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Ye Caiping couldn’t help but be surprised.
She had a fairly good understanding of the prices here.
At least in their area, the bride price for an ordinary farmer’s daughter was usually around one or two taels of silver; eight taels was already considered high.
Ten taels or more were only seen in special circumstances, like in the case of Zhang the Butcher.
But this Hu Xiuxiu was actually asking for twenty taels! It was practically an astronomical bride price!
Ye Caiping said, “Although she’s quite pretty and charming, she’s not the type to make one fall head over heels, so why twenty taels?”
Du Shi said, “That’s where you’re wrong. She has seven younger brothers! Her mother gave birth to seven sons in a row, understand?”
Ye Caiping almost spat out her tea, seven? This is like giving birth to a string of Calabash Brothers!
Yan Fang whispered, “Xiuxiu’s mother thinks she’s especially good at giving birth to sons, and that her daughter will be the same. She also says Xiuxiu is naturally blessed with bringing sons, that those seven brothers were brought into the world because of her, guaranteeing the birth of sons! That’s why she’s asking for such a high price.”
Ye Caiping was dumbfounded, guaranteeing the birth of sons?
However, in this closed and backward era, the ability to guarantee the birth of sons was indeed very attractive, a major selling point.
Yan Fang sighed lightly, “Although… but… this twenty taels is really too much, so much so that Xiuxiu is seventeen years old and still hasn’t found a husband.”
As she spoke, Yan Fang suddenly seemed to have grasped the key point, her eyes lit up, “Why don’t we wait a little longer, maybe if we wait another year or two, the price will drop!”
Ye Caiping couldn’t help but laugh, this is like waiting for an off-season sale!
Du Shi said angrily, “How much can it drop? Even at half price, it’s still ten taels! We still can’t afford it.”
“And at this price, before we can even save up the money, she’ll already be taken by someone else. We should just think about other girls!”
As she spoke, Du Shi glanced at Ye Caiping.
Thankfully, she was quick-witted and made a three-month agreement with Ye Caiping! (The Agreement was originally three months long. It was just extended by Du Shi herself by a month when she learned that it was Caiping who asked Daquan to fetch her back from her maternal home – saving/giving her face).
After three months, if Ye Caiping still hasn’t found a husband, she’ll have full control over her marriage!
As long as she marries Ye Caiping far away, so far that her family can’t even reach her, she won’t be a burden on Yong’er’s marriage prospects.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chattering away, while Ye Caiping had already quietly left the house.
It was because of the original owner’s mess that the Ye family was so poor and Ye Yong couldn’t find a wife.
She had to make money quickly, first get Ye Yong married and then talk about other things.
…
The matchmaker left Ye Caiping’s house and went to the Hu family.
As soon as Xiuxiu’s mother saw the matchmaker, she exclaimed in surprise and welcomed her into the house, offering tea as she said:
“Is there good news? How about the young man from the village by the river I mentioned last time?”
The matchmaker was a little helpless, “That young man was quite satisfied at first, but when he heard about the twenty taels… he refused. He said he could marry three wives for that price.”
“To be honest… your Xiuxiu is good, but isn’t the price too high? The girl from Wang Family Village up front is good at embroidery, does housework well, and is also pretty, and she only asked for eight taels. Your Xiuxiu…”
“No, not a penny less, she’s not leaving.” Xiuxiu’s mother refused without hesitation, “My seven sons were all brought into the world by Xiuxiu, my Xiuxiu is naturally blessed with bringing sons! Guaranteed to give birth to sons.”
The matchmaker was speechless; it seemed she kept encountering oddities lately.
She stood up and said, “Alright then, I’ll go take a look elsewhere and come back if I find someone suitable.”
With that, the matchmaker left.
Hu Xiuxiu, carrying a bundle of pigweed, only entered the house after the matchmaker’s figure had disappeared.
She was filled with shame and anger, “Mother, can you stop insisting on this ‘guaranteeing sons’ nonsense? Am I supposed to have no shame?”
Xiuxiu’s mother disagreed, “But that’s the truth! I was able to give birth to seven sons, and so can you. Whoever marries you is marrying a golden hen for sure, ensuring a prosperous family.”
Hu Xiuxiu was furious, “Stop saying such ridiculous things! I’m not some golden hen! I’m not getting married, so stop trying so hard.”
With that, she turned and left the room, throwing the bundle of pigweed into the corner.
“Dead girl, when did it become your decision whether to get married or not?” Xiuxiu’s mother quickly followed, “Don’t think I don’t know. That Ye Yong? Don’t even think about it.”
“Expecting him to provide a bride price? Unless the sun rises in the west. His family is as poor as a rat, and there’s no place for a daughter-in-law to stay. Plus, he has a bottomless pit of a Aunt; it’s simply a fire pit.”
Hu Xiuxiu frowned: “Mother, no matter how she is, at least she taught everyone how to handle cassava.”
“Cassava hasn’t been harvested yet, but it looks like every household can get quite a bit. This is all thanks to her. We should be grateful, not scheming behind her back.”
“You—dead girl, if you talk back again tonight, you won’t get dinner.”
…
Ye Caiping left the house with a basket on her back, found the washing sisters Ye Jiner by the river, and told them to wait for her to return before cooking dinner, then left.
On the way up the mountain, she encountered quite a few people planting cassava.
“Caiping, are you foraging for wild vegetables?”
“Uh-huh!”
She wasn’t really going up the mountain to dig for anything; she was just putting on an act.
She wandered around the mountain for a while, then found a secluded spot. She opened her space panel and searched: Ginseng!
As the saying goes, if you time travel, you must dig ginseng. If there’s no ginseng, you have to create it!
Modern ginseng is almost entirely cultivated.
Ye Caiping picked and chose, many were just a handful for a few dozen copper coins, but the quality was too poor.
[Customer has selected a 10-year-old ginseng, price 100 copper coins. Please confirm if you wish to purchase.]
Ye Caiping immediately confirmed. With a “ding” sound, the copper coins in her space disappeared, leaving only two coins.
Soon, a ginseng appeared in her space.
The quality was mediocre, but at least it was complete and the shape was good.
Ye Caiping was in a good mood as she turned around and went down the mountain.
Since she couldn’t dig up ginseng, she’d just buy it and pretend she dug it up herself!
After coming down the mountain, Ye Caiping timed her arrival at the village entrance.
Every day, there are two ox carts from the village to the town, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Soon, a dark and thin man in his twenties drove an ox cart out.
“Hey, it’s Sister Caiping.” The man grinned, “Heading to the town?”
“Yes.” Ye Caiping got on the cart.
The man was the son of Ye Lijeng. He was a big, chubby baby at birth, weighing a hefty eight pounds, so he was named Ye Bajin.
Ye Bajin had broken his leg a while ago, leaving him with a limp, and he couldn’t do heavy labor anymore.
Fortunately, his family had an ox, so during his free time, he would drive the cart to earn a little money.
Since it was the afternoon, there were hardly any people in town, so today she was the only one going out.
As the ox cart passed Wang family Village, three women got on.
Ye Bajin was so happy he couldn’t close his mouth. He thought he’d be driving an empty cart this afternoon and was relieved he had passengers.
After two hours, they finally arrived at Dashu Town.
Ye Bajin parked the ox cart under a tree: “When the you shi (refers to one of the 12 traditional Chinese time periods in a day, each lasting about two hours. It corresponds to the time from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM in the modern 24-hour clock system). arrives, the ox cart will leave. If you need to come back, you have to hurry, or it won’t wait for you.”
The three women paid and left with smiles.
Ye Caiping also took out two copper coins, but Ye Bajin quickly said: “No need, Sister Caiping. We were able to get so much cassava thanks to you.”
Ye Caiping didn’t want to argue over two copper coins and nodded: “Alright. But next time, you have to take it, or I won’t ride your cart again.”
“Alright, alright.”
Note:
Characters
Other Characters:
Heigou – Ate poisonous roots
Heigou’s mother
Doctor Zhao
Zhao Facai – Neighbor
Village Head Ye- Sometime Ye Lizheng (Lizheng is a title that refers to Village Head/Chief)
Ye Bajin – Village Head’s Son
Fubao – Village Head’s Grandson
Tie Niu and Zhuzi – two women who helped Caiping
Ye Bajin – Son of Ye Lijeng
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty