Chapter 145 Ancient Farmer (2) (1/2)

Thanks to the matchmaker who was afraid that the marriage would fail, the news that Li Lanlan was going to marry the scholar from the Lin family spread throughout the village the next day.

The reason why the news spread so quickly was largely because the situation of the Lin and Li families was not very good.

Although Lin Shiheng was a scholar, he was weak and had never worked in the fields. It was okay before that he had two brothers to take care of him, but now the family was divided and he had two elderly people to take care of. Marrying him would not be a life of luxury, but a hard labor for the whole family.

Not to mention Li Lanlan, she was beautiful, hardworking and capable, and she could handle everything at home and outside, but she had a stupid father.

These days, everyone in the village was miserable and was thinking about saving money. Li's father was good. He would do charity as soon as he had money. If Li Lanlan was married, such in-laws would definitely not be able to help at all, and might even rely on her husband's family.

The two of them were not in good condition, and they were both born with good looks, which made the villagers with children of marriageable age very vigilant. On weekdays, they were repeatedly told not to get close to Lin Shiheng and Li Lanlan at home, lest the young people were ignorant and fooled by their appearance.

No one expected that the two people who were secretly disliked by the villagers would become a couple.

The elders in the village thought it was good. If they were together, their children would not get close to them. However, many of the younger generation were unhappy.

The elders' worries were not unreasonable. Most of the younger generation were not as far-sighted as the elders, and they had never felt the burden of the family. They thought about things more idealistically. Li Lanlan was okay. Although she was beautiful, worked well, and had a straightforward temper, her father really discouraged her.

Lin Shiheng was very different. He had a good life and looked like a fair-skinned scholar. Even his walking was graceful. He was completely different from those who did farm work in the village. He was also a scholar.

Although he didn't pass the imperial examination, he was only 22 years old, wasn't he? What's the big deal about the hard times now? If he passed the imperial examination, would he still worry about money?

There are quite a few girls who have this idea, but unfortunately they are all suppressed by their families. They are naive, but the elders are not. Is it a joke to support two 60-year-olds? Maybe Lin Shiheng has no money to study at all. For a girl, getting married is a lifelong thing, and it can't be changed even if you regret it. Instead of pinning your hopes on the illusory wife of a juren, the elders prefer families with more fields at home.

There are some girls in the village who are favored, but most of them are not as favored as the men in the family, so they dare not resist the elders. Even if they like Lin Shiheng, they only dare to hide and watch shyly when he comes out.

Now that they know that he is engaged, the girls in the village who like Lin Shiheng are all confused.

Those with good tempers can just wipe a few tears, but those with bad tempers are not in a very positive state of mind.

The Li family has no mistress, and Li's father is a confused person. Of course, no one in the family prepares clothes for Li Lanlan, a girl who is about to get married. Although no matter how poor the family in the village is, all daughters have to buy new clothes when they get married.

Since Li's mother passed away, Li Lanlan has been the housekeeper of the Li family, so she also knows that the family can't afford to make new clothes for her. In addition, Li's father didn't know where to go to do good deeds. In order to have enough food, Li Lanlan, who was engaged and wanted to stay at home to take care of her skin, could only go out to work according to common sense.

When she went out, she happened to meet a girl in the village who had always liked Lin Shiheng.

This girl is called Zhou Daya, a very common name, but she looks pretty. Because there are many brothers in her family, she and her sisters are lucky not to work in the fields, so they are fairer and tenderer. They have always felt that they are different from girls like Li Lanlan who have to work in the fields, and they are more noble.

As a result, she, who is noble, cannot marry Lin Shiheng, but Li Lanlan gets this good thing.

Zhou Daya did not cry like some girls who really like Lin Shiheng. She was more angry. She was angry that her family had no foresight and stopped her from marrying just because the Lin family was in a bad situation. She was also angry that Lin Shiheng had no vision and did not take the initiative to propose marriage. The biggest anger was that the position she had been seeking was taken by Li Lanlan, an old woman who had no mother, lived a hard life, and was secretly commented on many times by her.

Because Li Lanlan was good-looking, Zhou Daya, who thought she was a beauty, never liked her. Seeing that Li Lanlan was still unmarried at the age of 18, she was so happy that she talked about her behind her back so many times. As a result, she actually married Lin Xiucai, whom she had never been able to marry.

She was so angry that she didn't sleep well all night. When she woke up the next morning and saw Li Lanlan going to do farm work, she immediately felt that she was not good at all.

Zhou Daya herself was not happy, and she didn't want Li Lanlan, who had taken her place, to be happy. So she turned her back to Li Lanlan without hesitation and pretended that she didn't see her coming. She pulled her little sister and started laughing loudly.

"Have you heard that the Lin family is going to marry Li Lanlan? She is so unlucky. My mother said at the dinner table last night that the two old people in the Lin family can't work and are still sick. Lin Xiucai is a scholar and can't work. If she marries him, she will be a ready-made old woman to serve the family."

The sisters were so busy working that they didn't see Li Lanlan. When they heard Zhou Daya bring up this topic, they followed along with their work with great interest: "That's right. My mother also said that the Lin family is just a superficial family. They have to support a scholar, a patient, and parents. Even the biggest family assets can be wasted, not to mention that they don't have any."

She cooperated so well, and Zhou Daya became more motivated: "Also, Mr. Lin basically doesn't move around in the village. When he was in glory before, his mother said that Mr. Lin wanted to marry someone from the city. Tell me, now that the family is in trouble, will he like Li Lanlan if he marries her?"

Li Lanlan didn't feel sad after hearing what they said. She had thought about this very thoroughly after she knew that Li's father promised her to the Lin family. According to her own ideas, the Lin family was definitely not a good place to go, but her ideas were useless. Her parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, her own father had promised her out. If she didn't respond, it would be unfilial. If this reputation spread, she was afraid that she would never get married in this life.

Anyway, she had already made up her mind. After she got married, if the other side was willing to give her a bite of food, she would serve them well. If she didn't live well, she would jump into the river.

Anyway, her mother was dead and her father didn't care about her. It was better to die early than to be bullied for the rest of her life.

Because she had been prepared for a long time, Li Lanlan didn't even bother to get angry. She glanced at Zhou Daya and passed by the two of them with farm tools on her back.

Her appearance angered Zhou Daya, who wanted to see Li Lanlan break down and cry. She stood up and looked at Li Lanlan's back with hatred, "What are you so proud of? You really think you will enjoy a good life after marrying Lin Xiucai."

Zhou Daya's sister was embarrassed when she saw Li Lanlan passing by. After all, she was talked about behind her back. Seeing her sister's indignant look, she couldn't help but pull Zhou Daya's sleeve: "Da Ya, stop talking, she is fine."

"She is fine, you didn't see her look of contempt, wait and see, Lin Xiucai is different from the men in our village, he has high standards, Li Lanlan is a country girl, Lin Xiucai will definitely not look down on her, marrying her just to do farm work."

"Oh! Stop talking, you haven't even married yet and you're saying these things, aren't you afraid that people will scold you for being shameless?"

Zhou Daya was really a little scared. She was at the age of marriage, and it would definitely be bad if people saw her, an unmarried girl, and talked about it.

So even if she was unwilling in her heart, she could only sit down and work with resentment, but she still refused to give up and put down the silver and muttered: "Li Lanlan will definitely not live well after marrying her. She might be divorced and sent home at any time."

Zhou Daya kept muttering for a whole morning, as if she could get rich by cursing Li Lanlan like this.

Other people in the village were similar to her. Although they had no grudge against Li Lanlan, most people were not optimistic about this marriage. The specific reasons were similar to what Zhou Daya said.

Mr. Lin didn't go out often, but as long as he went out, anyone with eyes could see that he was completely different from the villagers. Moreover, before the Lin family split up, Mrs. Lin never concealed that her son wanted to pass the imperial examination and marry a city girl. Now that the Lin family was seeing that life was not going well, he wanted to marry Li Lanlan, probably for farm work.

There was only one scholar in Lijia Village, but many villagers were related to other villages, and they probably knew some gossip.

For example, Wangjia Village also had a scholar, but that was 20 years ago. Like Lin Shiheng, Wang Xiucai failed the exams repeatedly. Studying was expensive and he was not good at housework. Wang Xiucai's family gradually showed signs of decline.

So he married a woman. The woman thought she would be a scholar's wife, but she ended up serving the whole family. Wang Xiucai knew nothing except studying. Wang Xiucai had no father, and his mother looked down on her daughter-in-law and tortured her. Now, 20 years have passed in the blink of an eye. The woman is as old as an old woman. It is said that she complains every time she goes back to her parents' home. Her life is so miserable.

In the eyes of the villagers, Lin Xiucai is the second Wang Xiucai.

He is still a little worse than Wang Xiucai. At least Wang Xiucai's family does not have a father who can't do farm work and is sick and needs medicine to support him.

Li Lanlan waited in silence until the day of the agreed marriage, despite the villagers' disapproval.

Father Li, who did charity work everywhere, did not go out to do charity work on this day. He stayed at home quietly, waiting for the Lin family to come and take his daughter away.

When other people's daughters got married, the father would say a few words about their daughters' plans, or pull the son-in-law to ask him to treat his daughter well. Only Father Lin was very unusual. He pulled his own daughter and told Li Lanlan to go and take good care of the Lin family. He didn't say a word about the rest.

Li Lanlan had long been disappointed by her father's attitude, but she was not disappointed. She didn't wear new clothes, but covered her head with a red veil, just as if she was wearing wedding clothes.

It was called a wedding, but neither family could afford it, so the man came to take the woman away, and then the woman's family went to the man's house for a meal. It couldn't even be called simple.

Li Lanlan was sitting in the house with a veil on her head, waiting, and Lin Shiheng came over with the matchmaker.

He was dressed very smartly today, and with his good looks, he attracted many girls' attention along the way. Unfortunately, Li Lanlan couldn't see because of her veil. When the matchmaker shouted that the groom could hold the red flower, she realized that it was her future husband who came in.

A red flower made of rough red cloth was stuffed into her hand by the matchmaker, and the other end was held in Lin Shiheng's hand. The matchmaker thought about the thank-you gift that was about to come to her, and smiled as festively as she could, shouting in a sharp voice. There were only a few scattered villagers watching the excitement, but she shouted as if there were a large group of people outside: "The groom is bringing the bride home--"

According to the tradition of the village, when a girl gets married, she should be carried by the men in the family from the door to the big tree at the entrance of the village, and then she can go home with her husband.

The newlyweds walked to the door. Father Li was watching with a smile and was about to come forward to carry his daughter. Suddenly, a child squeezed out from the crowd of onlookers and shouted anxiously: "Uncle Li, my grandma fell down. Can you please take my grandma to the town to see a doctor?"

The crowd of onlookers was in an uproar.

On the day of the wedding, she ran to find the father of the bride to do something else. How could this child be so ignorant?

"What?! Fell down? I'll go right away!"

The joy on Father Li's face disappeared in an instant, and he turned around to leave. Li Lanlan, who was already uneasy about getting married, stopped in her tracks, and her face turned pale under the red veil.

"Dad!!"

She called her father, "Today is my wedding day. Even if you want to go, you have to carry me under the tree, right?"

Father Li hesitated and looked back at his daughter, hesitantly said: "Lanlan, this is a matter of saving lives..."

Li Lanlan's face turned even paler under the veil.

If a woman gets married without a man carrying her under a tree, that would be a dead end. If Father Li dies today, she, a woman who didn't go under the tree, would be considered unlucky in the eyes of many villagers.

This is a major event that will affect her life!

She was in despair when she suddenly heard Lin Shiheng, who had been silent, speak up, "Father-in-law, anyone can take this child's grandmother to see a doctor, but Lanlan only has you as her father."

Some villagers who were watching the excitement were kind-hearted and thought that they could take the child to the town for treatment. It was not far away, so they simply spoke up: "Yes, the Li family is having a wedding, it is not appropriate to go at this time, I just happen to be free, I will take the child there."

"No!!"

The child's face changed immediately. Others would definitely not help pay for the medical expenses if they took the child to see a doctor. He looked at Father Li persistently and began to play the emotional card: "My grandmother is unconscious and anyone who comes will beat her. Uncle Li is a good man, so she believes in Uncle Li. Uncle Li, please help us. My mother is crying anxiously at home."

Father Li immediately thought of the child's mother, a young widow. What a poor woman, she lost her husband early and had to support her mother-in-law alone, and had to take care of a child. Now she must be very helpless when she encounters something.

He stopped hesitating and said to his daughter in a hurry: "Dad will go save people first, and we will talk about other things when we come back."

Then, he followed the child and left his daughter's wedding scene.

Li Lanlan trembled all over, not knowing whether she was angry or sad.

There was only one man in the family, Li's father. No one carried her to the tree. She was a bride who could not get blessings. If something happened to her husband's family in the future, they would definitely blame her.

Her own father ruined his daughter's life so easily.

Once was not enough, and it happened again.

Li Lanlan could hear someone talking outside. It was Zhou Daya's familiar voice. Although it was concealed, the gloating in it was still very obvious.

"What can I do? How can I get married if no one carries Li Lanlan out? Oh! If she marries Mr. Lin, she will bring trouble to the Lin family in the future!"

Zhou Daya knew that she should restrain herself because there were people around, but she couldn't help it. Seeing Lin Shiheng, who was dressed brightly and looked even better today, she couldn't help but burst out with anger.

If it weren't for Li Lanlan, such a handsome scholar husband would be hers.

But it doesn't matter. Li Lanlan's father did such a ruthless thing. No matter which family he was in, his face would not be good. Mr. Lin is a face-saving person. Maybe he won't marry her in a fit of anger.

The more Zhou Daya thought about it, the happier she became.

But the next second, the happiness on her face froze.

Lin Shiheng, who was standing at the door of the Li family, actually walked in front of Li Lanlan and half-knelt down with his back to her.

"Come up, I'll carry you."

Li Lanlan was in a trance when she heard this.

It took her a second to react. Knowing that this was her only chance, Li Lanlan didn't care about anything else. She bit her lip and groped her way to her future husband's back.

Lin Shiheng stepped out of the door and began to walk forward. The matchmaker, who had been embarrassed by Li's father's exit, was happy and hurried to the front to liven up the atmosphere.

"Come on! The bride is going out! One step for a baby, two steps..."

Li Lanlan couldn't hear what the matchmaker was saying. She lay on Lin Shiheng's back, feeling the muscles moving as he walked forward.

She thought about all sorts of things:

He was not as thin as she had imagined. On the contrary, he was quite strong and sturdy. He didn't stagger much when carrying her on his back.

His voice was also very pleasant, different from the way the villagers spoke, with a scholar's elegance.

He seemed to speak differently from others. Although she didn't see him, she could feel that he didn't look down on her.

Li Lanlan was a little nervous, and she hugged her future husband with both hands cautiously. She was a little happy and a little nervous, thinking that maybe her future life would not be as bad as she had thought before.

As the matchmaker shouted hard, the scholar of the Lin family carried the man all the way to the tree at the entrance of the village, and then took his young wife back home.

In the future, Li Lanlan will be a wife of the Lin family.