Lucky husband

After finding out the money and doing some calculations, Li Chengzhi and Bai Xiuhe found that the 700 taels they had saved up might not be enough. They looked at each other and felt a little stressed.

Li Chengzhi broke the silence: "It's okay. It's still early for them to get married. We have made good money this year. We used to farm the land and lived. It doesn't make sense. Now that we have more money, life is sad."

The reason is this, Bai Xiuhe nodded: "Yes."

Apart from worrying about the lack of money, Li Chengzhi and Bai Xiuhe were also worried about Li Mingli's marriage, because it was not easy for Li Mingli to come back. The two of them took advantage of their free time to see some girls who were about to get married, but Li Mingli was not here, There was no way they could settle on it.

Who knew that they didn't have to worry so much about Li Mingli, because Li Mingli took a vacation at the beginning of September and came back, and told the elders in his family about his lifelong affairs.

Li Mingli is not young this year, he has been to Zhoucheng for almost two years, the person who wants to betroth his daughter to Li Mingli is his shopkeeper in Zhoucheng Bookstore.

Speaking of the shopkeeper, I have to talk about the owner behind Mingxin Bookstore - Qujia.

The Qu family is quite well-known in the entire former Han province, because the previous generations of their family had been high-ranking officials, and although they were not so prosperous in those years, there were still a few good scholars among the descendants, one of them was After passing the Jinshi examination, he reluctantly maintained the contacts left by his ancestors, and tried to open a bookstore in Fucheng.

By the previous generation, the Qu family's aura of reading might have been used up and no one would be able to read it. However, after several generations of accumulation, the Qu family has already gained wealth and connections, and everyone worked together to manage Mingxin Bookstore and successfully sold Mingxin Bookstore. It was opened all over the province, and went to the capital and capitals of other provinces.

The shopkeeper of the Mingxin Bookstore in Hongyunzhou is a collateral branch of the Qu family. He didn't do well in reading, and failed the scholar exam for several years. He found out that the elders of the Qu family who were in charge of Hongyunzhou were old and wanted to go home to cultivate. Shopkeeper Qu won this opportunity for himself, and brought his wife and children to Hongyun Prefecture.

In the Qu family in Fucheng, shopkeeper Qu was a very small person. When he arrived at the Mingxin Bookstore in Hongyun Prefecture, he was different immediately. He was the shopkeeper of the Zhoucheng Bookstore, and all the county bookstores affiliated to Hongyun Prefecture were under his management. , he became the person with the highest status in his bookstore.

At the same time, he is also a member of the Qu family in Fucheng. The officials and gentry in the state basically want to give the Qu family a face. Not only will they not embarrass him, but if there is anything he wants to do, everyone will actively help.

He has done a good job in managing the shopkeeper Qu in Hongyunzhou, and he is also very comfortable. He no longer plans to return to Fucheng, and will retire in Hongyunzhou when he gets old.

Shopkeeper Qu has a son and two daughters under his name. The eldest daughter is married to the second son of a local gentry, and the youngest daughter is sixteen this year.

When Li Mingli was first recommended by Shopkeeper Sun to Hongyunzhou, what he said was to let him be the deputy shopkeeper. In fact, he, a kid who is not yet an adult, is not qualified to be the deputy shopkeeper. After arriving in Zhoucheng, he is still just a little clerk.

However, Li Mingli's ability is indeed outstanding. After working in Zhoucheng Bookstore for a few months, he got the favor of shopkeeper Qu, and began to take Li Mingli by his side to train him. His status has not changed, but the things he does are different.

Li Mingli himself is good, and Shopkeeper Qu appreciates him, but because Li Mingjin is only a child from the county below, Shopkeeper Qu never thought of pairing Li Mingli with his daughter at first.

Who knows, once Qu Jingshu, the second daughter of the Qu family, went to the bookstore to deliver food to her father, and she fell in love with Li Mingli, and after returning, she asked his parents to inquire about the Li family.

Unable to hold back his daughter, shopkeeper Qu began to investigate the situation of Li's family, and learned that Li's family had separated. A small shop was opened in the county town to sell rice noodles. One of the two uncles was a great hero who produced the regenerated rice and was rewarded by the emperor, and the other was an errand in the county government.

From Shopkeeper Qu's point of view, the most famous person in the Li family is the second uncle of Li Mingli. Unfortunately, this man is an overly honest countryman. Take the opportunity to do something else.

Judging from the situation of Liming Li's family, it is actually quite good in the county, but this good means that in the eyes of ordinary people, it is far from rich in the eyes of them.

But Li's family is also good in this way. Li Mingli is the second son who has no burden to take care of the elderly, so he can live in Zhoucheng all the time. If the daughter gets married, she doesn't have to consider serving her parents-in-law.

And although the old saying is that a high-married daughter is a low-married daughter-in-law, a high-married daughter will suffer a bit in her in-laws' family. The family that the eldest daughter of shopkeeper Qu married is like that. There are many people, right and wrong, and she is not very happy. , After knowing the living conditions of the eldest daughter, shopkeeper Qu and his wife discussed choosing a more ordinary husband's house for the second daughter, and the key point is to let the daughter live happily.

But the conditions of Li's family really made Shopkeeper Qu look down on him. He needs to think again about how to tell his daughter whether he should choose Liming Li.

On the contrary, shopkeeper Qu's wife is quite satisfied after learning about the situation of Li's family. From a woman's point of view, she doesn't have to worry about her parents-in-law and sister-in-law after getting married, and her mood and health will be much better. After Xianggong arrived in Hongyunzhou, he rarely suffered from headaches and palpitations.

In her opinion, it doesn't matter if the Li family has no money. They asked their daughter to bring more dowry to marry them, and let their young couple continue to live in the state city. .

It just so happened that at that time, Li Mingde and Bai Zhiwen went to Hongyun Prefecture to take part in the government examination. Li Mingli was in the state city. Since the two of them came, they must go to meet Li Mingli. Shopkeeper Qu secretly tested After seeing Li Mingde for a while, he felt that Li Mingli, the elder brother, was very eloquent.

After Hong Yunzhou's house tried to release the list, he learned that Li Mingde was ranked second, and shopkeeper Qu's last hesitation towards the Li family disappeared. He felt that Li Mingde's character and knowledge were all right, and that Li Mingde would be able to live with Li Mingde in the Li family sooner or later. Live well, don't worry about the simple and uncalculating daughter who keeps subsidizing her husband's family with dowry after she gets married.

Yes, Shopkeeper Qu was worried about a scholar in Li's family. What would happen if his daughter-in-law asked her to subsidize his elder brother's education after his daughter married? After seeing Li Mingli, his worries were dispelled. Chance to mention marriage with Liming Li.

The list of Xiucai's test came out in May, and shopkeeper Qu first found an opportunity to let his second daughter go to the bookstore a few more times. After discovering that Li Mingli would secretly visit his second daughter, he finally talked to Li Mingli cryptically in August.

Li Mingli felt that he was hit by a surprise. He already had some affection for the lively and pretty Second Miss of the Qu family, but he knew his identity and suppressed this affection.

After spending a few days digesting the good news by himself, Li Mingjin asked shopkeeper Qu for leave at the beginning of September, saying that he was going home to discuss with his parents and return as soon as possible. Naturally, shopkeeper Qu gave Li Mingli the approval. After the holiday, and let him go home, he will stay with his parents for two more days.

Li Mingli works in Zhoucheng Bookstore, and he was able to marry the daughter of the shopkeeper of Zhoucheng Bookstore. He was the one who got in touch with the Qu family, just like their Li family married Li Mingyue to a family who was so poor that they couldn't afford the dowry.

Therefore, Li Chengzhi was a little hesitant, he was worried that there would be some problems that they didn't know about, and he was worried that Li Mingli would be cheated.

When Li Mingde came home at night and found out what his brother had said, he smiled in relief and figured out why the shopkeeper deliberately asked him what he said when he met his brother at the bookstore.

After Li Mingli left, Li Mingde approached Li Chengzhi again: "Father, if the third brother also likes that Miss Qu, I think their marriage is fine."

"How do you say that?" Li Chengzhi was puzzled, whether Mingde knew something.

Li Mingde explained: "In April, when Zhiwen and I went to Fucheng to take part in the government examination, we met Shopkeeper Qu. At that time, Shopkeeper Qu deliberately talked to me a lot, asking about the situation at home, about my marriage with my younger brother, and was still cryptic. I asked if the money at home was enough for me to study and catch the exam."

"At that time, I didn't think much about it. I just thought that shopkeeper Qu cared about my younger brother. I thought we were brothers, but I was the only one who was studying. My younger brother went out to do things at a young age. Is it because my parents are partial to the boss?"

"Now that I think about it, shopkeeper Qu came to me to ask those who first wanted to know if our family had engaged my younger brother, and secondly wanted to see if my big brother who was studying was a drag, and to find out whether the elders in the family were confused."

It is not easy for a peasant family to provide a scholar, let alone some scholars who do not know how to be thrifty, thinking that they will be superior to others when they study by themselves, and they will use better things.

If Li Mingde was that kind of person, and the elders of the Li family couldn't figure it out, it would be impossible for shopkeeper Qu to marry his daughter into such a pit of fire.

Li Chengzhi's thoughts turned quickly, and he understood the meaning of the elder son's words: "It seems that shopkeeper Qu has taken a fancy to your younger brother before, so there is no problem with this marriage?"

Li Mingde nodded: "There shouldn't be any problem, but Dad, you know, my plan is to get married after trying in the hospital next year, I don't know if the Qu family is willing to wait."

Seniors and young are in order. Generally speaking, in a family, the eldest can get married only when the second child is engaged, and the second can only get married when the eldest is married. Fortunately, men and women are counted separately, so Li Mingchun can marry Bai Chen first.

It's not a big problem to wait for a longer time to get married. Li Chengzhi let go of his worries: "You have to let your brother ask. If they are willing, your mother and I will go to the Qu family to propose marriage in person sometime."

After communicating with his parents, Li Mingli returned to Zhoucheng and told Shopkeeper Qu what the family wanted.

This year, Li Mingli is 17 years old, and Qu Jingshu is 16 years old. They are not very old. If everything goes well, they will get married before the end of the year. They will make good preparations for their marriage at the end of next year, and the time can be arranged.

Moreover, shopkeeper Qu still thinks that if Li Mingli's elder brother Li Mingde wins the scholar examination next year, when his daughter and Li Mingli get married, he will invite his elders to the wedding banquet, which will make his daughter's wedding more glamorous.

The elders agreed, and Li Mingli and Qu Jingshu would not have any objections. After receiving Li Mingli's letter, Li Chengzhi began to prepare a dowry for his second son.

At first, Bai Xiuhe wondered if the second son married a young lady from the Qu family, and whether he should prepare a better dowry gift so that the Qu family could feel that their family valued the young lady of the Qu family.

But after thinking about it all night, Li Chengzhi decided to follow their original arrangement, Mingde was the eldest son, Mingli was the second son, and what they gave to the two brothers as parents should not be too different.

And with the Qu family's family background, no matter how much they prepared, the Qu family would still feel that it was too little. Marry Mingli.

Except for the dowry gift of 30 taels, which was similar to Li Mingde's at the beginning, Li Chengzhi took out three silver notes with a face value of 100 taels, carefully wrapped the silver notes with oiled paper and put them next to his body.

The two of them also approached Bai Yao to find out about the position of the official media in Zhoucheng and the rules of engagement, and then went to Zhoucheng with their things to formally propose marriage to the Qu family.

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