When the pears are green

Song Li's family sat under the shade of a tree, chewing corn and listening to Lianlian telling the story of Wang Juan and Li Chun in a very emotional way.

Lianlian was holding corn in her hand and eating while saying, "Our home is close to Wang Juan's. I went to see them the other day. Li Chun went to the Wang family alone to ask for marriage. Would Wang Juan's parents agree?"

Song Yue ignored the corn in her mouth and quickly replied, "Of course not. Li Chun's family is poor!"

Lianlian glanced at Song Yue and continued, "Xiaoyue is right. Wang Juan's parents think their daughter is the most beautiful girl in the village and want to marry Wang Juan to the town, or..."

As Lianlian spoke, she glanced at the closed gate and lowered her voice, "The head of the village, her family also wanted to take advantage of Wu's third son. But Wu's third son has rarely been home, and I guess they haven't even met. What's more, Wu's third son has been studying in the county, and he has seen all kinds of girls."

After hearing this, Song Li and the others nodded, indicating that they agreed with what Lianlian said.

Zhang peeled a few corn kernels and put them near Baidiandian's mouth. Baidiandian barked happily a few times. Zhang patted Baidiandian's head and asked Lianlian, "Lianlian, what happened next?"

Lianlian ate a mouthful of corn and continued, "Sister-in-law, don't be impatient. Just listen to me slowly. Wang Juan has two younger brothers. The oldest one is already fourteen years old. They can discuss marriage soon, which will cost a lot of money. In addition, men will have to do labor service this autumn. Wang Juan's father is in poor health, so he will definitely have to pay money to do labor service. This is another amount of money. How can they agree to let Wang Juan marry Li Chun?"

Seeing that Lianlian was a little thirsty, Song Li quickly handed her a bowl of water.

Lianlian took the drink and drank it all, then handed the bowl to Song Li and said, "Wang Juan's mother scolded Li Chun, saying that Li Chun was a toad wanting to eat swan meat. Wang Juan's father was even angrier and asked Wang Shan and Wang Hai to beat Li Chun up. This Li Chun was sincere. He knelt at the door of Wang Juan's house and was beaten and kicked by the two brothers, but he didn't say a word!"

When Song Li heard the word "kick", she felt pain all over her body. She hurriedly asked Lianlian: "Aunt, what happened next?"

Lianlian looked at Song Li and said, "Nearly half of the village gathered outside Wang Juan's house. When Wang Juan's father said that Li Chun came here on purpose to ruin Wang Juan's reputation, the onlookers laughed. Someone even said that Wang Juan was still involved with Li Chun a while ago, and now Li Chun is proposing to marry her, how can that ruin Wang Juan's reputation?"

"Wang Juan's father is almost fainted with anger. He knows his daughter has a bad reputation in the village, but no one will gossip about her in front of him." Lianlian threw the corn cob into the wooden barrel and continued, "Wang Juan's father asked Li Chun for ten taels of silver as a betrothal gift, otherwise there would be no deal."

After hearing this, Zhang was shocked and said to Lianlian, "Wang Juan's father is really asking for too much. Even if he sold Li Chun's family, he wouldn't be able to get more than ten taels."

After hearing this, Song Li asked Lianlian: "Aunt, does Wang Juan agree?"

Lianlian said to Song Li: "Wang Juan cried and refused to agree at first, but later Li Chun talked to her alone for a few words and she stopped crying and making a fuss, saying that she would let her parents make the decision."

Seeing that Lianlian had stopped talking, Song Yue hurriedly asked, "Aunt, did Li Chun agree to Wang Juan's father's conditions?"

"How could he agree to it? He knows his family situation well. He has two acres of land and three shabby houses. How can a man with nothing to do come up with ten taels of silver? Li Chun directly told Wang Juan's father that ten taels was impossible and he could only offer three taels. Everyone around laughed when they heard it. The minimum betrothal gift for a girl in the village is five taels. Three taels is indeed too little." Lianlian said while shaking her head.

Song Li asked again: "Aunt, what happened next?"

Lianlian went on to say, "Wang Juan's father asked Li Chun to sell the land, but Li Chun said that it was impossible to sell the land. He said that he married Wang Juan to live a good life, not to beg for food. Li Chun also told Wang Juan's father that Wang Juan's two brothers beat him in front of so many people, and he wanted to go to the county to file a complaint, and ask the officials to judge for him and ask Wang Juan's father to compensate him."

After hearing this, Song Li took over Lianlian's words and said, "Aunt, are the people around here willing to be witnesses for Li Chun?"

Lianlian nodded and said, "Yes, Xiaoli, how did you know? Did you go to see it too?"

Song Li smiled and said, "I didn't go, but there are a lot of people who make a fuss about this kind of thing, so there must be people who will agree with Li Chun."

Lianlian went on to say, "That's true. Wang Juan's father was scared when he heard it, but he still didn't want to give in. Li Chun showed something to Wang Juan's parents. Their faces turned pale and they didn't say anything for a long time. Later, Wang Juan's father asked Wang Shan and Wang Hai to disperse the crowd."

Song Yue hurriedly asked Lianlian: "Aunt, what did Li Chun take? Did Wang Juan's father agree?"

Lianlian thought for a moment and said, "No one saw clearly what Li Chun took. Li Chun deliberately covered it up. I heard from others that Wang Juan's father agreed and the wedding will be held in half a month."

After hearing Lianlian's words, Song Yue exclaimed, "Are you so anxious?"

Song Li glanced at Song Yue and said, "The wedding date should have been proposed by Li Chun. Li Chun was probably afraid that Wang Juan's father would go back on his word and sell her off. Wang Juan is pretty, so she would definitely fetch more than three taels of silver if she were sold off."

After hearing this, Song Yue held up her chin and said, "So, Wang Juan marrying Li Chun is really a good choice."

When Song Li heard this, she laughed. She said to Song Yue, "Wang Juan hates Li Chun as much as I do. It will be a lot of fun if the two of them are tied together."

After hearing this, Lianlian asked Song Li, "Xiao Li, are you healed?"

Song Li hurriedly said to Lianlian: "Aunt, it's much better now. The bruises are almost gone and it doesn't hurt to touch it anymore."

Lianlian nodded after hearing this, and she said to Zhang: "Sister-in-law, I want to go back."

Zhang looked at the sun, asked Lianlian to drive slowly, and stuffed two corns into Lianlian's pocket, asking her to cook them when she got home.

Lianlian quickly thanked Zhang and went home.

Song Li asked Zhang: "Mother, what did you mean by men doing labor service?"

After hearing this, Zhang frowned and said, "The government stipulates that men over the age of 20 must perform labor service every three years. Three years ago, it was to repair the city wall of the county town. I don't know what it will be this year."

After Zhang finished speaking, she said to Song Li and the others, "Okay, let's not talk about this for now. Your father should be back in a few days."

After hearing this, Song Li and her brother cheered. Song Yue asked Zhang in confusion, "Mom, didn't Dad say he would be back after harvesting corn? Why is he here so early?"

Zhang smiled and touched Song Yue's head, then looked at Song Li and said, "Your father came back to buy a dowry for your sister. Your sister will be married in two months, so it's time to get ready. Although our family is not rich, we still have to be polite and don't let your sister be laughed at. When he said he would come back when the corn was harvested, he lied to you."

After hearing what Zhang said, Song Li blushed.

Song Li walked back to her room quickly, ignoring Song Yue and the others' teasing. Song Li opened the small wooden box that Song Changhe had made for her before he left, which contained the silver hairpin, wooden comb, and silk flowers that Jiang Qingzhou had given her.

The thing Song Li had picked up in the reed marsh has disappeared. Song Li secretly threw it into Li Chun's house a few days ago.