"Dad, wait up. I'll go to the village with you." Li Menglan called out to Li Dazhu, who was just about to leave the house.
"Girl, what's the matter?" Li Menglan rarely went to the village, and this was the first time she had ever actively asked to go with him; it was no wonder Li Dazhu felt somewhat curious.
Li Menglan hurried into the kitchen and packed the large bowl of spicy river snails she had set aside yesterday into a basket. "Dad, all ready. Let's go!" Carrying the basket, she walked over to Li Dazhu in a few steps, saying with a bright smile.
Now Li Dazhu was even more curious: "Girl, where are you going with those snails?"
"Dad, aren't you going to Uncle Tiezhu's house right about now?" Li Menglan raised the basket in her hand and gave Li Dazhu a sweet smile. "Dad, I'll go with you; I have business with Aunt Wang."
"You girl, let's go!" Li Dazhu doted dearly on his daughter, and Li Menglan was someone who had her own ideas; Li Dazhu didn't ask what exactly she planned to do by coming along.
"Mom, Dad and I are going to Uncle Tiezhu's house in the village." Seeing Zhang Yuniang carrying out a basin of dirty clothes, Li Menglan called out to her, took Li Dazhu's hand, and left the courtyard.
Along the way, Li Menglan didn't stay idle: "Dad, yesterday I heard Mom say that Uncle Tiezhu has a daughter named Yatou—is that right?" She blinked her eyes and asked curiously.
"Girl, why are you asking about this?" Li Dazhu was puzzled. Since when did his daughter take an interest in village affairs?
"It's nothing, I'm just curious." Li Menglan said to Li Dazhu with a fawning expression: "Dad, tell me more about Uncle Tiezhu's family—please?"
Actually, there was a reason Li Menglan had suddenly turned into a little housekeeper. Recently, there wasn't much to do at home. The vegetables in the fields had been planted, and the firewood in the back courtyard was already sufficient for the winter.
Li Menglan, who had been constantly busy, truly felt somewhat unaccustomed to suddenly having free time. Her eldest brother, second brother, and young maternal uncle had all been busy these past few days going to the Yun River to collect river snails; they planned to take advantage of the warm weather to collect more snails to raise at home, otherwise... once it snowed, Zhao Ji Tavern would have no snails to sell.
With nothing to do, Li Menglan turned her eyes toward the lifelong affairs of her young maternal uncle and her eldest brother. If possible... wasn't there an old saying that went—whether rich or poor, taking a wife makes for a good New Year!
Now that her family's conditions had improved, her young maternal uncle Zhang Wenli would be nearly twenty after the New Year; at this age in ancient rural times... if he didn't marry soon... it would truly become difficult to speak of taking a wife.
Li Dazhu affectionately rubbed Li Menglan's head: "Girl, speaking of which, your Uncle Tiezhu also has a hard lot in life; your Uncle Tiezhu's father and mother passed away early, and both brothers Tongzhu and Tongtou were raised by your Uncle Tiezhu; he even helped them both take wives. It's also thanks to your Aunt Wang and the others having such close relationships as sisters-in-law; your Uncle Tiezhu's three brothers are united... that's why their days are getting better by the day."
The reason Li Dazhu's family had such a particularly good relationship with Wang Tiezhu and his brothers was not without some shared sympathy; one was a family where the parents had passed away early since childhood, with three brothers depending on each other for survival; while Li Dazhu's family had no siblings... and Li Fujin was frequently ill—in short, every family had its own hard-to-recite scripture, each family had its own difficulties.
"Dad, are you on very good terms with Uncle Tiezhu?"
Li Menglan had already made inquiries long ago. In the entire Shangliang Village, there weren't many girls close in age to her young maternal uncle and eldest brother; there were only three in total... one of them was the daughter of Wang Tiezhu's family, whose formal name was Yatou, a very capable girl of fourteen this year.
Li Menglan truly hadn't considered looking at girls from other villages for her eldest brother and young maternal uncle. Why? Wasn't it because she worried about not knowing the backgrounds of other families, and might accidentally bring home a shrew?
She didn't want the happy, large family she had worked so hard to build to collapse because of someone.
After several days of investigation, Li Menglan finally decided to personally go to Wang Tiezhu's house to meet the Wang family's daughter—Yatou!
This was why Li Menglan insisted on following Li Dazhu to the Wang family. Of course, this was a reason Li Menglan would definitely not tell Li Dazhu; after all, for a young girl to worry about the marriage affairs of her elders or elder brothers was taboo in ancient times; especially when the family's elders were still around, it was even more to be avoided.
Father and daughter chatted as they quickly entered the village. The homes of Wang Tiezhu's three brothers were basically not far apart; as soon as you entered the village you could see them—the few semi-new, semi-old mud-tiled houses standing at the head of the village were Wang Tiezhu's home.
These were supposedly houses built while Wang Tiezhu's own parents were still alive, which the Wang Tiezhu family had always lived in; not far from the mud-tiled houses were two buildings that didn't look very large but were bright, clean brick houses—these were houses Wang Tiezhu had built only a few years ago by tightening his belt and spending his own money for his two younger brothers.
Being an eldest brother like Wang Tiezhu really left nothing to be desired. No matter how hard or tiring, as long as his own brothers were well... the eldest brother was willing, and this was why both Wang Tongzhu and Wang Tongtou respected Wang Tiezhu so much; in the entire Shangliang Village, there wasn't half a person who dared to provoke these three Wang brothers.
Heh... you had to know, provoking one of them meant you had to simultaneously face three Wang family members. Only an idiot would do such an unprofitable thing.
"Brother Tiezhu, are you home?" Li Dazhu didn't go in but just stood before the half-open front gate and called out.
"Who is it?" A crisp voice came from inside the courtyard, and a slender girl with delicate features and big eyes hurriedly walked out.
"Oh... it's Uncle Li!"
"Yatou, are your dad and mom home?" Li Dazhu smiled mildly.
Yatou... she was Wang Tiezhu's daughter—Wang Yatou!
Hearing this, Li Menglan couldn't help but take an extra look or two at her. She wore an old, washed-white shirt with a few patches, yet one could still tell the craftsmanship was quite good; probably because she usually worked in the fields a lot... the skin on her face was slightly dark, not what one would call very pretty; after all, Wang Tiezhu and his wife's looks were what they were, and given the couple's appearance... it would be very difficult for the Wang family to produce a beauty.
With delicate features and big eyes, this girl's appearance was quite decent by rural standards—very pleasant to look at; moreover... wasn't the point of taking a wife to live a good life?
As long as the girl was capable... what did her looks matter? Could being pretty be eaten as rice when you were hungry?
"Uncle Li, please come in! My dad and mom are both inside the house." Wang Yatou warmly greeted Li Dazhu: "Is this younger sister Lan'er?"
"Hello, Yatou-jiejie!" Li Menglan grew more satisfied with Wang Yatou the more she looked at her, and now hearing her greet her, she quickly responded obediently.
"Younger sister Lan'er, if you have nothing to do, come to sister's house to play; usually I'm home alone." Wang Yatou affectionately took Li Menglan's hand and entered her own courtyard.
"Dad, Mom, Uncle Dazhu is here." From afar, Wang Yatou shouted loudly toward the house: "And younger sister Lan'er too."