“Zhenzhen, you know, I have two older male cousins, one older female cousin, and three older sisters, but I don’t have a younger brother or younger sister, so from the beginning, I treat you as my own little sister.”
“I know your older brother and you were separated at a very young age. You miss him very much. If you don’t mind, treat me like your own older brother before he appears.”
Big brother, little sister. Older brother, younger sister-
Fu Zhenzhen hid in the quilt, recalling Brother Yan’s words, her tears fell like rain.
Yan Lanhua slept in the same room with her, and she was awakened by the sound of her sobbing.
“Zhenzhen, are you okay?”
Yan Lanhua asked Fu Zhenzhen in the dark.
“It’s okay, I just had a nightmare.” Fu Zhenzhen replied with a strong nasal voice. Yan Lanhua did not do what she thought. She closed her eyes, unconsciously imitating how an adult coaxed a child and rhythmically patting her back, pat pat, she fell asleep again.
Fu Zhenzhen was looking at Fourth Sister’s sleeping face. In fact, in this house, apart from being a little taboo about the relationship between her and Brother Yan, everyone was already pretty good.
She could eat and dress warmly and would not be beaten. Sister Meihua, Sister Taohua, and Sister Lanhua were very good to her. They will teach her needlework and would share any happy things with her.
She thought, sure enough, she was too dissatisfied.
Fu Zhenzhen was holding the silk flower hairpin tightly in her hand. After so many years, she could hardly remember her elder brother’s appearance. She only remembered her elder brother, who was tall, big, tan-skinned, and strong, completely different from Brother Yan.
Big Brother, Big Brother-
Fu Zhenzhen closed her eyes and meditated in her heart. She should be content and learned to let go.
“Father, Mother, I want to discuss something with you.”
After Yan Chu became Juren57Jurena successful candidate in the imperial provincial examination, Yan Changxi stopped working in the fields. How could he say that he was also Master Juren’s father now? It was Yan Chu’s reputation that was lost when he went to work in the field, which made people think that his son was not filial.
It was true to say that Xiucai56Xiucaia person who has passed the county-level imperial exam was poor, Juren was rich.
Juren enjoyed the right to tax exemption for 400 mǔ39400 mǔaround 66 acres of land. When the news that Yan Chu was admitted to Juren first came, many villagers had come to offer their land, and they recorded their land under Yan Chu’s name. They gave him a harvest that was less than the national tax. In this way, they made a lot of money. Yan Chu’s filial piety money of hundreds of acres of land was enough to support his study and his family.
Besides, when you became Juren, there were naturally countless Xiangshen40Xiangshena scholar or government official living in one’s villages who gave you gifts and wanted to flatter you. In these short two days, Yan Chu did not know how many invitations he had ever refused to invite him to the banquet.
Yan Changxi used to work before, but suddenly he was idle. He was still a little uncomfortable. He was discussing with his wife whether he should find something else to do, and Yan Chu came in.
“Come here, Little Treasure. Your mother has peeled a lot of melon seeds for you. I know you don’t like peeling. I’ll let you have a good time then.”
Yan Changxi was proud to see his son. Such an outstanding son was his seed. How could it feel like a dream?
“Don’t disturb our son. Little Treasure, what you have to say just now? Father and Mother are listening.”
Li Qiuyue put the peeled melon seeds into the jar to prevent them from becoming moist, even if they would not be crispy and fragrant. Then she focused on listening to her son.
“I just want to talk about Zhenzhen.”
Yan Chu found a chair and sat down.
“Zhenzhen?” Yan Changxi and Li Qiuyue looked at each other with a dignified look.
The older the girl was, the better. Her son’s heart was not moved, right?
“Father, Mother, you also remember the rumors in the village when Zhenzhen first came home. Listening to Second Cousin, these rumors in the village began to spread again during this time.”
What their son wanted to say seemed to be different from what they imagined. Li Qiuyue thought for a while and shook her head in some doubt: “I haven’t heard someone gossiping it in the village recently.”
What a joke, their son was Master Juren. How many families in the village could match them? Who dared to gossip about their son?
“That’s what I think. Anyway, I take Zhenzhen as my younger sister. For so many years, everyone lives together and has feelings. To block the mouths of outsiders, how about you accept her as an adopted daughter? In this way, no one will talk about my relationship with Zhenzhen anymore. When Zhenzhen is old enough to get married, I’ll give her a dowry, there’s no shortage of money at home anyway.”
Yan Chu thoughtfully analyzed it for his parents. After listening to their son, Yan Changxi and Li Qiuyue felt that it made sense. Why did not they think of this idea before?
“But it’s not a trivial matter to recognize your relatives, your grandparents and the patriarch must make it clear, otherwise your father and your mother’s mouth will be closed and it won’t be counted.”
Yan Changxi was in a bit of a dilemma. He did not know if his parents would agree. After all, it was his mother’s idea to buy Zhenzhen as a child bride.
“Grandparents know the severity and shouldn’t refuse, but after all, it’s you two, the parents who want to adopt her as a daughter. I only come to discuss with you first.”
Both Yan Changxi and Li Qiuyue were happy when their son put themselves first. In this way, even the last bit of reluctance to adopt the girl as their daughter was gone.
After truly thinking about, that girl Zhenzhen was also very good. In the future, she would be given a dowry for her to marry. If the other party had a conscience, she was also a moving relative.
Yan Changxi and Li Qiuyue did not think much, so they took Yan Chu to find Oldman Yan and Yan née Jiang, planning to tell them about this.
“I disagree!”
When discussing the issue of recognizing a relative, Yan Changxue and Liu Fuchun, two unrelated people, were the first to oppose it, and their opposition was particularly fierce.
“Mother, think about it, Fu Zhenzhen is just a little girl bought by our family. What’s our Little Treasure’s status now? Is it strange to have a servant girl at home? You two are crazy to adopt her as a daughter.”
How could Liu Fuchun agree with the fact that Yan Changxi and his wife wanted to adopt Fu Zhenzhen as their daughter? If this happened, the patriarch would also agree, how would she sing in subsequent plays?
It was possible to frame Yan Chu and Fu Zhenzhen for adultery after she was adopted as their relatives. But in this way, not only Yan Chu’s future was completely ruined, but their family would also be implicated. If it was not good, her two sons’ official careers would be broken.
It was necessary to know that there was no difference between the adopted relatives and biological relatives in ancient times. If after Yan Changxi adopted Fu Zhenzhen as his daughter and then something happened to the other party and Yan Chu, it would be a violation of the ethical codes, family rules, and national laws.
He was Juren with a little scholarly honor. If he got into the eyes of those who wanted to make this matter big, he could be sentenced to prison.
No matter how bold Liu Fuchun was, she did not dare to take that risk.
So she could not agree to this matter.
There was some truth in what the eldest daughter-in-law said, and both Oldman Yan and Madam Yan hesitated a little.
“What Eldest Sister says is right. Besides, that child Zhenzhen shouldn’t be promised to Little Treasure, but she can also be promised to Second Treasure.”
The old lady still thought that the child bride she bought with a bag of grain could not be wasted. Seeing that the second grandson of the eldest son’s family tended to follow his elder brother, she felt that it was better to keep a wife for him if he really could not be a Xiucai in the future.
“Mother, what are you talking about? How can that girl be qualified to marry our Second Treasure.”
Liu Fuchun’s eyes widened, and she could hardly pretend to be filial. This old lady became more confused as she grew older. It was not enough for such a lowly little girl to be worthy of her son.
“You don’t like Zhenzhen?”
The old lady was surprised. When she used to think about sending Fu Zhenzhen away, it was the eldest daughter-in-law who stopped her. She thought that the other party liked that girl very much and wanted to ask her to be her daughter-in-law.
“I like her, what’s not to like? But it’s not the same thing to like that girl as my daughter-in-law.”
Liu Fuchun also realized that she had slapped herself in the face, and quickly changed her tone.
“Grandma, now the rumors in the village are about to rise. I still think that Zhenzhen is the most suitable to be my adopted sister. At least others won’t talk about it again. And Zhenzhen is the one you grew up watching. What kind of character she has, do you still don’t know? We’re just acknowledging a relative and we aren’t at a loss.”
Yan Chu’s one line was more effective than ten others. First of all, what Old Father Yan valued most was his little grandson who gave the whole family a face. When the other party spoke, he agreed almost without hesitation.
“Changxi, you’ll go to the patriarch to talk about it later. Since you want to recognize a relative, you better have a big gift. It’s better to invite all the villagers. We have to tell people that the child bride matter is unfounded. From the beginning to the end, we treat Zhenzhen as a granddaughter and a daughter.”
Yan Changxi responded to his father’s instructions and went out without stopping.
“Eldest Sister, Zhenzhen will be your niece in the future, those thoughts, you should accept it as soon as you can, don’t make trouble, it’s too ugly.”
Oldman Yan thought the couple had a small intention to give Fu Zhenzhen to his eldest grandson Yan Duan. After all, Yan Duan had been married to his wife for so many years, and she did not even give birth to a daughter. It was normal for the couple to be anxious about this matter.
Yan Changxue and Liu Fuchun did not know what the old man was thinking. They just thought that their intention had been seen through by the old man. They turned pale and did not dare to say anything to stop them.
When Yan Tao came back from school, everything had settled. Fu Zhenzhen, who was entangled with him in his previous life, had become “his” sister.
