Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 409 - 406: Flattery (4000, two - s combined)

Chapter 409: Chapter 406: Flattery (4000, two Chapters combined)

On the 16th day of the eleventh lunar month, Chu Lingxuan took a few witnesses to the Capital City. General Fu knew of Chen Shiying’s troubles and courteously offered Chu Lingxuan ample leisure.

Today, Afu needed to add to Aman’s dowry as she was to set off for the Capital City tomorrow, becoming the bride to the Yang family on the 30th day of the eleventh lunar month.

A day before, Afu lent a helping hand to Dabao and Alu in applying for leave. They both had good relations with Aman and wanted to hang out for the day. With the two of them not attending school, little Chu Lingzhi also enjoyed a holiday, and they all decided to spend the day playing together.

By late morning, Afu took all the children and animals from the ’Animal House’ to Chen Shi’s house.

At the beginning of the month, Chen Shi and Mrs. Zhang had approached Afu to borrow 100 taels of silver, which they intended to use as Aman’s treasure box silver and promised to return it once Chen Shi received his year-end bonus. They also mentioned about renting a courtyard house in the Capital City for Aman to rest until her marriage. Initially, Yang Mingyuan offered them a house for Aman to stay, but Chen Shi declined arguing about the absurdity of the bride’s family staying in the bridegroom’s house.

Afu contrarily thought of her three-story house in the Capital City which they could utilize to reside temporarily. This would save them from spending lavishly and was also a pleasant choice.

Chen Shi and Mrs. Zhang were extremely pleased and couldn’t help but express their gratitude to Afu.

Afu laughed and said, "We are all family here, there’s no need to be so formal. Ayu is competent, Atang is studious and Aman is dutiful. The road to prosperity for the third uncle and aunt starts here."

Overjoyed, Mrs. Zhang said, "Amitabha Buddha, aunt, I hope your words bring good luck."

Mrs. Zhang was dressed in the silk garment that Afu had given her two years prior, which had faded from repeated washes. The ornamental hairpin that she wore was also gifted by Afu and her dressing was noticeably modest compared to Mrs. Hu. Even though Chen Shi was the wine shop manager, he dressed decently. Despite being spouses, Mrs. Zhang’s simplicity made it seem as if she was several years older than Chen Shi.

Currently, Mrs. Zhang not only despised Mrs. Hu but also harbored grievances towards Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye.

Admittedly, the third room did earn significantly more than the first, but their expenses were also comparatively higher. While they boasted about their wealth, their lifestyle barely allowed them to make ends meet, whereas the first room, despite constantly complaining about their poverty, went on buying fields and houses with an unending flow of money.

In fear of the consequences of offending the second room, which had Afu, even the first room acted with respect. Also, because Chen Ming secretly gifted them 100 taels of spending money, the first room built an even better rapport with the second room. However, they weren’t at all careful about how they behaved towards the third room. They lived, ate, and mooched off them without any conscience, especially Mrs. Hu, who behaved as if they were entitled to it.

These issues resulted in several arguments between Mrs. Zhang and Chen Shi.

Thankfully, the head of the household finally had their own compound in the capital. A few days ago, when they came to the capital, they didn’t reside with the third room but stayed at their own property instead.

The horse carriage carrying Afu and the rest hadn’t yet reached the alley when they saw Atang and Dahu waiting for them. On seeing the Chu family’s carriage approaching, Atang asked Dahu to run back home with the message and climbed into the carriage where Alu and the other boys sat.

As the carriage reached the doorstep, Chen Shi, Mrs. Zhang, and Ayu had already come out to welcome them. Ayu came especially to receive Aman who would travel to the Capital City with Mrs. Zhang the next day. On the 25th, Chen Shi would take Atang to the Capital City

Belonging to the Chen family, Afu and her entire family were regarded as esteemed guests of Chen Shi’s house. Not only the family but even the guests greeted them on their arrival.

Today there were many guests at the Chen household, people from the first and the second room had arrived, along with a few guests from the Provincial City, Zhang’s maternal family, and even Hu Laowu and his wife.

A few days back, both the first and the second rooms had shifted to their new homes and thus had invited some guests. As Afu was busy with Chen Shiying’s affairs, she just sent gifts, but couldn’t attend the invitation herself. Alu would stay at the new house as long as Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were living there.

To not disturb Afu, Chen Shi and Mrs. Zhang tidied up a room in the east wing specifically for Afu and her family to rest.

Afu asked both the mothers to take the twin babies and Li Xuan to the room while she, accompanied by Alu and the others, went to add to Aman’s dowry.

Afu, being fond of Aman and having good relations with the Yangs, presented her with an exceedingly generous dowry: two pieces of brocade, two colorful silk satin duvet covers, two solid gold hairpins, and 50 taels of silver. Moreover, this was just to extend Aman’s dowry. The wedding gifts for the Yang family were far more extravagant and would be handed by Manager Luo, on behalf of Chu Lingxuan and his wife, who lived in the Capital City.

Alu, Dabao, Chu Lingyan and Chu Lingzhi also added two taels of silver each, and Mrs. Luo on behalf of the Luo family added ten taels of silver.

Aman was dressed in a peach-pink half-sleeved blouse and a light pink skirt. The young and beautiful girl’s face was full of shyness and happiness.