Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 211
Proposing Marriage Again
When her sister came back, Mo Yan wanted to stay and talk to her, and Zhong Cheng drove his carriage back.
As Mo Ling coaxed her child, she said, “Yan’er, I remember Ms. Hua saying that they used to make tofu.”
“Yes, why?”
“Now I have to take care of a child and can’t go out, your brother-in-law can’t go out for long periods of time. I’m thinking of finding a way to make a living at home. I think making tofu to sell would work. After I make the tofu, he can go out and sell it. It’s better than just sitting there idly.”
“No problem, I’ll talk to godmother later and let her teach you.”
?Although making tofu was somewhat easier than farming, grinding, bagging, and pressing tofu was still laborious for a woman. Therefore, Ms. Hua stopped doing it after her husband passed away.
When she heard that Mo Ling wanted to learn how to make tofu, she was naturally willing to teach them: “Okay, I still have some items for making tofu. I’ll take them out later, and after teaching her how to make tofu, she can take them home! They’ll just be collecting dust sitting here anyways.”
Mo Ling was an impatient person. When she heard that Ms. Hua had agreed, she immediately went to town to learn. As she was worried about leaving the child at home, she simply took him with her.
When Ms. Hua saw the white and plump Zao’er, she was very fond of him. After placing him on a bed, she started teaching Mo Ling how to make tofu
While the soybeans were being soaked in water, they were ground into a pulp, then put into a pot and boiled. The skins were picked out and sundried, while the soymilk was filtered out from the tofu residue using a linen bag.
The next step was the most important, braising the tofu. The proportion of soymilk and tofu was vital, and the tofu should be tender, but neither falling apart nor hard.
How much brine should be added for tofu pudding? Ms. Hua was still very familiar with this information, and Mo Ling remembered most of it. However, a craft couldn’t be learnt in a single sitting. She would still need to return home to slowly refine her technique and practice hard.
After staying with her natal family for three days, Zhong Cheng came to take them back. He turned up at town and took the stone mill from Hua’s house.
Mo Yan sent them to the main road, “Sis, when you make tofu in the future, you can ask around various restaurants. If they place orders, brother-in-law won’t have to travel along the streets and alleyways to sell it.”
“That’s naturally good, but let’s practice our skills first when we go back.”
Mo Ling was smart and capable, and Zhong Cheng was also down-to-earth. Even though their days couldn’t be said to be lavish and luxurious, having enough food and clothing was definitely not a problem, so there wasn’t a need to worry about that.
When he turned around to see Xiuying retching while she was squatting at the corner of a wall, Mo Feng was at a loss, while Mo Yan was full of sympathy for Xiuying.
??Ms. Liang wanted everyone to help out with renovating the new house, so Mo Yan couldn’t step away, but she didn’t want to get involved in family affairs.
Xiuying’s pregnancy was obvious, and it was impossible for Mrs. Li to not know about it. No one knew how severely she was scolded when she went home, and Mo Feng was blissfully unaware about it.
??The houses of farmers were simply decorated, and renovations only took a few days to complete. The weather is dry in spring, so it could be done quickly. After they finished, it was time to go to Xiuying’s family to propose marriage.
?Remembering the previous incidents, Ms. Liang really didn’t want to go, but for the sake of her son and grandson, she still had to.
The four engagement gifts that had previously been returned before were still there, so she picked them up and went without even finding a matchmaker.
??This time, Mrs. Li’s attitude was much better, but Xiuying’s brother had troubles. He said that his fiancee heard about Xiuying’s pregnancy and found it embarrassing, so she was refusing to marry him.
Mrs. Liang took the opportunity to say, “From now on, Xiuying will be a member of my family. I haven’t found this matter too embarrassing, so what right do they have to do so? If she thinks it’s embarrassing, then Xiuying can just never come back. I’m happy to have another daughter.”
Xiuying’s brother Xiucheng said, “You mean to cut her off from her natal family. Based on what? We’ve raised her for so long and she’s just going to belong to you, you’re taking heavy advantage of us. Who told her to be so shameless and do such a shameful thing? Everything else doesn’t matter, but the dowry can’t be reduced.”
?This uncle of Mo Yan’s was even more shameless than Mo Feng. He obviously wanted to use his sister’s dowry to marry a wife, and was even saying it so righteously.
Ms. ??Liang said with a cold face, “The bride price is six silver taels and six hundred dollars, and I won’t short you on it.”
When Xiucheng heard this, it was like a strike of lightning, and he stood up suddenly, “What, six silver taels and six hundred dollars?! You’re taking two people into your family, a wife and a grandson, so the bride price must be doubled too, at least twelve taels.”
He was treating Ms. Liang like a pushover, and Ms. Liang didn’t even glance at him, “We’ll follow the common convention. February 12th is an auspicious day, so let’s arrange their marriage for them. If you don’t agree, we can revisit this matter when I raise enough money!”
With that said, Ms. Liang stood up and was about to leave. Mrs. Li stepped forward and stopped her, “How could we wait any longer? It’d reflect poorly on our reputation.”
Ms. Liang turned around and said, “Who is in charge in your family?”
Mrs. Li sighed, “We’ll go with what you said. Quickly go back to prepare!”
Xiucheng started cursing towards the house, “You embarrassment, you better scram as soon as possible, don’t make the entire family lose its face with you.”
Xiuying’s voice came from inside the room, “If I lose face, isn’t it because I was forced by you? Who do you think would want to stay in this family?”
“I’ll beat you embarrassment to death!” Xiucheng turned around and ran into the house when Ms. Liang shouted, “Chen Xiucheng, she is a member of my family now. If you hurt the child in her belly, you won’t even have that six taels and six hundred dollars anymore!”
?For the sake of the money, Chen Xiucheng stopped.
There were only a few days until February 12th, and they still needed to buy furniture for the house. In this situation, they naturally wouldn’t be too picky, but Ms. Liang felt sorry for her son and couldn’t act casually.
Since she couldn’t expect a dowry from the natal family, Mrs. Liang decided to decorate the house herself. She bought an ordinary set of furniture for ten taels of silver, and even the other paraphernalia were basically present.
When going to deliver the dowry, Ms. Liang asked them when the dowry would be delivered. Everyone in the family hesitated, and no one gave a reply.
It went without saying they didn’t have a dowry to give. Even if they didn’t give large items such as furniture, at least some furnishings and clothes should be provided! It wasn’t right to be married off with nothing.
Ms. Liang asked Xiuying, “Is your wedding dress ready?”
“There wasn’t enough time to prepare it.”
“Let’s go to the town and choose a set. Getting married is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so you can’t let yourself be wronged too much. Since you’re marrying my son, I will treat you as one of my own.”
??Liang took Xiuying to town. There were no ready-made wedding dresses, so she could only choose something with a brighter color and boy it.
At this time, Mo Yan felt a little pity when looking at Xiuying. It was too unfair for a woman to get married in such a hasty manner.
She picked up a piece of red fabric embroidered with gold silk, “Use this to make an outer robe. It’ll look more extravagant and suitable for weddings. I’ll ask Chi Jie to help, and it will be ready in a day or two. There’s also jewelry, just borrow a set from here! How can you get married without anything on your head?”
Xiuying thanked her and followed Ms. Liang back to the village. She couldn’t help but wipe her tears along the road, “Auntie, why was I born a girl? I don’t want to be a woman in my next life.”
Ms. Liang comforted her and said, “Okay, you’re getting married in a few days. Why don’t you think about the days to come and the child in your belly.”
When mentioning the child, Xiuying became worried again, “Auntie, if I give birth to a girl, will you not like her?”
“No, both men and women are children of our family, and at most you can always give birth to another child.”
P.S. This is one of two chapters I’m uploading today!