My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Chapter 177 Cen Cheng's Family Affairs

The second sister nodded thoughtfully, lowering her eyes, not knowing what she was thinking.

On the way back, we met an old lady from the next village who got on the bus. She was very familiar and started talking to the three sisters.

"Are you going to the county town to look at shops? Does the workshop need any more staff? My daughter is very capable!"

The younger sister put on a smile and said, "Auntie, it's hot now, and the cooked food business is limited. We don't need anyone for now. If we want to expand in the fall, we'll let everyone know. You can send your daughter over to try it out then."

"That's good, that's good." The old lady smiled, said some polite words, and showed off her children. Then she said mysteriously, "I was in the county town to see the Cen family's excitement and saw your ox cart, so I hurried over to take a ride back home."

The younger sister laughed and said, "Oh? Auntie went there specifically to watch the fun. We passed by there and saw that the road was blocked, so we had to go around. The Cen family... Actually, there are many families in the county town that we don't know well."

The old lady bumped her arm affectionately and said, "Hey, you might not be familiar with people in the county town, but you should be familiar with people in the village. Have you never heard of Master Cen from Xiangshan Village?"

The three sisters all looked surprised. They looked alike to begin with, and now it seemed like they were really cut from the same mold.

"Oh? The excitement Auntie just had, was it from Master Cen's family?"

The old lady said, "Yes, and no. Master Cen's family split up a long time ago. The Cen family in the county town is Master Cen's younger brother, and the two families only interact a little during the holidays. But I heard a while ago that the Cen family in the county town sent their only son to Master Cen's house. The father and son who were arguing just now were Master Cen's younger brother and his nephew, Cen Cheng."

The younger sister glanced at Si Muyan and saw that she didn't seem very interested, so she nodded: "I see, but we are not interested in other people's affairs..."

But even the most articulate little sister would encounter people she couldn't handle. This woman from the next village was so enthusiastic that she told the three sisters everything about the Cen family, regardless of whether they wanted to hear it or not.

"Master Cen's own son was a good-for-nothing and didn't like studying at all. He wanted to go out and butcher pigs. Later, he married the daughter of a butcher and actually went out to butcher pigs. His daughter married the owner of a grocery store and sat in the store selling goods every day."

"But his nephew is studying in the county town. He seemed to have passed some exam before... something, but he wasn't a scholar. A while ago, he was beaten by his own father, so he was sent to him, hehe."

The three sisters were indifferent, but Song Erqiang, who was driving the car in front, became interested: "Wow, why was he beaten? What did he do wrong that his own father would beat him?"

The old lady's face became even more mysterious. "You don't know, do you? Cen Cheng was already twenty-four. He was originally engaged, but after passing an exam, he thought he could pass the imperial examination and broke off the engagement. In the end, he didn't pass the exam and wanted to reconcile, but how could the girl accept him? Then, when he was twenty-two, his mother found him another wife. She was the youngest daughter of Zhang the Butcher... Oh, right, Zhang the Butcher's eldest daughter is Mr. Cen's daughter-in-law!"

"Daughter-in-law?" Song Erqiang muttered as he drove the carriage. After a while, he finally realized, "That is to say, if this marriage goes through, the two sisters will marry two brothers from the same family?"

"That's right! What a wonderful match! Sisters become sisters-in-law, and both families are happy." The old lady laughed heartily. "But the butcher Zhang's father passed away, which delayed the marriage for a year. By the time the girl finished mourning, the two families were ready to get married, and you know what happened? The Zhang family's youngest daughter found out that Cen Cheng had a mistress outside, and she was even a mistress!"

Si Muyan's expression changed again and again, and her second sister also looked strange.

Xiaomei and Song Erqiang asked in unison: "What is a fan head?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" The second sister pulled the youngest sister and said to the eldest sister with a serious face, "Auntie, please stop talking nonsense. My sisters are all unmarried girls. How can we listen to such things?"

Si Muyan calmed down and said calmly, "There are too many shameless men. The Zhang family girl is lucky, otherwise she would have suffered so much grievance after getting married."

The eldest lady was originally embarrassed by her second sister's scolding, but after hearing Si Muyan's words, she slapped her thigh and said, "Oh, that's exactly what happened. The Zhang family's daughter went back crying, refusing to get married no matter what. So the marriage was ruined again. The second master of the Cen family was so angry that he went home and hung up his son, beat him, and sent him to Xiangshan Village, asking Master Cen to take care of him!"

My younger sister asked, "If that's the case, why did Cen Cheng appear in the county again?"

The old lady said, "That's what happened. Today, someone went to tell Mr. Cen that his son had gone to that prostitute's house again. Mr. Cen flew into a rage and rushed over and slapped Cen Cheng twice. In front of so many people, Cen Cheng couldn't hold back, so the two of them started fighting. Tsk tsk tsk tsk! This is the first time I've seen a father and son fighting!"

While they were talking, the old lady arrived, gave them two copper coins, and got off the car to go home. The second and youngest sisters were lamenting the shamelessness of men, and said that Si Muyan was right, that Cen Cheng was really a playboy.

A few days later, Si Muyan's first down jacket was finished. Although it couldn't compare to modern down jackets, it still looked good. The three sisters worked on it for a whole day, but the fabric was dense, so not much down was produced.

Si Muyan said: "Not bad. If it were a single layer of cloth, it would be enough for a whole winter."

The younger sister interjected: "It's good for the winter. If it doesn't work out, we can just take it apart and start over the next summer."

The second sister said, "But if that's the case, the cost will increase. It's probably not easy for ordinary people to buy one and make it every year."

The fabric is denser than normal, so the cost increases exponentially. If it needs to be disassembled and redone every year, the labor is not easy and more fabric is wasted.

The younger sister waved her hand nonchalantly, "Clothes like this aren't made for ordinary people. Look at this vest. It took so much duck and goose down. The ducks and geese we slaughtered in the past few days are only enough for this one."

Si Muyan clapped her hands and said, "This winter, let's make one for each of our family members first and try it out. We'll consider selling it later or what."

The younger sister nodded and said, "Let's start collecting duck and goose down now. We can definitely make down jackets for our family."

Si Muyan went to the county town again at the invitation of An Susu, who invited her to a private room for tea.

"Come quickly, I tell you, I'm getting married."

Si Muyan was shocked: "You've only been divorced for half a year, why are you getting married? Who are you marrying into?"

An Susu smiled and said, "He's a poor scholar my father used to support. He just passed the imperial examination this year. He heard that I was divorced, so he came to my house to ask for marriage!"