After dinner, Zhu Liu Shi coaxed her youngest daughter to sleep, then nudged Zhu Kaishan, who was lying beside her, and asked in a low voice.
“Husband, what are you going to do about our eldest son’s marriage?”
“Ai, I don’t know what to do either. Even if we borrow money from the village, we can at most gather three taels. Adding the sale of some of your dowry, we can get five taels at most.”
“That’s still half a difference from the ten taels of betrothal gifts the Wang Family is asking for. Besides, even if we bring Wang Xiaomei over, where will the two of them live!”
Zhu Kaishan looked dejected; his Family was too poor.
Raising four children was already extremely difficult, but the eldest son had reached marriageable age, and as his father, he should naturally find a solution.
He couldn't let the Zhu Family's incense (lineage) die out in his hands.
But he had thought of all the methods he could, and he had already spoken to all the relatives he could borrow money from.
However, everyone was poor, and it was already quite good if a Family could lend three or four hundred Wen.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Liu Shi also felt a bit disheartened.
Her own maternal Family was also poor, and she couldn't borrow any money at all. Moreover, her dowry was small, and she couldn't sell it for much.
For a moment, both fell silent.
After a good while, Zhu Liu Shi spoke in a low voice.
“How about we send Second Wa and Third Wa to the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) to see?”
‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering), Zhu Kaishan was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what this ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) was.
This ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) was organized by a large Family named Yun, several hundred Li away, over a hundred years ago.
Every ten years, this Yun Family would send out a large number of people to hold ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) in various towns.
Fifteen years old or younger, unmarried, gender not specified.
As long as one was selected, the selected person must change their surname to Yun and sever all ties with their original Family.
However, the original Family would receive a hundred taels of silver as compensation.
To put it bluntly, this ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) was a child-selling gathering.
Zhu Kaishan and Zhu Liu Shi had both participated when they were young but were not selected.
Their eldest son also participated ten years ago, and likewise, he was not selected.
According to Zhu Kaishan’s recollection, it seemed that no one had been selected from the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) in Huanglong Town for the past hundred years.
But even so, as soon as the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) began, children of suitable age from every village would be forced by their parents to participate and try their luck.
If by chance they were selected, a hundred taels of silver would be enough to allow a Family like Zhu Kaishan’s to live a good life.
Not only would rural farmers let their Juniors participate, but even some slightly less affluent wealthy households would quietly send some Juniors, after all, the Yun Family was a large Family, not on the same level as their small families.
“If they are selected, they have to change their surname!” Zhu Kaishan was somewhat reluctant.
“What’s wrong with changing the surname? They are still your, Zhu Kaishan’s, offspring!”
“Besides, if they are selected to go to the Yun Family, it’s much better than being stuck in our home, isn’t it! Moreover, with a hundred taels of silver in hand, the eldest son’s marriage and new house will be settled, and the marriages of Second Wa or Third Wa later will be much easier.”
“We can also enjoy some peace and quiet later.”
Zhu Liu Shi immediately retorted.
“We’ll see later, anyway, there are still two months until the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering),” Zhu Kaishan said this and then pretended to be fast asleep.
In fact, he was also somewhat tempted by his wife’s suggestion, but he just couldn’t get past the hurdle of changing the surname and severing ties.
The first day of September was the start of the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering), which lasted for three days.
However, Zhu Kaishan’s Family set off for town early in the morning.
Zhu Gouwa knew he was going to participate in the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering), and worried that if he were selected, he brought the pearl with him.
Fearing it would get lost, he asked Zhu Liu Shi to sew a small cloth bag for him, and also made a strap so he could wear it around his neck.
He deceived his mother, saying he wanted to put a round stone he found inside.
And Zhu Liu Shi was also afraid that if her third son was selected, she wouldn't be able to compensate him later, so she agreed to his request.
The Family, dressed in new clothes, walked on the main Dao, alongside villagers from Zhu Family Ba Village, who, like Zhu Kaishan, were dragging their children along to try their luck at the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering).
Huanglong Town was dozens of Li away, and after walking for an hour, they finally arrived.
By then, the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering) had already begun, located on a small earthen dam in the town center.
Three square tables were arranged in a line, two Zhang apart, with three queues in front of them.
Zhu Kaishan’s Family consciously joined the end of a queue, slowly moving forward.
After more than half an hour, it was finally their Family’s turn.
Zhu Gouwa also looked at the items on the square table.
A white cloth, a foot in size, with a palm-sized white jade placed on it, and an old man in a green robe sitting behind the table.
This was the entirety of the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering).
His second brother sat on the opposite chair, extending his right hand flat on the table.
The old man carefully placed the white jade in his second brother’s palm, then pressed his own right hand on top.
Then he closed his eyes.
After ten breaths, the old man opened his eyes and motioned for his second brother to leave.
When it was Zhu Gouwa’s turn, he did the same.
The process was identical, but when the old man closed his eyes, he felt a cool current rush out from the white jade into the palm of his right hand, then travel along his arm, circulate within his body, and then quickly return to his palm and back into the white jade.
The old man opened his eyes and looked at Zhu Gouwa with great surprise.
He put away the white jade, then turned to signal a young servant nearby.
The servant was startled for a moment, then quickly walked over and motioned for Zhu Kaishan’s Family to follow him.
Zhu Kaishan was also stunned, wildly thinking, could it be that Third Wa was selected?
And Zhu Gouwa also looked utterly bewildered.
After the Family followed the servant for a while, they arrived directly at the residence of the town head, Huang Youde.
In a side hall, the servant inquired in detail about Zhu Kaishan’s Family’s situation, then asked the Family to wait there, and he departed first.
“Husband, is this Third Wa…?” Zhu Liu Shi asked in a low voice.
Zhu Kaishan did not answer but nodded slightly.
This affirmative answer almost made Zhu Liu Shi faint with joy.
If Third Wa was chosen, then all of their Family’s problems could be easily resolved.
However, after only a moment of happiness, she quickly turned her gaze to Third Wa.
“Third Wa, if you were to go to another wealthy Family, would you be willing?”
As soon as she spoke, Zhu Kaishan turned his head to look at Gouwa, and even his eldest brother looked at him with the same earnestness.
As long as his third brother agreed, his own marriage would be settled.
“I am willing,” Zhu Gouwa said, as if possessed, seeing everyone’s gaze.
To be honest, he actually wanted to leave the Zhu Family too.
They couldn't eat meat even once a year, and when he slept at night, because the bed was too small, his eldest and second brothers squeezed him into the corner of the bed, making sleeping very uncomfortable.
It was these two reasons that made him, at such a young age, make the most important decision of his life.
Upon hearing this answer, Zhu Liu Shi and his eldest brother were the happiest, while Zhu Kaishan showed a slight hint of disappointment, though he quickly hid it.
Approximately the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the servant led two old men into the side hall.
One of them was Huang Youde, the town head of Huanglong Town.
The other was presumably the Yun Family’s manager in charge of the ‘Xuan Cai Hui’ (Talent Selection Gathering).