Chapter 12: About Marriage

  He Ahxiu looked at him with a heartache, moved her lips, but said nothing.

  "Dad, we're full, you eat... " Shen Sisi smiled and said: "This afternoon we also caught fish to make soup."

  "Yes, Father, we are not hungry." The three brothers said hastily, with smiles still on their dark faces.

  Zhong Gensheng saw how sensible they were and swallowed the words that had reached his lips, ultimately not saying anything, silently finishing the pancake.

  Shen Sisi felt moved and secretly vowed that from now on she would never let her family fight over a black pancake again.

  At night, He Axiu sighed: "I hope that Dabao, Erbao and Sanbao will grow up quickly, but I'm also afraid they'll grow too fast..."

  "What's wrong?!"

  "They grew up and naturally there was more labor force at home, they could rent a few more acres of land to farm, their lives would be better, but... " He Axiu said with difficulty: "Our family's luck is not good, the marriages of the three brothers..."

  Zhong Gen's dark face also turned gloomy, saying: "Yes, nowadays the betrothal gifts are not light either. What we grow is only enough for our own food. How will they manage in the future?! Won't they be delayed by us...?"

  "There's also this house, it's small and dilapidated. If they get married, they'll definitely need a house too. The girls from the village with slightly better family conditions won't look at our family, and those with worse conditions are even more unwilling to marry over and suffer. If I let them marry someone with problems, I'd feel guilty... but can't just let them be single forever, right?!" He Axiu sighed as she looked at the dilapidated house, "When it rains heavily outside, it drizzles inside, this broken house will leak, how can we let them start a family..."

  Zhong Gensheng sat dully on the kang, took a puff of his homemade earth tobacco, and choked, his throat hurting.

  Life seems to have no way out, as the children grow up one by one. Although there are no natural disasters or man-made calamities now, but being so poor and unable to find a way to make a living and having hope, this life is really too hard. They suffered for a lifetime, which doesn't matter, but they made their children suffer, and they feel very guilty about it.

  "He Niang...!" He Axiu's face twisted in a knot, "Gen Sheng, you say let He Niang marry one of the three brothers, is that okay?!"

  Zhong Gensheng remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "...... She's the daughter of a wealthy and noble family. What if they come looking for her in the future?!"

  "What if they don't come? Tuni is already eight years old, and even if she doesn't get married, in a few years she'll be at the age where people start talking about marriage. You say, if they keep not coming, will Tuni never get married?! For a family like ours, even if we do talk about marriage, which relatively rich family would look down on us? It's better for Tuni to marry into our own family than someone else's, at least we treat her with a true heart like a daughter, but if it's another family..."

  "What kind of family can we choose for our daughter? It's still a poor family like ours, and even if they're slightly richer, they might look down on us. What if they bully her? We can't give her much dowry to back her up..."

  He Qiu said to the sad place, and cried. Zhong Gensheng comforted: "You don't think about it, Tuni is still young now, her marriage will be discussed in a few years... Ah Qiu, don't cry, after all, I'm useless, if the family conditions are better, ah..."