The next day, Ye Qiu keenly noticed the tension between her eldest daughter-in-law and third daughter-in-law. With a little thought, she realized the heroine must have done sothing again.
Do you really want to separate the family so much? But how can I let her have her way? Of course, the family must be divided, but it can’t fall apart, and the brothers can’t beco enemies.
Moreover, there’s another important matter at hand. Her daughter is fifteen this year, and it’s ti to consider matchmaking for her. The dowry must be prepared as well, so that others won’t laugh, and her daughter will not be looked down upon by her in-laws.
After breakfast, Ye Qiu called her daughter Yang Yuzhen, who was ready to go out and play with her best friend.
"Mom, what’s up? Mudan and I agreed to et early. If you have sothing to say, please say it quickly." Her tone was a bit urgent, not very polite even to her own mother. But what could be done? Ye Qiu herself had pampered her into this.
Dead at six years old, her father was gone, so she couldn’t help but spoil her a bit more. She estimated that the matter of dividing the family couldn’t be delayed for long, so it would be better to settle the daughter’s marriage before then, preparing a dowry, which the three brothers would add to when she married out, and that should suffice.
"Don’t rush with Mudan. I’ll ask Xiudan to run an errand for you. Sit down and listen to what I have to say."
"What is it about?"
"Your marriage."
Hearing this, Yang Yuzhen blushed deeply. No matter how proud a person is, they are always shy when it cos to their own marriage: "Mom, why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"
"You’re already fifteen this year. Although I would like to keep you for a few more years, most girls your age in the village are already engaged. I want to ask you if there’s anyone you like?"
Ye Qiu was still quite open-minded. If her daughter had soone in mind, as long as he had a good heart, being poor was not an issue. She definitely couldn’t marry the guy from her previous life—soone who looked like a devil on the surface but was essentially a fire pit.
"Mom, how could I have anyone in mind? I don’t even know anyone outside." Yang Yuzhen said shyly.
Ye Qiu looked at her and said bluntly, "Since you don’t have anyone in mind, I’ll take charge of your marriage. Rest assured, I won’t harm you. I’ll definitely find you a good husband. From now on, try to go out less and stay at ho like your niece, Xiu Fen, to learn so embroidery."
When she heard her mother was going to find her a husband, Yang Yuzhen beca anxious and stopped being shy. She said softly, "Actually, there is soone."
"Who? When did you et him? How did you et him?" Ye Qiu’s heart sank. Could her daughter have been involved with that man already?
"Just when I accompanied Mudan to the county and t Mudan’s cousin. He said he would co to propose." Yang Yuzhen said shyly.
Ye Qiu felt her heart sink again. This person was her daughter’s husband from her previous life. Everyone was deceived by his appearance, but in reality, he was unfaithful and irresponsible. His family was very snobbish and difficult. Her daughter never had a good day after marrying him.
In her previous life, it was Yang Xiudan running into this man flirting with another woman by accident that caused her daughter to end up with a bad fate instead of speaking up about it.
"What’s his na? Where’s he from? How many people are in his family? What does his family do? When did he say he would propose? Are you in contact now?" Ye Qiu asked several questions in a row.
Yang Yuzhen, unaware of anything wrong, joyfully shared information about the man she had her eyes on with her mom: "His na is Zhou Ziang, he’s from the county. I don’t know how many people are in his family, but they own a departnt store. He ntioned the proposal in a letter a couple of days ago."
Yang Yuzhen answered everything in one breath, looking hopefully at Ye Qiu: "Mom, Zhou Ziang is nice to , and his family is wealthy. If he cos to propose, please agree!"
"Have you replied to his letter?" Ye Qiu’s heart sank once more.
"No."
Hearing these two words, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, there was no evidence in his hands.
"Then have you given him any token of love?"
"I gave him a handkerchief." Yang Yuzhen was so shy, just thinking about the sweet words in Zhou Ziang’s letter made her happy.
But she didn’t notice that her mother was already furious. How can her daughter be so naive?
"What’s embroidered on it?"
"Nothing much, just a flower. Mom, why are you asking this?"
Ye Qiu thought it was fortunate that a flower didn’t symbolize anything specific. The main thing now was to make her daughter see Zhou Ziang’s true nature.
"Just asking. Since you like this Zhou Ziang, I’m not against it." Seeing her daughter’s excited look, she continued, "But you’re my only daughter, and I wouldn’t feel at ease without checking things out."
Hearing her mom say this, Yang Yuzhen quickly defended Zhou Ziang: "Zhou Ziang is a good person, mom, don’t worry."
"I know he’s nice, but what about his family? You’ll have to live with them after you get married, right? Understanding more about them won’t hurt. Knowing more will help you get along with your father-in-law and mother-in-law in the future, don’t you think?" Ye Qiu patiently explained.
Hearing her mom’s reasoning, Yang Yuzhen nodded and asked, "How do we find out more about them?"
"Didn’t you say his family owns a departnt store? We can secretly observe for a couple of days and ask around about what people think of his family."
"Okay, mom, you’ll definitely like him once you et him." She said confidently.
Ye Qiu sighed without saying anything. After tidying up, she took her daughter to the county. Their village was quite close to the county town, just a half-hour walk. With a little inquiry, they found out where Zhou Ziang’s family store was because there were only two departnt stores in the county, and the other one wasn’t run by the Zhou family.
However, the person who gave them directions added a word of caution: "Sister, if you’re going to buy sothing, I advise you not to go to this store. The things look cheap but are just substandard products. It’s frustrating to use them."
"Thank you, brother. We don’t have much money and can’t afford expensive things. We’ll take a look first," Ye Qiu replied with a smile.
Seeing her cheerful smile, that person added a couple more sentences: "The East City Li Family store’s products are a bit more expensive, but they’re of good quality. The fine rice is fine rice, and the broken rice is broken rice. Their scales are accurate too, unlike the Zhou family store, where they mix fine rice with broken rice, and their scales are off. It ends up being much more expensive. You’ll see for yourself. Just don’t say I told you."
Seeing her daughter looking uncomfortable, Ye Qiu asked further, "Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. But if the Zhou family’s goods are so bad, how co they haven’t gone out of business?"
"They just deceive those who don’t know any better, and their family is fierce. Even if soone buys their bad products, they refuse to acknowledge it and instead accuse the buyer. Just don’t buy anything there, and don’t touch anything while you’re at the shop. They might accuse you of stealing and force you to buy it," he said with disdain.
"Alright, got it. Thank you, big brother." Ye Qiu smiled as she bade him farewell, then noticed her daughter’s about-to-burst-into-anger expression.
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