Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands

Chapter 476 - 451: Give a straightforward answer, will you marry or not? (3)

People in the village are all poor. If we give a high dowry, won’t some young man fancy our plump daughter?

The Princess Consort Luling sighed, "Alright then, that’s the only thing we can do."

Li Xingsheng said, "Dad, Mom, don’t just look within the village, let’s broaden our search. Dad, you can ask the scholars if they have any unmarried male relatives or neighbors. Mom, you can inquire in Taohua River Village to see if there’s anyone who wants to marry Second Sister, or perhaps even one of the villagers’ relatives."

"..."

"I’ll take Second Sister to walk around the market. With the New Year approaching, there are more people at the market these days. We’re bound to find someone willing to marry Second Sister, aren’t we? Except for being a bit plump, she has no other flaws. She’s good-looking and can make money by baking pancakes. If you ask me, whoever marries her will surely get rich; it just depends on who has the vision."

Prince Luling agreed and said, "Let’s prepare from multiple angles. I think it’s feasible."

The Princess Consort Luling stood up, "I’ll go sit at the village chief’s house. Mrs. Li Zheng knows many people."

After the discussion, Li Xingsheng left and went to find the Second Princess.

The Second Princess was sitting on the threshold of her room, frowning in worry. Li Xingsheng walked over and tried to lift her.

Wow, he couldn’t lift her at all.

Well, they both weighed the same.

But he’s a head taller than her.

With the same weight, he’s tall and stretched out, while she’s compact and compressed.

Li Xingsheng rubbed his sore hand, "Alright, Second Sister, don’t worry. After lunch, we can walk around the market again. There are more people these days. As long as we try hard, we’ll find you a suitable husband."

With her brother’s help, Second Princess felt a bit more at ease, "Alright, I’ll go tell Nanny Jiang to make lunch earlier so we can eat and head to the market sooner."

Li Xingsheng’s face turned dark with irritation, "Eat, eat, eat. All you know is eating. Don’t bother Nanny Jiang. She cooks on time every day. You should take the time to find a nice outfit. When you go out in the afternoon, dress nicely. We’re going to find a husband for you, not to bake pancakes."

The Second Princess looked at herself, "This outfit looks nice on me."

Li Xingsheng stroked his chin, shaking his head in frustration, "Well, I don’t like it. If even I don’t like it, how would other men? Your brother is also a man, and we men have good taste."

Her clothes were all wrinkled, and her hair was tied up all crooked. What looks nice about that?

He pushed the Second Princess back into the house.

To make sure she picked nice jewelry and clothes and dressed herself up properly.

The Second Princess got a headache; she didn’t know how to dress up.

Alright, let’s do as Brother says, dress in the nicest jewelry and clothes. If everything is nice, it can’t be ugly, right?

.

Li Yuzhu left the North Courtyard of Prince Luling and his wife, happily heading to the front yard.

She saw that Mu Yuanxiu and Uncle Gui were still moving things.

A small mountain of miscellaneous items was piled up on the ground in front of Uncle Gui’s house.

Seeing her approach happily, Uncle Gui quickly asked, "Have you seen the madam, Third Miss? Is the madam alright?"

Li Yuzhu replied, "Nothing’s wrong. She just deeply misses her hometown. Mr. Pei came from the Capital with some news from there and mentioned my uncle in the Capital, which made my mother think of her family and cry a little."

She used an excuse to explain.

Her family spoke with a Capital accent when they came here, which the villagers couldn’t trace, but others who met them might figure it out, so the family had no reason to hide where they were from.

Besides, even the Emperor has poor relatives, not to mention people merely living in the Capital?

Her family always claimed they were burdened by relatives, their property being seized to pay debts, and were forced to seek a living here due to being pushed out by enemies in the Capital.

Every place has migrants fleeing hardships; even if they’ve never seen such people, they’ve heard of them. Therefore, no one suspected Prince Luling’s family settling down here.

Besides, they came with their families, so they couldn’t cause harm.

After nearly a year of living here, they also formed connections with the county magistrate’s family, so no one dared to question them.

Li Yuzhu casually made an excuse, and Uncle Gui didn’t doubt it, "Oh, I see. Your family has been here for almost a year and hasn’t returned to the hometown. The folks back there must miss you all too?"

Li Yuzhu sighed, "Dad said we haven’t made enough money to face going back." Most people who don’t return home after going abroad think this way.

Uncle Gui laughed, "How much does one need to earn for it to be considered big money? When you have nothing, holding ten thousand in your hand feels like a fortune. But once you have ten thousand, you think maybe a hundred thousand is what you need. Money, as long as it’s enough to use, comparing with others isn’t necessary."

Li Yuzhu nodded, "Uncle Gui makes a good point, but my parents have their own set of beliefs."

She shrugged and joined Uncle Gui in moving the items from the mule cart.

Mu Yuanxiu carried the last big chest down and said, "Done moving, you don’t need to help."

The chest was quite heavy, filled with dried goods from both the south and north packed by the county magistrate and his wife.

After Mu Yuanxiu moved the items to the ground in front of Uncle Gui’s house, Li Yuzhu pulled him aside, "Just leave the stuff there for now, let’s move it later. I have something important to tell you, come with me."

She dragged Mu Yuanxiu outside the residence.

Mu Yuanxiu lifted his sleeve, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and smiled, "What is it? Why does it have to be said outside?"

Li Yuzhu looked back and saw him wiping sweat, so she took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and gave it to him, "Here, wipe."

Mu Yuanxiu was slightly startled; it was the first time he received a personal item from Li Yuzhu.

He couldn’t help but smile and said, "Go ahead, what’s the matter?"

He wiped his sweat and didn’t return the handkerchief to Li Yuzhu but stuffed it in his pocket.

Li Yuzhu didn’t ask for it back either.

She kept pulling him until they reached the Li Family’s cotton field, then let go.

The cotton in the field had been entirely picked a month ago by Li Xingmao, Li Xing’an, and some village women they hired.

However, the cotton stalks were still standing in the field, not yet cut.

These cotton stalks grew like small trees, cutting them down was quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Since it’s winter now, and there’s no rush to use the field, Li Xingmao decided to leave the cotton stalks in the field to wither naturally from the wind and rain. He chops some down to take home for firewood when he has time, and there are still four acres of cotton stalks standing in the field.

Standing by the cotton field, Mu Yuanxiu was just a head taller than the cotton stalks.

While Li Yuzhu was shorter than all the surrounding cotton stalks.

"Why did you bring me here?" Mu Yuanxiu looked around; indeed, there was no one else.

The north wind blew harshly, carrying a few snowflakes.

Li Yuzhu’s face was flushed; it wasn’t clear if it was from the cold wind or running.

She was panting heavily from the run, her hands resting on her knees.

"Mu Yuanxiu." Li Yuzhu said, "Do you like me?"

Mu Yuanxiu stared at her in surprise, with a faint smile, "Why suddenly ask this question?"

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Li Yuzhu straightened up to look at him, scolding in her heart, cheeky guy, why just smile? If a girl likes you, you should agree right away, why just smile foolishly?

"Just... um, my mother did a fortune telling for us three sisters, saying we must get married this year, and the sooner the better, because if we marry late, there will be bad luck next year. I was thinking, well, to marry quickly, I must first find a man to talk about marriage with, and I thought of you. We’re about the same age, making a pair isn’t impossible, right? Mu Yuanxiu?"

She walked up to Mu Yuanxiu and looked up at him.

Such a good-for-nothing, in February this year, he was only half a head taller than her; a year has passed, and now he’s a whole head taller?

Growing so fast?

Being with him every day, she hadn’t noticed this young man’s changes.

Hmm, his Adam’s apple has grown too, by next year he could grow a little beard, and certain organs have developed, by the year after he could make babies.

Pish, who wants to make babies with him so soon?

That’s still a long way off.

Though she was not young in her previous life, she was a workaholic and missed out on romance, never even holding a man’s little hand before transmigrating, let alone any further development.

Her knowledge of romance was limited to some video materials.

The only male body she had seen were patients in hospital beds.

Back then, facing the male body on a hospital bed, her mind was full of subcutaneous tissue, cells, blood vessels, nerves and such; she was too busy finding the pathology to notice the differences between male and female bodies, let alone feeling any emotional stirrings.

Now looking at Mu Yuanxiu, she realized that when not viewing boys as patients, they could actually be quite adorable.

Thinking about everything that could happen after marrying him, Li Yuzhu’s face couldn’t help but blush.

Mu Yuanxiu watched her like this, noticing her ears gradually turning red, her eyes filled with spring warmth, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Li Yuzhu snapped back to reality, seeing him just looking at her and laughing, without saying a word, her face instantly darkened.