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Qin Fang chimed in, “Mother, you should listen to Yanyan.”
He had already planned to contribute about ten taels of silver each year to the family, at least until his two younger brothers got married and his sister Siya was wed.
After that, he would only give some money for his parents’ retirement, but not as much as ten taels.
What he hadn’t expected was for his wife to bring it up first and even offer the money.
Seeing that her son agreed, Qin’s mother accepted it. “Then you don’t need to contribute to the wedding costs. Our family hasn’t split up yet.”
Yang Haiyan replied, “We’ll follow your lead, mother.”
Father Qin remained silent the entire time.
After that, Qin’s mother took Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan to visit her family.
Since she had such a strong personality, it was clear her family wasn’t lacking either.
Qin Fang’s maternal family, much like his own, was large and lively and hadn’t split yet.
They ate lunch there, gave shoes to Qin’s maternal grandparents, and informed them of the wedding date before returning home.
Before long, the wedding day arrived.
On this day, the Qin family was busy, except for Yang Haiyan and the children.
Speaking of children, the day before, Erya and Sanya, who were learning embroidery at the embroidery workshop, had returned home.
Both girls seemed to have gentle personalities, though Sanya was a bit more docile than Erya.
Since Erya had a younger brother, she felt more confident, while Sanya, with no brother of her own, had a temperament similar to that of her mother, Third Aunt Qin, often feeling less secure.
When they returned, they brought silk flowers to thank Yang Haiyan.
The wedding banquet was held at noon.
After the meal, the guests departed, including relatives who had traveled a distance, like Qin Fang’s grandparents.
They ate lunch and left in the afternoon to ensure they could return home safely before nightfall.
Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan both wore their wedding clothes, and after receiving blessings from their relatives and friends, they bowed to each other in the traditional ceremony.
Once the ceremony ended, the feast began.
Weddings in this era were different from modern times, as people would sit down and immediately start eating without all the formalities and toasts typical today.
Once the feast was over, the guests dispersed.
Some of the sensible women stayed behind to help clean up.
With the three daughters-in-law of the Qin family and Qin Fang’s aunts helping out, the courtyard was tidied up quickly.
Once the cleanup was done, Qin Fang’s maternal grandparents were ready to leave as well.
Since Third Uncle Qin could drive a carriage, he drove the grandparents and some of the children home.
The carriage was too small to accommodate everyone, so Qin Fang’s uncles and aunts walked back.
After the wedding, the family officially divided their households, and from then on, each family ate separately.
Fortunately, in the days leading up to the wedding, the second and third families had already built their stoves.
Yang Haiyan had already changed out of her wedding clothes, but Qin Fang had not.
He liked his wedding outfit, a dark red suit that looked striking on him.
When he walked into the room and saw his wife, he asked, “Why did you change?”
Yang Haiyan, a bit exasperated, replied, “We’re going to the village chief’s house to buy land soon. How would it look if I went in wedding clothes?”
They were buying land to build a house, something the couple had already discussed with Qin’s father and mother.
They had delayed purchasing land before the wedding to avoid any disputes that might cause trouble for the big day.
Now that the wedding was over, even if buying land sparked gossip from the second or third families, it didn’t matter anymore.
Qin’s grandparents were aware of their plan to buy land and build a house, and Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan had been transparent about it, saying it was all coming from Yang Haiyan’s private dowry money.
The soap recipe she sold earlier had earned them five hundred taels of gold, which Qin Fang considered to be Yang Haiyan’s private funds, so they referred to it as her dowry.
Although it would be shameful for a husband’s family to seize a wife’s dowry, and the law even sided with the wife in such matters, if the wife willingly used her dowry to build a house for the husband’s family, what could anyone say?
Qin’s parents had no objections to their daughter-in-law using her dowry to buy land and build a house.
They didn’t feel any less secure about it either.
Even though they knew it was their daughter-in-law’s money, they were confident that their son, as an official, could earn his own wealth in the future.
He wasn’t the type of man who would need to rely on his wife’s funds like a “live-in son-in-law.”
However, since the house would be built with their daughter-in-law’s money, Qin’s parents didn’t plan to live in it.
They were more accustomed to their old home.
And so, the family—Qin Fang, Yang Haiyan, and Qin’s father and mother—set out for the village chief’s house.
When the village chief saw them, he teased with a smile, “Qin Fang, you’re still wearing your wedding clothes. What brings you here?”
Qin Fang replied, “Chief, I’m here to buy some land.”
The village chief, puffing on his old pipe, wasn’t too surprised by Qin Fang’s words. “So, where do you want to buy land? No one’s selling any good plots these days.”
For the past couple of years, people had been talking about how Qin Fang had made something of himself, serving in the military and even sending money back home.
Just a few days ago, Qin Fang had returned to the village in glory, bringing a wife with him.
People said his wife had been granted by the imperial court as a reward for his military achievements.
No one doubted this story since Qin Fang had confirmed it himself.
So now, when he came to buy land, the village chief wasn’t too surprised.
Buying land when you have money is the most straightforward thinking of the common folk. Silver can be stolen, but land? No one can steal that.
Regarding the land, Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan had already scouted it out and discussed it with Qin’s father and mother.
Although it was a little far from the old Qin family house, it was still in the same village.
Even if they walked the whole village, it wouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.
How far could it really be?
Qin Fang said, “Village chief, I want the plot of land east of the foot of the mountain.”
The village chief was surprised. “That’s barren land! It’s sloped and not fertile for growing crops, though there’s no danger of landslides or falling rocks. But it’s barren; nothing grows there.”
Qin Fang replied, “I know. I’m not buying it for farming but to build a house.”
Hearing this, the village chief didn’t say much more.
He had been a witness to the Qin family’s recent division of property.
However, he remembered that the family had only split 600 coins. How could they afford to buy land now?
The village chief asked, “How much land do you want to buy? Even though it’s barren, it’s still two taels of silver per mu.”
Qin Fang replied, “I want three mu.”
The village chief nearly dropped his pipe, but quickly regained his composure.
Qin’s father and mother were both there, and since they weren’t objecting, it was clear the whole family had discussed this. “Alright then, I’ll write up the deed, and you can take it to the county office for registration. Once the paperwork is done, we’ll visit the land to finalize things.”
Qin Fang said, “Village chief, please put my wife’s name on the deed, and have the property transferred in her name.”
The village chief was momentarily taken aback and glanced at Qin’s parents.
Qin’s mother smiled and said, “We just split the family property. You saw the amount of money we had. How could we afford to buy barren land and build a house? It was our daughter-in-law’s idea. She saw that Shouye is now 15, and Shoucheng is 12, and they’re growing up. Soon, they’ll be discussing marriage, but they’re still crammed into one room. So, she offered to buy the land and build a house with her own money so that she and Qin Fang could move out.”
Hearing this, the village chief couldn’t help but feel envious.
Who has such a generous daughter-in-law? It seemed the Qin family had brought back a real gem.
The village chief then took Qin Fang and his family to the barren land to measure it.
Afterward, he handed the deed to Qin Fang, saying, “Be sure to register it soon.”
Qin Fang replied, “Don’t worry. We’ll go to the county office tomorrow.”
With that, he handed over six taels of silver to the village chief.
The village chief nodded, pocketed the silver, and left.
Yang Haiyan gazed at the three mu of barren land.
Just one mu would be more than enough for building a house, let alone three.
But she had her plans.
She wanted to build a spacious home, modeled after modern-style houses.
Unlike modern houses, which tend to be small due to high property prices, she could build her own to be much larger.
Not only that, she also envisioned a courtyard with a leisure area, maybe with a swing or a stone table.
She could gradually work out all the details.
Qin Fang saw her looking at the barren land with anticipation and couldn’t help but ask, “What are you thinking about?”
Yang Haiyan smiled, “I’m thinking about our future, about what kind of house we’ll build.”
Hearing her say “our future,” Qin Fang’s heart was filled with warmth.
What would their future be like?
He couldn’t be sure, but he imagined it would involve lots of children running around them.
Yang Haiyan added, “I’ll draw up the blueprints in the next few days. Then we’ll need to trouble Father and Mother to help us hire people to build it.”
Qin’s father waved his hand, “It’s no trouble at all.”
Qin’s mother said, “We’re all family. Why talk about troubling anyone?”
Yang Haiyan walked over and took Qin’s mother’s hand. “Once our house is built, we can leave the extra land next to it for Shouye and Shoucheng. This way, the three brothers’ houses will be close together. Father and Mother can live with us, and if you ever miss Shouye and Shoucheng’s families, you’ll only need to call out, and they’ll be right there.”
At first, Qin’s mother hadn’t understood why Yang Haiyan had wanted to buy three mu of barren land, but now she did.
It was because she had thought about Shouye and Shoucheng’s future as well.
Her heart filled with even more satisfaction toward her daughter-in-law.
What’s more, in Yang Haiyan’s plans, she had included Qin’s father and mother in the eldest branch of the family.
Indeed, Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan were now the heads of the main family branch.
Although Qin’s father didn’t say anything, his eyes showed his happiness.
The family would eventually branch out, but as long as their hearts remained united, it didn’t matter.
When they returned to the Qin family home, Grandmother Qin hurried over and asked, “Did you buy the land?”
The second and third branches also heard this, and their hearts skipped a beat.
The main branch had bought land?
Since Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan had hosted a wedding banquet at noon, the entire Qin family had taken the afternoon off from working in the fields to rest.
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