"When Erlang’s wife pleaded with , I didn’t agree imdiately. I said I’d discuss it with you," Lady Zhang said. "About this matter, father of the children, what are your thoughts?"
"Let’s look at Erlang..." Lian Shouxin thought for a mont and replied.
Lian Shouxin was inclined to agree to the matter, not for the sake of the Luo Family or Luo Xiaoying, but so that Erlang could have a normal life in the future.
When it ca to matters like this, since Lian Shouxin said so, Lady Zhang had no objections. The couple then looked at Wu Lang and Lian Manman; ultimately, the decision rested on what the two children thought.
"Brother, what do you think?" Lian Manman whispered to Wu Lang.
"When Luo Xiaoying ca, her eyes were red," Wu Lang said. "When she knelt and kowtowed to our father, tears fell."
"Is that so?" Lady Zhang asked Lian Shouxin.
"Yes," Lian Shouxin nodded.
"Then... is the child unwilling? Erlang’s wife told everything was agreed upon and thoroughly discussed," Lady Zhang said.
This situation was easy to explain. Luo Xiaoyan advocated for it and persuaded the Luo Family’s old couple. Luo Xiaoying couldn’t go against them, so although she agreed to end the marriage arrangents with the Wang Family and find another hard-working tenant family daughter in Luo Family Village, she felt wronged in her heart.
Luo Xiaoying was unwilling but had to yield, and she wasn’t the type to hide her feelings well, so her emotions showed.
"In that case, what should be done?" Lian Manman asked Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang, as her stance on the matter was indifferent.
"Marital matters are decided by parental decree and matchmaker arrangents, and no one can change that," Lian Shouxin said. "Besides, what skills does he have to support the family? If he had skills, there wouldn’t be so many troubleso matters. Given that, what choice does he have?"
"That’s how it is," Lady Zhang nodded in agreent.
This reflected the realistic and straightforward beliefs of people of this era.
"Looking at Erlang and Erlang’s wife’s intentions, the Luo Family’s old couple has been persuaded, and Erlang’s couple agrees as well. This young brother-in-law of Erlang’s, while not young anymore, still seems like a child to . In such important matters, he can’t be given full reign but should be guided. The Luo Family’s old couple tends to spoil the children, excluding Erlang’s wife," Lady Zhang said.
With Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang speaking in this way, it was clear they agreed to help. Lian Manman and Wu Lang exchanged a glance, and neither of the siblings opposed.
"This idea was surely thought up by my second sister-in-law," Lian Manman laughed. "What a clever plan."
Getting Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang to select a daughter from their own farmstead for Luo Xiaoying to marry, this would indirectly strengthen the ties between the Lian Family and the Luo Family, marking the Luo Family with the Lian Family’s seal. With such a connection, the Lian Family wouldn’t be able to entirely disregard matters of Luo Xiaoying’s marriage and future life, and they’d feel obliged to look after them to so extent.
Even if Luo Xiaoyan herself kept her promise to no longer handle Luo Family matters, the Luo Family would gain new support.
"Erlang’s wife has many ideas," both Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang nodded.
"It’s fate," Lady Zhang said. "Looking at the wives of our generation compared to those in Jizu’s and Erlang’s, they are entirely different. Each one is full of ideas and cunning... it’s fate."
"Alas, it’s also that so of them lack ambition," Lian Shouxin comnted. He was sowhat reluctant to accept what Lady Zhang said as fate. If it truly was fate, then Wu Lang and Xiao Qi, peers of Lian Jizu and Erlang, would also end up inferior to their wives and be led by them.
Privately, Lian Shouxin could not accept this possibility. Moreover, he believed his two sons would not end up as lacking as Lian Jizu and Erlang.
"We’re not doing this for others, just for our nephew," Lian Shouxin added.
"Then we’ll help him find one," Lady Zhang agreed.
"Tomorrow, have Shopkeeper Luo co over and ask if he knows of any suitable candidates," Lian Shouxin discussed with Lady Zhang.
"Alright," Lady Zhang nodded. "We must also make it clear that this matter can’t be forced and both the girl’s family and the girl herself have to be willing... When the ti cos, we’ll add a couple of things to her dowry."
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