Chapter 599: Imperial Examination Family-Building System (8)

Even though he had married the girl, Lin Shi still felt a sense of guilt in her heart; after all, her family could not produce a decent betrothal gift.

If her son's leg could not be fully healed in the end, at least his face was still worth looking at!

At this moment, Lin Shi felt incredibly fortunate that her son had grown up picking only the best features from her and his father. If he had taken after his grandmother or his eldest uncle, he would never have encountered such a stroke of luck!

"My son! Once your leg injury is healed, you must treat her well, do you understand? And you must protect this face of yours; no matter where you bump into things, do not bump your face..."

Song Yanqing: "..."

Song Jinzhu came over holding some pastries: "Brother, the snacks that sister-in-law sent over are truly delicious! Brother, you should try a piece too."

Song Yanqing originally wanted to shake his head and refuse—not because he didn't like them, but because he wanted to save them for his mother and sister to eat.

But thinking that she was the one who had sent them, he paused and reached out to take a piece.

The white rice cake with red bean paste filling was fragrant, sweet, and soft when it entered his mouth.

"Isn't it delicious, Brother? Sister-in-law treats us so well! Brother, you must listen to Mother, treat sister-in-law well in the future, and don't make her angry, okay?"

"..."

Before she had even officially entered the family, had his status in this household already plummeted?

Wang Shi and the families of the eldest and second sons did not find out until half a month later that the family the third branch had married into was the Xie Family, the butchers at the entrance of the town.

Before this, they only knew that Song Yanqing had become betrothed, and that the doctor treating his leg injury had been paid for by his future in-laws, who had even helped Lao San treat his waist injury.

"It definitely isn't a good family." Wang Shi repeated this same broken-record line over and over. "Perhaps it's some little woman who was cast aside by her husband's family; her own brothers didn't want to support her, so they wanted to find a family to marry her off to. Where could a cast-off woman find any good match? Only the third branch wouldn't mind."

Liu Shi chimed in with a look of agreement: "Most likely! Otherwise, what decent girl would be willing to marry into a family where the father-in-law is paralyzed in bed and the husband has a broken leg?"

Xiao Wangshi, however, reserved her opinion on the words of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

She had gone to see her eldest daughter that day and didn't arrive home until dusk, so she didn't know the specific situation; she only knew from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law that her second nephew had become betrothed, otherwise, where would the silver to treat his leg injury have come from?

If she had been there, she might have recognized Chen Shi and Liu Shi.

Because every time she returned to her maiden home, she would use the private money she had secretly saved to go to the butcher shop at the town entrance to buy a few taels of meat to bring with her, and the three daughters-in-law of the Xie Family took turns helping at the shop; after doing this many times, she had come to recognize them. Of course, there was also the factor of intentionally trying to get to know them, thinking that if she built a rapport with them, she might save a copper or two when buying meat.

The reason she didn't agree with the speculations of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law was that she felt her second nephew didn't seem like the type of person who would marry just anyone just to get his leg treated.

Perhaps it was Lao San's wife who had said it on purpose, with the goal of covering up the origin of the silver used to hire the doctor. Her mother-in-law's initial speculation might have been correct—Lao San's wife was likely hiding quite a bit of private money.

Just like her, who knew if she secretly saved a dozen coppers every month?

Lao San's wife's embroidery work was better than hers, so the price set by the embroidery shop might be higher than hers; if she skimmed three or five coppers when handing money over to the public fund, it would add up to quite a lot over a few years.

Just at this moment, Song Shuyuan's wife, Sun Cuixiang, returned from town, looking excited and envious as she said: "Grandmother, Mother, Second Aunt, you probably couldn't guess which family the third uncle's family has married into!"

"You know?"

"Whose family is it?"

Sun Cuixiang took a deep breath and announced the hot gossip she had heard from town: "The Xie Family that runs the butcher shop at the town entrance!"

"!!!"

"Clang!"

Wang Shi dropped the vegetable washing basin in her hands, her voice turning shrill: "Impossible!"

Although the Xie Family are butchers, they are butchers who are rich enough to drip oil!

They had set up ten mu of land for their residence alone!

I heard they also raise sixty or seventy pigs in the backyard; selling one every day, how much silver can they earn? No wonder the whole family is so plump and sturdy!

How could the third branch possibly climb up to such a wealthy family? Absolutely impossible!

"It's true, Grandmother. I heard it from the shopkeeper of the fabric store; this matter is absolutely certain! He also said the Xie Family has been busy preparing the dowry for their youngest daughter, and they bought twenty bolts of silk and fabric alone.

But I heard the wedding date is set for early September, so the wedding dress hasn't been started yet. But the other dowry items are all ready; I heard the fabrics include two bolts of Cloud Brocade, two bolts of silk, and two bolts of fragrant silk gauze! They've prepared eight quilts and eight covers with satin surfaces.

I also heard from the shopkeeper of the gold jewelry store that the Xie Family had gold hairpins, gold bracelets, and gold earrings made for their first two daughters, and it's expected the youngest daughter won't have any less. I'm not sure about the farmland, but the canopy bed and dressing table are made of top-quality rosewood..."

Sun Cuixiang became more envious as she spoke: "In short, the third uncle's family will have a good life from now on. I just don't know how much of a betrothal gift they sent over; for the bride's family to be willing to provide so many good things as a dowry, the betrothal gift must have been quite substantial, right?"

"..."

Wang Shi's eyes went wide as she listened.

She still couldn't believe that Lao San had arranged such a good marriage for his second grandson.

Liu Shi didn't quite believe it either. But since her eldest niece-in-law was speaking with such conviction, could it be that the third branch's family had really turned their luck around?

Xiao Wangshi slapped her thigh hard: "The youngest daughter of Xie the Butcher at the town entrance? Isn't that the short and fat lazy girl? The second nephew actually likes her?"

Because she went to the Xie Family's butcher shop to buy meat relatively often, she naturally knew that the Xie Family had a youngest daughter who was still unmarried. It was just that this youngest daughter had been spoiled rotten by her family since she was small; not only was she lazy, fat, and gluttonous, but she was also overbearing and unreasonable. She had been of age for two years and still hadn't been betrothed. Of course, the Xie couple told outsiders they wanted to keep their youngest daughter for a few more years, but who knew what the truth really was!

Perhaps it was because she couldn't get married that they found the second nephew?

"Oh, Mother, so what if she's short and fat? Being tall and thin can't be eaten as a meal!" Sun Cuixiang said, "Besides, if the Xie Family's youngest daughter were perfect, it wouldn't have been our second brother's turn."

That was indeed the truth.

Xiao Wangshi nodded: Given the conditions of the third branch's family, being able to find such a marriage was truly the heavens opening their eyes.

It was just a pity that the family had been divided too early!

"Mother, actually, our family's division doesn't count as a proper one, right?" Xiao Wangshi's eyes darted around.

Once these words were out, how could Wang Shi not understand?

If this matter were true, she also regretted having divided the third branch's family off.

That was the Xie Tuhu family who owned ten mu of residential land and raised sixty or seventy big, fat pigs!

After climbing up to such in-laws, would they ever lack meat to eat in the future?

Moreover, the Xie Family doted on their youngest daughter so much; once the second granddaughter-in-law entered the family, she could go back to her maiden home every few days to get some meat, and her own family would have endless meat soup to drink!

But the third branch's family had already been divided off; was it too late to go back on it now?

"Grandma! Grandma!"

Song Jinzhu came running back excitedly, carrying a half-basket of wild vegetables:

"Is Third Uncle's family building a new house and moving out?"

"Who did you hear that from?"

"It's being spread everywhere outside! They say Third Aunt went to the village head and bought the entire hill behind the mountain, along with the mountain land at the foot of the hill and the residential plot; they're going to start construction to build the house very soon!"

"What!!!"