Chapter 532: Chapter 531: The Bride Returns to Her Parental Home
On the third day of the New Year, married women from the clan went back to their parental homes with their husbands and children, leaving Lin Family Manor rather quiet.
Lin Mengxing also pushed a cart piled with gifts for his father-in-law, accompanying his newlywed wife Lin Yin back to her parentsâ home.
Once out of the village, Lin Mengxing gestured for his wife to sit on the cart. Although he couldnât provide an upscale ride for her, he could still push her along, exerting a bit of effort.
In fact, when they had just left the house, Lin Mengxing wanted Lin Yin to sit on the cart. But Lin Yin refused, afraid of being ridiculed as a lazy wife unwilling to walk.
Only when they were out of the village and no one was around did she finally sit on the cart.
Lin Yin was already three months pregnant, past the early stages of morning sickness, and now in the comfortable middle period of pregnancy, she wouldnât get tired from walking a few steps.
But since her husband insisted on taking care of her, she obviously couldnât reject his kind intentions.
Actually, Lin Mengxingâs family had come into some money this year due to house demolition, planting and selling winter melons, and shares from the cotton workshopâs profits. Buying a cow wouldnât be hard; it would make travel much more convenient.
However, his mother felt a sense of security in saving money, especially since next year they would need money for family weddings. His parents were unwilling to spend money on a cow.
A healthy cow costs nearly ten guan, while a finer cow costs twelve guan, not to mention the daily feed expenses; his parents were reluctant to spend on this.
For farmers in other villages, cows are indeed important, but for those in Lin Family Manor, cows arenât as essential. Itâs good enough to cultivate an acre of hillside; buying a cow would be of no use.
Given that Lin Mengxingâs family, counting the hillside land and the front and back yards of the house, has less than an acre, buying a cow would be a waste, as cultivating the land by hand doesnât take much time.
When in need of a cow, one can simply borrow the clanâs communal cow!
The clanâs cow canât be used for dragging things on family visits, but itâs perfectly fine for fieldwork as long as three days of feed are prepared.
So for the elderly in the clan, who would desire to spend extra money to buy a cow?
As long as the elders donât want it, even if the younger ones have such thoughts, itâs useless! Every household is managed by the elder family memberâs economic planning; the younger ones can only follow decisions regarding whether to buy major items.
Lin Mengxing wished he could ride a cow cart with his wife back to her parentsâ home in style, especially in the first year after marriage, but his parents didnât give him the chance for such vanity, leaving him helpless.
Lin Yinâs parental village was in another area, relatively close to Wanghai Town, considered a prime location.
The village is mainly populated by the Yin and Wang families, which were among the wealthiest in a ten-mile radius before the rise of Lin Family Manor.
The goal for daughters in the village was usually to marry into men from Wanghai Town.
Lin Yinâs marriage to Lin Mengli was influenced by various reasons.
The first reason was naturally that Lin Family Manor had the Village Lady Leâan, raising the status of the Lin clan; the second reason was that the dowry offered by Lin Mengxingâs family was the highest among the suitors!
The parents were eager to marry off their daughter to raise money for their younger sonâs wedding and obviously chose the offer with the most dowry, which led Lin Mengxing to marry her and bring her back to the remote seaside.
Lin Mengxing was very satisfied with Lin Yin, otherwise, she wouldnât have gotten pregnant so soon after their wedding.
Since marrying into Lin Family Manor, this was Lin Yinâs second visit back to her parentsâ home, the first being the post-wedding homecoming banquet.
This was also Lin Mengxingâs first New Year visit to his wifeâs parents as a son-in-law, everything felt fresh.
Lin Mengxingâs father-in-law and mother-in-law were initially displeased that they returned on the third day and did not come out to welcome them.
Traditionally, the son-in-law is a cherished guest and should be honored, but because they didnât visit on the second day!
Aside from this, they held some preference for sons over daughters and werenât very attentive to their daughterâs affairs.
As the saying goes, a married daughter is like spilled water; they didnât expect to benefit from their daughter and son-in-law anymore.
However, as their son-in-law Lin Mengxing pushed their daughter into the yard, their feelings were suddenly altered, finding his sincerity overwhelming and the gifts abundant!
The various onlookers, aunts and cousins, were stunned, remarking on the Linâs generosity!
The rumor that Village Lady Leâan was leading the whole village and the area to prosperity seemed true, evident from Lin Mengxingâs family.
The eldest daughter-in-law of the family rushed forward to inspect the pile on the cart as soon as they arrived and had not yet settled.
The gifts included cured lamb leg, salted duck eggs, dried eels, shrimp, hairtail fish, sweet potato noodles, and other foods, plus a bolt of linen fabric, two jars of Tusu Wine, a packet of malt sugar; the gift was undeniably substantial.
For the first time, able to taste the son-in-lawâs Tusu Wine, Lin Yinâs father Yin Daqiang finally smiled.
Yesterday on the second day of the year, they didnât wait for their second daughter and son-in-law to visit for New Year greetings, thinking perhaps the second daughter would never return to visit, as itâs common for rural families to sever ties once a daughter is married unless parents-in-law allow the visit.
Today, they were proven wrong!
Yin Daqiang couldnât help but be delighted!
The second daughter wasnât raised in vain, not only exchanging for a hefty dowry at marriage but also bringing generous gifts post-marriage, far superior to his brotherâs daughter and son-in-law next door, and better than his eldest daughterâs family.
"Well, well, youâve had a tiring journey, please sit down, drink some hot water to warm up." Yin Daqiang smiled, calling inside, "Wife, make a bowl of egg syrup for the son-in-law!"
He glanced again at his daughter with the soft cushion under her placed by the attentive son-in-law, calling out, "Make one for the second daughter too!"
"Yes, got it!" came the response.
For Lin Yin, this was the first time her father smiled at her kindly, leaving her somewhat dazed.
The respect on this visit back to her parentsâ home was earned by her husband.
When leaving, she hadnât wanted to bring so many gifts; firstly, she feared her mother-in-law would be displeased, and secondly, her elder sister had only brought a bit of pickled cabbage and a pound of eggs for visits in previous years.
However, Lin Mengxing insisted on filling the cart, not just with the dried seafood which were ample at home, but even including the expensive sweet potato noodles they rarely ate, unexpectedly.
Even more unexpected was that, seeing them bring so much, her mother-in-law showed no attitude but repeatedly reminded her son to make a good impression at the in-lawsâ house, not to embarrass the Lin Family Manor.
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The gifts indeed served their purpose mightily; upon entering, they heard the father saying to give them two bowls of egg syrup!
This was treatment that her elder sister and brother-in-law never received.