On September 16, Zhang Dazhu began to dig lotus roots. Although it is late autumn, fortunately, the climate in Jiangnan is still quite warm, and the pond water is not cold. Zhang Dazhu wore a pair of shorts, bare his upper body, stood waist-deep in the pool water, and dug lotus roots with his bare hands. Ran'er, Qinglian, Aunt Zhang, and Xiaoyu were already surrounded by their grandfathers on the edge of the pond, took the lotus root dug up by Zhang Dazhu, washed off the mud on it in the pond water, and carefully placed them together. At the end of the day, Zhang Dazhu can dig more than 300 catties. Every three days of digging, they will move the fence yard and pile it under the grass pavilion, waiting for Yao Wenlin's carriage to pull it.

The news that Ran'er and Grandpa Qinglian were here had already spread in Xia Village. Those who were worried about telling their children about their children, after getting the news, waited for the work in the field to be finished, so they asked the matchmaker to come to the door to propose. Since August 15, Ran'er and Qinglian's fenced courtyard has hardly been broken.

Aunt Zhang from Xia Village is the one who comes the most.

"Uncle Ge, look at your two granddaughters, each of them is not only handsome, but also literate and hyphenated. The two sisters have been scheming since childhood, and that year there was a drought and then a flood, and many families went hungry. However, the young lady and the two had a scheming plan, so they bought more than a dozen stones of rice early, but they hid from it. ”

"Hehe, his aunt of the Zhang family, that is also Ran'er and Lian'er are starving and afraid, and they can't say anything about scheming. However, the sisters have been cared for by your neighbors for many years, and I am ashamed to be a grandfather. ”

Uncle Ge's words came out of sight. We are all flat-headed people, not those hard-hearted people. The two little girls are lonely, and whoever sees them will reach out. In this regard, the Li family members have indeed made a lot of efforts. ”

"Yes, the elder brother of the Li family is really a warm-hearted person, and the people in Xia Village are all good people."

"Uncle Ge, I came today to have a family ask me to propose to Ran'er. I've been on a few trips before, but I didn't like those matchmakers, let alone say it. We are such a good girl, and we have suffered so much since we were young, but if we want to be a good family, we can't suffer and suffer again when we marry in the future. Moreover, there was no adult to call the shots. Now that Uncle Ge is here, he is just taking the idea for Ran'er. ”

"Ran'er will be sixteen years old when she comes over, and it's time to talk about others."

"Isn't it, the girls in our neighborhood are almost married at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Many are already over the door at the age of fifteen or sixteen. ”

"Grandpa, my sister doesn't marry."

Qinglian interrupted Aunt Zhang's words and interjected with a small mouth.

"Uncle Ge, look at it, every time I come, Ran'er doesn't say anything, Lian'er says so every time. How can there be a girl who doesn't marry? ”

"Hehe, if you are a child, don't take it seriously to the aunt of the Zhang family."

"Of course I won't take Lian'er seriously. Uncle Ge, it is the Liu family in Yangzhuang who asked me to come today. Not to mention the big family, it is still a scholarly family, and the ancestors have a book. Now there are still officials in the court. ”

"Oh, there are still such people in Yangzhuang?"

As he spoke, his grandfather tilted his head and looked at Ran'er and Qinglian, meaning to ask them if they had heard of it. Ran Er and Qinglian had heard from Chunshui that there was indeed such a family in Yangzhuang. Because, the youngest son of the Liu family is Chunshui's classmate, and he is a talent in the college examination he participated in one year. Ran'er understood what her grandfather meant, so she nodded slightly.

"How can this be fake? Uncle Ge may not know me, these ten miles and eight towns, there are not a few family affairs that I have talked about, and Uncle knows it as soon as I inquire casually, I said that the matchmaker has always been straightforward and does not tell half a lie. ”

"The Liu family is so wealthy, what kind of girl are you looking for, how can you fall in love with Ran'er?"

"That's a long story."

Aunt Zhang took a sip of the tea on the table and moistened her throat, Qinglian knew that the next tirade was coming, so she was impatient to listen, so she simply turned around and walked away.

"I told Ran'er that the youngest son of the Liu family is called Liu Wendao, who is seventeen years old this year. and the spring water of Yangzhuang's Zhouji wine shop is the same classmate, and the talent of the year. It is also through guò spring water there, knowing Ran'er. This Liu Wendao was only less than fourteen years old that year, and his family considered his young age, so he didn't let him participate in the next autumn festival, otherwise he might be admitted to the exam with the Zhou family's Chunshui. ”

"Fourteen-year-old talent, although it is not unusual, but it is also rare."

"Isn't it? The people around are talking, saying that the Liu family may regain the glory of their ancestors in Liu Wendao. ”

"Ran'er, isn't Chunshui the Zhou family that you often say collects your sour bamboo shoots and eggs?"

"Yes, Grandpa. For a long time, Shopkeeper Zhou and Brother Chunshui have taken great care of Ran'er and Lian'er. Brother Chunshui also sent us a lot of books, pen, ink and paper. ”

Liu Wendao heard about Ran'er from Chunshui, and then went home and told his parents how Ran'er and Lian'er depended on each other, building houses, buying land, buying bamboo forests, digging ponds, etc., not only did they know how to handle housework at a young age, but they were also literate and literate. The head of the Liu family also felt that it was not easy for the Ran'er sisters to be able to do this step, and they saw that their children were interested, so they asked me to come. ”

"This is a good thing, but I am not a local in the first place, Ran'er and Lian'er have been assertive children since childhood, although I am their grandfather, I have to listen to their sisters."

"Of course. In these ten miles and eight towns, who doesn't know that Ran'er and Lian'er are paying attention. Otherwise, Uncle Ge. Discuss it, and I'll listen to it again in a few days. ”

"It's fine."

Aunt Zhang sat down for a while and gossiped for a while before leaving.

Yao Wenlin's carriage arrived on September 26. Because he knew that Ran'er's grandfather was going to follow, Yao Wenlin personally escorted the car. In ten days, Zhang Dazhu dug up more than 1,800 catties of lotus roots, and the price was still 4 yuan a catty last year. It should be seven taels of silver, and Yao Wenlin left thirty taels of silver for Ran'er at a time according to last year's output.

"These Qian Ran'er and Sister Lian'er will be kept for the first time, and they will just send a car in the future, so I won't follow. The last car is in the calculation. ”

Yao Wenlin arrived in the afternoon, considering that his grandfather was old, he didn't want his grandfather to rush to the night. stayed with Yao Wenlin for one night. In the evening, with the assistance of Aunt Zhang and Xiaoyu, the sisters had a sumptuous dinner, and called Uncle Zhang's family over and asked Uncle Zhang to accompany his grandfather and Yao Wenlin to drink. Ran'er, Qinglian, Aunt Zhang and Xiaoyu were waiting beside them. When the three grandfathers had almost drunk, the four of them set down another table and began to eat.

After breakfast the next day, the Ran'er sisters kept sending their grandfather and Yao Wenlin to the entrance of Xiacun Village, telling them to pay attention to their bodies on the outer highway, and to bring their grandmother to live with them at the end of March and early April after the spring of next year.