When the pears are green

The carriage was moving slowly along the country road. Jiang Qingye sat outside the carriage and talked to Su Mian who was driving the carriage.

In the gentle spring breeze, a few low-flying swallows occasionally passed by the carriage.

Jiang Qingye played with the willow branches in his hands and muttered to himself: "The swallows are flying so low, is it going to rain?"

"It's good to have some rain. It has been nearly a month since it rained. Qingye, do you like rainy days?" Su Mian turned his head and asked with a smile.

Jiang Qingye plucked a willow leaf and threw it into the spring breeze and replied, "Of course I like it. I especially like the sound of rain hitting the leaves. The rain falls on the parasol tree at midnight, drop by drop until dawn."

"I like it too, but I prefer to listen to the wind and rain under the eaves. The pearl curtains are level with the sky, the wind is rustling, and the rain is falling." Su Mian said with a smile, waving the whip in his right hand, and the horse accelerated.

The strong wind blew the azure skirt embroidered with butterflies, entangled with the lifelike butterflies and the moon-white robe.

Song Li lifted the curtain on the side window of the carriage. Jiang Huan poked his head out to look at the fleeting sycamore trees and wheat fields on the roadside. He couldn't help but cheer loudly: "Wow, the carriage is running so fast. Auntie is so amazing."

"Of course I've been driving a horse-drawn carriage since I was twelve or thirteen years old. I'm very good at it." Su Mian laughed and boasted loudly after hearing this.

"Hahaha...hahaha..."

The carriage passed through the fields and villages amid laughter, and finally arrived at the town in the golden afterglow.

As soon as Song Li and his group got off the carriage, they saw Chen Yuan, Ruyi, Chen Lingyi and Chen Lingze walking towards them.

The four children started chasing after the carriage.

Ruyi pointed at Chen Yuan who was talking to Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye and said to Song Li and Su Mian: "Chen Yuan is really looking forward to your return. He has come here three or four times."

Song Li hurriedly asked Ruyi: "Ruyi, is there something urgent with Chen Yuan?"

"Cousin, Chen Yuan wants Mianmian to marry out of our family. He said that Mianmian is the cousin of his eldest brother-in-law, which means she is his sister, so he is in a hurry to invite Mianmian over." Ruyi said with a smile while looking at Su Mian who didn't know what she was thinking.

Song Li originally wanted to let Su Mian marry out of her family tomorrow, but since Ruyi brought it up, she gently asked Su Mian for her opinion.

Su Mian rubbed her eyes and said to Song Li and Ruyi, "Sister-in-law, I want to get married at Fourth Sister-in-law's house, which is farther away so that I can sit in the sedan chair for a while longer. Oops, the wind blew dirt into my eyes."

"Then listen to Mianmian. Come, let me blow it for you." Song Li said, standing on tiptoe and gently blowing on Su Mian's red eyes.

Su Mian blinked her eyes, hugged Ruyi with her left hand and Song Li with her right hand, and said coquettishly: "Sister-in-law is really amazing, it doesn't hurt after a blow. Fourth sister-in-law, can you help me blow too?"

Ruyi agreed with a smile, but before she could get close to Su Mian's eyes, she was pulled away by Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan frowned and asked Su Mian and Jiang Qingye to stay here to look after the four children. He and Jiang Qingzhou went to post wedding couplets and hang red silk, while Song Li and Ruyi went to prepare the new house.

Song Li and Ruyi considerately asked Jiang Qingye to clean up the things in the main room first.

Jiang Qingye and Su Mian, feeling guilty, breathed a sigh of relief as if they had been pardoned, and simultaneously wiped the thin layer of sweat from their foreheads with their sleeves.

Jiang Qingye hurried into the main room, carefully gathered Su Mian's clothes together, and carried them all into the east wing.

The new house was decorated quickly. Song Li and Ruyi simply changed the bedding and pillows, and then pasted red "囍" characters on the windows.

The two of them walked out of the yard and went to the gate to watch Jiang Qingzhou and Chen Yuan working.

Song Li pointed at the pasted wedding couplet and whispered: "Golden wind and jade dew, a marriage of thousands of miles will come together; Guan Ju and Tao Yao, a happy marriage for a hundred years. This wedding couplet is well written."

"Cousin, a horizontal banner is also fine. It's a match made in heaven." Ruyi continued what Song Li said.

Song Li looked at Ruyi's smiling face and nodded. Ruyi had learned a lot of words from following Chen Yuan in the past few years, and could write down most of them.

Ruyi is willing to work hard for Chen Yuan, and Chen Yuan is also willing to wait for Ruyi to catch up slowly. This may be the reason why their relationship remains the same after so many years of marriage.

After everything was packed, Chen Yuan used his family's ox cart to transport Su Mian's clothes and the betrothal gifts prepared by Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou for Su Mian to the Chen family.

Su Mian looked at the decorated Chen's house, pointed at the Chinese character "喜" (happiness) on the door and asked Ruyi softly, "Fourth sister-in-law, when did you decorate it?"

"Your fourth brother arranged it this afternoon. You can stay in the east wing tonight. I have already made the bedding. Go and see if anything is missing." Ruyi said as she wanted to pull Su Mian to the east wing to take a look.

Su Mian smiled and shook her head to refuse: "Fourth sister-in-law, no need to look, I believe in you and Fourth Brother."

"Just call him Fourth Brother. Don't call him Fourth Brother Chen anymore. Your Fourth Brother has been secretly angry because of that word Chen. Since you don't want to watch it anymore, let's go to the kitchen to eat. I have prepared the food in advance and it is warm in the pot. You can eat it as soon as you take it out." Ruyi said as she pulled Su Mian to the kitchen. Chen Yuan had already brought all the food to the dining table.

Chen Yuan pointed to the empty stools and asked Ruyi and Su Mian to sit down. Then he fed Chen Lingze and educated Su Mian earnestly: "Su Mian, don't think that your fourth brother's words are unpleasant. There are some things that I, as a brother, have to tell you in advance. Qingye is still a scholar who relies on his brother and sister-in-law for his living. After you marry him, your living conditions will definitely not be as good as those of the Su family and Yingzhou. Don't feel psychologically lost. Your cousin's wife asked the caravan to bring a box of things and a sum of silver a few days ago. It is regarded as your dowry and a thank you gift for taking care of Yue'er and Lan'er for many years. You can consider whether to use this money to buy some land. You don't have to plant it yourself, you can rent it out and collect rent. My family and your eldest brother's family have planted a lot of mulberry trees. If you are interested, you can learn to raise silkworms from your fourth sister-in-law and sister-in-law. It is enough for Qingye's tuition and the cost of buying clothes for all seasons."

Su Mian nodded as he listened, and took the two hundred taels of silver that Chen Yuan handed over.

"Thank you, Fourth Brother. I will discuss it with Qingye tomorrow. Don't worry, Fourth Brother. My cousin's wife also told me at the beginning that I know what I am doing." Su Mian couldn't help but clench the chopsticks in his hand as he spoke.

Seeing this, Chen Yuan picked up a piece of fish for Su Mian and told her to eat first and not to think too much.

After dinner, Chen Yuan took Su Mian to the main hall to see the box that Chen Shu had asked the caravan to bring back, which contained some cloth and jewelry. Then he took out the box that he and Ruyi had prepared, which contained daily rouge, powder, osmanthus hair oil, etc., as well as Ruyi's embroidered sachets, money bags and handkerchiefs, and two ingots of ten taels of silver.

"I'm not as good as your cousin's wife, please don't look down on me." Chen Yuan stuffed the wooden box into Su Mian's arms and said.

Su Mian stroked the wooden box and said softly, "How could that be?"

In the silent night, the twinkling stars were covered by dark clouds.

Soon, a drizzle began to fall.

Su Mian lay on the bed, listening to the sound of rain falling on the eaves, unable to fall asleep. She felt both joy about her upcoming marriage and worry about her future life.

Jiang Qingye, who also suffered from insomnia, sat in front of the oil lamp and carefully flipped through the book in his hand, striving to get a good ranking in the provincial examination next year.

The rain continued all night and slowly stopped in the early morning of the next day.

Song Xing arrived at the Jiang family at noon.

Jiang Huan excitedly pestered Song Xing and asked him to tell him about the places he had been to in the past two months.

Song Xing took out a dozen shells and conchs from his bag and placed them on a stool in the main room for Jiang Huan and Jiang Yao to play with.

Jiang Huan stared at the things on the stool with wide eyes, and asked Song Xing intently: "Uncle, these are so beautiful, what are their names?"

Song Xing squatted down and hugged Jiang Huan and answered seriously: "Huan'er, this fan-like thing is called a shell. Look, they are different colors, some are brick red, and some are white. This bulging and pointed one is called a conch. If you put it next to your ear, you can hear the sound of the sea."

"Sea? What is that?" Jiang Huan asked as he put the conch to his ear, and indeed he could hear a buzzing sound.

Before Song Xing could explain, Jiang Huan ran out of the main room with the conch and ran into the yard to let Jiang Qingzhou, Jiang Qingye and Song Li hear it, leaving Song Xing and Jiang Yao who was concentrating on picking the conch with her hands.

The three of them put it to their ears one by one and listened carefully.

Song Li smiled and returned the conch to Jiang Huan, saying that she heard the sound of the sea, and then went into the main room with Jiang Huan.

"Xiaoxing is taller, thinner and darker than he was two months ago." After Song Li said this, she asked about Lianlian's funeral.

Song Xing sighed and said that he had not been buried yet when he arrived.

The brother and sister were silent for a while, and Song Xing went on to say that if the villagers hadn't seen Lianlian fall into the water, it would probably take several days to fish Lianlian out of the water.

"Oh, let's not talk about her. Xiaoxing, mother asked me to ask you, have you met a girl you like in these years when you were away?" Song Li stared at Song Xing and asked.

Song Xing's dark face turned red. He lowered his head, grabbed the thin strap of his shoulder bag and said nothing.

Song Li smiled knowingly and stopped asking questions.

At dusk, gongs and drums sounded in front of the Chen family's door, and Chen Yuan carried Su Mian on his back into the bridal sedan.

The sedan chair circled the South Gate and stopped in front of a busy house. A group of children gathered in front of the sedan chair and stared curiously at Su Mian who was being helped down from the sedan chair.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou held a simple wedding based on the principle of not causing trouble for Jiang Qingye and Su Mian.

Jiang looked at the newlyweds kneeling before the tablets of Jiang Wan and Jiang Rong, and secretly hid in the yard to wipe away her tears.

Late at night, the Jiang family's courtyard returned to peace.

Song Li looked helplessly at Jiang Qingzhou, who was clinging to her and refusing to let go and was drunk, and had to let Song Xing take Jiang Huan and Jiang Yao to the east wing first.

Fortunately, Jiang Yao was attracted by the cloth tiger in Song Xing's hand, so she followed him to the east wing without crying or making a fuss.

"Qingzhou, it's late, why don't you go to bed?" Song Li coaxed Jiang Qingzhou softly while slowly moving towards the main room.

Jiang Qingzhou opened his red eyes and stared at Song Li, and asked drunkenly: "Are you my wife?"

"Of course I am, otherwise I would have just left you in the yard and ignored you." Song Li replied while pinching Jiang Qingzhou's cheek.

Jiang Qingzhou broke free from Song Li's hand, buried his head in Song Li's shoulder and whispered softly: "Xiao Li, my lady, I like you so much, I love you so much."

This was the first time the two of them had said the word "love". Song Li blushed as she patted Jiang Qingzhou's head and said softly, "Fortunately Xiaoxing didn't hear it, otherwise he would have laughed at you for being shameless."