Chapter 13: A Marriage Proposal?

Madam Wang immediately fell silent, and Song Eryong’s face turned dark. Under the strange gazes of the crowd, he also felt a bit ashamed.

He just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. “Fine, 800 wen it is. No need to double-check.”

Li Caixia promptly said, “Miaomiao, auntie will get you your change.”

The Wang family ran a tofu business and handled a lot of copper coins daily, so it was convenient for them to exchange the money.

Wang Erniu quickly went back to get the money. The others, seeing there was drama going on, weren’t in a hurry to leave and decided to stay to watch what would happen next.

At the same time, they kept nodding in approval while watching Song Miaomiao.

Previously, there had been gossip in the village that Song Miaomiao was pampered and probably hard to get along with, but seeing her today, the young girl was not only beautiful and filial, but more importantly, she spoke with reason and acted with grace.

Though she looked delicate, she didn’t yield an inch on matters that concerned her—clearly a girl with a strong sense of judgment and backbone.

Some families with unmarried sons of the right age even began to entertain thoughts of matchmaking.

Song Miaomiao noticed the increasingly fervent looks from the villagers and felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. She just wanted the matter settled quickly so she could go home and get some rest.

Very soon, Wang Erniu came back with the copper coins. Song Miaomiao exchanged 1,000 wen with him and counted out 800 wen in front of everyone to hand over to Song Eryong.

Then she said, “Second Uncle, please bring my mother’s IOU back tomorrow.”

Song Eryong grunted reluctantly and dragged Madam Wang out of the Wang family courtyard.

Seeing the excitement was over, the others began preparing to leave. But before they could, Song Miaomiao whispered something to Wang Guifang, who quickly went back inside and came out holding a ceramic jar that contained what the Song Eryong family owed.

They counted carefully—exactly 100 days’ worth, which equaled 1 tael of silver.

The others didn’t know why she was bothering with this.

Because the Song Eryong family hadn’t shown up today at all. The village head had sent someone to call them earlier, but they claimed Song Eryong had injured himself while hoeing the fields and couldn’t come.

Whether the injury was real or fake, who could say?

Song Miaomiao handed the 1 tael of silver to the village head. “Uncle Lizheng, it’s just me and my mother at home. We don’t have any men to help.”

“This 1 tael is to repay what we owe Uncle Eryong.”

She looked at the other villagers and sincerely added, “Please, uncles and elders, if you see Uncle Eryong tomorrow, just let him know—he can collect his money directly from the village head.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

In their hearts, they praised Song Miaomiao’s cleverness.

This Song Eryong was just like Song Eryong—shameless. Who knows if he’d try the same tricks?

If they let him come to their home to collect the debt himself, there might be more trouble.

The mother and daughter were too weak to deal with someone like that. But now, with the money in the village head’s hands, what more could he pull?

…

After everyone left, Wang Guifang shut the door. When she turned around, she saw Song Miaomiao nearly collapse from exhaustion.

She rushed over to support her. “Miaomiao, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

Song Miaomiao clutched her chest, her voice trembling slightly. “There were so many people just now… I… I was a little scared.”

Wang Guifang helped her into the room, tears brimming in her eyes. It was all because she was useless that her young daughter had to take charge of everything.

Song Miaomiao wiped away her mother’s tears and smiled with relief.

“Mother, don’t cry. We’ve paid off our debt, and we still have 1,200 wen left. You don’t have to worry about medicine for the next half-month.”

“And I didn’t mention earlier—of the three taels of silver, only two were borrowed. One I earned myself. I even arranged more work with that shopkeeper in town…”

Talking about earning money lifted her spirits, but when Wang Guifang looked at her swollen ankle, she only felt heartache.

“It’s getting late. I’ll go find Doctor Qin tomorrow morning to get you some medicine to reduce the swelling.”

Song Miaomiao nodded.

She handed the remaining money to Wang Guifang, but Wang Guifang didn’t take it.

“You worked hard to earn it—keep it and save it for yourself. You’re the head of the household now, after all.”

Song Miaomiao thought about it and agreed. “Alright!”

…

That night, perhaps due to her emotional exhaustion, she didn’t sleep well.

The next morning, her eyes were still puffy. Seeing this, Wang Guifang quickly boiled an egg to roll over her eyelids.

Song Miaomiao protested, “Mother, Doctor Qin said you’re not supposed to get out of bed for a month.”

Wang Guifang replied, “It’s fine. I asked her—she said I’m recovering well. Doing light chores won’t hurt.”

Only then did Song Miaomiao feel relieved. Just then, a stranger’s voice sounded outside the gate: “Is the Wang family’s sister-in-law home?”

Wang Guifang hurried outside.

Since Song Miaomiao still couldn’t walk, she pulled out the leftover bark paper and started sketching based on the shopkeeper’s menu.

A short while later, Wang Guifang returned with a huge smile. Song Miaomiao asked why she looked so happy.

She laughed, “Good news. The village matchmaker came to sound me out.”

Song Miaomiao looked confused. “A matchmaker?”

Wang Guifang looked at her daughter’s lovely face.

“That’s right. Our Miaomiao is already sixteen, beautiful and capable. Naturally, there are people asking about marriage.”

She was well aware of the gossip circulating in the village. At first, she had worried that it might affect her daughter’s chances at marriage, but now that concern was gone. After what happened last night, everyone in the village knew that her Miaomiao was a good girl.

Song Miaomiao’s face immediately flushed red. The first image that popped into her mind was unexpectedly that of Lu Zheng’s strong and sharply defined face.

She quickly shook her head and patted her burning cheeks with her hands.

Then she turned to Wang Guifang and said, “Mother, I don’t want to get married right now. I want to stay by your side.”

Of course, Wang Guifang also couldn’t bear the thought of parting with her daughter so soon. But she still said gently:

“That’s fine. We can wait and see. If someone suitable shows up, you don’t have to reject it just for my sake. We’re all in the same village—there will still be plenty of chances to see each other.”

Song Miaomiao pouted playfully, “No, I don’t want to. I want to live in the same courtyard as you, eat your breakfasts, and spend my days with you.”

Wang Guifang smiled, “Alright, alright, we’ll stay together.”

…

After that, the two “patients” stayed home to recover.

Although Wang Guifang didn’t have any farmland, she had planted vegetables in the backyard, which were enough to cover most of their daily needs.

When Song Miaomiao learned that the pork Wang Guifang had bought earlier was taken on credit from the butcher, she quickly took the money over and paid off the debt.

Now, their home was debt-free, and life felt lighter.

Song Miaomiao could finally start spending some money to improve their living conditions.

Half a month later, Wang Guifang had fully recovered, and the swelling in Song Miaomiao’s ankle had also subsided.

She had finished drawing the menu the shopkeeper requested.

As for the loose-leaf binder, it wasn’t difficult at all. She had made one before out of curiosity, using mortise-and-tenon joints—it would be easy to reproduce.

“Mother, is there any carpenter in the village besides Second Uncle?” she asked.

Wang Guifang thought for a moment and replied, “There is, but they’re all close with your second uncle. I’m afraid they won’t treat you well.”

“Do you need something made from wood? I can ask someone in the neighboring village for you.”

Song Miaomiao shook her head. “It’s fine. I want to make a trip to town tomorrow—I’ll find a carpenter there instead.”