just because you got married, I can’t interfere with you."
"Mom, am I really your own child?" Yang Chuxia said unhappily, "Why aren’t you afraid that he will bully me?"
Unexpectedly, Ms. Wang shook her head and said, "Brother An carries you in the palm of his hand all day, and he would bully you? That’s impossible. You, girl, are just born with good luck."
By noon, Yang Dachuan and Old Yang had returned from outside. As it turned out, Old Yang and Yang Dachuan had gone to the town together to find a fortune teller.
As they entered the house, Yang Dachuan said to Ms. Wang with a smiling face, "Mother, we have chosen a date. It will be on the eighth day of the eighth month. The fortune-teller said that this is a good day."
"There is still a month to go." Ms. Wang smiled, "Now, I’m not in a hurry."
"We have enough time," said Yang Dachuan, "Tomorrow I will go to the relatives’ house to announce the good news and invite them for a feast. Also, wife, get our daughter’s dowry ready and see if anything is missing."
"I understand." Ms. Wang thought for a moment and continued, "Didn’t you say you were going to buy some land? Have you checked it out?"
Yang Dachuan waved his hand, "The land won’t be that fast. I just talked to Brother Liu about it. We will buy when there is land available. If there isn’t enough time, our daughter can add it to her dowry after she gets married."
"Dad, are you really going to buy land for my dowry?" Yang Chuxia asked, somewhat in disbelief. A piece of land would cost at least a few hundred acres, amounting to several thousand taels of silver.
Yang Dachuan nodded, "Yes, your mother and I have discussed this. Our family’s fortune now mainly comes from your earnings. However, you have younger siblings who need your care. So, we decided not to give you everything from the shops. We divided the family’s assets, including the land we bought before, into four parts - one for each of you and our daughter gets the lion’s share. What do you think?"
"I have no objection." Yang Chuxia thought that this arrangement was good enough. Her father, being an honest man, had not let all the shops go to her brothers, which was already quite fair. Naturally, she would have no further objections.
"Good, good, I knew my daughter would be magnanimous." After saying this, Yang Dachuan continued, "However, your mother said that since you have been working hard to make money these years, you should have a larger share of the family’s property. So, your mother and I calculated that the silver you have brought home in these past years amounts to more than 70,000 taels. We will keep the small change for our daily expenses. Your father plans to take out 10,000 taels to buy two pieces of land for you, and give you 30,000 taels of silver as a dowry. The rest of the land in the family, other than the wasteland, is fairly divided. The land I inherited from your grandfather and the land I bought have also been divided into four portions. The 30 acres on the west side are in your name. The remaining land will be divided between your brother and sister."
Yang Chuxia opened her mouth wide and said, "Dad, isn’t that a bit unfair to them?"
Yang Dachuan widened his eyes.
"Dad, can you favor me a little more? Just a little more?"
"You naughty girl, what are you talking about? You almost scared me."
"Yeah, Dad, you are giving more than half of the silver to me. Aren’t you afraid that my older brother and younger brother will have objections?" Yang Chuxia shook her head, "Dad, let’s divide the silver equally. Although the idea came from me, both of you have been helping over the years. It makes no sense that you and mom should not have any share in it. Besides, even though none of us siblings will be unfilial, it is more comfortable to have our own silver. You and mom should also have some silver on hand."