【Quick Wear】My Years as a Mother-in-law

Is there such a shortage of food outside? Watching the man hurriedly leave, Yun Xi and Li Meizi exchanged a glance, not knowing what to say. They had no choice but to give up and head towards North Street, where the civilians were. It was suitable for ordinary people to go shopping and was closer to them.

Li Meizi was curious about everything but didn't dare show it, for fear of being laughed at as a bumpkin. She just quietly pulled the ox cart and followed closely behind her mother. Yun Xi was very comfortable, looking for what she needed on the street. On the long street, the vendors were enthusiastically introducing their products.

After walking for a while, they finally saw a chicken and duck stall. They hurried over. There was a crowd of people surrounding the stall, making it difficult to get in. They heard someone ask the owner, "How much are your chickens?"

The stall owner shouted loudly: "A chicken is fifty cents, a duck is sixty cents, no bargaining."

After this was said, the crowd all hesitated. Some people tried to find fault, "You've only raised these chickens for a few months, right?"

"How many months? I raised these chickens after the snowstorm ended at the beginning of the year. It has been eight months since April. You can eat meat and lay eggs when you buy them. It is definitely worth it." The stall owner explained honestly.

"It's so small yet so expensive!" someone complained, but the stall owner didn't care at all and told them not to buy it if they had the guts to.

Yun Xi was puzzled for a moment after hearing this, then shouted, "I want three hens and a rooster."

"Okay, I'll give you two hundred coins."

The stall owner tied the chicken's feet with vines and handed them to Yun Xi, who took the money and the goods.

After putting the chicken in the cart shed, Yun Xi took Mei Zi and continued forward to find two pork stalls. The pork was almost as fresh, but one was a little more expensive and the other a little cheaper. Yun Xi of course chose the cheaper one and ordered ten pounds of pork belly and four large ribs. A pound of pork cost thirty cents, and a rib was five cents each, so he paid three hundred and twenty cents in total.

It's expensive, really expensive. In a good year, an old hen only costs fifty cents, and a pound of pork costs about twenty cents. Now, a half-grown chicken costs fifty cents, and pork has risen to thirty cents a pound.

However, this is a must-buy item. Keep two pounds for the New Year, and make the remaining eight pounds of pork into bacon to eat during the spring plowing season.

After buying all the meat, he went to buy four sets of pens, ink, paper and inkstones and three hundred and three books, which cost five taels of silver. In the past, there were no ink sticks and inkstones, so the children could only practice calligraphy on white paper with a brush dipped in water. After writing a piece, they would put it on the kang to dry before continuing to use it.

Now that I have almost finished practicing calligraphy with plain water, it’s time to practice calligraphy with ink.

"Mom, what else do you want to buy?"

Li Meizi looked at the street food stalls with envy.

"No, I'm not buying it." After seeing this, Yun Xi took her to eat a bowl of vegetarian noodles, and then went to the city gate to wait for the tribesmen.

A few hundred meters outside the north city gate, members of the Li family were surrounding a few matchmakers to inquire. When they got closer, they heard the matchmakers introducing the nearby villages and the girls of marriageable age in the villages.

There are twenty villages around Rongcheng, each with a population of about four hundred people. It is much larger than Lijia Village, and there are many boys and girls of marriageable age. Of course, this is the current situation. In the past, there were no less than fifty villages nearby.

There are ten girls over the age of fifteen and twenty boys over the age of fifteen in Lijia Village, as well as two widowers whose wives have died. Since they cannot marry within the clan, they naturally have to look for partners in other villages.

At this time, the head of the Li clan was arguing with the matchmakers, saying that their Lijia Village had good fields, good houses, and good customs. They gave gifts when marrying a daughter-in-law and dowries when marrying a daughter, and they attached great importance to etiquette.

The matchmakers said that Lijia Village was too far away and the betrothal gift would not be acceptable without five strings of cash.

It only costs three or four strings of cash to buy a person on the roadside, but he is not from a good family, so no one has considered it.

Li Meizi shrank her neck and said, "Mom, the betrothal gift has increased a lot."

Yun Xi nodded. This rule did not apply to the original owner. When the original owner married Li Sanniu, her parents received eight strings of cash. At that time, the general betrothal gift was between two and three strings of cash, and at most some snacks and red cloth would be given. Eight strings of cash was a high betrothal gift, which was equivalent to a betrothal gift of less than 100,000 yuan for others, but the original owner's family asked for more than 300,000 yuan.

Fortunately, the original owner was beautiful, gentle and kind, hardworking and generous, and gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. It would not be a loss to marry the daughter of a scholar and give more betrothal gifts.

In this era where women are objectified and ordinary people are treated like livestock, the daughter of a scholar is extremely "valuable".

"When you and Chunsheng get married, I will give you a betrothal gift of five strings of cash, a pair of silver earrings and a pair of silver bracelets. You can keep them as your own pocket money." Yun Xi saw her envy.

Li Meizi bit her lip, feeling extremely happy, "Thank you, mother."

"You're so polite, you deserve it."

Yun Xi and Mei Zi were outside the crowd. They tied the cow to a tree and sat in the car waiting.

Not long after, Yu Qianer came over with five thin girls. Yun Xi was puzzled, "Sister-in-law, what's this?"

"Third sister-in-law, this is Erya, Sanyun, Simei, Wujin, and Yu Xier. Xier is the future daughter-in-law of your second sister-in-law Qishan, and the other four are the potential partners of the four bachelors in my family." Yu Qianer introduced them casually and pleaded, "You see how thin they are wearing. Can you stay in your car for a while to avoid the wind? I'll go to the city to buy some cloth and cotton."

Yun Xi had no objection. "Okay, come in and sit down. This shed is a new one Chunsheng made of bamboo. I also sewed oilcloth on it, which is very windproof."

"Thank you, Third Sister-in-law."

Yu Qian'er invited two women from the same village to go into the city again. Li Meizi looked at the five girls curiously and handed them the quilts from the car. "Cover yourself with them, don't catch a cold."

Yu Xier came back to her senses first, took it and said thank you, "Thank you."

Li Meizi shook her head. "You're welcome, Xi'er. You and your aunt both have the surname Yu. Are you related?"

Yu Xier was surprised by her sharpness and nodded in agreement. There was nothing to hide, even though it was not very glorious for her. "Your aunt is my cousin. Three years ago, my family sold me to a wealthy family as a maid. Later, the wealthy family fled to the capital to escape famine and sold me again. A few days ago, the government discovered that the broker who held us captive was also involved in the kidnapping business. They arrested him and released our indentures. I was about to return to the village when I unexpectedly ran into my cousin."

Yun Xi became interested, "What about the four of you, Erya?"

Yu Xier pursed her lips and nodded. "They are with me. My cousin said that my cousins ​​haven't married yet and asked if they are willing. If they are willing, they can give a betrothal gift. They were sold by their families and have nowhere to go now, so they want to follow me to see what's going on. If my cousins ​​are okay with it, they will marry into Lijia Village."

"So that's how it is. The government gave you the indenture, but did they discuss your settlement? Every member of the Li family village was allocated fields, grain seeds and one string of money." Yun Xi reminded them that after all, all good people had to be allocated land.

At this time, Wu Jin said naively: "I told you that I will go to the government office later to tell the officials. The officials will give us land, grain, and money."