Chapter 83: Forty Articles for One Catty

  "That's right, with our Tuni at home, of course it's getting better and better..." Zhong Gensheng said with a smile, looking at Shen Sisi's eyes filled with comfort and joy. Ah Xiu was right, Tuni was indeed their family's little lucky charm. Since Tuni took charge, the family had been getting better and better, basically eating meat every day, the children could go to school, and they even had some money at home. With money in hand, one wouldn't be anxious, at least when encountering things, like eight years ago, having money would allow them to hold on for a long time.

  Tian Guihua had been inquiring about which wealthy family was going to take a daughter-in-law since she had made up her mind. This afternoon, she really heard some news that the wife of Wang Xiucan from the neighboring village had passed away for a year and the mourning period was over. According to the customs of Dayu Town, one should mourn for three years for parents and one year for wives, but not for concubines. Therefore, Wang Xiucan was preparing to remarry and wanted to find a hardworking girl to take home. Of course, what attracted Tian Guihua most was that the betrothal gift would be twenty taels of silver, and they were looking for a girl with good looks and character...

  As soon as she heard that the betrothal gift was twenty taels of silver, Tian Guihua's eyes lit up. In this entire region, who could give such a high betrothal gift? Tian Guihua immediately set her heart on it and thought only of marrying off her daughter to him.

  Thinking that she could get twenty taels of silver, her eyes lit up with excitement. Especially since Wang Xiucan's family was wealthy, in the future, if Xiaohua were to marry out, she would still be able to support her natal family. Thinking about their land, Tian Guilhua immediately rushed back home, eager to finalize this marriage as soon as possible and quickly arrange for her daughter to be married off.

  Niu Laogen was at home making a frame, when Tian Guilhua rushed in and said: "Old man, I heard that Wang Xiuzai from the neighboring village is going to remarry. Our Xiaohua is also of age, can we arrange this marriage..."

  Niu Laogen interrupted her without thinking, frowning and saying: "Xiaohua is still young, only twelve years old, what's the hurry? I was thinking of keeping her for two more years..."

  At this time, Niu Xiaohua was cooking in the kitchen. When she heard her parents' voices in the yard, her heart skipped a beat, and her hand trembled slightly. She stuck her head against the wall and started listening at the corner of the wall.

  She worried about her own fate being beyond her control, and felt an unspeakable panic in her heart.

  "What's left?! A girl can't be kept at home, keeping her will only lead to trouble... She's still young at 12!! At 12 she can definitely get married!!! Tian Guihua shouted loudly: "Besides, do you know how much dowry Wang Xiulang gave? Twenty taels! Which family in the surrounding villages can give such a high amount of dowry money? Such a good match and you don't want to make it?! Niu Laogen, have you gone stupid?!"

  "Twenty taels?!" Old Cow was stunned for a moment, saying: "So expensive?!" He muttered again, saying: "With such a high betrothal gift, I can afford to buy some decent dowry for Little Flower, but do you know what kind of person they are?!"

  Tian Guihua pursed her lips, reserving her opinion on the matter of preparing the dowry, but she didn't dare disobey him either. She said: "Which family in Wang Xiucai's household doesn't know that they are wealthy?! Moreover, Xiaohua will become the wife of a scholar when she marries into their family, and her status will be different. Plus, all the land in Wang Xiucai's household is tax-free, do you know how good life will be?! In the future, if she lives well, she can also help support her three brothers, and we can benefit from it too, isn't that great? Old man, why don't we find a matchmaker to go ask about it?"

  She said anxiously.

  Niu Laogen wasn't stupid either, and he frowned, saying: "Who has the bride's family going to ask? Don't be foolish, you'll ruin Xiaohua's reputation, I won't forgive you..."

  Tian Guihua's eyes widened, and she shouted angrily: "She is also my daughter! What good would it do me to ruin her reputation? I'm doing this for my daughter, for the sake of this family!"

  Niu Laogen sank into thought for a moment, then said: "Don't worry about this anymore. This also depends on the other family to propose marriage. If they don't propose it, we can't bring it up. Whether or not this matter succeeds, we'll talk about it later. Besides, Wang Xiucan is already over 40 years old today. Can you, as a mother, bear the thought of Xiaohua marrying into their family and becoming a widow in just over a decade?"

  Tian Guihua said discontentedly, "What are you talking about? Am I not also thinking of my daughter? Although Wang Xiuren is a bit old, as long as Xiaohua marries him and gives birth to one son or one daughter, when the time comes, Wang Xiuren will kick his legs and everything will belong to Xiaohua..."

  "What nonsense is this?! Our family, the Niu's, would never sell our daughter for glory......" Old Niu grew angry and said: "Besides, do you think it's that easy?! His ex-wife has already given birth to a son, who's now grown up......"

  Tian Guihua said reluctantly, "If it were a son, his mother would have been buried in the ground by now. Who dares to cross her when she's around, just because she gave birth to a son at such a young age?!"

  "Alright, alright, stop daydreaming. What you're saying is like Little Flower is getting married tomorrow or something. The more you talk, the uglier it sounds...". Niu Laogen impatiently said: "You'd better be careful, they haven't even come to our door yet, what's the hurry?!"

  He finished speaking and ignored her, walking out the door by himself.

  "Hmph, as long as I want to marry off my daughter, who can stop me? That stingy old man... doesn't know how good he has it. Wang Xiucan's family is so well-off, no matter what, they have to let their daughter marry into our family. Tian Guihua couldn't wait any longer and set off towards the village headman Wang's house. This marriage must be made a success, after all, it's twenty taels of silver! Thinking about that much money, Tian Guihua's heart trembled with excitement."

  Niu Xiaohua's heart turned cold as she listened from behind the wall, and she stood there for a while before tears began to fall. Once her mother made up her mind, she would definitely make it happen. What could she do now?! Could Father stop it?! It was said that Wang Xiuciai was already over 40 years old, almost the same age as Father, but she was only 12 years old...

  Niú Xiǎohuā's idea of getting married to change her life was crushed, and she felt extremely distressed. She became so desperate that she didn't even want to cook dinner, and lost interest in everything.

  She must have done great evil in her past life, so she came to suffer in this life, it must be like that.

  Niú Xiǎohuā felt an indescribable pain in her heart and began to cry silently while leaning against the wall.

  The sky was not bright, and the people at home had all gotten up. Breakfast was still last night's leftover dishes with porridge and pancakes. Shen Sisi brought over the porridge and pancakes, added some braised pork, and walked into Si Ba's room, handing it to him: "Take good care of your injury, we're going into town to sell braised meat today. The family is still counting on you to get better and do things, okay?"

  Shen Sisi patted him on the forehead again, causing Si Ba's mouth to twitch violently. This girl was always thinking of ways to exploit his labor force, especially this habit of patting him on the head, which really left him speechless. He wasn't a kid anymore, please?! Moreover, as an eight-year-old child, she acted like an old adult, which was really depressing.

  Si Bao ignored her and buried his head in eating breakfast, Shen Sisi didn't mind either, watching him finish breakfast before taking away the bowl. Seeing that it was getting late, Shen Sisi took the three boys and set off with Zhong Gensheng together.

  Arrived in town, first went to a grocery store to buy oil paper and cut it well, then found the market and started setting up a stall.

  She first set up a small square table she had brought, then put on it a small bowl of thinly sliced braised meat, with dipping sauce on top, and also a small bunch of bamboo skewers. She started calling out to sell, "Delicious braised meat, free taste, if not delicious no need to pay..."

  The aroma of braised meat wafted through the air, drawing in the crowds in this bustling market. A middle-aged aunt walked over, smiling and saying: "Isn't this the little kid who sold chestnuts last time?! Have you sold out of chestnuts? My kids have been clamoring to eat chestnuts every day, I'm afraid their constant nagging will deafen me..."

  "Ah, Auntie, the mountain's chestnuts have all been picked clean! At this time of year, it's hard to find any more. If you want to eat chestnuts, you'll have to wait till next year... Why don't you try some of our braised meat instead? It's delicious and affordable..."

  She had already used a bamboo skewer to pick up a small piece and handed it to her mouth. The aunt smelled it, smiled and said: "It's really fragrant..." She tasted it, her eyes lit up, and said: "How did you make this? The flavor is really good..."

  "With the addition of spices, it's stewed to perfection... Auntie, doesn't it taste good?" Shen Sisi smiled and handed out bamboo skewers to the people behind her who were waiting to try the meat, apparently many of them were regular customers.

  "How much does this meat sell for?!" Aunt hesitated for a moment, thinking of buying half a catty to take back and eat. The taste is indeed good, she thought that it wouldn't be cheap, the meat with spices must be sold at double the price, after all, spices are extremely expensive... "This little girl really knows how to do business, she can even think of this trick..."

  "Forty cents a catty, this is the real deal, authentic goods. The flavor of these spices, Auntie, take a sniff, I absolutely haven't cheated you. One bite and it's fragrant to the lips and teeth, eat one piece and you'll want another..."

  That aunt also smiled and said, "It's really fragrant, I want to eat another bite. Okay, little girl is so clever, give me a catty, add some dishes at noon, let the men and children at home taste the freshness... this way of eating is really fresh..."

  "Alright......" Shen Sisi quickly pulled out a piece of oiled paper, cut off a catty, added a generous amount of dipping sauce, wrapped it up and tied it with a straw rope, smiling: "No need to stir-fry when you get home, just steam it in the steamer during dinner time and it's ready to eat..."

  The old aunt paid and left with a smile.

  The familiar customers behind actually recognized them, chatted for a few sentences, and also bought half a catty to take home and add dishes. Unexpectedly, the twenty catties sold out quickly, and it was finished in no time. The dipping sauce was left with some remaining.

  Zhong Gensheng stared in amazement, sighing: "People from the city are indeed different, they really have money......" Meat that costs 40 cents a pound, he buys it without hesitation, and doesn't even haggle over the price. However, Shen Sisi encountered someone who tried to haggle, and she would rather not sell than lower her price.

  Shen Sisi didn't expect to sell so quickly either, but today she met several familiar customers buying chestnuts, probably because they had confidence in her, that's why the sales were fast.