The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 45: Sister You's View on Choosing a Son-in-Law

Nowadays, whether a woman can give birth to a son makes a huge difference. It depends purely on fate. No matter how hard she tries, it will be useless.

Old Lady You herself suffered because she did not give birth to a son, but only two money-losing children. As a result, now that she is nearly 40 years old, she is still always worried about her family's future retirement.

How could Youshi not know the worries in Old Lady You's heart, so she gave the right remedy:
"Mom is always worried about the issue of old-age care. In fact, this is not something that we daughters can decide. The key lies in what our master thinks."

"If we really talk about the heart, which daughter doesn't want to support her parents? It's just that poor couples have many sorrows, so even if they want to, they are powerless."

"On the contrary, this wealthy family doesn't lack a few dozen taels of silver a year. As long as the daughters can make the master happy, the master will naturally not mind spending some money to buy a reputation of being filial."

"Take my master for example. He has helped our family a lot over the years. If you really count it carefully, you have received at least several hundred taels of silver."

"If it was a son-in-law from a poor family, even if he wanted to show his filial piety, he would only be able to give rice, flour, grain, oil, etc. at best."

Yu's words immediately convinced Old Lady Yu.

She didn't want to eat only a few times of meat throughout the year. If she could endure the simple meals every day, she would not have remarried so quickly after her ex-husband passed away.

Only if you live your life comfortably, you will feel that your life is worthwhile.

I have never experienced poverty when I was young, so I can’t let things go backwards as I get older!
In Old Lady You's opinion, her daughter will get married sooner or later.

As the saying goes, a daughter who is married off is like water poured out. Once a daughter gets married, she will naturally forget her parents' family. The one who can truly take care of her family in their old age and see it to the end of its life has to be a son.

Although she regretted not giving birth to a son, a son-in-law is half a son, so it was very important to find a good son-in-law who was rich and powerful.

Of course, she also wanted her daughters to marry off as wives, but those young talents were often scarce and were fought over by various families. It was useless to rely on beauty alone; one must have a good family background.

But the You family lacks this now.

Therefore, if the two daughters wanted to marry into a wealthy family, they could either do as she did in the past, marry an old man and then outlive him to death, or they could do as Youshi did, marry into a wealthy family no matter what, and then think of ways to consider the issue of having a concubine take over.

She has always been very satisfied with Jia Zhen, her son-in-law!

"Okay!" Old Lady You slapped her thigh and agreed, "I think this marriage is fine!"

She turned her head and looked at You Erjie again, "What does the second lady mean?"

You Erjie was not a person with her own opinion. When she heard that Mr. Zhan was young, rich, handsome and elegant, she had already been willing to marry him. She immediately lowered her head shyly and wrung her handkerchief with her hands, making a sound as soft as a mosquito.

"My daughter, my daughter, I will listen to you in everything."

Old Lady You laughed out loud, "Then it's settled. Miss, go back and say something nice to Master Zhan and ask for more betrothal gifts."

It is called a bride price, but in fact only the wife has a bride price, and concubines are basically human trafficking, and the bride price is just a name used to cover up the shame.

The betrothal gift for the first wife does not belong to the girl's parents, but to the bride herself. She will be taken back to the couple's new home and, together with the dowry, will serve as financial support from both parents to the new family.

The betrothal gift for taking a concubine was taken away by the girl's parents and did not belong to the bride herself, which was equivalent to selling their daughter.

Old Lady You was smiling happily, but Mrs. You had a bitter face and said hesitantly:
"Mom, Master Zhan wants to marry both sisters at the same time."

"What?"

Before Old Lady You could say anything, Third Sister You exploded first, jumped down from the kang, jumped in front of Mrs. You, frowned and shouted:
"What kind of sweet dream is this Zhan?"

"You think you can buy anyone you want just because you have a few bucks."

"Then he might as well go and buy a concubine from the palace instead of showing off in our humble home!" The little girl started to complain as if she had been shot, which frightened Youshi so much that she quickly reached out to cover her mouth and cursed:

"You idiot, if someone hears you talking nonsense, won't you be sued for nothing?"

Third Sister You reached out her hand to push You's hand away in disdain, rolled her eyes, and said disdainfully:
"I'm not a fool. I certainly wouldn't say such nonsense outside."

"What's the matter? I just said a few words in my own home. Are you afraid that your wife will report me?"

Yu-shi threw her handkerchief on the table and glared at him:

"Just because of your picky mouth, I want to tear it apart!"

"If you get married in the future, you will be beaten three times a day by your husband's family!"

“Hehe…” Third Sister You raised her head, her snow-white neck straightened like a swan, and sneered proudly, “I am different from you.”

"You always want to marry someone rich and powerful. If you don't marry a prince, you can marry a wealthy man."

"But my Third Sister You doesn't care whether the man has a huge fortune when she marries him."

"My favorite is the hero of the time, like Xue Pinggui in the play..."

Third Sister You closed her eyes and indulged herself in her own fantasy world.

"If I could meet such a hero, even if he was a pauper, I would not care at all and would wait for him at home like Wang Baochuan..."

"Pfft..." Yu Shi burst out laughing, she was so happy that she couldn't even close her mouth.

She covered her waist with one hand and waved a handkerchief with the other, delighted beyond words.

"My dear sister, how can you believe what is written in this play?"

"Let me tell you this, most of the heroes in this army are under the command of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes."

"In all these years in Ningguo Mansion, I have seen many generals come to visit during the New Year holidays. Their backs were bent like shrimps."

"Our Daqing Dynasty is now peaceful and prosperous, and there has been no war for a hundred years. No matter how heroic a person is, he must bow his head when he meets the powerful, otherwise his entire family will be taken away and punished!"

"If you want to find a hero like Xue Pinggui, you'll probably have to look among the bandits!"

After making fun of her sister, You turned around and complained about Old Lady You.

"Mom, you too, teach your sisters more often and don't let them act like crazy girls."

"There are countless chivalrous men in the capital, committing crimes all day long, pretending to be heroes."

"If my third sister were to cheat someone out of this, we would be at a huge loss!"

After hearing this, Third Sister You became unhappy. She glared, raised her eyebrows, and pointed at Youshi's nose with her finger, shouting:
"Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist!"

"In a place as big as the capital, there are countless heroes living in poverty, frustrated and depressed!"

"I just don't believe it. With my unparalleled beauty, I can't find a hero who is both beautiful and has great ambitions!"

"I will choose my own marriage for Third Sister You, so don't worry about it, mom and eldest sister!"

Thanks to the book friend "北冥有熊啊" for the reward of 100 coins!
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(End of this chapter)