She saw the man named Lv Bocheng straighten his upper body and say to the man who spoke, “Nonsense, don’t get drunk later and start calling me ‘mom’!”

“Pah, who knows who’ll get drunk!”

“Come on, I’m afraid you won’t make it!”

Su Qingyu glanced at the man, then took the twins and hid in the shadow of a corner, staring at the table of men sharing drinks.

“Jie…”

Su Qingyu looked down.

Xiao Qingyang was seen shaking her hand with a worried look on her face: “Jie, drinking is not good.”

Xiao Qingxing also thought she was going in: “Sister, let’s go, the wine stinks.” After saying that, she frowned.

Su Qingyi smiled and leaned down, whispering to them, “The person my sister is looking for is sitting over there. Be quiet, and we’ll go home later.” With that, she started looking around and spotted a piece of wooden stake in the corner, intending to move it for the younger siblings to sit on.

Su Qingyang followed her gaze, immediately broke away from her hand, ran over, and dragged it over with difficulty.

Su Qingyu took two steps, took it, put it on the ground, and asked the two brothers and sisters to sit on it.

“Jie, you also sit down.”

Su Qingyu saw that the stake was quite long, so she took a pair of little brothers and sisters and sat on the floor next to each other.

After the three of them sat down, they all looked towards the opposite wine shop.

Lu Bocheng and the man who just spoke were seen drinking together.

After one round, he pulled several men at the table to drink several rounds in a row.

Tsk tsk, it seemed that this guy had a pretty good drinking capacity, Su Qingyu thought.

Then she saw another man at the table burping from wine. He straightened up and said to Lu Bocheng: “You are going to be the groom soon. You are about to have a wedding ceremony. You are not at home to prepare for the wedding. You drag us out to drink every day, are you planning to ask our brothers for some advice?”

After hearing this, the men at the table laughed in unison, winking and trying to pass on their experience.

Lu Bocheng pouted at him and punched him twice: “The flowers and candles in the wedding room are not as enjoyable as drinking with brothers. Besides, you, you, you, aren’t you all like me? You are just a little boy, and you still teach me your experience.”

Su Qingyi saw him pointing at several people, and the whole table burst into laughter. She couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

After another round of drinks, one of them laughed at Lv Bocheng, saying, “We’re not the same. We have proper matches, a perfect match made in heaven. But your stepmother married you off to a chaihuo ^[1]this means firewood, so I am guessing they are saying that she will be as sunburned as firewood because she is a rural girl girl from the countryside. Tsk tsk, she doesn’t wish you well at all. I heard she’s searching for a daughter-in-law for your brother, and she’s even looking in the county. Tsk tsk.”

Several people started laughing at Lu Bocheng.

He patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, but Lu Bocheng pushed them away in disgust.

Rural chaihuo girl?

Su Qingyu stared at the table of men with cold eyes.

Another person laughed and said: “It’s okay for me. My cousin and I know each other well. Your stepmother will hire a rural girl for you. I heard that their big family can’t even have enough to eat. Gee, she is so afraid of you that she doesn’t want you to have a powerful in-law family so that you don’t outdo your brother.”

Su Qingyu saw Lu Bocheng lowering his head, and she couldn’t see his face clearly from her angle.

“Lu Bocheng, you are so miserable.”

“It’s miserable…” All the men shook their heads.

Lu Bocheng waved his hand to beat them: “Go!”

“I don’t know what your fiancée looks like. You used to daydream about finding a fair and plump girl. Tsk tsk, but now, a country girl who goes to the fields before the sun rises and doesn’t return until the sun sets. Fair and plump? I’m afraid that’s not happening.”

“Hahaha…”

Su Qingyu looked at her hand. Well, it was quite dark, in the countryside. She was a chaihuo girl.

Su Qingyang understood after looking at it for a while, pulled Su Qingyu and whispered: “Jie…”

“Shh…” Su Qingyu gestured towards him.

Su Qingyang pursed her lips and stared at the wine shop, her face full of seriousness.

Xiao Qingxing blinked and looked at Su Qingyu and then her twin brother in confusion. Su Qingyu smiled at her, scratched her nose twice, and then turned to look at Lu Bocheng.

She heard that this guy felt sleepy whenever he picked up a book since he was a child. He will be in high spirits when he fights cocks and dogs. He can eat, drink, and have fun. There were not enough flower houses^[2]brothels in the town for him to see. From time to time, he will use the money in the shop to have fun in the county.

He may look like a human being, but those who entered the flower house were not good people.

Su Qingyu felt contempt in her heart.

Do you want to buy her for life with fifty taels of silver? I’m afraid it was a daydream.

Lu Bocheng was about to go to the battlefield, and Lu’s father was anxious to arrange a marriage for him before he left, to leave a trace of his original wife. Lu Bocheng’s stepmother searched for a bride for a long time before she was persuaded by Su Qingyu’s second gū^[3]paternal aunt, i.e. sister of father Su Baozhu, who was married to the town and hired Su Qingying for fifty taels of silver.

She heard that many people were being recruited for the army this time, and the supply of girls of the right age exceeded the demand in the town. Everyone wanted to get married before going to the battlefield and leaving an heir for the family. But the family that loved their daughter would rather her daughter get married later than marry and become a widow.

Su Qingyu’s eldest brother Su Qingsong was drafted into the army the year before last and there had been no news about him until now. Su’s father and mother fiercely opposed it and resisted step-grandmother Wang for the first time.

Only two years later, the army was drafting again.

And she heard that this year’s conscription rules were very strict, and you can’t even buy your life with money. Except for those whose families have a good reputation, or those families where there was only a widow and single son left, they are not included in the scope of conscription. As long as there were men over 18 in other accounts, the family must provide one.

There was no news from Su Qingsong from the first room of the Su family, and this time Su Youwen, the tánggē^[4]elder paternal cousin older to you in age from the second room, and grandson of her step-grandmother was recruited. Otherwise, her sān shū^[5]third brother of father or xiǎoshū ^[6]youngest brother of father would have to go.

Su Qingyu’s parents still had no news about her eldest brother, and they didn’t know whether he was alive or dead. If they married their daughter to someone about to go to war, she might be left a widow in the future, so they refused to agree to the marriage.

Su Dahu in the village was raised by Su’s father and mother. They knew everything about him. His parents died early and he had no brothers or sisters. He was the only child. Being from a widow household, and the only son, he was not included in the conscription list. Su’s father and mother wanted him to marry Su Qingyu. He was just right, and he would live under their noses from now on, so they can rest assured.

Unexpectedly, before Su’s father and mother could talk about their marriage, Su Ergu^[7]second paternal aunt and Wang Shi hired Su Qingyu to the Lu family for fifty taels of silver…

Su Qingyu looked at the man in the wine shop, thinking about the past.

The future was something to be lived through. Even if she had to live as a widow, Su Qingyi was confident that she could get through life. But if the other person was a dandy who indulged in frivolous pursuits like cockfighting and dog teasing, it’s still acceptable. However, if they fancy the flower tower, that would cross Su Qingyi’s bottom line.

As long as Su Qingyi didn’t nod, she had plenty of ways to get out of that marriage, even if her step-grandmother wanted to force her into it.

Su Qingyu thought blankly.

She heard Lu Bocheng say: “What do you think I should escape from the marriage?”

The people at the table looked at him in surprise with their mouths wide open: “Ah? Aren’t you afraid that your father will break your legs?”

“I’m not afraid of him!” Lu Bocheng said with an unruly look on his face.

A man echoed: “That’s right, you have nothing to fear. But are you willing to give up everything in the family to your younger siblings and your stepmother?”

Another man rushed to say, “That must not be the case. Ah. Her mother sold her dowry to buy his shop.”

Su Qingyu looked at Lu Bocheng and saw that he was very annoyed after hearing this.

“Thinking of my poor mother, I just…if I die in the future, no one will burn funeral money for herburn funeral money. She was frugal when she was alive. It would be so pitiful if no one gave her money to spend after her death. If I hadn’t wiped my mother’s memorial tablet for her on the 4th and 8th, it would have been piled up with several layers of dust. After I leave, my stepmother might throw away my mother’s tablet so as not to pollute her eyes.”

After hearing this, the men at the table fell silent.

The two people sitting next to him patted his shoulders comfortingly.

Several men who were also going to the battlefield thought of the unknown future and lamented in unison.

“I have a younger brother. I didn’t want to get married. I told my jiùjiù ^[8]mother’s brother that when I come back from the battlefield if I am still alive, I will marry my biǎomèi ^[9]maternal cousin sister younger than you home in a glorious way. If I marry now, I’m afraid of delaying my cousin.”

One person nodded in agreement: “Me too. When I told my family that I couldn’t get married, my mother cried, crying day and night, and I was scared by her crying. We are like this, why bother to drag down the girl of a good family.”

“Yes. It would be nice if I sat for the Imperial exam. His father is a xiucai ^[10]candidate who has passed the provincial imperial exam and his family has a good reputation. He doesn’t have to go to the battlefield. If I had known, I would have studied hard.” After saying this, he regretted it.

“Me too, I’ve been sleepy since I was young when I read. If I had known I should have studied hard to get a good name.”

Several people lamented for a while, then fell silent again, raising their glasses and pouring wine.

Liu Juye looked at this and then at that. Among the few people, his family was the only one who was not recruited because of his father’s reputation. Almost all of his friends who had been playing together since childhood were recruited away this time.

He didn’t know if there would be a chance to meet again in the future, or when they would meet again.

Suddenly he felt sad.

Seeing that everyone was in a low mood, he said loudly: “Hey, maybe in the future you will make great achievements, divide feudal houses, and make slaves and maids, while I am still digging in the fields. In the future, when you are promoted, don’t forget me!”

One person was inspired to fight, and he echoed: “That’s right, maybe I can be a general in the future, and what kind of beauties will there be then!”

One person pushed him:” Damn you, you look like a weakling. If someone can be a general, it must be Bo Cheng. Master Gu from the escort agency said that he is a good martial artist. How can you compare with him!”

The man nodded: “Yes, I will do it in the future. I will just hang out with Bo Cheng. Bo Cheng, you have to help your brother!”

“Exactly, exactly, Bocheng, I’m with you. When we get to the army, I’ll make sure to be on the same team as you. When Bocheng rises in rank and makes a fortune, I can also enjoy some of the benefits. In the future, when Bocheng is surrounded by all kinds of beautiful women, he won’t be able to handle them all. As for that Chai Huo girl, his stepmother married off to spite him, he can just get rid of her in the future.”

Chai huo girl Su Qingyu gritted her teeth and stared at Lu Bocheng, almost burning a hole into him.

If you have the guts, return the Geng Tie^[11]the horoscope of the bride or groom that is exchanged before marriage is fixed, who cares anyway?