The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 2053 - 2028: Family Assets

"No," Zhou Silang directly interrupted him and said, "Second Brother, Lijun doesn’t want to get married at all right now, okay? Do you know how much money she can earn in a year? Well, I don’t know either. But do you know that the accounts and money at home are all in her hands? The official fields in Pu Village, which our little sister manages, are said to be overseen by our elder brother, but the accounts are still with her. All the spending and rent collection in the village go through her."

"She’s living very well at home now, she earns money when she wants, and she has the respectability she desires. At home, there are either uncles or aunts, and she doesn’t need to serve anyone. Instead, she gets to eat once she picks up a bowl and chopsticks. Why would she want to get married?"

Zhou Silang said disdainfully, "And besides being good at studying and a bit smart, having a lot of land, a good reputation, and some family assets, what else does Xiang Mingxue have to offer? He’s several years older than Lijun. So how could Lijun possibly be interested in him?"

Zhou Erlang: ... Is this a criticism or a compliment?

He turned to look at his wife and indeed saw her eyes shining. Ms. Feng asked, "Is this Young Master Xiang really that good at studying?"

Zhou Silang nodded seriously and said, "Before anything happened to his family, he was already a student at the prefecture school. Do you think that’s impressive or not? Initially, after studying at the prefecture school, he was supposed to come to Beijing to take the Imperial Academy exam."

"Isn’t that just like Young Master Bai?"

In Ms. Feng’s view, there was no man in the world more promising and outstanding than Bai Shan, and only her little sister could match him.

And now, there was someone similar to Bai Shan interested in her daughter...

Ms. Feng immediately asked, "Who else is there in Young Master Xiang’s family? I seem to have heard you mention that he is also from our Jiannan province."

Zhou Silang nodded, "His family isn’t far from ours. There aren’t many people left in his family, just a few clan brothers and an elder, but they aren’t close."

Zhou Erlang couldn’t help but pull Ms. Feng slightly, but she slapped his hand away and continued asking, "How much land does his family have?"

Zhou Silang replied, "Much more than our family. Many of his family’s shops and houses they couldn’t recover, but the court confiscated quite a bit from the Prince of Yizhou and returned it to him. I heard him say that they sold and rented out all the shops and houses they could. They receive a bit of rent each month, and the land that was under the Prince of Yizhou’s name has been mostly returned, especially Dongxi Village; most of that land is considered his."

Even Zhou Erlang clicked his tongue, "So wealthy, is he really interested?"

Ms. Feng, hearing all these good things, became hesitant, "Could there be something wrong with him?"

Although the circumstances are really good, if the person has any issues, that’s not going to work either.

Zhou Silang: "... Second Sister-in-law, he was just delayed by seeking revenge, what issues could he have?"

"The revenge was already settled two or three years ago. Why hasn’t he mentioned marriage yet?"

Zhou Silang thought for a moment and said, "His mindset is a bit different from others, and he doesn’t really trust people, which is why he hasn’t brought up marriage."

Ms. Feng became more cautious, "That won’t do. If he can’t trust the person next to him, what’s the point of marrying him?"

Even though she was quite tempted by Xiang Mingxue’s wealth and intelligence, hoping that Erya marrying well could help support the family and Second Son in the future.

But if he doesn’t trust people, then marrying him is meaningless. How can a couple live a life where there is no trust? That life would be flavorless.

"Second Sister-in-law, if he doesn’t trust Lijun, he definitely wouldn’t bring this up. When we went to the prairie together, we always discussed and cooperated with each other."

Ms. Feng was tempted again, but Zhou Erlang decided to be more cautious, saying, "Why don’t we wait until our little sister comes out and ask her?"

He said, "Didn’t they say he suffered severe injuries before, even having his Achilles tendon cut? We need to ask about his physical condition as well, just in case... You wouldn’t want your daughter to become a widow too soon, would you?"

Ms. Feng thought that made sense and immediately became less rushed, "Yes, let’s ask little sister."

Zhou Silang’s initially enthused thoughts simmered down a bit. He nodded and said, "Alright, I’ll talk to him again later."

It’s mainly about clarifying what his actual intentions are.

Zhou Lichong suddenly appeared out of nowhere, surrounded by siblings, looking at Zhou Lijun, "Second Sister, is that what Young Master Xiang means?"

Zhou Lijun felt irritated, "How would I know?"

She had always regarded him as a hero, a friend, a partner in cooperation, who knew he was thinking in that direction?

And it was just a hint, not clearly stated, how was she supposed to say anything?

Ms. Feng bustled over from the other side, pulling Zhou Lijun, wanting to have a private talk.

Zhou Lijun sighed inwardly, feeling truly unlucky. She had thought about using Zhou Liwei’s marriage to avoid this year’s topic, but who knew she’d end up in the spotlight.

Zhou Lijun allowed her mother to pull her into the room, obediently sitting at the table, watching her close the door.

Ms. Feng asked with concern, "Erya, be honest, when we asked you this afternoon, you blushed. Do you also like Young Master Xiang?"

It was indeed a misstep, Zhou Lijun contemplated for a moment, feeling that admitting it might not benefit her much now. What if something that doesn’t exist becomes settled? Whether or not Xiang Mingxue had such intentions, she was not willing to just haphazardly agree.

So she shook her head, "Mother, I’ve always regarded Brother Xiang as a hero, I’ve never thought of marrying him."

"Why not?" Ms. Feng asked, "Your Fourth Uncle said he’s good at studying, has a lot of land and property, and besides being slightly older, he has no other issues. It’s said he entered the prefecture school at a very young age, much like your uncle-in-law."

"Far from it," Zhou Lijun blurted out without thinking, "Brother Xiang is smart and loyal, but he’s still far inferior to uncle-in-law academically. My uncle-in-law is now sixteen and about to take the scholar examination, whereas he only joined the prefecture school back then."

She added, "Just take Fourth Uncle’s words as they are, don’t take them too seriously. The court did return some of his shops and houses, but those shop locations aren’t great, or they were forcibly vacated. Forget about selling, they’re even hard to rent now, mostly closed or used by his people for small businesses."

Back then, those who followed Xiang Mingxue, after the Prince of Yizhou died, he started to dismiss them, giving money to send them back home, or giving land and shops to settle them, and those who remained are now travelling with him for trade.

At that time, he didn’t have much money. The dismissal funds came from the sales of houses and some shops, the unsellable ones were given to family members and followers who wanted to settle down. The many lands he recovered were also distributed among people this way.

"But indeed, he does have a lot of land, and it’s good land," Zhou Lijun said, "Back then his family owned good land, and after the Prince of Yizhou acquired it, he always kept it for himself. So when the Prince’s estate was confiscated, that land was directly returned to him, along with his family member’s land."

So Xiang Mingxue may lack other things, but he has plenty of land.

So... Zhou Lijun was slightly tempted. She actually had an eye on his wealth, which just annoyed her when she thought about it.

Ms. Feng suspiciously sized her up, asking, "How come you know so much?"