Chapter 512 - 267: Liu Xiaomei’s Thoughts (Part 2)
Liu Xiaomei nodded and said quietly, "I’ll think about it some more then. Third Brother, isn’t it strange? The moment I actually have to make a decision, my mind just turns to mush. I can’t seem to think properly at all."
Liu Sanshun looked at his youngest sister, whom he’d doted on since childhood, and said tenderly, "It’s only because you haven’t really had to think about marriage before, so you’re not used to it. Take another couple of days and think it over carefully. Your brothers all have to get married. No matter how nice a sister-in-law is, she’s still a sister-in-law. It can’t be like the old days, when all of us siblings were so close and harmonious. Once we have more nephews, this home will get more and more complicated. It’ll be hard to live the same quiet life we have now. If you marry someone you like, and if he truly treats you well, then you’ll have a bright future to look forward to. This is definitely something you need to consider carefully."
Seeing her third brother, a young man, speaking to her with such care—more thoughtfully than even her own mother—Mei felt a prickle in her nose. She nodded and said, "Okay! I’ll think about it seriously."
She looked at her downcast third brother and couldn’t help but coax him softly, "Third Brother, don’t keep pining for Juhua. There are plenty of other girls in our village, aren’t there? You’re so hardworking and capable, Third Brother. I’m sure plenty of families would love to marry their daughters to you!"
Sanshun gave a small smile. "Don’t worry, Third Brother is fine. It’s something everyone goes through. Not every match is meant to be." Though stubborn, he wasn’t foolish. He just needed some time to get over the heartache.
Smiling, the two siblings went to sort the chives and wash the vegetables for dinner. Before long, their second sister-in-law came home and joined in to help.
She was a lively woman named Lianxiang. Because Mei’s mother had found her eldest daughter-in-law too rigid, she had specifically helped Ershun find someone lively and clever. Lianxiang was the type whose laughter you heard before she even spoke.
She leaned over the vegetable basket to look at the freshly scrubbed chives, which gave off a clean fragrance. Sniffing the air, she smiled. "Mei, are we having stir-fried eggs with chives tonight? Oh, good! I love that. When we have time tomorrow, let’s make some chive and egg dumplings. And Sanshun, the fish you caught today? Did you release all of them? Why didn’t you keep a few to cook? You’re going fishing again tomorrow anyway, it wouldn’t have hurt to keep a couple." She chided her young brother-in-law with a smile.
Mei smiled. "Second Sister-in-law, I’ll cook a bowl of small dried fish tonight. That’s just as good. The fishpond was just finished, so we need to stock it with as many fish as we can, as quickly as possible. The sooner we put them in, the sooner they’ll grow, right?"
’Third Brother was right. It wasn’t that having more sisters-in-law was a bad thing, it just wasn’t as comfortable as before. It couldn’t compare to the old days with just the five of us siblings; we were always in sync with our words and actions. With a new person in the mix, things always felt a little out of tune. One of us siblings would never have said what she just did. Stocking the pond is obviously the top priority. How could we choose eating fish over stocking the pond!’
Sanshun kept quiet. His second sister-in-law was lively and talkative. Her arrival had been a novelty for a while, but as time passed, he couldn’t be bothered to engage with her constant chatter. Her disposition was pleasant enough, though; she was always smiling.
Lianxiang smiled and rolled up her sleeves. "Mei, let me do the cooking. You just tend the fire. That way you can get some rest. You must be exhausted, right?"
Mei nodded. Without any ceremony, she went to the space beneath the stove to tend the fire.
’Her second sister-in-law’s words were always so pleasant. At first, they were truly comforting, but after hearing them so often, they didn’t mean as much. She even had a strange thought: thinking about her eldest sister-in-law now, she didn’t feel so dissatisfied with her anymore. That was just her personality; it wasn’t that she was actually a difficult person.’
’Heh, I wonder what my third sister-in-law will be like, and my fourth? Wow, a gathering of four sisters-in-law, each with her own personality... that would really be a lively scene!’
As she thought about this, a smile touched her lips. The firelight from the stove’s opening cast a rosy glow on her face and made her dark eyes sparkle. She listened to the CLANG CLANG of her second sister-in-law beating eggs, mixed with the woman’s clear, incessant chatter. ’It really is time to think about marriage,’ she thought. ’No matter how good your maiden home is, you eventually have to leave it to others.’
That evening, Mei’s mother leaned against the bed and recounted in detail to Fatty Liu what the woman from the Yang family had said when she visited earlier, asking for his opinion.
Fatty Liu was utterly surprised. ’My daughter already has someone asking for her hand? Then again, it makes sense. Even Juhua is engaged now, and my Mei is certainly a better catch than Juhua. Of course she’d have suitors.’
He then asked his wife, "Well, what do you think of this match?"
Mei’s mother sighed. "This Laixi boy... he really is a fine young man, and his family is well-off. It may sound shallow of me to say, but if our Mei marries into their family, she’ll never have to work the fields again. It’s just... arranging our daughter’s engagement this early, when Sanshun’s marriage still isn’t settled and there’s not even a prospect for Sishun... I just don’t feel right about it."
In the darkness, Fatty Liu fell silent for a moment. "Then let’s ask her brothers," he said. "They should have a say in Mei’s marriage. And what about Mei herself? We have to ask what she wants, too. We don’t want to create a situation like her third brother’s. It wouldn’t be right for her to be unhappy."
Mei’s mother replied, "I already asked Mei today. From the look on her face, I’d say she thinks Laixi is a pretty good match! I told her to think hard about whether she’s truly willing to marry him. Our Sanshun was very direct about it. He said if she thinks Laixi is a good man, she shouldn’t overthink it and should just get engaged. He doesn’t want her to end up like him, with nothing to show for it in the end. The poor boy is still miserable."
Fatty Liu sighed softly. "He’ll come around on his own time. What he said makes sense, though. When you find the right one, you have to be decisive, or you’ll regret it later. The Yang family is indeed a good choice. I’ve met Yang Defa before—he’s an amiable fellow. I hear his wife is quite capable, too. Better than Qingmu’s mother’s second sister-in-law, anyway. Though I’ve also heard that the Yang family’s second daughter-in-law isn’t very virtuous." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit qidian.com and vote with recommendation tickets and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)