Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 508 Persuasion (2)

They are farmers, and their grandson has not yet achieved any fame. If they were to ask for marriage, the other party would definitely not agree. It would be best if an official family took a fancy to their grandson and took the initiative to express their intention, and then their family would go and ask for marriage.

Therefore, she has been silently looking forward to it in her heart in the past few months, but unfortunately there has been no movement.

"No, I want to marry Song Ying."

Tao was stunned for a moment before reacting, and his face turned cold on the spot: "No!"

Then she remembered that they were both in the city, and in the north of the city, and she immediately asked sternly, "Does she often come to the academy to see you? I thought she was a good woman, but I was wrong..."

"No!" Yuan Qing said hurriedly, "She is so busy at the clinic every day that she has to squeeze in time even for meals. How can she have time to come to our academy?"

"Then how do you know she has to squeeze in time for meals?"

Yuan Qing was speechless for a moment, thinking that he had underestimated his grandmother. He had planned this a long time ago and naturally thought of the persuasive words in advance, but he did not expect that his grandmother was so perceptive and could find the loophole in his words at once.

He calmed himself down and explained, "I occasionally ask her to bring you messages and things. I'm only free at noon, so I thought it wouldn't interfere with their consultations. But several times I went there, I saw her still treating patients. The food kept getting hot and cold, cold and hot again, and she had to eat a meal in several portions."

This was indeed true, but Mrs. Tao was still skeptical. "Why would you want to marry her when you're all right? Didn't we agree before that after you pass the imperial examination, you'll marry a noble lady from a high-class family?"

"Before, I was young and didn't think things through. Marriage is about matching up, and a lady from a noble family might not be interested in me."

"Nonsense, my grandson is so talented and good-looking, how could no noble lady take a fancy to him?

Back then, the number one scholar, Shen, wasn't as good-looking as you, but he still managed to marry the county lady." Although Tao was worried, she definitely wouldn't think her grandson was any less capable at this point.

As for fifteen-year-old scholars, there were only a few in the surrounding area, and even in the entire Qingshui County, there were few.

"In grandma's eyes, I'm naturally the best." Yuan Qing first expressed his intimacy, then put on a serious look, "Over the years, I've also seriously considered that getting married is ultimately for living together. If a couple has different ideas, many things will lead to disputes, and life will not be peaceful.

As the saying goes, a harmonious family brings prosperity; if life at home is not peaceful, how can things outside go smoothly?

"Don't try to bluff me! Who says peasant boys and noble ladies can't have a peaceful life? The example of Shen Zhuangyuan is right there!"

"Shen Zhuangyuan's life wasn't always peaceful. A few years ago, his family held a chrysanthemum-viewing banquet after the Double Ninth Festival..."

"I remember that," Tao said before Yuan Qing finished. "They said a servant in the kitchen was not doing his job carefully and there was a fire. But what does that have to do with their uneasy life?"

"The Double Ninth Festival is a time for people to climb mountains and admire chrysanthemums. Normally, if the Shen family wants to hold a chrysanthemum viewing banquet, it should be held on the Double Ninth Festival. That year, it was held after the Double Ninth Festival because the Shunan County Lady wanted to restore her reputation."

"Restore reputation?" Tao was confused. What reputation could be restored by holding a flower viewing banquet?

"On Double Ninth Festival, Prefect Shen and County Magistrate Chen came to visit the number one scholar, Shen. One of the maids was not doing her job properly. She served steamed crabs but not the eight crab dishes..."

"Eight Crab Pieces? What are those?" Tao interrupted again.

"There are eight tools for eating crabs. They say there are hammers, pliers, shovels, etc. I don't know the details."

Tao thought about his hammer and spatula and was stunned. "A crab the size of a palm can be smashed to pieces with just one hammer. What's the point of using a spatula?"

No, who uses such a big spatula when eating? Does anyone have such a big mouth?

And what can you use tongs for? As chopsticks? Will they work well?

"They're not the usual hammer and pliers. They're the very small kind. You've seen the medicine scales used to weigh medicine at a clinic. They're much smaller than the usual scales. The Crab Eight Pieces should be the same."

Tao nodded: "I know this. The scale that doctors use is not called a scale, it should be called a balance!"

This was when she was young and accompanied her family to the clinic for medical treatment. It was the first time she saw such a small scale and was very surprised. She asked a few questions out of curiosity before she found out.

At that time, she felt that the doctors were too particular and even had to give the scales they used a different name.

Yuan Qing continued, "Shen Zhuangyuan thought it was okay not to have the eight crab dishes, but Shunan County Lady thought it was very rude to ask guests to crack crabs with their bare hands, and that it would make outsiders think that the Shen family had no background, was barbaric, and vulgar.

That's why we improvised a chrysanthemum-viewing banquet, hoping to redeem our reputation for barbarity and vulgarity with exquisite elegance."

"My goodness, eating a crab by breaking it with your hands is barbaric. What about them gnawing on the bones? They can't even hold it with their hands?" Tao was shocked.

"There will be slaves who specialize in picking out the meat."

"That's right, they have slaves." Tao could understand this very well. Slaves are there to do these things, otherwise there would be no point in keeping them.

Since gnawing bones is like this, the servants should have picked them out before eating crabs. I really don’t know what these people are thinking. They have to do it themselves even if they have servants, and use a lot of tools, which is a waste of money!

And the crabs, there wasn't much meat on them, so what was so delicious about them? When her family became officials and had money in the future, she would definitely buy pure meat and eat it with big mouthfuls.

Yuan Qing took the opportunity to say, "Look, this is why our concepts are different from those of the rich. Food is just a small matter, but there are other things. If there are too many, there will definitely be trouble. How can we have a peaceful life?"

Although Mrs. Tao didn't understand the ways of officials, she said, "What's the big deal? If you have differences, just work them out. When my grandfather and I got married, we had different ideas and we had several heated arguments. We just had to compromise. In life, there will always be times when our upper and lower teeth clash."

Yuan Qing thought to himself, it was grandpa who was retreating again and again, but I didn't see you retreating at all.

But these words should only be thought about in your mind and not spoken out loud.

He continued: "Some people can get along well, and some people will never get along in their entire lives."

"Don't try to bluff me. There are so many people in this world, and there are many poor families marrying daughters of rich families. Everyone has their own way of living."

She paused, took Yuan Qing's hand, and began to persuade her earnestly, "Qingwa, grandma knows that you men all want to marry a nice and beautiful wife and have everything go your way, but how can you have everything you want in this world?

Our family is poor. Since you want to marry a girl from a wealthy family and borrow her family's power, you have to endure what you should endure. If you don't understand the rules and etiquette of the wealthy family, you can learn from her.

If you can read such a difficult book, grandma believes that you can learn those etiquettes quickly too. It doesn’t matter if you don’t learn quickly, you will eventually learn it if you take it slowly.