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Yingbao sneakily glanced at the girl in the green dress. Sure enough, her face showed surprise, and then she quickly blushed and ran out of the shop without even taking the chestnut cake she had bought.

The girl in the red dress, who was following her, didn’t leave. She stared at Jiang Quan for a moment, covered half of her face with a handkerchief, and pointed at the shelf, saying, “Brother Jiang Quan, I also want to buy a box of chestnut cakes.”

Jiang Quan handed her the chestnut cake that the girl in the green dress had left behind, “The two of you can share a box.”

Both young ladies were daughters of Pan’s silk shop, but the one in green was the legitimate daughter, while the one in red was the illegitimate one.

The daughter of legitimate birth had plenty of silver coins at her disposal, but the illegitimate one was relatively poor.

Jiang Quan knew so much about them because these young ladies often came to the shop to buy things, and his sharp-eyed observations had helped him figure this out.

The girl in the red dress blushed, curtsied slightly to Jiang Quan in gratitude, and ran off carrying the box of cakes.

Yingbao, observing her second cousin, noticed he didn’t change his expression. She realized he was clueless.

She estimated that the girl in the red dress was likely to have her heart broken.

“Yingbao, I don’t want to go home.”, Jiang Quan told his younger cousin, “Business is really good during the New Year. I want to stay here to look after the shop.”

Yingbao said, “But we’ve already sold out of our goods. All the other cake shops are also closed. What would you manage if you stayed?”

Jiang Quan chuckled, “I’ll set up a wheel in front of the shop and run a game of chance.”

“A game of chance?”

Yingbao frowned, “That’s gambling. We aren’t in need of money. How could we rely on that kind of business?”

Jiang Quan scratched the back of his head and muttered, “It’s only for a few days a year, let’s just give it a try.”

The imperial court strictly prohibited the business of gambling, but during festivals, they would relax the rules a little to let people have some fun.

Knowing her second cousin was determined to try gambling as a business once, Yingbao reluctantly agreed, “Fine, I’ll come too, when the time comes.”

“Ha-ha! I knew you would want to play too.” Jiang Quan, seeing his cousin relent, cheerfully jumped up. Then he said in a low voice, “I’ve already bought the wheel. Let’s go try it out.”

“You’ve already bought it? Where did you put it?” He was acting first and reporting later.

Jiang Quan left his younger cousin in the shop, and he ran to the backyard with her. From his room, he brought out a colorful, large spinning wheel.

The wheel was about five feet wide, filled with various colored fan-shaped patterns of different sizes, with smaller patterns offering better prizes.

The colors were divided into black, red, orange, blue, green, and white, varying in size.

“Look at this!”

Jiang Quan demonstrated to his cousin. “You spin the wheel, quickly, that’s right! Just like that. I’ll shoot the arrow at whatever pattern, and that’s the prize I win.”

He lifted a bow and arrow and shot it at the spinning wheel.

Thump!

The arrow hit the wooden spinning wheel. Yingbao stopped turning the handle and looked to see what her second cousin had hit.

The arrow was lodged in a white pattern.

The white section was the most common on the wheel, signifying no prize.

Yingbao pulled out the arrow and threw it to Jiang Quan, urging him to try again.

Resultantly, Jiang Quan shot ten arrows in total. Five hit white, four hit green, and only one hit blue.

“Second cousin, you can set the prizes according to this ratio.”

The highest prize also needed to be regulated. It should neither be too low nor too high in value, or else they would suffer a loss.

Jiang Quan exclaimed joyfully, “I know, I will have everything prepared by then.”

Yingbao glanced at him skeptically before saying, “I don’t want any of the money you make from this, and our elder brother probably won’t want it either. But you cannot become obsessed with this.”

“How could I? This game is only allowed for three to five days a year. Even if I wanted to get addicted, there isn’t enough time!”

Jiang Quan put away his bow and arrows and moved the turntable back to his room.

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, Jiang Cheng got married.

Before dawn, nine horse carriages and mule carts set off from Dongchen Village towards the county town to pick up the bride with their bridal gifts.

The villagers didn’t see how many gifts there were, but when the wedding party returned, the bride’s dowry was lifted down from the carriage, all thirty-six items, stunning the whole village.

These thirty-six items of dowry was displayed openly, silk fabrics, silverware, and copper coins, enough to dazzle anyone.

The bride’s relatives who had come to see her off were also carrying bamboo baskets, throwing copper coins and sweets into the crowd, causing the children to scramble for them.

Jiang Cheng, resplendent in his wedding robes, helped his bride down from the carriage, causing another gasp of admiration.

“Oh my, this young lady is too beautiful, she’s like a queen from the court, they make such an attractive couple.

Wang Ershen did not hesitate in her praise, her glance flicking towards Chu Man who was standing not far away.

Someone echoed, “Oh yes, look at Jiang Cheng, he used to be unremarkable, but now he has truly blossomed, even more handsome than a young master.”

“Ha ha! Of course, all the Jiang family members are good-looking, and now they have made a fortune. Any girl who gets married into the Jiang family, that’s really a blessing from the ancestors.”

The women were chattering enthusiastically, all while scrambling for sweets and copper coins.

One of them even nabbed a silver spoon, and immediately burst into toothless grins. “The Jiang family is generous indeed, throwing out silver!”

“Wow, is that about an ounce?” Someone admired.

“Of course, Jiang Cheng has made a fortune with his shop in the county town. Being able to buy a two-building mansion at such a young age, he truly is a man of wealth.”

The crowd chattered and laughed uproariously until the bride was escorted into the Jiang family’s mansion.

Chu Man watched the couple who were the center of attention, almost grinding her silver teeth in frustration. She turned around in a huff and headed home.

Along the way, she ran into Chen Zhao, who was carrying Xubao. She glared at her and snapped, “What are you doing running around with the kid? Have you made dinner yet?”

Chen Zhao, not one to back down, shot back, “We’re going with grandma and grandpa to have a feast at the Jiangs’, we’re not eating at home!”

Chu Man was angry and reached out to hit Chen Zhao, “You all have something to eat, then what do I eat? Go back and make dinner!”

Even if she was lacking in smarts, she knew she couldn’t attend the feast at Jiang’s. Otherwise, she would be laughed to death.

Chen Zhao didn’t manage to dodge in time and received a slap across the face. Instantly furious, she let go of Xubao and charged directly at Chu Man, hitting her squarely in the abdomen.

“Ouch!” Chu Man fell backwards to the ground, clutching her belly and crying out in pain.

Chen Zhao spat at her, then grabbed her brother and headed for the Jiang’s, leaving Chu Man crying on the ground.

She was done dealing with this woman’s melodrama.

The Jiangs had set up dozens of banquet tables, inviting the entire village to the feast.

Of course, people from West Village on South Slope were also notified, and everyone gathered.

Even the blind old father of Li Dayong and Li Eryong was helped in to sit at the banquet table.

The wine was rice wine brewed by Jiang Dalang himself. It was a sweet and sour drink that was really tasty, and even the elderly and children could have a few sips.

Long before his son was betrothed, Jiang Dalang had his wife cook rice to start brewing rice wine. They brewed two full vats, which came in handy now.

Yingbao also tasted this rice wine, and she found it tasted better than the fruit wine she brewed herself, it had the rich aroma of rice along with the sweet and sour taste.

Maybe she should brew some to keep for herself?

Just as she was thinking that, Chuchu called out to her, “Yingbao! Yingbao! Come quickly!”

Yingbao got up from the banquet table and ran outside, “Chuchu, what’s wrong?”

Chuchu looked anxious: “I think Chu Man might be having a miscarriage. Could you take a look?”