Chapter 66: Wang Ling's Marriage (Part 2)

  "Is this young man really Wang Dalang's brother?" The young woman still couldn't believe it, for if so, the two brothers' personalities were vastly different. One was steady and honest, while the other was smooth-talking and cunning. Even their attire was distinct: although Dalang dressed well, he didn't wear as much luxurious fur as this self-proclaimed brother of his, who was wrapped up from head to toe in it, even wearing a strange hat on his ears, looking every inch the pampered young master.

  "It's true, as early as last year, I was already preparing for my brother's marriage. Not to mention the matchmakers who came on their own initiative, but also several others were found before and after, all of whom were driven away by my brother. I was just wondering, only yesterday did I learn that in these two years, my brother would come to visit you every month." Seeing the young lady's embarrassment, Wang Kuang also put away his playful heart and answered seriously, as this was his future sister-in-law, he couldn't afford to offend her.

  "You? You're preparing a marriage for your younger brother as if he's the older one?" The young woman looked like she had heard something unbelievable, covering her mouth with her hand and staring at Wang Kuang. At this moment, Wang Kuang came to another conclusion: the young woman's hands were very pretty when they covered her mouth, and although it was a cold winter day, they only showed some redness, without any chapping or cracking that people who did manual labor usually had. No wonder Wang Ling had driven away so many matchmakers in the past two years.

  "No wonder Dàláng said he wasn't in charge of family matters, it turns out you're the one calling the shots as his younger brother?"

  "Look, look, big brother even said that to you, so it's not wrong to call you sister-in-law. As for family matters, small things I can handle on my own, but if it's a big thing, we three brothers will discuss it together." In fact, except for the period when Wang Ling just came back and was still a bit wary of Wang Kuang and Wang Xian, later on, basically whatever Wang Kuang said went, and he would do whatever Wang Kuang told him to without asking why. However, in front of future sister-in-law, he still had to give face to Wang Ling.

  "Three brothers? Is there another Wang Sanlang at home?" The young woman was even more surprised, as Wang Ling rarely talked to her about family matters, and she had never asked. Now, suddenly, two younger brothers appeared out of nowhere.

  "Ah, Sanlang was supposed to come with us today too, but he had to study and didn't make it. But if he hears that his sister-in-law is both virtuous and beautiful, he'll definitely regret it."

  At home, there is still a younger brother who is studying and looking at the clothes of this Wang Erlang. It must be a rich and noble family. Looking again at their own home, it's empty and can't compare to others. The young lady suddenly felt some self-pity and regret. For these two years, Wang Daling has been sending oil and rice every month, sometimes even helping with repairs on the house. She naturally understood Wang Daling's intentions, and he was a good man who kept his place. However, Wang Daling never mentioned it, and she couldn't bring herself to talk about it either - that would be too embarrassing! But now, looking at it, they are just not of the same social class. How could such a wealthy family look down on their own? Moreover, there is also an old mother who is ill in bed. Even if Wang Daling were willing to marry her and she were willing to marry him, what about her mother?

  "Second son." The old woman on the bed had been listening for a long time before she finally spoke up.

  "Ah." Wang Kuang sweetly responded, turned around and made a bow to the old woman, although the old woman couldn't see it, but etiquette couldn't be lacking: "What instructions does Granny have?"

  "Judging from your tone, aren't you here to propose a marriage for Dalang?" The old woman listened for a while and suddenly felt enlightened. It turned out that the Wang Erlang in front of her could actually be the master of her brother's household, and he had come to seek a marriage for his own brother.

  "That's right. Auntie, you also heard that for the past two years, my elder brother has been completely devoted to his wife. As a younger brother, I don't need to worry about it, who needs to worry? Looking at the situation, Auntie, you should understand too, my brother and sister-in-law are mutually in love. If Auntie agrees, when I go back, I'll choose an auspicious day for the matchmaker to come and finalize the engagement."

  "Hasn't even passed the gate yet, and already calling out 'sister-in-law'?" The old woman said this with some smile lines at the corners of her eyes, as well as some tears. She had heard Wang Kuang's earlier nonsense: if the child were still alive now, he would probably be just as mischievous too.

  "Girl, if you're willing, then it's settled. You're getting older and should get married soon. Don't stay with me forever, an old woman like me. Your mother thinks that young man is a good match for you too. If you can get married, your mother will be at peace. And when you see your father later, I won't be afraid of him scolding me." The old woman said a few more words before starting to cough again.

  "Mother, how can I abandon you? You have raised me with hardship and bitterness. I am willing to serve you forever and not go anywhere else." The young woman rushed forward, knelt down in front of the bed, and gently stroked the old lady's chest.

  "Foolish child, when children grow up, they must have their own place to settle down. Don't let me hold you back for your whole life." The old woman lifted her hand and gently patted the young girl's head.

  "Madam, you can rest assured that our Young Master Dong is not that kind of person. Who in Jian'an City doesn't know the character of our Young Master Dong? If the young lady marries into our family, she will definitely be treated well too." Just then, Sun Er came in carrying a sack of rice on his shoulder and a food box in his hand, and happened to overhear the conversation, so he chimed in.

  "What Xiao Dongjia? Which Xiao Dongjia?" In the entire Jian'an City, if anyone mentions the three words "Xiao Dongjia", they must be referring to Wang Kuang, no one else. Although Xiaoniangzi rarely enters the city and has never been to Fuli Inn before, she still knows this, but doesn't dare believe that the Xiao Dongjia who is rumored to be a divine being descending from the heavens is actually the young man in front of her with a mischievous grin and no proper demeanor.

  "There's another young master, naturally it's the young master of our Fugui Inn." Sun Er was quite displeased, and there were actually people who didn't know about Young Master Dong, so his response wasn't very friendly either. However, this was going to be Young Master Dong's future sister-in-law, so he didn't dare offend her. Although his tone wasn't very good, he still put down the items and bowed before answering.

  "I didn't expect that you, Second Brother, would be the young master of the wealthy Lu family. What an honor to have such a noble guest! Quick, go boil some water!" In ordinary households, there's no tea, so they just use boiled water to entertain guests. Slightly better-off families might add two pieces of rock sugar (don't get it wrong, rock sugar appeared before refined sugar, and even now in rural areas of Fujian Province, during the Spring Festival, people drink osmanthus tea, while on ordinary days, serving rock sugar water or adding rock sugar to tea is already considered high-class treatment). But apparently, this household doesn't have any sugar.

  "Sister-in-law is not busy, and since you're about to leave, I just came to see you all today. Mother, then I'll go find the matchmaker tomorrow to choose a date and finalize it?"

  "Alright, alright." The old woman was even more willing now that she knew Wang Juan was the young master of the Rich Come Inn: "Good heavens, our ancestors have indeed blessed us, and actually let my child find such a good family."

  The little girl had already blushed bright red, and with a proud and shy expression, she covered her face and ran out. By the time Wang Kuang bid farewell to the old woman and came out, she was nowhere to be seen.

  After returning to the inn, Wang Kuang was preparing to go to Sun's mansion to tell Sun Ming about this matter. It wasn't until then that Wang Kuang realized he had forgotten to ask for the other party's surname and origin, so how could he let the matchmaker propose a marriage? Fortunately, Sun Er had been prepared earlier. Yesterday, when following Wang Ling there, he had already inquired from the surrounding neighbors and got everything clear: The young lady was surnamed Chen, and she used to live in a mountain not far from Jian'an City. Her father was originally a hunter who made a living by hunting, but one time after going up the mountain to hunt, he never came back. Since then, the family had lost their source of livelihood. With no choice, they moved to the outskirts of Jian'an City and built two thatched cottages on unowned wasteland with the help of others. They made a living by sewing, washing, and exchanging money for rice. It was unknown how she got acquainted with Wang Ling, but it was estimated that Wang Ling met her while on official business and helped them out of pity. As time went by, they developed feelings for each other.

  Sun Mingqian had heard that Wang Ling had found a satisfactory daughter-in-law, and he was also delighted. Originally, he still blamed Sun Han's family for not taking care of Wang Ling's lifelong affairs. It turned out that the problem lay here. As for the procedures of marriage, Wang Kuang was completely ignorant, anyway, with Sun Mingqian there, he simply handed it over to him to handle.

  Because both parties were willing, the marriage was quickly settled. Wang Ling was still in the dark, only feeling that the eyes of the people in the guest house had been strange for the past few days. When he asked them, they all pursed their lips and shook their heads. Wang Ling was depressed, if it were his subordinates or the soldiers from Wang Village, he would have rolled up his sleeves and beaten them before asking questions.

  In the end, Wang Xian couldn't help but secretly tell Wang Ling that his second brother had mentioned a marriage proposal to him. As soon as Wang Ling heard this, he hastily found Wang Kuang and asked for clarification. When he learned it was about the young daughter of the Chen family by the river, his face suddenly turned red, and he became flustered in front of Wang Kuang, unable to sit or stand properly.

  It turned out to be just as Wang Kuang had guessed, that when Wang Ling first became the squad leader, he was extremely diligent and wished for thieves to appear in Jian'an City every day. As a result, Huang Liang had no choice but to send Wang Ling to patrol by the river, saying that there were people who were not very peaceful by the river recently. On the first day of Wang Ling's patrol, he encountered Chen Ya'er's wooden basin being washed away by the river water and helped her retrieve it, and thus they got acquainted in a very ordinary way, without any heroic rescue or melodramatic plot.

  As for Wang Ling hiding and refusing to speak, it was because Chen Ya'er's family was poor and had a blind old mother to support, so he feared that Wang Kuang would oppose due to his social status. If it were any other family, the eldest brother wanting to marry someone's daughter, as younger brothers they wouldn't have any right to object. But these three brothers are different, all three of them take Wang Kuang as their leader, basically, Wang Kuang is the current master of the Wang household, let alone the three Wang brothers, even Sun Ming sometimes had to listen to Wang Kuang.

  Upon hearing Wang Ling's explanation, Wang Kuang was both crying and laughing: "Big brother, do you think I'm that kind of person? Have you forgotten what our lives were like in the past when we were all from poor families in Wang Village? Tell me, am I someone who forgets his roots?"

  In short, the matter was settled. Wang Kuang found someone to choose a good day for the wedding and heard that the 30th of December is a good day. With a wave of his hand, he said: "Then let's get married on the 30th of December." He didn't care that there was less than a month left before the 30th of December, and he continued to persuade his brother: "Big brother, you should marry sister-in-law earlier, we younger brothers will also have someone to take care of us earlier. Besides, haven't you seen that I'll be in my unlucky year next year? If you don't get married, how can I, as a younger brother, get married?"

  Sun Mingqian heard this and came to the door, giving Wang Kuang a loud slap on the head: "Second Brother, you actually dare say no one cares about you? If your mother-in-law hears that, how heartbroken she'll be! But what you said is true, after Big Brother gets married, it's your turn next. Don't try to shirk responsibility then!"

  Division

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