Goldfield
Chapter 222: Spring

The youngest daughter of the village chief swiftly took the box and opened it. He shouted, “Wow! That's a pair of dragon-phoenix bracelets! Look at the details of dragons and phoenixes, they look almost real! ”

Madam Zhang snatched the bracelet and weighed it in her hands. They feel strong and heavy enough. The amount of silver used to make this pair of bracelets should be worth about three to four catties! Gifts that are so expensive need to be stored carefully so as not to be easily stolen by others.

Li Xiaomeng also took out a pair of silver hairpins from the jewelry box and spoke to Yu Caidie, “See this. This hairpin has twin lotus flowers on one of the stalks at the top. The flowers open perfectly, so that means ‘one's married life is crowned with happiness and satisfaction’. The hairpin felt quite heavy in my hand, so it had to be made of solid silver. Ai. I'm so envious of you. I'm not as lucky as you to have such a generous Second Brother. ”

“This pair of earrings is quite lively. The bright red color is perfect for moments. Caidie, tomorrow you have to wear this couple at your wedding ah! ” A round-faced warden placed a red coral earring next to Yu Caidie's face to see how it looked. A newlywed, dressed entirely from head to toe in red bridal attire and hooded with a red covering, along with these red earrings, is, it will look beautiful and beautiful tomorrow!

The youngest daughter of the village chief pursed her lips and said to show her own experience and knowledge, “Woman Wang Family, what do you know ah ?! It's made of red coral. My fourth sister-in-law also has a pair of earrings made of red coral, but it does not use this much material and the color is not too good. It even cost around ten taels ah! This pair of red coral earrings must be worth at least twice as much as my sister-in-law! ”

Who would have thought this young girl had such a good pair of eyes. However, his eldest brother was wealthy whereas his other elder brother was the secretary of the county magistrate! From their influence, it could be seen that she was much more worldly compared to the other village girls! When Madam Zhang heard this, she hurriedly packed all the jewelry into a small box and stuck it on her chest as if she was afraid someone would take it from her. He talked to his youngest daughter, “Caidie ah, this stuff is too expensive. I'll keep it for you. Tomorrow is the day of the ceremony and we will use this as part of your dowry. With these jewels, your rich husband will also see you better! ”

Although they manage to get back most of the money that was cheated from them, there are many uses for money in the future. No matter how much she loved her daughter, she could not give her a dozen taels for her dowry. The second son of the Yu Family still had a conscience and did not forget his little sister.

Madam Li, who was silent at the time, quietly left the eastern room and pulled Yu Dashan to a remote area in the courtyard. He quietly complained, “Why is Dahai acting like this? Is he trying to steal your thunder as an older brother? He just easily sent out a reward worth dozens of taels! For the daughter of his enemy, was he crazy or stupid? ”

Yu Dashan had also heard the activity inside the room while he was in the courtyard, so he felt unwell and had a ball of rage boiling within him! When she heard Madam Li's words, she slapped her face hard, “What do you mean by ‘female’? She is his real sister, and also my younger sister! You have a bad tongue, if you don't have anything good to say, then don't say anything and shut up !! It's none of our business, what kind of gift they sent him! We haven't separated from the family, so all the money is in Mom's hands. Therefore, no one can blame us for just giving him the silver lilac! ”

Madam Li was not a person who liked to be hit while sitting down, so she instantly exploded after being slapped. He put both his hands on his fat waist and shouted loudly, not caring about the sound he made, “Yu Dashan, the helpless cowardly base !! If you have that much energy, then you should vent it out when you get out. Hitting your wife is not a heroic thing to do !! If you feel embarrassed, make more money! All you know how to do is use that broken fishing boat, but you don't make a lot of money. You're not even as good as our son, who works at the docks! ”

Some village housewives rushed to mediate their arguments, but Madam Li was not the one to listen to the persuasion of others. The more she screamed, the more energetic she became. Only after Madam Zhang came out of the room and glared at her did Madam Li immediately stop. Madam Li was very afraid of her mother-in-law, a woman who even had the guts to kill someone.

In addition to that small episode, Yu Caidie's wedding the next day went quite smoothly. Her husband's family had heard enough of Yu Hai's name. They all knew that he had a godparent relationship with the royal envoy and also had a working relationship with the imperial merchant family, Zhou. As a result, in-law Yu Caidie, who had previously looked down on the Yu Family arrogantly, was now very polite to them. They were very polite to Yu Hai as his second brother. The groom also called her “Second Sister” in a more respectful way than when she called her own older brother.

Not long after Yu Caidie got married, the first snow of the year suddenly fell. Lady Fang's child in her stomach slowly grew. Living in a house in the middle of the mountains with snow in the north does not make it easy to get in and out. Therefore, Xiaocao negotiated with his own parents to allow his godmother to stay in their current home.

Today, their family home is much larger. There are five rooms built of bricks surrounded by a dividing wall that separates the room into two courtyards: east and west. In the middle is a moon-shaped gate. The whole family lives in the eastern courtyard which has three rooms. The east side of the courtyard had two wings, while the west side housed the kitchen and the junkyard. The western courtyard had two empty rooms all this time. The plan was to leave that room for Yu Hang when he got married and had his own household.

When Xiaocao proposed this idea to his parents, the two of them naturally had no problems. After a few months of contact, the two families become closer than most families who have blood relations. Fang Zizhen and his wife actually treated their youngest daughter as if she was their own blood and bones. Although Lady Fang was now pregnant with her own child, she did not change her treatment of Xiaocao in the slightest.

Every time Fang Zizhen returned from the capital, he always had plenty of gifts for them. In fact, many of these gifts could not even be found in the prefecture city. Even so, they were not particularly valuable, only newer. Simple reason. Fang Zizhen knew that if he bought something expensive, the Yu Family would not take it from him.

He was pretty sure that all the jewelry stores in the capital and the prefectural city knew General Fang Zizhen. Almost every few months, this giant muscular man would decorate the jewelry store and scare all the housewives and young girls inside. After that, he would ask the shop assistant to show him the latest and newest jewelry that was most suitable for a young girl of around ten years old. Without asking the price, he would buy everything to take back. Both of his assistants were now servants who were only there to pay off the bills …

Yu Hai also spoiled his daughter and had a mindset similar to Fang Zhizhen. Fortunately, Xiaocao was not a true ten-year-old young girl. Otherwise, between his two fathers, one biological and the other adopted, he might be spoiled until he does not know right and wrong! When Fang Zizhen and his wife heard Xiaocao's idea for them to stay in the courtyard next door, after thinking for a moment, the two of them agreed. A house in the middle of a mountain is not a good place for pregnant women to stay during the winter, especially after the snow falls as the road becomes slippery. Yesterday, their daughter stumbled in the snow. Fortunately, he was wearing thick-coated clothes and did not injure himself. Otherwise, Miss Fang would have blamed herself to death.

The couple also had a noble house in the city. However, if they moved to the city, then they would be further away from their daughter and would not be as comfortable as seeing her. If a blizzard were to come, the carriage would not be able to drive for several days. The two now felt that going one day without seeing their daughter would create a feeling of loss, let alone a few days.

The couple is not a soft flower. After all, it was just an inn in the Yu Family residence for the winter, that was all ah! If they are afraid of outsiders gossiping about them, then they can say that they are renting a room. As long as Fang Zizhen said that he wanted to rent a residence, even the village chief had to let him rent his own house even if he had nowhere else to go.

They act on what they agree on! The next day, the couple, along with their servants, moved to the western courtyard of the Yu Family residence. The western courtyard has been designed to be an independent single-family living space. It had two wings, a kitchen, and a barn. Fang Zizhen did not have many servants with him in Dongshan Village, so the servants were assigned to the west wing. One room from the east wing was given to two of his assistants.

Li Li and Wu Yun occasionally stopped by in the afternoon to report to him on the issue of the port. Why did they choose the afternoon? Wasn't it because they wanted to stop having dinner and breakfast the next morning from them? Fang Zizhen, his wife, and their other servants were already used to these two people staying over, so when they moved, they also did not forget to give them a place.

Winter is the low season for the villages. Everyone usually stays at home, resting during the winter. Moreover, at times like these, there were not many businesses on the docks, so all the temporary workers left and returned home. Fixed workers (who are paid) can also take turns to go home to rest. Having about a dozen days a month to rest at home is quite fun!

The Yu family loved to gather in bed together during the winter. This year is the same. They do not do this to save firewood, as all rooms have a kang bed fireplace. Why would they do this in a room that no one lives in? It was because Xiaocao had his father bring over twenty wooden crates into the room and fill them with earth. The boxes containing the soil are then placed on a bed with kang and planted with vegetable seeds. Some examples include: lettuce greens, Indian lettuce, romaine lettuce, garlic shoots, garlic chives and so on. True, Xiaocao tried to grow vegetables out of season!

The Yu Family kang beds were all facing the window, and all the windows had glass inside. Thus, vegetables cultivated in bedeng kang get a lot of sunlight. With the right temperature, enough light and Xiaocao added the water of the mystic stone water diluted, the shoots of vegetables out of season grow quite well. The Yu family never lacked green vegetables to eat during the winter, when others could only become rabbits and gnaw on cabbage and radishes.

Lady Fang, who was pampered and protected at every turn due to her pregnancy, also had plenty of green vegetables to eat. Therefore, he felt like winter, which usually felt long and heavy, had unknowingly passed.

Right after they celebrated the New Year, the Yu Family began to weave straw mats before the ground melted away. Last year they were able to sell their vegetables at a good price because they could market them a month before anyone else could. This year, with experience under their belts, the Yu Family had carefully prepared the front and back courtyards beforehand.

This year's page is several times larger than last year. The combined two front yard spaces should be about three to four mu. Naturally, the backyard is not much smaller.

Before the first spring gust came, Xiaocao had sprinkled various vegetable seeds into the ground. As for tomatoes, cucumbers, and chili peppers, he had also started to incubate them on a kang pad on one of his wings.

All the members of the Yu Family, including Little Shitou, who was on winter break, had the same task every morning when there was a lot of sunlight. They should lift all the straw mats and let the buds of the new vegetables bathe in the warm morning sun. As the sun moved westward and the temperature began to fall, they all had to reclose the shoots carefully under a thick straw mat. Every time he had to do this, Xiaocao sighed regretfully as this period of time did not have a thin plastic film to use. Otherwise, he would have built a large plant-based greenhouse, which was much easier to use compared to a straw mat!

The western courtyard field hardly needed any members of the Yu Family to go there. The two capable servants of Lady Fang, along with the other servants, had taken care of the fields there. Zhenzhu and Linglong were all born in the Xia Family, so they were very good at being personal servants. However, they had never taken care of the fields before. Nonetheless, they both had expertise in lifting and covering straw mats. When they first saw the small buds growing on the ground, the two maids were very happy as they chatted with their mistress for half a day. With the passing of the day, sprouts grow taller and bigger and the satisfaction in their hearts grows as well …