Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 35 - 35 036 Asking Rich Families for Money_1

?Chapter 35: Chapter 036 Asking Rich Families for Money_1 Chapter 35: Chapter 036 Asking Rich Families for Money_1 Madam Zhao slammed the table, “What do you mean by eyeing our Lianhua’s dowry money? Lianhua is a member of our Qiao family; it’s for us to decide what to do. What have you got to do with it? If Yuanzhen were to pass the examination and gain a title, wouldn’t you all bask in the glory too? The moment someone mentions needing a bit of money, you act as if it’s a matter of life and death!”

Mrs. Ji felt even angrier. Now her son was not giving in at all. It was bad enough not getting money from the public fund; now she even had to give away her own daughter’s dowry. Who could bear that?!

“No way! I will carefully choose who Lianhua marries, and besides, Lianhua is not yet of marriageable age. To now rush her into marriage for the sake of some dowry money, as if we are hastily selling her off at a market, others who don’t know the situation might think our family is actually selling our daughter!”

“What’s wrong with selling a daughter? Daughters are meant to be married off at a cost. If we don’t sell her, should we just raise her for nothing? The most important thing is Yuanzhen’s academic pursuits. Lianhua is already fourteen; girls in the village who are thirteen are already getting married. What’s wrong with her marrying off early?”

Mrs. Ji was so provoked by Madam Zhao’s tone that she almost choked to death with anger. Qiao Yuanshan was similarly indignant. Even if a daughter was of little value, why should the dowry from their family be used to benefit someone else’s son, to send them silver coins. Qiao Yuanshan was not like Qiao Yuanming, who was foolishly obedient, always considering only himself – selfish to the extreme. And as for this matter of freely giving away silver coins to others, he was the first to disagree.

At this point, Qiao Yuanshan and his wife stood unified on the same front.

“Mother, life is hard for everyone. If we need money, feel free to ask those wealthy families for it. Qiao Muniang has come into a fortune, hasn’t she? Lianhua is still young; we don’t intend to arrange a marriage for her this year,” said Qiao Yuanshan earnestly.

What a joke, how could the dowry money from Lianhua’s marriage possibly go to someone else?!

Madam Zhao frowned, she had already heard about the matter concerning Qiao Muniang’s family, but the old man had laid down the law early on: they weren’t to cause trouble, lest they add negative gossip to the Qiao family and jeopardize Yuanzhen’s future.

Seeing the couple’s tightfisted attitude, she knew she wouldn’t get any advantage from them and felt hatred in her heart for giving birth to such a disloyal son.

Mrs. Ji saw Madam Zhao’s expression soften a bit, clearly hesitating, so she struck while the iron was hot, “Mother, it’s not that we are unwilling to give. Just think about it. At most, Lianhua’s marriage dowry would be twenty silver coins. But for the fourth brother’s expenses along the way, this small amount of silver is far from enough. I heard that from examiners to officials setting the questions, each layer requires money to smooth the way. Think about it, with this much money needed, it’s only Qiao Muniang who has stumbled upon such luck who has it. Why don’t you have a proper chat with her? She might even eagerly offer to support our fourth brother, considering his talents are well known.”

Madam Zhao thought it over and huffed coldly, “You really are heartless creatures. I really raised you all for nothing!”

But inwardly, she felt there was some sense in Mrs. Ji’s words. Thus, she thought about consulting Qiao Dazhi before striding out the door, slamming it loudly behind her.

Mrs. Ji spat towards the doorway, “Pah! You old bloodsucker, daring to even think about us. You think I’m easy to bully!”

Qiao Yuanshan said, “No matter what, Lianhua’s dowry money must be held by us. Where is it heard of that a granddaughter’s dowry goes to a younger uncle?”

Mrs. Ji poked Qiao Yuanshan’s forehead hard, “Is this all the ambition you have, really caring about such a small amount of dowry money? I’m counting on Lianhua marrying into a wealthy and noble family in the future so that I can live out my days in comfort. Marrying her off in haste now, wouldn’t that be a tremendous loss?”

“Exactly, exactly! This is indeed important!” Qiao Yuanshan’s eyes also lit up.

After Madam Zhao spoke with Qiao Dazhi, although he was reluctant to have any contact with Muniang’s family, he had to swallow his pride in the face of reality. After all, Yuanzhen’s examination pursuit this time, when seriously calculated, merely the expenses for smoothing relations with various officials would take a considerable amount of silver.

After pondering for a moment, Qiao Dazhi said, “Then I will go myself tomorrow. You better not follow and mess things up, lest you embarrass yourself and lose face for nothing.”

Madam Zhao naturally agreed; as long as she could get the money, anything would do!

The village chief hadn’t yet sent any news, and Muniang knew that four hundred acres of land was not a small amount; it wouldn’t be easy to find a buyer. Thus, she didn’t rush the matter. With some spare time in the past few days, she prepared to give gifts to each household in the village. After all, when Muniang’s family was poor and had nothing, it was the villagers who had helped them to get by. Now that she had made some money, it was only right to thank them.

The hawthorn berries that Erliang had picked the last time were still there, so Muniang started by making some sugar-coated hawthorns. Originally, she intended to give just these, which, though not expensive, were sincere enough. But now that everyone in the village knew that their family had made a fortune from killing a tiger, if she only gave away so little, people might say she was stingy.

So, she also packed several pounds of meat for each household.

“My wife, I’ve strung them all together!”

Erliang brought over a large basin of skewered hawthorns to Muniang.

“Mm, put them here. Go check on the fire in the stove, I’ll handle the sugar syrup.”

Muniang and Erliang were busy in the kitchen. After spending so many days together, their coordination had increasingly become more in sync.

As Muniang stirred the yet undissolved sugar with a spatula, she casually chatted, “Husband, shall we build a big house for our family?”

“Sure!”

“It’s just that I’m afraid it’ll be hectic. After all, building a house is a big affair. Once we have our fields, there will be farm work to do, and the house construction will be even busier. Also, Mother’s health isn’t good, and I’m worried we won’t be able to manage everything.”

After thinking for a while, Erliang said, “Then let’s not rush to build the big house.”

Muniang actually felt the same, but she was always worried that Erliang wouldn’t be accustomed to living in such a place.

“Do you think you can get used to living in this house?”

“As long as my wife is with me, I’m used to it!” Erliang said cheerfully.

Muniang also smiled, “Then let’s not hurry with the house renovations. It’s almost summer now; thatched houses are quite breezy. Once I’ve dealt with the farming land, we’ll start on the house. Since Mother is unwell, I’ll have the carpenter make us a few sets of appropriate furniture, and we’ll change out the bed. It’s simple and saves trouble.”

After finishing the sugar-coated hawthorns, Muniang and Erliang went from house to house with their gifts. Naturally, those who had wronged her got nothing. However, Mrs. Liang, upon seeing Muniang and Erliang carrying things, scurried over eagerly. In front of everyone, Muniang, not wanting to make a scene, handed her a share.

When she reached the Qiao family’s place, Muniang initially didn’t plan to visit, but then she reconsidered, fearing that others would gossip about her ingratitude behind her back. After all, she carried the blood of the Qiao family. So, she still went.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw several children tidying up the firewood. It was the busy farming season, and everyone in the Qiao family, young and old, had gone down to the fields to plant crops, leaving the house empty.

Seeing Muniang, the children looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, the eldest girl obediently called out, “Sister Mu, Brother-in-law.”