"What?"
An He leaped to his feet in an instant.
He was eager to grab Anning’s hand, but rembering they were grown now, not like when they were children, he retracted his hand and said, "Sis, have you lost your mind? Why would you agree to marry soone with the surna Xiao? That’s not sothing to be taken lightly. I’ve asked around; he’s good for nothing and depends entirely on his mother and sister to support him. If you marry him, you’ll end up supporting his entire family, and you might even have to endure mistreatnt. How could you not think this through?"
An He was anxiously pacing in circles: "This marriage can’t go on. I’ll talk to uncle and call it off. In our Personal Guard Camp, there are n with decent family backgrounds. I’ll swallow my pride and find you a suitable match. Anything’s better than marrying into the Xiao Family."
Anning wore a smile on her face, watching An He sweat over her affair, feeling a sense of warmth in her heart.
Their parents had passed away early, leaving the siblings to rely on each other, which made their bond deeper than others. An He respected and was close to her, and he had worried a lot on her behalf.
"Alright, stop pacing."
Anning pulled An He to sit beside her. "Don’t worry about anymore. I’ve t Young Master Xiao, and I think he’s not too bad. I’ve made up my mind to marry him. Uncle has already made the arrangents with him. If you go and ask to call off the engagent, it definitely won’t work."
"But..."
An He wanted to say more, but Anning gestured for him to listen: "Listen to first. Everyone leads their own life. The Xiao Family’s situation isn’t good, but I believe I am capable of making a good life for us. I have a substantial dowry and know how to manage a household and finances. Even with managing the various incos and expenses of our family’s manors and shops, as well as taking care of the needs of so many people, managing the Xiao Family won’t require much effort."
Seeing that Anning was willing, An He, despite his dissatisfaction with the match, was powerless to change her decision.
He sat for a while longer before leaving with a heart full of worry.
When Xiao Yuan left the Ji Family, he took a stroll around East City before heading back to South City.
Upon his return, his mother Ms. Ping was preparing dinner. She smiled when she saw Xiao Yuan enter and asked, "What did the Ji Family say? Can the marriage be arranged?"
Xiao Yuan sat down to help Ms. Ping with the fire, but she promptly told him to sit aside: "Go rest. I will handle the cooking. Yuanyuan, tell mother, what did the Ji Family say?"
Xiao Yuan smiled and said, "It’s settled with the Ji Family. Mr. Ji said we should proceed with the Six Rituals in a few days."
Ms. Ping was quite pleased to hear this, but after a while, she began to worry.
"What about these Six Rituals? How much bride price are they asking for? Our family’s situation... it’s not easy to borrow money."
Ms. Ping was genuinely concerned. The family was so poor that they barely had enough to eat; the most valuable possession in the house was the robe Xiao Yuan was wearing, the only one without patches that was decent enough to wear out.
Ms. Ping had two sets of clothes, but both were ragged; even her clothes for entertaining guests were patched.
The household was in such poverty that arranging a marriage was extrely difficult.
Even marrying into a very poor family was hard without a bride price, let alone the Ji Family, which was a high-status household that the Xiao Family wouldn’t dare to aspire to.
"Mother, don’t worry about this matter. I’ll figure sothing out. After all, I’ve had an education; even if it’s just writing letters or copying books, I can still earn so money."
Xiao Yuan comforted Ms. Ping.
Ms. Ping felt helpless; she didn’t want Xiao Yuan to overexert himself, but she couldn’t do much herself, so she sighed, "Just take it easy, don’t overwork yourself."
"Alright."
Xiao Yuan answered with a smile.
He had road around the Capital today and already had a plan in mind for what he needed to do.
The Dajing Dynasty was a period akin to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, when storytelling novels and such were already very developed, and literacy was more widespread than in other dynasties. People loved listening to storytellers, and literate individuals enjoyed reading novels. Many people who wrote good novels, though not very prominent, earned quite a bit of money.
Xiao Yuan wanted to give it a try, but what he first tested the waters with wasn’t novels, but illustrations.
Nowadays, every novel includes illustrations, even the covers have a painting of so sort, and such illustrations are well compensated. As long as one’s drawings are good, there’s no worry about not making money.
Xiao Yuan had already surveyed the market; he wanted to start with illustrations, make a quick buck, and then move on to write novels, followed by other things. In any case, he had to improve the household’s situation before marrying Anning; he couldn’t just marry with nothing to his na.
After dinner, Xiao Yuan went back to his room to draw illustrations.
Ms. Ping thought Xiao Yuan was studying and did not disturb him.
Ms. Ping went back to her room and couldn’t fall asleep, sighing heavily all alone.
Xiao Yuan stayed up late working by lamplight, sketching several drawings, and early the next morning, he took these drawings out with him.
He was introduced to a bookseller by soone, and now with illustrations in hand, he paid a visit to that bookseller, who really liked the drawings.
This bookseller had just bought so manuscripts to print, but unfortunately, hadn’t found a good illustrator. Now seeing Xiao Yuan’s work, which was quite impressive – indeed, more vivid than any other illustrations he had seen before – the deal was struck on the spot.
Xiao Yuan and the bookseller agreed on the price - five silver coins per drawing. This book needed about a dozen drawings, so he could earn approximately five taels of silver.
The bookseller needed them urgently, so Xiao Yuan didn’t return ho, choosing to stay at the bookseller’s place instead.
They provided als and accommodation, pressing him to hurry with the illustrations. Xiao Yuan completed the ten drawings in two days, then took the silver and went ho.
When he left, he made arrangents with the bookseller, agreeing that if more illustrations were needed in the future, they could co to find him.
On his way ho, Xiao Yuan took a detour to buy so foodstuffs, and also purchased a cotton outfit for Ms. Ping.
He thought that the weather was growing colder by the day, and before long, it will be ti to wear cotton clothes. He ought to save money to buy a couple of thick cotton garnts and a few cotton blankets.
Xiao Yuan, carrying his purchases, arrived ho and imdiately saw his older sister Xiao Daya.
Xiao Daya had a sorrowful expression, sitting in the yard and talking to Ms. Ping.
Upon seeing Xiao Yuan return, Xiao Daya hurriedly stood up, clutching the hem of her dress with a bowed head, her face tinged with sha, "Brother Yuan is back, I..."
Xiao Yuan smiled and took out a package of pastries from his basket and handed it to Xiao Daya, "When did sister co over? Stay for dinner later. Rember to take this package of pastries when you leave, they are for Gou Dan."
Xiao Daya’s son was nicknad Gou Dan; they gave him a humble na when he was little in hopes that he would survive. Now the child hadn’t yet been given a formal na and everyone still called him Gou Dan.
Xiao Daya quickly tried to refuse the package of pastries, "Keep them for you and mother to eat, Gou Dan has food."
Xiao Yuan firmly handed over the pastries to Xiao Daya, and also took out a slab of at for Ms. Ping, "Mother, I bought so at at the market. Fry a couple of dishes later, and have sister stay to eat to thoroughly nourish herself."
Ms. Ping felt sowhat distressed over the at; in truth, she didn’t want Xiao Daya to stay for a al.
In her mind, any delicacies should be saved for Xiao Yuan. What’s the need for a girl like Xiao Daya to eat such things.
But since Xiao Yuan had already spoken, Ms. Ping didn’t have the heart to refuse, forcing a smile she said, "Daya, your brother is right. Take the pastries ho for Gou Dan, tell him that this is from his uncle who adores him. Help later, we’ll cook so good dishes, and make sure you eat more pieces of at to nourish yourself."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Daya’s eyes imdiately welled up with tears.
She clasped her hands tightly, "Let Brother Yuan eat the at, I don’t mind eating anything else. I... I don’t have any money on , so I can’t contribute to Brother Yuan’s needs, but I’ll talk it over with the head of the household when I get back and see if we can scrape sothing together."
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