Shan Shishi no longer feared her elder sister, now that she was married. Just as the wedding procession returned, Shan Shishi marveled at the dowry piled on the ox cart.
"Heavens, what kind of dowry is this that it fills an entire ox cart?"
Shan Yin Yin had intended to make a sarcastic remark, but she wasn't foolish. Seeing the fully laden ox cart, she bit her tongue, fearing she'd be proven wrong.
Madam Wu was the happiest. Her son was finally getting married. Although she couldn't sit in the main hall awaiting their bows, she was content.
Someone shouted from outside the courtyard gate, "The bride has been brought back! Light the firecrackers quickly!"
"Aye, we'll light them right away."
As the crackling of firecrackers filled the air, Father Shan and Madam Huang, waiting in the main hall, held their breath.
In the east room, Madam Zhang, sitting on the heated brick bed, couldn't stop smiling.
She was old. To live to see her grandson's wedding was a blessing from heaven.
The relatives beside her, seeing the elder's joy, offered auspicious words.
Suddenly, she heard a commotion outside. At first, Madam Zhang didn't think much of it. It was natural for a wedding day to be chaotic.
However, the sounds seemed off. Why were there so many gasps and sighs of envy?
No, she had to go see. She wouldn't allow anyone to cause trouble for her grandson and his bride.
The more Madam Zhang thought, the faster she moved. She grabbed her shoes from the windowsill, put them on, and got out of bed.
The relatives beside her stared, surprised by the old woman's agility.
At the courtyard gate, Shan Xiaocong was helping his bride over the brazier and the horse's saddle.
Madam Zhang saw nothing amiss and was about to return to her seat when she noticed many helpers looking towards the gate.
On the ox cart at the gate was her granddaughter-in-law's dowry. She couldn't read, but her son and grandson could, and they had told her what was on the dowry list.
When her son told them, she and her daughter-in-law had thought they misheard.
Not only was there money for the chest, but there were also four hundred catties of grain – two hundred catties of millet and two hundred catties of wheat. This was fine grain.
Her son had remained calm then, but the other three women in the household had changed their expressions.
She was the oldest and had experienced the most. From when the family fell into trouble until now, it had been years since so much grain had entered the house, let alone fine grain.
Qi Xiaoqi's voice rang out, "Unload the bride's dowry."
The soldiers from the flag immediately stepped forward.
Neighbors and helpers alike watched as the young men carried dowry items one by one from the ox cart. Their eyes were fixed on the goods.
Setting aside the envy and jealousy of others, even Shan Yin Yin, the elder sister-in-law, felt a pang of bitterness.
Madam Zhang, being shrewd, saw her grandson's companions helping to unload the dowry and called out, "Come, put it all in the newlyweds' new room."
Han Xue, still veiled, felt even more respect for the elder woman upon hearing her words.
Outsiders also gave a thumbs-up, calling her a sensible person.
After everyone had carried the bride's dowry into the new room, the onlookers were still marveling.
Some couldn't wait and whispered, "I never expected the Meng family to be so generous, providing so much for a maid."
"The Shan family will be well off too. Did you see those four large bags of grain, both millet and wheat?"
"My heavens, that's all fine grain!"
"Indeed, and there were twenty taels of silver for the chest."
"It was thirty taels. Miss Fu gave twenty, and Madam Fu gave another ten."
"Thirty taels?" Some people's mouths hung open, their eyes darting around.
"When they went to meet the bride, Magistrate Meng also gave a large red envelope. He said it was at least two taels."
"Then, then the Shan family is fortunate."
"Of course, they are. With these things, the new bride could live peacefully for ten to eight years without doing anything."
"All those things, spent in ten or eight years, how wasteful!"
Shan Yin Yin stood behind these people, listening to their gossip, and even forgot about her brother and sister-in-law's wedding ceremony.
She was truly envious.
Her husband's family had a similar number of people to the Shan family, but her husband had a younger brother.
He was burly and could eat a lot.
Putting aside other food, just cornmeal mush, he alone would eat a basinful per meal.
Coupled with that petty sister-in-law who couldn't stand not getting any advantage, Shan Yin Yin felt her own life was without hope.
...
In the evening, Fu Xinci learned from Qi He about the Shan family's reasonableness and was happy for Han Xue.
"Brother Qi, I want to go to Longcheng tomorrow."
"..." Qi He wanted to suggest waiting until his day off to accompany Sister Fu.
But then he thought that Sister Fu might have something important to do in Longcheng, so he agreed. He also cautioned Sister Fu, "Come back early."
Fu Xinci was indeed going to Longcheng for an important matter.
On her last trip to Longcheng, she had casually mentioned to the captain and others how many soldiers at the Thousand-Household Office liked glass.
At the time, Uncle Xu and Uncle Sun's eyes had lit up. Fu Xinci knew the prominent past identities of these two handsome uncles before the apocalypse.
One was a renowned professor and doctoral supervisor at a prestigious university, and the other was a senior engineer at a large state-owned enterprise.
If these two put their heads together to create something, forget glass, even more complex items were no problem.
Fu Xinci's visit to Longcheng today was to find out if the experiments of these two handsome uncles had been successful.
However, she had a feeling that it was one hundred percent successful.
Don't ask her why she trusted the two handsome uncles so much; the reason was simple: the two uncles had never disappointed them.
Indeed, when Fu Xinci appeared at the gate of the courtyard where her companions lived, she saw several large pieces of glass propped up under the window of the main room.
Perhaps because of the distance, she sensed something unusual and couldn't help but walk closer to examine them.
As she drew near, she noticed that the edges of these pieces of glass were adorned with colorful patterns.
There were bamboo shoots with scholarly elegance, opulent peonies, plum blossoms that defied the frost and feared no worldly affairs, and cranes symbolizing longevity.
Fu Xinci was ecstatic. These patterns were simply tailor-made for the ancient people of this era.
She dared to say that once these glasses were released, not to mention their inherent appeal, the patterns on them would surely cause a great sensation and a massive buying frenzy.
Those self-proclaimed aloof scholars and calligraphers, those wealthy and powerful magnates, and those politicians vying for power – she believed there would be something to capture their hearts.
Even the ladies in the palace would be made to argue fiercely over these glasses.