"The Delightful Farmers Wife"
"Here they come, here they come, the new bride has arrived..."
As the children cheered and gathered around, a festively decorated carriage gradually came into view for those who had been waiting at the Jiang Familys Door for quite some time.
Before long, the carriage adorned with red silk arrived outside the Jiang home.
Dressed in brand new clothes, walking gracefully beside the carriage was the youngest son of the Jiang Family, Henry Jiang. It wasnt until the carriage came to a complete stop that he lifted the curtain.
In an instant, a fair and slender hand, clearly well-maintained, gently rested on Henrys tanned and rough hand. Emerging from the carriage was a woman in a strikingly bright red wedding dress, with a slim and petite figure, similar to the village girls around twelve or thirteen years old, and an exquisitely small oval face that was pale without a hint of color.
Emily Grant slightly furrowed her brows as she surveyed the distance from the carriage to the ground, seeming troubled.
"Dont be afraid..." Suddenly, a hand with a rough and tanned touch slowly encircled her waist, effortlessly and swiftly lifting her off the carriage.
Emily cast a surprised glance at him but didnt say anything.
Once Emilys feet touched the ground, the crowd breathed a sigh of relief, and a chorus of chatter immediately erupted.
Paying no mind to the gazes of others, Emily allowed Henry to lead her into the courtyard.
One word, poor.
Emily instantly realized the dire situation of her new husbands family.
The yard, which one could see through in a single glance, had a few adobe houses that were particularly eye-catching. To the left and right of the main house were two rooms each, with a lush vegetable garden on the left, and the pungent pigpen was a neighbor to the room on the right.
Despite having prepared herself mentally, Emily could not have imagined the Jiang familys condition to be so dire.
With a rather helpless sigh, Emily resigned herself to follow Henry to the main hall.
Emily slightly turned her head to glance at Henry Jiang, who was tightly holding her hand, and together they slowly knelt on the straw mat.
The ceremony and tea offering were completed in one smooth motion.
The marriage was now official...
Emilys smile remained unwavering, but her fingers subtly pinched the red envelopes they had received, her lips twitching slightly.
Not a single copper coin!
Nevertheless, it couldnt change the fact that she had married Henry Jiang and become a part of the Jiang family. She would now have to learn to adapt to everything about the Jiang family.
"Mother, look, this is the finest rice! And this meat must weigh fourteen or fifteen pounds. Mother, we have meat to eat!" A shrill female voice filled with amazement rang out.
Emily followed the sound and saw that it was Uncle Gu, who had been with her since childhood, directing the servants to bring in the goods.
Those items were bought by Uncle Gu from the market early in the morning. Previously, he had been worried that the Jiang family was too poor and lacked the food to host a feast.
Now it was clear that there was no intention to prepare a feast, and if she hadnt brought these things, it seemed that the first day of her marriage into the Jiang family would have been spent hungry.
"Sister-in-law is indeed from a wealthy family, probably used to eating big fish and meat at home, right?" The woman who had just screamed in amazement finally tore her eyes away from the rice and meat, her face covered with freckles, suddenly smiling as she approached Emily.
"My goodness, what an exquisite box, I bet Sister-in-laws dowry is quite substantial too?" Before Emily could speak, the woman, upon seeing her dowry box, her eyes lit up, and without a second thought, she pounced on it, examining it eagerly.
However, as soon as her plump hand touched Emilys dowry box, she was met with a fierce glare from Henry Jiang, forcing her to dryly laugh and reluctantly move away.
Henry Jiang glared at Mrs. Meng before walking over to Emily and gently saying, "Wife, lets go back to the room and rest..."
"Okay..." Emily responded softly. After taking a few steps, she saw several children eyeing the meat: "Husband, lets let mother use those things to make a meal..."
"Since its a gift from my wife, Ill trouble my dear sister-in-law to cook for everyone to satisfy their cravings."
The extremely quiet woman standing not far away, with a faint smile on her face, agreed: "Xiao Wu, youve worked hard all day, go back to the room and rest first, dinner will be ready soon."
Emily silently followed Henrys steps forward, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart. As the sound of pigs grunting grew louder, she realized with a tearful expression that their room was indeed the one next to the pigpen.
Seeing Emilys gaze fixed on the pigpen, Henry Jiangs slightly tanned face showed clear embarrassment: "My wife, Im sorry for the inconvenience..."
Emily snapped out of it and didnt speak, only instructing to have her dowry carried into the room, and followed suit.
The room was so simple that everything was visible at a glance, with only a bed against the left wall, a wooden table missing a leg, and two chipped, wobbly stools. The pale bedding, though full of patches, was very clean.
Although old, it was spotless, indicating that the owner of the room had put in effort.
Emilys heart was already numb.
Just then, Uncle Gu, after arranging everything, prepared to bid farewell to Emily: "Miss, I should start back now, take care of your health..."
"Thank you, Uncle Gu..." Emily bowed slightly to the housekeeper in gratitude, which was hard to express in words.
Seeing this, Uncle Gu blinked, concealed his reluctance, and left without looking back.
"The red silk fabric is quite good, why dont you give it to me!" Suddenly, Mrs. Mengs shrill voice rang out again. Emily poked her head out the window and saw Mrs. Meng, seeing that Uncle Gu and the others were leaving, hastily pulling the red silk from the horse, unwilling to let go.
Uncle Gu glanced at her indifferently, naturally not wanting to deal too much with Mrs. Meng, such a greedy and ignorant woman. He signaled to the servant boy, hurriedly left with the carriage.
"Housekeeper, why would Miss marry into such a family? Its too shabby, isnt it? We came all this way to send the bride, not even a feast, not even a glass of water was offered!" The servant boy, clever as he was, only dared to complain after they had walked far enough.
"You want to die! Dont talk nonsense like that back home!" Uncle Gu interrupted the servant boys complaint with a cold face.
But in his heart, he felt sorry for Emily. Miss was the one he had seen grow up, with her frail and sickly body, it was estimated that she wouldnt last half a year in such a desolate place!
He couldnt understand why the madam could be so cruel to Miss.
At this moment, Emily wasnt thinking about anything, just quietly sitting on the bed, observing the figure bustling around the room for her.