Zhao Sidan answered for her, "Mother, I know. Grandmother said Eldest Sister-in-law didn't cost a single copper coin to marry into the family." As soon as he said this, the original owner's memories flashed before Cheng Loanloan's eyes.
Previously, Dashan went to the town to trade for salt and fell in love at first sight with Wu Huiniang, who sold chicken eggs there. The two frequently interacted, and that was that.
The Wu family wasn't the type to wait for a daughter's dowry. Seeing that the Zhao family's conditions weren't bad, and with a father-in-law who had served in the army, they agreed without a second thought to send their daughter there. Even the Zhao family's half-string of betrothal money was given to Wu Huiniang as part of her dowry to bring back. Of course, that small sum of money ultimately ended up in the original owner's pocket and was sent to the Cheng family.
Who knew that as soon as Wu Huiniang married in, Dashan's father died? Immediately after, the original owner caused a huge fuss, demanding to live separately, and Wu Huiniang's nightmare life began.
Wu Huiniang became like this in her husband's home, but she didn't go back to her maiden home to complain, fearing that her parents would come and get angry with Dashan.
Just as they were talking, Zhao Ergou walked in through the door.
He scratched his head, his lips parted, and after a long while, he said, "Mother, Shuiqin heard that every family in Daha Village is digging bamboo shoots, so she came to borrow food."
Cheng Loanloan opened her mouth and asked, "How much is she borrowing?"
Zhao Ergou held up two fingers, then folded one down: "Ten catties."
Ten catties of bamboo shoots wasn't considered a lot.
This boy, Ergou, clearly liked that girl. Helping her with ten catties of bamboo shoots wasn't too much.
Cheng Loanloan told Zhao Ergou to go get the bamboo shoots from the cellar himself, then looked at Wu Huiniang: "You've been married here for a year now, and you haven't returned to your maiden home yet. Tomorrow, take ten catties of bamboo shoots back to your maiden home for a visit and see how your parents are doing over there."
The eldest daughter-in-law had also married in. The Wu family was a truly deserving in-law family, so giving ten catties of food wasn't excessive.
Hearing Cheng Loanloan's words, Wu Huiniang's eyes almost popped out. Over the past year, her mother-in-law had taken many things for the Cheng family and secretly scolded her for taking things from the house to subsidize the Wu family.
Heaven and earth bore witness, since she married here, she had never given a single grain of rice to the Wu family. She was especially careful, absolutely never mentioning the Wu family in front of her mother-in-law.
She didn't expect her mother-in-law to bring it up herself and even tell her to take ten catties of bamboo shoots. This immense joy made her stare wide-eyed at her eldest brother.
But at the courtyard gate, Sun Shuiqin's eyes were full of disappointment.
She had said she wanted to borrow twenty catties of food, but Zhao Ergou only brought out ten catties. How was she going to explain this to her father when she went back?
"Shuiqin, my family really doesn't have any more..."
Zhao Ergou spoke with difficulty.
These bamboo shoots were dug by the four brothers together. Each person probably dug thirty or forty catties. If he lent twenty catties at once, then how would he be any different from his mother who used to take things for the Cheng family?
"I know, it's not easy for any family right now." Sun Shuiqin's eyes were misty: "Then, Ergou Ge, I'll go back first."
Zhao Ergou didn't dare to look into her eyes: "I'll walk you part of the way."
Sun Shuiqin walked in front, and he walked behind. There was a distance between the two of them. Before their relationship was established, he didn't want to ruin Shuiqin's reputation.
Cheng Loanloan sat in the room, feeling a little troubled.
There were two rooms in the house. After the second son's wife moved in, how would the couple sleep? In this era, a house with four or five brick rooms roughly cost two taels of silver. She had the money, but couldn't explain its origin.
After carefully observing the young woman's character, they would first hold the betrothal ceremony to formalize the engagement between the two youngsters. Then, after the New Year and into early spring, they would marry the young woman into the family.
Cheng Loanloan silently made up her mind.