Liu Rumei suddenly spoke again, asking, "By the way, what about the new house? Where is it being set up? Don't tell me it's still those old rooms of yours."
Cui Hongyu smiled and gestured forward, "There is indeed a new house, but it's not decorated yet. We need to hurry these past two days."
"I'll go call the village sisters to come help."
Soon, the village of Hetou became lively. Hearing that Chen Xiaobei was getting married, the villagers naturally helped with money if they had it, and with labor if they didn't.
Most people didn't have money, so they only came to help with labor.
Carpenter Zhang volunteered to finish all of Chen Xiaobei's furniture within three days and set it up.
With so many people working on one task, it was a rare sight in Hetou Village. Even the Ancestor was alerted.
He sat under the big willow tree, watching everyone busy themselves, smiling from ear to ear.
A villager next to him curiously asked, "Ancestor, Chen Xiaobei is getting married, and you seem so happy, as if you were getting married yourself."
The Ancestor paused, leaning on his cane, "As far back as I can remember, no one in our village has ever married two wives."
"But look at Cui Dana of Cui Family Village, he has married three concubines!"
"Cui Dana has a lot of sons. Compared to him, Chen Xiaobei's two are not enough. He should marry three or four with all his might."
"If each of you marries several wives, our Hetou Village will have a future with its descendants spreading out."
The villagers laughed heartily, "That's great. Then you should go tell Chen Xiaobei to marry five or six or seven or eight wives."
With that, everyone burst into laughter again.
At this time, in Qingniu County town, Tian Wen, Ma Han, and others had returned.
Tian Wen returned to his room and found it in disarray.
It made sense. If Wang Heng had his portrait, he could naturally find his home.
Fortunately, his false beard was still there. After carefully grooming it in front of the mirror for a long time, Tian Wen resumed the appearance of Tian Wen, the shopkeeper of Zui Xian Lou.
To his surprise, although the back courtyard was messy, his restaurant was almost untouched. This at least showed that Wang Heng and his men had some principles and bottom lines. Su Dan Novel Network.
Tian Wen opened the doors of his Zui Xian Lou, letting the air flow through from front to back, to dispel any bad luck.
He turned away familiar guests who wanted to dine, as the restaurant could not open.
There were no cooks or waiters, so the restaurant naturally could not open for business.
Just then, a sound of horse hooves approached. It was Xiao Qing, Liu Rumei's personal maid.
Liu Rumei was a well-known figure in the county town, and Tian Wen naturally recognized Xiao Qing. He waved at her from a distance.
"Young Miss Xiao Qing, how is Miss Liu? Feel free to visit me when you have time."
Xiao Qing leaped off her horse, saying, "Shopkeeper Tian, I have something to find you about."
Tian Wen was stunned for a moment. He quickly stood up and cupped his hands, "Miss, please tell me what you need. If I can do it, I will spare no effort..."
Before he could finish, Xiao Qing raised her hand to stop him, "Alright, Shopkeeper Tian, it's not that serious. I'm here to tell you some good news."
"In three days, the headman of Hetou Village, Chen Xiaobei, is getting married. The banquet will begin tomorrow. We want to invite a cook like you, and ideally some waiters to help with the arrangements."
Upon hearing this, Tian Wen clearly misunderstood, "Great, great! Please tell Miss Liu that this is her big life event, and I'm honored she thinks highly of me..."
Xiao Qing glared, "Hey, what are you thinking? He's not marrying my young lady. My young lady is just helping him with the arrangements."
As she spoke, they heard the sound of horse hooves behind them again, followed by a loud voice asking, "Shopkeeper Tian, what's the matter? You sound so happy."
Tian Wen and Xiao Qing turned around together. It was Hu Fan, the magistrate of Qingniu County, accompanied by his advisor Mao You, and a thousand guards.
Qingniu County town had returned to the Crown Prince's control, and Hu Fan had naturally returned to reorganize the government affairs.
Tian Wen cupped his fists and greeted him, "Oh, Magistrate Hu, this young lady Xiao Qing was telling me that Chen Xiaobei of Hetou Village is getting married and wants me to bring cooks and waiters to prepare the banquet."
Hu Fan looked at Xiao Qing and asked with a smile, "Xiao Qing, do you know which lady Chen Xiaobei is marrying?"
"Oh, it's someone named Huang Ying, who is from out of town. I don't know the specifics."
Hu Fan hadn't interacted much with Huang Ying and the others, he only knew that Chen Xiaobei had hired a female teacher named Huang Ying, and that was all.
"Wonderful! Chen Xiaobei getting married is a major event. I must go and join the fun."
At this time, Liu Rumei was still busy in the county town, preparing brocades and silks according to the wedding customs.
These were to be given as betrothal gifts to Huang Ying.
Liu Rumei felt both admiration and gratitude towards Chen Xiaobei. Chen Xiaobei had helped her countless times, so it was only natural for her to repay his kindness through this opportunity.
Therefore, Liu Rumei procured a large quantity of goods.
Four carriages and dozens of chests, packed to the brim, arrived at Hetou Village.
Of course, these four carriages were also part of the betrothal gifts.
The front of the four horses were adorned with large red silk ribbons, looking very festive.
Just as the villagers were gathering around and discussing, someone suddenly shouted, "Look, Chen Xiaobei is here!"
Chen Xiaobei, along with the village guards, was carrying the last batch of military supplies. He had just entered the village and was surrounded by villagers, who then led him towards the big locust tree.
He didn't even get to see Cui Hongyu.
Cui Hongyu was busy in the new house at the moment and had no time to attend to Chen Xiaobei.
"Village Head Xiaobei, hurry up and take a look! Your betrothal gifts have arrived."
This sentence completely confused Chen Xiaobei, "What? I, I, what betrothal gifts?"
"Oh, why are you still pretending to be clueless? It's your betrothal gifts for Miss Huang Ying. You're getting married in three days. Such a big event, and you didn't even say anything in advance."
I.
Xiaobei was speechless. I told you in advance? I didn't know anything! It must be another one of Cui Hongyu's good deeds.
Alas, having a wife so enthusiastic about her man marrying a second wife, was it a blessing?
Surrounded by everyone, Chen Xiaobei arrived under the big locust tree.
Liu Rumei stood with her hands behind her back, tilting her head and looking at Chen Xiaobei. Seeing him arrive, she gestured to the four carriages behind her.
"Brother Xiaobei, four fine horses, four carriages, plus twelve boxes of betrothal gifts, including brocades and silks. Are you satisfied?"
Chen Xiaobei thought to himself, what if I'm satisfied? What if I'm not? You don't need my consent at all.
Seeing his silence, Liu Rumei continued with a smile, "Why are you still standing there foolishly? Hurry up and send them to Miss Huang Ying."
Chen Dayong and others started to tease him again, pushing Chen Xiaobei forward to take the reins of the carriages and head towards the school.
After all, Huang Ying lived in the school, so the betrothal gifts had to be delivered there.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei return, Huang Ying was both surprised and delighted, and she rushed forward.
After taking just two steps, Shen Ruyan pulled her back.
"Sister, be more composed. Don't throw yourself at men as soon as you see them. You're not married yet."
Huang Ying's face flushed slightly at her words.