Da Zhuang's good fortune of gaining a thousand pieces of gold had spread around the village last night.
Just after breakfast, Wang Xueshi brought over more than ten old mother hens and several hundred eggs with her two daughters-in-law.
Upon learning that Li Yao didn't mind at all that it was a granddaughter, Wang Xueshi also felt relieved.
She used to like boys. If Li Yao hadn't given birth to four clever grandsons for her, with Li Yao's original temperament, she certainly wouldn't have been so tolerant, knowing that she took everything back to her maternal home, and even secretly gave her some food to eat.
But ever since Li Yao started doing business and opened a workshop, Wang Xueshi's views seemed to have changed a little.
Who said girls were no good? In the entire He Wan village, even in Baichuan County, were there any more capable men than Li Yao?
Speaking of those nearby, Du Xiao Hui, who was in charge of accounting at the soap workshop, was also stronger than most men in the village.
There were also those children in the school. She had privately asked the teacher, and many of the girls studied very hard.
So in the end, she was worried that Li Yao would give He Xiaoya a hard time because she had a granddaughter.
"Don't you know how your mother has treated you?" Wang Xueshi said, holding He Xiaoya's hand by her bed, "Just put your heart at ease. If she doesn't treat you well, I'll skin her!"
He Xiaoya thought to herself that you couldn't defeat my mother before, let alone now!
But she was relieved now that her mother didn't treat her badly for giving birth to a girl.
She heard that she even went to the reservoir to catch fish and make soup for her.
To have such a mother-in-law and a loyal and considerate husband, He Xiaoya felt she was the luckiest person in the world.
"By the way, have you sent word to your parents?"
"I already had someone go tell them this morning."
"Good, that's good," Wang Xueshi said, "We can't let your maternal family think the old Wang family has no manners."
...
In the fields behind the mountains, Da Zhuang was with some villagers turning over sweet potato vines.
He really wanted to spend more time with Little Ya, but with thousands of acres of land in the family, and having been busy with preparations for the Qiqiao Festival these past days, too much work in the fields had been delayed.
"Da Zhuang."
Amidst the chatting and laughter, an unfamiliar voice came from the edge of the field.
Da Zhuang looked up and saw that it was a middle-aged woman he didn't recognize.
"Oh, isn't this Matchmaker Zhang?" Aunt Liu from the village recognized her at a glance, "What wind blew you to our He Wan village?"
"Now that your He Wan village is so prosperous, of course I'd love to come every day," the matchmaker's mouth was naturally very glib.
"What business do you have with Da Zhuang?"
"No big deal," Matchmaker Zhang laughed as she walked into the field, "Da Zhuang, is all this land your family's?"
"Yes."
"Oh my, that's tremendous," Matchmaker Zhang said enviously, "You're now the biggest landlord in Baichuan County."
Da Zhuang didn't like this Matchmaker Zhang.
His mother had said before that officiousness stems from nothing good.
This old woman came flattering right off the bat, so there must be nothing good behind it.
"Just say directly what you're here for. I'm quite busy here."
"Alright, I won't beat around the bush then," Matchmaker Zhang said, "You see, the big family heads in our Baichuan County, in addition to their primary wives, they all have taken concubines..."
"No need," Da Zhuang said coldly. "You may leave. I will not take a concubine."
"Da Zhuang, don't reject it so outright," Matchmaker Zhang ran into a wall, but still didn't give up, "Do you know which family asked me to come?"
"I don't want any family's!"
"You..."
Matchmaker Zhang was instantly irritated. She had never seen a rich man who didn't want to take concubines!
"Matchmaker Zhang," Aunt Liu asked curiously, "Which family is it?"
"It's Old Master Liu the clerk's young daughter!"
"What?"
Everyone was stunned. They didn't actually know about this daughter of Liu the clerk, but during the last imperial examination, Liu tried to arrange a marriage below the rankings and marry his daughter to Li Yao's younger brother Li Xian.
Later it was discovered that Li Xian had cheated, and his ranking was revoked, so the marriage was dropped.
Liu also became a big laughingstock, and his daughter couldn't be married off to that family anymore.
But even so, it was Old Master Liu's family, very wealthy!
Although not his only daughter, she was born to the primary wife, a proper young lady of a thousand gold!
No one could have imagined she'd be willing to marry Da Zhuang as a concubine!
Seeing everyone was shocked, Matchmaker Zhang regained her confidence.
"Da Zhuang," the matchmaker said, "The Liu family is no ordinary family. If your two families become in-laws, then..."
"I already said I will not take a concubine, no matter whose family she is from," Da Zhuang said. "Please leave quickly and stop interrupting our work."
Matchmaker Zhang was dumbfounded.
From the information she received earlier, Da Zhuang's wife had given birth to a daughter, and then Old Master Liu's wife came asking her to arrange this marriage.
The Liu family also had some self-awareness, knowing their daughter couldn't match Wang Er, so they settled for second best, wanting to marry her to Da Zhuang as a concubine.
After the marriage, with the Liu family's wealth and power, they only needed to maneuver behind the scenes, and could possibly promote her to primary wife, squeezing out He Xiaoya.
Matchmaker Zhang even thought this scheme was perfect.
But she heard that Li Yao was hard to get along with, so she went directly to Da Zhuang.
She assumed that revealing the girl's background would make Da Zhuang seriously consider it, but she didn't expect this lad to be so straightforward, not leaving any room for discussion.
But a true hero is not daunted by a persistent woman, she Matchmaker Zhang certainly wouldn't give up so easily!
"Da Zhuang," after Matchmaker Zhang left, someone jokingly asked, "You really don't want to take a concubine?"
"I don't want to."
"Why not?"
"Because my mother said that men and women are equal," Da Zhuang said. "So a man can only have one wife. Also, I don't want Little Ya to feel bad."
"You really listen to your mother's words."
Da Zhuang thought to himself, if I don't listen to my mother, should I listen to you instead?
...
Just as Matchmaker Zhang was proposing a concubine to Da Zhuang, Li Yao had brought Chun Ning to the reservoir behind the mountain.
Not having come for a while, the lotus seeds thrown by the reservoir had sprouted some round leaves floating over a large area on the clear water surface.
The lotus seeds planted just this year probably wouldn't bloom.
Chun Ning was still worried and said, "Miss Li, shouldn't we call someone to come do it?"
"For such a small thing, I can handle it myself."
Li Yao dragged the small wooden boat from the water gate into the water, and took a casting net off the wall.
She had woven this net herself, and hadn't used it after finishing it, so she wanted to see how it worked today.
The two rowed the small boat to the middle of the reservoir. Li Yao stood firmly and used all her strength to cast the fishing net, then quickly pulled the rope.
As the mouth of the net closed, several plump and lively carp were caught in the net, the smallest also three or four ounces, just right for fish soup.
Chun Ning hurried to help catch the fish: "You really caught some!"
"Thought I was joking around?" Li Yao said. "But these are all carp, I still need to catch some black fish."
"What are black fish?"
Chun Ning was from the north and hadn't seen black fish before.
"You'll know when they're pulled up."
After casting over ten more nets, she finally caught two big black fish.
Planted in the spring when they weighed less than a pound, after just half a year they had already grown to nearly three pounds, showing how good the food was for them in the reservoir.
"Now it's time you repaid me."
Looking at the two ugly big black fish, Chun Ning didn't even dare reach out to grab them.
"Miss Li, can these fish really be eaten?"
"Why wouldn't they be edible? They're even tastier than regular fish. I'll make poached fish slices for lunch."
Carrying the fish basket back home, when they were halfway there, they ran into some people going to work in the fields. The news about someone proposing a concubine to Da Zhuang had already spread in the village, and naturally also reached Li Yao's ears.
Hearing that Da Zhuang firmly rejected it, Li Yao felt quite happy inside. Although she wasn't the birth mother of these children, she had at least influenced them with her thinking.
All this nonsense about men having three wives and four concubines, go take a hike from her sight!
Back home, Li Yao first killed two carp, pan-fried them golden brown on both sides in pig oil, then boiled them into a rich, white fish soup.
After the fish soup cooled, Chun Ning hurriedly brought a large bowl to He Xiaoya, and also told her about someone proposing a concubine to Da Zhuang.
"Sister Xiaoya, Brother Da Zhuang is so good to you."
He Xiaoya's face was full of happiness, but she still felt a little disappointed. Those who proposed to Da Zhuang must have dared to do so only because she had given birth to a daughter.
That night, after the child fell asleep, He Xiaoya said to Da Zhuang, "Actually, now that we have money at home, it doesn't seem to matter if you take a concubine."
"What are you talking about?" Da Zhuang said, "Rest assured, I will never do such a thing in my life. You must never mention this again, or my mother will definitely scold you if she hears it."
He Xiaoya nodded and gently nestled against Da Zhuang.
She thought back to the past days. She would never have dreamed that one day the family would be so wealthy, and that her mother-in-law and husband would treat her so well.
Except for her mother-in-law, she felt that she was the happiest woman in the world.