The ladies thought this way, and the young men also believed that the Ye family’s sisters were only suitable to become concubines, and the legitimate wife must certainly be a learned and reasonable woman, not as wild as these girls.
The rich men in the village thought the Ye family could potentially become more formidable than them, accumulating greater wealth, and thus their children would become more valuable as their fortunes rose.
Hence, they all let their own children associate with Hongji’s children, naturally with the adults encouraging them to marry a Ye girl to scheme for a share of the family assets.
The thoughts of the adults were exactly what the rebellious youths outwardly agreed to in front of the adults, yet inwardly were quite annoyed, as Hongji’s daughters had stolen their limelight.
Already some rich men, upon meeting Hongji, spoke certain words, intentionally or otherwise, hinting that they could become related by marriage.
Hongji didn’t know if he was too dull to catch the meaning behind their words or if he simply couldn’t decide for his children, as he made no commitment to the rich men’s suggestions.
He hadn’t agreed to any betrothal, much less promised any one of his daughters in marriage while they were so young.
Hongji wasn’t looking for his daughters to grow up and find more powerful masters either.
As a father, his heart was unlike other fathers; although he also favored sons over daughters, his affection for his daughters was deep.
When he heard others say they wanted to pick from among his daughters for a betrothal, it was even more so when his youngest daughter was brought up.
Let alone the youngest daughter, even the oldest was just over ten years old and could stay by their parents’ side for another five or six years. It wasn’t easy to send away daughters they had struggled to raise to someone else’s home.
Once a match was set, it would be different, as others could take the child away under the name of being related by marriage.
He was not unable to support his daughter; having worked so hard, how could he give up on nurturing her?
When some mentioned betrothal in front of the father, and she, Ye Shiqi, was completely in the dark about it.
Hongji, as a father, had some words to say, maybe to his wife, also let the sisters go back to their rooms, and spoke some words with their parents.
In fact, Hongji feared that his unreliable parents would promise his daughters to someone else for some benefit while they were still so young.
Mrs. Lai and her husband also had an inkling of this, with five granddaughters after all, they couldn’t let them take too much of the family assets with them and thought of betrothing them young.
In the future, the property could only belong to their grandson, and also be for the enjoyment of the two old people.
Having such thoughts, comes from their traditional belief that girls belong to someone else’s family, and they are bound to leave home sooner or later. If there is a good price, then sell them!
Thinking , perhaps they really had no affection for the five granddaughters, not expecting that their son would continually talk to them and threaten them, telling them not to do something as terrible as selling their granddaughters.
Mrs. Lai would certainly argue with her son, but her arguments were silenced by her son.
"Didn’t I also raise my three sisters until they were sixteen or seventeen before they got married? Which one didn’t have a dowry, which one didn’t I help with?"
Mrs. Lai’s mouth moved as if to say how could her own daughters compare to her granddaughters, but in the gaze of her son, she didn’t dare to utter these words.
Mrs. Lai and her husband gave up on that notion, thinking that raising them a bit longer might fetch a better price.
The next day dawn broke, and in winter it was a little later than in summer. After daybreak, the sisters got up early.
Ye Shiqi had always lived with her fourth sister, and there was another bed next to them where a maid slept to watch over them during the night.
When the two sisters woke up, the maid had already brought in the water for washing their faces.
The maid then began to dress them up, because they had said yesterday that the young ladies would go with the Old Master, Madam, Grand Master, and Old Lady for the whole family to attend the one-month-old celebration.
Of course, two maids would also go to help take care of the young Master.
Ye Shiqi did not object to going either; she felt that she wanted to meet that little cousin. If she didn’t go to the full moon celebration today, she might not see the little baby for a long time.
The family who married her second aunt’s shop, she had just passed by the last time she went to the county, and took only a glance.
It seemed to be a very small shop; it might be cramped for an entire family to live inside.
Ye Shiqi had thoughts but didn’t voice them, as she was born and grew up in a room of only a dozen square meters, where seven people, her parents and sisters, shared one room.
Just like others said, marrying into a small merchant family is better than marrying a rural fellow.
She didn’t look down on farmers, for without them, how could they feed so many people in a country.
Being so young, Ye Shiqi naturally wouldn’t think too much about the future, and more plans would need to wait until she grew older to implement.
For now, the estate at home, the wealth accumulated by her parents, was just small-time, and far from enough in her eyes.
Having been reborn and possessing the Golden Finger, her life was bound to be extraordinary.
The identity of a farmer girl might be with her forever; being born does not seal her fate forever, and she still needed to create her future.
Ye Shiqi donned a thick cotton dress, and a pink outfit with matching shoes, and in preparation for a long trip, a special pink hat to wear. Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt quite satisfied.
At this age, there was no need to wear too much jewelry on the head or body, simple gestures such as silver jewelry, a Jade Bracelet, and a necklace were enough.