Chapter 250: Just pick one to take away

Zhang Shen is well-liked in the village and rarely shows a displeased face, unless someone truly deserves a lesson.

Gu Xixi immediately decided to wait and see.

Seeing that Mrs. Wu seemed not to understand the host's unwelcoming attitude, she still wore a warm smile, like a big cockscomb flower swaying in the rain.

She hurried to the eaves, but her clothes were already pretty much soaked.

Mrs. Wu laughed, "Though it's been said, the two words 'marriage' mean that good things don't come easy, and our Xixi is a fine girl sought after by many families."

"If I don't take the initiative and visit a few more times, perhaps after chatting we'll all be happy!"

Gu Xixi finally understood why He Jinglan had said it was best not to listen.

Seeing her glance over with a deep look, He Jinglan hurriedly whispered, "I wasn't deliberately keeping it from you."

"I also heard the kids chatting during morning break, and only then realized how popular you are!"

Zhang Shen glanced at Gu Xixi, about to speak to Mrs. Wu.

Mrs. Wu wouldn't give Zhang Shen a chance to refuse, eagerly starting her pitch: "I know, that Mr. Chen before had delicate, fair skin; you must dislike that my third son is dark-skinned, rough and thick."

"But everyone in the village knows I have no other talent but bearing sons; I have five sons, and aside from the eldest and second who are already married, you can pick any of the rest to come live with you as a son-in-law, and I and his father have no objections."

"The fourth son is fairer than his third brother, born the same year as Xixi, well-matched in age, literate, and after marriage they'd surely get along."

Zhang Shen couldn't help but curl her lip, "Literate? He's never attended a day of school—at best he can count a few copper coins and write a simple 'zheng' character."

Mrs. Wu gave an embarrassed laugh, feeling no shame about her mismatch, and went on, "Then how about my fifth son!"

"He's young! Youthful, healthy, and the key is he's timid and obedient—if Xixi tells him to beat a dog, he guarantees he won't dare chase chickens!"

Zhang Shen had already laughed, not knowing whether to be angry or not. "He's young enough—just thirteen, right?"

Gu Xixi was shocked and couldn't help but choke.

"Thirteen? She's underage!"

"A crime! A blatant crime!"

He Jinglan, leaning against the wall and laughing weakly, said, "We weren't planning to raise a grown son, Mrs. Wu—aren't you being too eager?"

Mrs. Wu's face flushed, and she didn't pretend otherwise, muttering, "How could I not be in a hurry?"

"Not to mention our village—I dare say in the surrounding ten-li eight villages, any family with many sons and sharp ears would want to send a son to become Xixi's son-in-law."

"No, no," Gu Xixi said with a stiff smile, waving her hand, "You're overpraising me—I've lived in the village all my life and never seen anything quite… as exaggerated as you claim."

Mrs. Wu, however, turned serious: "I haven't exaggerated a single word."

"In the past everyone thought that, with your father gone, someone like you who can't do anything would just live off the inheritance, and that little estate would be gone in a few years."

"But now it's different—you have bumper harvests year after year, earning more and more. You've set up many orchards, hired long-term workers, so the master doesn't have to do heavy labor himself."

"And even the Village Chief and his wife listen to you in everything, giving you standing in the village."

"Anyone who becomes a son-in-law in your home not only eases the burden on his own parents and brothers, has one less person to split the family property and land, and can enjoy a leisurely, wealthy life alongside you in the second half of his life."

"Too bad I'm a woman; if I were a man, I'd also be jostling to get in at your door!"

He Jinglan leaned in to whisper to Gu Xixi, "Although Mrs. Wu's pushy matchmaking is annoying, she's a straightforward person who really says what she means."

Gu Xixi sighed, "It's all for survival; thinking that way, I don't find her so bad."

At this moment, Zhang Shen looked at Mrs. Wu again, her displeasure turning into resignation.

She swatted a few mosquitoes and had to invite Mrs. Wu inside to sit down..

"Miss Wu, I know raising five sons on your few mu of land is no easy feat."

"Besides, you'll still need to come up with three sets of betrothal gifts for their weddings, a burden so heavy I can't even imagine."

Finding a kindred spirit, Mrs. Wu sighed, "Not even close."

"My second son's wife has lately been sounding me out, meaning she wants to split the household."

"But we only have those few mu of land; dividing it per person wouldn't even give each one mu."

"Now the village can't open new fields either—how could I agree to split the household? How would we divide it, and could we survive apart?"

"Back then I hated to see them suffer at such a young age, so I didn't let them go out to learn a trade, and now it's too late to regret."

"We're all rural folk; hardships like this are actually quite common."

"Even if Zhang Shen hasn't experienced it herself, she can understand Mrs. Wu's situation."

She sighed and said, "No matter what, it's hard; going out to learn a craft isn't necessarily good either."

"The third son of Chen Er's family never mastered cooking, ended up with scalded legs covered in blisters, and the master sent him back with just ten cash coins and washed his hands of him."

Mrs. Wu nodded, "That child survived, but became lame, and to this day hasn't even found a wife."

Talking about this, they inevitably thought of all the human suffering they'd witnessed in their lives, and their expressions grew gloomy.

Gu Xixi's heart felt heavy too.

She gazed at the plate of green wild-vegetable dumplings on the table, thinking, "The land isn't enough to divide, isn't it because the yield per mu won't go up?"

Village children become apprentices at a tender age with no security; isn't it because the traditional scratching-for-food lifestyle can't possibly support so many people?

So, change must be made.

Despite sympathizing with Mrs. Wu, Zhang Shen still refused the marriage proposal.

"To be frank, I've even withdrawn the birth-date slip I gave to Zhao Meipo."

She glanced at Gu Xixi and smiled, "Because Xixi herself means she doesn't want to marry for these two years."

"So don't get worked up, no matter who comes to talk about a match, our answer is the same."

Gu Xixi quickly nodded to confirm it was true.

Zhao Meipo's reputation is naturally known to Mrs. Wu as well.

She hesitated, then decided not to pry further: "Well, I just ran into a Mr. Chen, and these lousy men always make life hard for us women."

"If I were Xixi, I'd also want to calm down first and stay away from them!"

Gu Xixi opened her mouth, intending to say she didn't care about that matter.

But upon further thought, rather than making things darker and darker by describing them, it's better to stay silent.

Anyway, Old Lady Wu's reasoning is more or less sound.

Old Lady Wu rose to take her leave, saying, "Then I won't disturb your meal."

Zhang Shen saw her off, lending her the oil-paper umbrella she usually used.

After Lao Langzhong and Shitou returned one after another.

Zhang Shen served warm mung bean millet porridge, a large plate of scallion-fried eggs, and a portion of garlic sauce for each person.

The vegetable dumplings dipped in garlic sauce were sour, spicy, chewy, and very appetizing.

Gu Xixi said while eating, "Tomorrow afternoon, I want to teach everyone how to plant millet at the Tudimiao."

Except for Lao Langzhong, who remained calm, everyone else looked up in surprise.

Zhang Shen asked, "Everyone? You're going to teach all of them?"