The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 159 - 148: Envious (Additional update for 110,000 recommendation votes from Yun Qi)

Chapter 159: Chapter 148: Envious (Additional update for 110,000 recommendation votes from Yun Qi)

Early in the morning, a team of laborers had already gone upstream to intercept the river water; they also needed to dig trenches to divert some of the water. Now the river was slowly subsiding, but it couldn’t be completely cut off just yet. However, it was shallow enough for people to stand in the middle of the river.

They had to first clear out the scattered rocks and remaining undisturbed mud from the riverbed, then they would start to construct the embankments.

The County Governmental Office estimated that the task would take around twenty days.

Zhou SiLang looked on from the bank as he and others moved stones larger than a person and cleared out trash and soil from the river embankments. Just one day’s work and there were already blood marks on his shoulders, but even so, his job was easier than those working in the river.

Those standing in the river not only had to clear the stones but also had to be careful not to slip and fall. Today, ten people had already fallen, and one fall was quite serious. The person sat on the ground for a long time, unable to get up.

Therefore, Zhou SiLang dared not utter a single complaint about his suffering, and Zhou ErLang even took the opportunity to scare him, "See that? Lucky you turned yourself around. Otherwise, if you keep gambling and get kicked out by the family, you’d have no choice but to do this kind of hard labor to get by."

Zhou SiLang shivered and asked with teary eyes, "Second Brother, why are you scaring me?"

"I’m not scaring you. Think about it, how many brothers do we have in our family? Can we be like Dachong’s family? They gamble away their daughters, their sons, and even want to sell their wives. Do you have any children to sell?" Before leaving home, Ms. Qian said that once they got back, she would start arranging a marriage for Four, so Zhou ErLang had to make sure he was thoroughly scared and wouldn’t cause trouble for the family again, so he spoke with the intention to frighten, "It’s out of the question to sell your nephews and nieces. Besides yourself, there are still five sons at home; they’re not lacking sons."

Zhou ErLang stuffed a steamed bun into his hand, gesturing him to look at those who were sitting by the river, eating dry pancakes, too miserly to even buy a bowl of ginger soup, "If you get kicked out, you won’t even measure up to them. At least they have a home to go back to. If that happens to you, you will just do hard labor outside, and if you fall sick or tired, you won’t be able to return home."

Zhou SiLang really cried, "Second Brother, I really won’t gamble anymore. I only gambled that one time. If you don’t believe me, ask Five. I haven’t even been near the gambling house in the county town during this time."

Zhou Dalang then said, "Alright, don’t scare him anymore."

There’s still work to be done in a while. Who will labor if you scare him too much?

Zhou SiLang ate his bun miserably, sipping the meaty broth mixed with a fair amount of ginger, which had a slightly spicy flavor. The warm soup made him break out in a gentle sweat as it went down.

Most who went into the water bought a bowl of it, realizing its benefits. Some even envied Zhou SiLang, "Your brothers really care about you, coming here to do business just for you."

Others couldn’t stand it and scoffed, "If they truly cared, they wouldn’t have let him labor here. Wouldn’t it be more caring to take his place? Tell me, Zhou Si, you’re yet to marry and have children, right? How old are you this year?"

Zhou SiLang said dejectedly, "My family is fair; we take turns to perform labor service. I’m eighteen."

Someone doubted him, "You’re eighteen already, lad? You’re not reporting your age falsely, are you?"

Zhou SiLang, depressed, replied, "There are six brothers in my family. Does it look like we need to falsify our ages?"

Some families, eager to receive their individual field allocations sooner, would falsely report their children’s ages, adding a couple of years so that they could qualify for an allocation at sixteen. However, they often forgot that reaching the required age not only meant labor service but also potential military conscription, so in reality, very few actually did this.

The Zhou Family was not lacking in able-bodied men or individual fields, so there was no need for them to falsify ages.

Upon hearing that Zhou SiLang reached the age for labor service this year, someone took interest and approached, asking, "Have you married yet?"

Zhou SiLang blushed, "No, not yet."

Someone then laughed, "Now that you’re of age, you should be getting married. Has your family arranged a match for you?"

Another commented sarcastically, "With so many brothers in the family, it’s not easy to fix a match. Now you need to have four or five taels just to thank the matchmaker when getting married, right?"

"Haven’t you seen their brothers doing business? How could their home possibly be short of money?" Over the past two days, the business of Zhou Dalang and the others had picked up, and today they even had vegetables for sale. Five coins for two spoonfuls, three for one. Many people purchased them to eat.

Even though they didn’t know the cost, those vegetables, like cabbage and radish, were grown at home, so except for the meat, it shouldn’t have cost much.

Although they didn’t say it out loud, people were burning up with envy inside, especially those from Jiangding Village, who couldn’t wait to run home and mention it to their families.

But they were being monitored by the yamen runners. Unless it was the designated half-day rest every ten days, they were not allowed to leave at their leisure. Leaving the camp without permission and being judged as deserting labor service could be a death sentence.

Zhou SiLang kept his head down, silent.

Everyone then knew he had no match arranged. The same person who brought up the subject squatted beside him, patting his shoulder, and said with a smile, "You’re not getting any younger. It’s time to arrange your marriage. I have a sister, fifteen this year, pretty good-looking. How about I set you two up to meet sometime?"

Zhou SiLang dully responded, "Any marriages for me have to be decided by my mother. It’s no use asking me, brother."

"How is it no use? It’s you who’s getting married. Wouldn’t your mother ask what kind of girl you like?"

Zhou SiLang fell silent. Indeed, that’s how it had been. Just last spring, barely a few months after he turned sixteen, his mother had indeed asked him what his preferences were.

Of course, he liked pretty girls.

Then his mother told him to work hard and show some good performance during the spring planting and autumn harvest, and she would arrange a marriage for him. Last year, he had indeed shown hard work, being grouped with Third Brother during the harvest.

But then he had carelessly gambled once and the marriage arrangement fell through.

Originally, he should have been matched last year and married by the end of the year. All his brothers had gotten married at around seventeen.

Sigh, the family still needed to build a house, and he didn’t know how many years it would take to save enough to afford a bride. At this moment, Zhou SiLang truly felt despondent, fearing he was becoming a candidate for becoming an "old bachelor."

In the countryside, women also chose their partners very discerningly. For example, men over twenty years old were considered old bachelors and usually weren’t very popular.

Zhou SiLang, who often hung out with his peers, remembered how they privately referred to those village youth who couldn’t afford to marry as old bachelors, and he felt a sudden sense of crisis.

This sense of crisis persisted for days, since almost every day someone would ask him, "Zhou Si, what kind of girl do you like?"

Zhou Si, will you listen to your wife or your mother after marriage?

It was no wonder everyone teased him, because among the laborers, he was the only one not married. Some even directly discussed a match with Zhou Dalang and Zhou ErLang, either suggesting their own sisters or daughters.

Zhou SiLang suddenly became a highly sought-after bachelor, but he didn’t feel happy about it at all.

His spirits hit rock bottom when Manbao came to visit him.

Because Manbao brought him a piece of candy, making it clear, "Four, this is a wedding candy from nephew Daliang. He’s fixed his marriage and will be wed before New Year. He said it’s to share some of his good fortune with you."

Zhou SiLang: ...

Daliang was Zhou SiLang’s friend, commonly known as a partner in mischief. Of course, being the younger one, Daliang was part of this year’s cohort in the village that included Zhou SiLang to reach the age for labor service. Daliang’s uncle was serving in his place, while he stayed at home to prepare for his marriage.