What the hell was going on in the room?

Zhou Yuan’s three sisters-in-law looked into the room from time to time, wanting to know what was going on in the room, and also afraid that Mother Zhou would take all the good things on the table back to the room without giving them anything.

“We should have a share of everything on the table, right?” Zhou Yuan’s second sister-in-law, Zhou Yang, was excited when she thought of the pastries, candies, and dried fruits on the table.

“It should be, with mother-in-law’s temperament, she would give us some.” This was Zhou Yuan’s third sister-in-law, Zhou Wang.

Of the three sisters-in-law of Zhou Yuan, the elder sister-in-law, Zhou Li, loved small profits and small favors and was quick at grasping small opportunities; the third sister-in-law was virtuous on the surface and didn’t talk much, but she plotted the most.

Zhou Li was scratching her head, wishing that all the things on the table belonged to her, when she suddenly thought of something: “Tell me, where did the things on the table come from?”

Zhou Yuan’s sister-in-law’s words instantly aroused their curiosity, and they gossiped around as they all guessed one thing: was someone coming to the house to propose marriage?

Before they could say a few more words, Zhou Yong came out of the house and called people in. Once they were able to go in, Zhou Yuan’s three sisters-in-law stopped chatting and hurried into the house, fearing that if they missed a step, they would get less.

When they went in, they were very happy when they heard that they were going to cook meat today.

They hadn’t eaten meat for more than a month, so how could they not be happy?

Mother Zhou gave some candies and dried fruits to each room, divided the two boxes of pastries equally, and took the two boxes to the main house as a tribute. She left two boxes of pastries and a bag of candy for her ger.

“The things on the table were brought back by Yuan Yuan, and should be kept by Yuan Yuan.”

Zhou Yuan’s three sisters-in-law could only murmur dissatisfiedly in their hearts; they were all a family, so shouldn’t Zhou Yuan get things equally? Why should he get more? However, they didn’t dare to speak out. If they had any objections, Mother Zhou would definitely take back their share.

They were all wives, so they did know most of these tricks.

Two catties of meat were cooked, and both the adults and the children were happy.

The Zhou family ate at two tables, one for the men and one for the women, and each one had pickled vegetables and stewed meat. A large plate was divided into two plates, one for each table, and the portions were almost the same.

In the Zhou family’s style, there was no distinction between men and women; everything was eaten together by the family, and when the farm work was busy, the men, who were the labor force of the family, worked hard, and they would have a bigger share.

“Yuan Yuan, you need to eat more of the stewed meat today, and make up for the weight you lost recently.” Mother Zhou put a piece of meat into his bowl.

“Mother, I’ll do it myself.” Zhou Yuan said softly.

“Come on, you’re all focused on eating vegetables, but you didn’t pick up any of the stew.”

Mother Zhou added a few more pieces of meat to the youngest. Her actions made Zhou Yuan’s three sisters-in-law murmur in their hearts; they were very dissatisfied but did not dare to say anything.

Zhou Yuan’s clear eyes moved slightly, and he quietly glanced at his sisters-in-law, looking at Mother Zhou helplessly.

His mother protected him from the bottom of her heart, and he felt warm in his heart, but he didn’t want to have differences at home because of his affairs.

He would be nineteen in a few months. At his age, he had not yet been married. There were many people in his family, and he was also nervous about eating for free. It was common for his sisters-in-law to feel dissatisfied.

At least the sisters-in-law at home didn’t talk about him to his face.

Mother Zhou understood her ger’s thoughts; he was soft-tempered and didn’t want to care about it, but her ger did a lot of needlework to supplement the family’s income, and also went to the fields to help the family with work, all this apart from housework. These three wives dared to be dissatisfied with her ger when they always returned to their homes with a few pennies of subsidy.

Mother Zhou decided today that she should give them a good beating.

“You little ones were happy to eat meat. The meat, today’s pastries, and snacks were all brought back by your uncle. Remember to thank your uncle!”

“Understood, Grandma, thank you, uncle!” Several children said in unison.

The eldest son of the Zhou family gave birth to a boy, the second son gave birth to a boy and a ger, and the third son gave birth to a daughter not long after they were married. They have many grandchildren, and the whole family was complete.

There was meat to eat today, and the sisters-in-law of the Zhou family still wanted to favor their sons with more meat for them. Mother Zhou was not partial with regard to gender.

Mother Zhou knew that they had a lot of thoughts, so she divided the meat and vegetables before eating, and the grandchildren’s share was almost the same.

It was already rare for a family not to treat girls and gers badly, and even if some families did not treat girls and gers badly, they would always favor boys.

Daughters and gers were usually not valued by their mothers, as their mothers secretly left all the delicious food to their sons. Fortunately, they were protected by their grandma and grandpa, and they grew up happily.

Mother Zhou’s words were meant to speak to the children on the surface, but Zhou Yuan’s three sisters-in-law knew in their hearts that it was Mother Zhou beating them, so they immediately restrained their thoughts a lot.

They were not ill-intentioned people either. The Zhou family was large and was nervous about food supplies- seeing the unmarried ger who was almost past the age of marriage at home, they still gave him a share of food and drink. If he gets married, it would be one mouth less to feed, and the family would also be better off; with the gift money received, the food at home may be improved.

In the evening, after returning to their rooms, Zhou Yuan’s three sisters-in-law all inquired about what happened that day, and Zhou Yuan’s three brothers did not hide it from their wives.

Besides, their mother didn’t say that they couldn’t tell their wives.

This led to rumors spreading.

Zhou Qiu brought back a box of pastries, and her parents were equally surprised. Zhou Qiu didn’t hide it from her mother. Her mother and Mother Zhou were like sisters, and they were fair and strict in their actions. As for Zhou Qiu’s father, although he liked to drink a few sips of wine, this middle-aged countryman had a relatively quiet temper and always ignored women’s gossip.

Zhou Qiu’s family has a small household, with her parents and an older brother who works part-time in the county. He would not be at home at this time, so she and her parents were the only ones at home.

Zhou Qiu told his parents what happened in the county and the source of the box of pastries.

Zhou Qiu’s mother pulled her daughter and asked, “Did the man in the county like Zhou-ger?”

Zhou Qiu thought for a while, then shook her head, “I don’t know either.” She was somewhat sure that Wei Cheng was definitely interested in Yuan Yuan, but she couldn’t be sure if no one came to propose marriage. “Mother, you couldn’t tell anyone about this matter; this was not good for Yuan Yuan.”

Zhou Qiu’s mother replied, “I know how important it is. This matter has not been set in stone yet, so how could I talk about it?”

“Yuan-ger’s marriage has been full of twists and turns. This year, he turns nineteen, and life would be more difficult in the future if he didn’t get married soon.”

Gossip hurts people the most. She also has her own children, and she has watched Zhou Yuan grow up. When he was a child, he was white, tender, and well-behaved, and he was still so sweet-tempered when he grew up. She thought that he would be a sweet ger when he grew up, so marriage would be a breeze.

When he grew up, he was tall and slender. As a ger, he should be petite and cute, but he still worked in the fields, so he didn’t dress up, and he dressed more like a man. Everyone in the village was talking behind his back that Zhou-ger would not look good when he grew up, and it would be difficult to find a husband’s family when he got married in the future.

They didn’t know who spread the word, saying that Zhou-ger didn’t look like a ger and that he looked like half a man. As time went by, everyone’s mouth was full of opinions, which led to the matchmakers failing several times, and they all refused for this reason. It also attracted men with bad intentions, who took the opportunity to make bad excuses and marry others by force.

Fortunately, no matter whether it was Father Zhou, Mother Zhou, or the three sons of Zhou’s family, they sincerely protected and loved Zhou Yuan. He was their only ger, how could they let others bully him? The three brothers, who were always hardworking and energetic, came to their door directly with their tools to vent their anger at their youngest sibling, and those families with bad intentions backed down.

In fact, Zhou-ger had handsome features, was kind-hearted, hard-working, and was good at doing farm work, not to mention embroidery and needlework. Zhou Qiu’s mother wanted Zhou-ger to be her daughter-in-law, but her son’s heart already had another.

“Yuan Yuan was so good, he would definitely find a good man to marry.”

In Zhou Qiu’s heart, Yuan Yuan was a kind-hearted person with a gentle personality. He knew how to sew and cook. Those guys simply had no vision.

Zhou Qiu’s mother thought that her daughter was not young anymore, and marriage should also be considered: “Qiu’er, you are sixteen already. We should talk about your partner. Do you have a guy you like, and someone Mother should pay attention to?”

Zhou Qiu rolled her eyes in her heart. She wants to get married, but she still wants to do it next year. “Mother, you are not bothered about my elder brother’s marriage, and my marriage will not be too late next year. Are you afraid that your daughter would not be able to get married?” She also wants to have a man, but whether the pursuit is good or not, she still wants to investigate, as she doesn’t want to marry casually.

Zhou Qiu’s mother glared at her daughter, who was stubborn, and thought that next year she would definitely find various excuses to make her entrust her marriage to her, and she would have to worry about her daughter’s marriage. She had inquired secretly but was shunned by her daughter.

Her son’s matter was even more troublesome.

Zhou Qiu’s mother sighed and sighed once again at the thought of her eldest son’s marriage.

“Your older brother was resisting to the death and not turning around. The other party’s family looks down on your brother’s poverty. They asked for twelve taels of dowry before they’d agree to the marriage. Otherwise, why would your elder brother work so hard and go to the county town to do odd jobs before dawn and then come back late at night?”

Neither of her children was reassuring.

Zhou Qiu was silent.

The girl her older brother liked was also from the same village, but her surname was not Zhou. Her elder brother and his future sister-in-law grew up together as childhood sweethearts.

His elder brother had a generous personality, grew up well, and was capable. Many girls in the village liked his character, but her eldest brother was planted in a tree and would not move his nest. As for her future sister-in-law, she was also considered a friend, and they used to have a good relationship. Later, because of her elder brother’s marriage, her family was disliked for being poor, so she was alienated by her future sister-in-law.

She didn’t like this future sister-in-law’s family, but she had no problem with the future sister-in-law. The future sister-in-law was also a gentle girl, and this was her family’s request for ten taels, which she couldn’t decide for herself.

Her eldest brother was working hard outside to get enough money to marry her, so Zhou Qiu was hoping that she would not disappoint her eldest brother.

Zhou Muzi went home. His family was on the edge of the village, living in a dilapidated mud house at the foot of the mountain. Zhou Muzi’s family was very poor and had no land. Their main source of income was to grow vegetables on the side of the house or go to the mountains to find some wild vegetables and fruits. If they were lucky enough to meet pheasants and ducks, they would take the wild fruits and vegetables down the mountain and sell them for money to live on.

There were his mother and father in the family, and a six-year-old younger brother. His younger brother was not raised well from birth, so he has always been thin and malnourished.

Although Zhou Muzi was also thin and small, he often worked and climbed around with his family, and his body was stronger. He was a ger, but fortunately, he had a childhood sweetheart who treated him well, and his sweetheart could help with the family situation, so life was not so bad. He was already engaged and would get married next month.

Zhou Muzi took back a box of pastries, making his honest parents dare not take such a valuable thing, and asked him to return it.

He said that his younger brother was thin and malnourished, and he had never eaten pastry, so he could only look at the pastry with a timid look, which was why Zhou Muzi’s parents accepted the pastry.

There were six cakes in a box, and the family ate them separately. After eating the sweet cakes, their yellow and dry faces were all smiling happily.

Zhou Muzi was eating sweet pastries, and he was very happy that his friend Zhou-ger’s affairs had been settled. Zhou-ger never disliked him for being poor, even made friends with him, and later introduced Zhou Qiu to him as a friend, which was great!

Although he didn’t know Wei Cheng at first, after all, he had been single all his life, and it was his first time trying to like someone.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Seeing Zhou Yuan being bullied and being pointed at and scolded, he felt a fire in his heart. Wei Cheng felt distressed and wanted to teach those who bullied Zhou Yuan a lesson.

It didn’t matter if the other party was a girl or anyone else!

It turned out that once he cared about a person, when he saw his figure, he suddenly wanted to get closer. He couldn’t help being nice to him; he didn’t hesitate to buy him a bunch of snacks.

It takes a single moment to know.

Thinking back now, he fell in love with a man without him noticing it; even if the other party was a ger, he was still a man in Wei Cheng’s thoughts.

He also realized that liking someone was a joy from the heart.

According to today’s abrupt behavior, it seemed that his parents should propose marriage soon. In this ancient etiquette, reputation was very important.

Although he had heard a little bit, he also knew that the last blind date had caused Zhou Yuan some trouble. Today, when he delivered something to Zhou Yuan in the street, he still did it in front of his fellow villagers, so as not to spread it back to Qinghe Village and make people misunderstand that Zhou Yuan was a casual person or a ger who takes a man’s things.

He also considered that since Zhou-ger could go on a blind date with him, he could also go on a blind date with others, if someone else gets ahead…

That’s not okay; he’d better come to the door to propose a marriage and make a decision.

Only…

After seeing that there was nothing in the house- only a few broken tables and old wooden beds–the house was barely ventilated, and a large piece of the yard wall was broken… He didn’t have much money in his hands; he still hadn’t paid for the cart, and he had business materials he also wanted to buy, and today he was impulsive and spent a few hundred wen, and after calculating it, there was not much left in the ten taels of silver, so how could he have money to get married?

Money! He needs money!

However, he could propose a marriage first, earn money, and then marry the person afterward.

Thinking about it this way, making money was imminent.

Wei Cheng then started to get busy, preparing all the things that needed to be prepared, not only buying things but also preparing the seasoning, which was the key ingredient.

He also needed to buy a ceramic jar for seasoning, and also buy a few small ceramic jars for business.

He had to customize the stove, tools, and miscellaneous things, which cost more than three taels. In addition to the expenses of the past few days, the remaining money was not enough.

It took a few days to get everything ready.

For the customized cart, a few days had passed, and the carpenter should have finished the cart. He planned to bring the silver and go out to the carpenter’s house.

If he had a trolley, he could start working and making money.

The carpenter was waiting for him at home, and when he saw Wei Cheng coming, he was very enthusiastic.

Wei Cheng was very puzzled, and he didn’t know the reason for his enthusiasm until the carpenter said he wanted to buy the blueprint of his cart.

“Your style of trolley, I made it and tried it. It was more convenient than the previous trolleys I have been making. It saves effort when people push it; it could be pushed on flat roads, and it could be pushed on muddy roads. Especially this wheel that could be used in all directions. You must sell the blueprint to me.” The carpenter said very excitedly, holding the blueprint in his hand; he wished that the blueprint belonged to him.

The blueprint drawn by Wei Cheng was for pushing and pulling goods. He also improved it. The cart originally had two rear wheels. It was convenient to use on uneven roads; the front wheels were easy to push, and it was also convenient to push on flat roads.

Wei Cheng was short on money; he didn’t need the blueprints for the cart, so he might as well sell them to a carpenter.

“The blueprints could be sold to Uncle Zhao; you could pay the fee for the blueprints.” Wei Cheng didn’t care how much the piece of paper could sell for, and he didn’t know the market, so he asked Uncle Zhao, the carpenter, to make an offer. It was also good to be on good terms with many people.

The carpenter’s surname was Zhao, and everyone who knew him called him Carpenter Zhao.

Carpenter Zhao was taken aback by Wei Cheng’s truthful words. When he asked him to ask for a price, he made it clear that he would not take advantage of this, and he was not afraid that he would say the price was low.

Of course, he, Carpenter Zhao, was also a reasonable person. He never cut corners in his workmanship, and he never yelled random prices. Since the tall, young man in front of him was honest and was deliberately giving him a favor, it was even more impossible for him, Carpenter Zhao, to make the price too low.

Carpenter Zhao patted Wei Cheng on the shoulder, laughed, and said, “You are a nice young man. Uncle Zhao has made this friend, and still didn’t know your name?”

“This one is called Wei Cheng. Hello, Uncle Zhao!” Wei Cheng shouted.

“Wei Cheng, that’s right. Uncle Zhao would give you a sincere price for this blueprint, ten taels of silver.”

“Okay!”

Carpenter Zhao laughed again, “You’re a straightforward boy; were you not afraid that I, Uncle Zhao, would lower the price?”

“Since I asked Uncle Zhao to set the price, then I, Wei Cheng, could trust it.” Wei Cheng said calmly.

In fact, Wei Cheng had already thought about it in his mind. The cart was a new model, and the number of people who could buy it was limited. A cart needs materials, labor, and handwork. Even if one earns one or two and a half taels, it would sell for more than a dozen. He could earn back his capital only if he had the skills and connections, and he might not be able to sell it.

Ten taels of silver was also a conservative price.

“Okay, I would accept your favor, and I won’t charge you for the cart this time.”

“Thank you, Uncle Zhao!”

With a bag of silver in his arms, Wei Cheng pushed the cart back home.

The stroller didn’t cost a single penny, and he earned a few extra taels.

He wouldn’t need to be too cautious, and he could add a few more pots and pans to his home, and he could also replace broken tables and chairs.

There was no need to buy new tables and chairs; he’ll go to a second-hand store to buy a set, and then replace it with a new one when he earns enough money. Now, in addition to keeping the business capital, he had to repair the leaky places in the house. If the leaks were not repaired, when it rains, there would be dripping.

The outer wall of the yard also needs to be repaired, and when he starts to do business, if other people peek through the broken wall, he would be unable to guard against it.

In life, when Wei Cheng had no money, he would always plan carefully.