"Iâve heard the marriage arrangement is still up in the air."
Yang Chuxia thought to herself that she hadnât heard any news of County Magistrate Shen being promoted or transferred, so he must be serving another term in Quanya County. But the people in the county town of Quanya, especially the prominent families, must all know about Shen Qiuâs illegitimate child by now, which would make the marriage negotiation quite difficult.
"Tsk!" Ms. Wang said, "If you had married Uncle Dayong in the first place, you would have had a child by now. Uncle Dayongâs family is not just any ordinary household, they are not without silver and wealth."
"But thereâs nothing to be done, no matter how rich Uncle Dayongâs family is, Shen Qiuâs brother is an official, and they would certainly look down on the unequal social status."
In both ancient and modern times, people have sought matches with equal social standing.
Yang Dayong might be wealthy, but only in the village; he still couldnât compare to the gentry families in the town. One could understand Shen Qiuâs initial decision to call off the marriage; a village family and an officialâs family, after all, were not a match in terms of social standing. It was just that when such a thing happened to oneâs own family, it inevitably left one feeling disgruntled.
"Thatâs true, who would have thought that Shen Qiuâs brother was an official."
As the mother and daughter gossiped, they arrived at the entrance of the old house just in time to see Ms. Luo carrying a child and Ms. Liu coming out together, and from the two baskets in Liuâs hands, they knew she was heading to Land Officer Yangâs house.
"Oh look at your Lele and Yangyang, how handsome they are. You can tell at a glance that they are children of a wealthy family." Ms. Luoâs eyes lit up as soon as she saw Lele and Yangyang.
She was filled with both envy and affectionâhaving two boys, if only she had a son as well. Moreover, both children took after their parents in looks and were quite handsome.
"Auntie Four, donât keep praising my Lele and Yangyang, my cousin Yang Jindi is not bad either. Sheâll definitely grow up to be beautiful as well."
The children of the Yang Family were all easy on the eyes. Not to mention Yang Chuxia and her siblings, even Yang Dongxue was prettier than most children, and Yang Qingbao was also a fine-looking young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes.
Yang Jindi might be young, but she too had big eyes, a small mouth, and very fair skin; surely, she would not look bad when she grew up.
"Ah, but whatâs the use of being pretty if itâs just a girl," Ms. Luo lamented. The lack of a son was like a thorn in her heart, potentially a lifelong sorrow.
Especially now that Ms. Hong was pregnant againâif it turned out to be a boy, the familyâs lands and houses would belong to Ms. Hongâs son in the future. What then, would she do when she got old?
Yang Chuxia had nothing to say about Ms. Luoâs preference for boys over girls; such notions were widespread among the villagers and couldnât be easily changed.
"Oh dear, girls have their own advantages," Ms. Liu intervened, trying to smooth things over, "If a girl marries well, wonât she still take care of you? Just look at Ruoqiu, isnât she doing very well now? Besides, Ms. Hong is pregnant, isnât she? If she has a son, just treat her well and it will pay off when youâre old. Iâve come to realize that with people, you have to reciprocate. If youâre not kind to others, how can you expect them to be kind to you?"
Ms. Wang also advised, "I think so too. Ms. Hong is pregnant, so you should try not to quarrel with her so much and take care of her a little more. Wonât she remember your kindness later on?"
At the mention of Ms. Hong, Ms. Luoâs mood soured, although what everyone said made sense.
"Letâs not talk about her anymore. Letâs go to Uncleâs house to eat meat. Just mentioning her ruins my appetite."
Seeing her react that way, the others dropped the subject.
The sisters-in-law went together to Land Officer Yangâs house and at the entrance, they just happened to run into Ruoqiu leading Chen Yazhu over.
Now Chen Yazhu spoke very articulately. Seeing the group, she ran forward to greet them, "Granny, Auntie Three, Auntie Four, Auntie Three, Little Auntie, Brother..."