Chapter 35 2/2

Huang Manjing also got angry when she heard this: “Yuan Fei was rejected when he went to propose to the Zheng family, and they still don’t know that Yuan Fei from their family is unreliable. They rejected her proposal before, but now they suddenly have ideas again!”

Ji Yangzong frowned: “Elder Brother was there too. I didn’t directly rebuke her, nor did I agree with her. I don’t care about their family’s Yuan Fei now. Such a big man, always relying on his parents and clan.”

Taoyu listened without feeling happy. She was afraid that pretending to leave was just a facade, and what she really wanted was to arrange a marriage.

Turning their schemes inward and targeting their own family members was really outrageous.

“I don’t want to marry Cousin. Dad will say I’ve promised someone.”

Ji Yangzong said, “Who did you promise? Your third aunt is the most difficult. It’s better to speak directly. If you try to deceive her, who knows what trouble it will cause?”

“I said I promised Huo Shu.”

With that, Taoyu blushed and ran back into the house.

Both Ji Yangzong and Huang Manjing were stunned, then they looked at each other and laughed, “This kid.”

—

After returning home, Huo Shu told Huang Manjing about the marriage. Yuan Huiru, seeing that Huo Shu had really convinced the Ji family, was overjoyed as if it were New Year’s Day.

“A happy event! A great happy event! Auntie will find a matchmaker for you and prepare everything!”

Although Huo Shu also wanted to get things done sooner, he still explained things to Yuan Huiru in advance.

“I promised the village leader that Taoyu would stay at home after getting married.”

Yuan Huiru was taken aback. “Are you saying you’re going to live with them?”

“Bring the betrothal gifts, but if he’s used to living at home, let him stay there.”

Yuan Huiru immediately laughed again. “As long as you don’t mind, Auntie has nothing to say.”

“You’re still young. The most important thing is to settle down. Everything else is secondary. Besides, both families are in the village, and you two can live wherever you want in the future. It doesn’t matter where. As long as you’re happy, it’s fine.”

After pondering for a moment, Huo Shu said, “In the future, there will be family reunions.”

Yuan Huiru didn’t quite understand what Huo Shu meant by that. She was completely immersed in the joyous occasion. She just responded with, “Oh.”

Since both parties had implicitly agreed to this marriage, they could proceed with the preparations.

But each profession has its own expertise, and specialised people are needed for specialised tasks.

In the afternoon, Yuan Huiru went out in the rain to find a matchmaker. Knowing that the Ji family valued dignity, she specifically invited the most prestigious matchmaker in the village.

Qiu Furang is from the Qin family.

Due to the recent unrest outside, there weren’t many families in the village holding wedding ceremonies, so it wasn’t easy to invite Qiu Furang.

Hearing that it was about the eldest son of the village leader’s family, Qiu Furang was also very happy. After getting ready, he discussed the marriage customs with the matchmaker and Yuan Huiru.

“Although the customs of marriage are complicated, they can be summarized as three letters and six rituals.”

“The three letters refer to the engagement letter, the gift letter, and the marriage proposal letter. The six rituals are the betrothal, naming, asking for auspicious dates, presenting betrothal gifts, setting the wedding date, and the wedding ceremony.”

First, the groom’s side sends a matchmaker to propose to the bride’s family. If the bride’s family agrees, the groom will formally propose with a live goose as a gift.

After the proposal, the matchmaker asks for the bride’s date of birth and her horoscope compatibility with the groom. If it’s compatible, the groom informs the bride’s family and proceeds to present betrothal gifts and finalize the engagement.

After the engagement, the groom sends the betrothal gifts and informs the bride’s family of auspicious wedding dates, allowing them to choose one.

Finally, the wedding ceremony takes place on the chosen auspicious date.

However, many families are rejected at the first step of proposing, and the process ends there.

Qiu Furang patiently explained the entire process and then inquired, “I wonder if the village leader’s family knows your intentions.”

“They know. Both sides have already tacitly agreed to this marriage; it’s just going through the formalities.”

Yuan Huiru said it with some self-satisfaction.

Qiu Furang was somewhat surprised. Although the marriages between the Ji family and the You family were cancelled, causing quite a stir, it ultimately wasn’t the fault of the people involved. Any reasonable family could still get along.

With the conditions of the Zhao family and the fact that they were from outside the village, recognising them as adopted sons, it was unexpected that they would successfully negotiate a marriage with the eldest son of the village leader’s family. It’s unlikely that anyone would believe it.

But seeing Yuan Huiru’s satisfied expression, it didn’t seem like an act, and since he was there to help arrange the marriage, there was no need to deceive him.

In addition to the surprise, Qiu Furang was also very happy. After all, the money spent on hiring a matchmaker to propose was far less than the betrothal gifts for an actual marriage.

Money was one thing, but if this marriage to the village leader’s family was successful, it would give him face when arranging marriages in the future, and it would be something to boast about.

“Good, good! It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a good thing in our village! Since that’s the case, it’s easy to handle. We can prepare the betrothal gifts and choose auspicious dates in advance for the betrothal and naming ceremony. Then everything will be ready when the time comes.”

The matchmaker became more and more cheerful as she spoke, and she took out her pocket almanac. Yuan Huiru quickly joined her, and the two discussed auspicious dates.

Huo Shu frowned. It was the first time he had seriously learned about the customs of marriage, and it was truly complicated. However, considering the person he wanted to marry, he didn’t have any complaints about putting in the effort.

“Are there any specifics about the betrothal gifts?”

“Oh, right.”

Qiu Furang was taken aback when he suddenly heard Huo Shu’s cold remark, and for a moment, he didn’t react.

After discussing this for so long and not seeing him speak, he thought he might not be satisfied with this marriage.

It was quite unexpected for him, as Huo Shu didn’t seem like someone who would pay attention to such details. He didn’t expect him to be so concerned.

Seeing this, he finally figured out why the village leader would agree to this marriage.

He quickly took out a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket and said, “These are the usual items. You can follow this list to prepare them.”

“Huo Shu glanced at the unfolded paper.

Looking at the list, there were all sorts of things—a mess of items.

Besides the obvious large sum of money as betrothal gifts, there were also various seafood, meats, betrothal cakes, coconuts, four types of dried fruits, four-colour candies, and so on.

“These items are mostly chosen for their auspicious meanings. For example, alcohol symbolizes deep affection, and the combination of red dates and longans speaks for itself.”

Qiu Fulang added, “Having all these items prepared would be quite respectable.”

Being from a farming family and living frugally, the matchmaker understood this well and would consider the groom’s situation.

Huo Shu said, “I’ll go purchase them early tomorrow.”

“When do you plan to visit the Ji family for the betrothal ceremony since the match has been agreed upon? You can bring the betrothal gifts along then.”

“The day after tomorrow.”

Qiu Fulang was pleased with the haste, wanting to get things done quickly for everyone’s comfort.

“I can see Brother Huo is a straightforward person. Alright, we’ll go to the Ji family early the day after tomorrow.”

Yuan Huiru smiled and said, “Then we’ll trouble Mr. Qiu.”

Two days later, while Huo Shu was busy on his end, Tao Yu on the other side was also not idle.

“Your dowry has been prepared for a while now. The bedding has been embroidered by the women, and we still need to get some items like a basin, comb, and mirror, but these are minor matters. Let your father go to the city once. The main items have been prepared early, so there’s no need to worry about time.”

Huang Manjing then asked, “Do you have the embroidered items that need to be returned with the betrothal gifts?”

Taoyu nodded. “Can we use the ones from before?”

“That’s fine.”

Huang Manjing carefully calculated the missing items and couldn’t help but worry, “I’m not sure if the wedding gown will be ready in time. Your father said if we want to have the banquet before the New Year, we might be pressed for time. If not, we’ll have to take the measurements and send them to the cloth shop in the city.”

“We should have gotten you measured earlier, but you grow taller every year, making it difficult to keep a good size.”

Taoyu looked at herself getting ready for marriage, but it was her mother who worried more than she did.

Now, she only wanted to know when Huo Shu would come to propose. Since they met the other day, she hasn’t seen him again.

She knew Huo Shu must be busy with the marriage preparations, but she still wanted to see him very much. Before, it didn’t matter if she didn’t see him for a few days, but now that it was out in the open, not seeing him for half a day made her anxious.

Thinking of this, her ears couldn’t help but turn red. She didn’t realise she was so clingy.

If Huo Shu knew she was like this, she didn’t know if he would find it annoying.

“I’m talking to you; did you hear me?”

Huang Manjing looked at her daughter beside her, who had her face resting on her hand, lost in thought, and couldn’t help but reach out and pinch her cheek.

“Ah?”

“Mom said you’ve really thought it through. Once this is settled, there’s no turning back.”

Taoyu pursed her lips. “I’ve thought it through.”

Huang Manjing sighed. “Seeing you so happily foolish, are you truly that delighted? I didn’t see you like this before when we talked about marrying you, Erlang.”

Taoyu felt a bit embarrassed by her words and nervously replied, “Father said we would still live at home after marriage, so of course, I’m happy.”

At this point, a smile appeared on Huang Manjing’s face. “It’s really something for him to be willing to do this for you. I believe he won’t mistreat you after marriage.”

“Mm.”

Taoyu responded with a hint of intoxication. Just as she finished speaking, her ears perked up, hearing the loud call from outside that someone had arrived.

She stood up, her eyes shining, and looked at her mother. “Is it him?”