The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 2058 - 2033: Journey Afar

He immediately gave a light cough, stepped forward, and pulled him, saying, "Mingxue, a few head stewards from some trading firms have arrived up front, come with me to have a look."

Xiang Mingxue and Zhou Lijun were already engaged, so naturally, they couldn’t ignore each other anymore. Now even in front of Zhou Silang, Xiang Mingxue had to call him Fourth Uncle.

Although he tried his best not to use the title, Zhou Silang adapted well. After the two families officially got engaged, he changed the address from Brother Xiang to Mingxue, and it rolled off the tongue quite smoothly.

Zhou Silang dragged Xiang Mingxue to the front to entertain the guests, preventing him from getting too close to Zhou Lijun.

But this was impossible because they had already decided to head into the grasslands after the wedding.

The summer harvest was over, and Xiang Mingxue had bought quite a lot of grain and porcelain from Fengzhou and other places, along with some fabrics. He brought a lot of items this time; 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Zhou Silang, on the other hand, had prepared plenty of tea, tea bricks, porcelain, and fabrics, also bringing a lot of goods, even more than last year. So this year, Zhou Lijun still went with them into the grasslands.

Zhou Lichong had just gotten married, and Zhou Lijun had handed over the accounts of the field offices in Pu Village to him. The data for the experimental fields also needed his record, so he wouldn’t be going to the grasslands this year. Instead, Zhou Liwei would be going along.

Because of this, Zhou Erlang and Ms. Feng, who wanted to arrange a marriage for him, became worried. Zhou Lijun, who initially wanted to shift the trouble eastward, was not anxious anymore. Instead, he told his parents, "My younger brother has someone he likes, but the girl’s family is powerful, and he hasn’t built any kind of family business yet, so they probably look down on him."

Ms. Feng said, "Who doesn’t establish a family before starting a business?"

She said, "Once he gets married, a family business will naturally come."

Zhou Lijun replied, "Mom, that statement only deceives kids. If someone can’t establish a family business when spending for themselves, how can they do it when adding one or even two more people?"

"If you don’t believe me, ask my dad whether he was wealthier before he got married or after?"

Ms. Feng then looked at Zhou Erlang.

Zhou Erlang immediately said, "I’m wealthiest now."

"That’s because we’ve all grown up. Not to mention me and Liwei, even Liru doesn’t need your support now. You still take money from us every year. How can you not earn?"

Zhou Lijun recalled something and asked, "Mom, I’m getting married. What happened to the dowry money you took from me previously?"

Ms. Feng: ...

Zhou Lijun looked as if he understood everything, and for some reason, Ms. Feng suddenly felt guilty and didn’t dare to bring up the marriage matter concerning Zhou Liwei anymore.

Zhou Erlang thought for a moment and said, "It’s alright. In the twelfth lunar month, if they don’t come, they will surely come home for a visit. We can discuss the marriage then."

In the twelfth month, Zhou Lijun would get married. At that time, Zhou Silang and the others would have returned from the grasslands. If they got married in the capital, Zhou Erlang and his wife would certainly have to come to the capital;

If they could get married back home, that would be even better.

In fact, not only Zhou Erlang and his wife but even Old Zhou and Ms. Qian felt that getting married should be done back home.

Although the wedding banquet in the capital was quite lively, they didn’t really know many people, so it was better to hold it in the village.

Old Zhou discussed with Zhou Dalang, "Erya should go back to the village when she gets married. Let Datou bring his wife along, we’ll set up a few tables of wine. This kind of important event should be shared with the villagers."

Zhou Dalang agreed, as he also wanted to go home for the New Year. After being away for over a year, he missed home.

Manbao heard this and quietly said to Bai Shan, "If you pass the imperial exams this year, do you get a family visit leave?"

Bai Shan nodded, glanced at her and asked, "Why, do you want to go home?"

Manbao nodded and whispered, "By then, I’ll try to ask the Imperial Hospital for family leave."

Bai Shan said, "It won’t be easy."

Even if it’s challenging, she would ask. She wanted to go back home too.

The next day, the bride recognized the relatives, blushing as she arrived at the main hall with Zhou Lichong. The Bai Family was also present. Liu Sanniang had been advised beforehand, so she also prepared their acknowledgment gifts.

Manbao’s gifts were the same as those from Zhou Dalang and Ms. Qian, consisting of a pair of shoes and a set of clothes.

Manbao frequently received acknowledgment gifts like shoes, but it was the first time she received clothes for elders. She was delighted, and after taking them home, she wore them to show off to Bai Shan and Bai Erlang.

Bai Shan didn’t say anything, but Bai Erlang was a bit jealous. He realized that aside from the future marriage of his own children, he might only receive such acknowledgment gifts when his elder brother’s child gets married.

Bai Shan was even less likely, as being the only child in the family, he would only receive such gifts from his own children’s weddings.

After acknowledging the relatives, Liu Sanniang officially joined Old Zhou’s extended family. She didn’t have to live in the palace because she was married and could apply for outside residence with the Imperial Hospital.

From then on, she could commute between the Imperial Hospital and her home daily.

She was still an assistant at the Imperial Hospital. She had already covered most of the courses there, and now the teachers only provided small classes to her group of twelve students. They had classes only four days every ten-day period, and the classes only took up half of those days, so they spent most of their time in the palace.

The advantage was that Manbao became more informed about outside news and family matters.

When she went to work at the palace again, Liu Sanniang told her, "Fourth Uncle and the others are leaving early tomorrow."

Manbao was slightly surprised and asked, "Weren’t they waiting for my break before leaving? There’s still three days left."

"The Astronomical Bureau said it would rain in a few days, and it seemed like it would rain for a long time, so they decided to leave early."

Manbao then said, "In that case, for the medicine I prepared for them, you should come to me before you leave the palace to take it."

Originally, they were waiting for Manbao to finish her break before departing, partly to bid farewell in person and partly to wait for Manbao to prepare medicine and other items for them.

Every time they set out, Manbao would prepare some medicine pills for them and also pack some herbs for them to take along just in case.

This time, Manbao also prepared medicinal patches for them. Of course, they weren’t ready-made; she boiled the ointment and then directly handed it to Liu Sanniang, saying, "Lijun and Liwei are smart, teach them how to mix the medicinal patches. If they can’t remember, just label the dosages on the jars. This is very useful and just as effective as the pills we make."

Liu Sanniang agreed, took a bundle of things out of the palace, and handed them over to Zhou Lijun and the others.

By the time Manbao left the palace, Zhou Silang and the others had already set off three days ago. The family had gotten used to their departure, and even Zhou Erlang and Ms. Feng had accepted the situation well and began planning to go back home.

Zhou Erlang said, "The family is about to begin the autumn harvest. There’s no way Third and his wife alone can handle it. Dad, I’m thinking of going back in a few days."

Besides, after winter begins, medicinal materials need to be harvested, and he also has to start selling the medicinal materials. Raw materials and dry materials all need to be processed, and Zhou Sanlang definitely can’t handle these things, so it’s still up to him to go back.

Old Zhou understood this, so he waved his hand, instructing Zhou Wulang to go back with them. He said, "Find a bigger trading caravan to go with, for safety."