Chapter 17 I also like the beautiful ones, so you need to marry a virtuous one.

"Dad, there really is reward silver of 300 taels!"

After sending off Lu Zhaoqi, Ms. Wang and the Li family gathered around.

The plump Ms. Wang was silly-smiling at the silver note in Yang Zhenshan's hand. A silver note! That was a silver note! It was her first time seeing a silver note in her life.

The Li family was also staring at the silver note with gleaming eyes, their greed unhidden.

Greed is actually quite normal; both Ms. Wang and the Li family came from ordinary farming households and had endured tough times; a sudden sight of a large sum of silver would inevitably evoke their avarice.

It wasn't just them, even Yang Minghao, the little rascal, came running over, "Dad, let me have a look at the silver note."

"Go play over there, this silver is mine, it's got nothing to do with you!" Yang Zhenshan said unceremoniously.

Damn it, I'm the one who earned the silver, and you ungrateful kids have the gall to covet it.

"Dad, just let me have a look. I just want to see, I've never seen a silver note before!" Yang Minghao said anxiously.

He was so eager, yet Yang Zhenshan was deliberately not showing it to him.

"Want a look?"

"Mhm mhm~~" Yang Minghao nodded like a pecking chick.

"Earn it yourself!" Yang Zhenshan tucked the silver note into his chest.

Yang Minghao watched as the silver note disappeared into Yang Zhenshan's chest, his mouth puckered in full disappointment and sulkiness.

"Dad, you don't love me anymore, sob sob..."

Yang Zhenshan "..."

Love you my foot!

I ain't your dad.

Seeing him almost cry, Yang Zhenshan felt disgust in his heart, but remembering the kid was only fourteen years old and still a child, he took out the silver note and said, "You are only allowed to look, don't tear it!"

"Thank you Dad!"

The very Yang Minghao who was about to cry had a smile that was about to split his face ear to ear when he saw the silver note.

He carefully took the silver note as if he was handling a rare treasure.

Ms. Wang and the Li family, too, craned their necks to look at the silver note, and even Yang Yunxue came over to join in the excitement.

The whole family looked like they had never seen the world before which gave Yang Zhenshan a toothache.

"Dad, does this mean I can get married now?" Yang Minghao suddenly said.

Get married!

Yang Zhenshan was taken aback.

Then he realized, Yang Minghao really should be considering marriage now.

Yang Mingcheng got married at fifteen, Yang Mingzhi got married at fifteen, now Yang Minghao was already fourteen, indeed, it was time to start arranging his marriage.

If the original body's wife was still here, she would probably have already started arranging marriage matters for Yang Minghao.

Marry at fifteen?

Yang Zhenshan scratched his head; this wasn't just premature love, damn it, it was criminal.

Okay, there was no marriage law from before here, marrying at fifteen or sixteen was normal, and being unmarried past eighteen would be a laughing matter.

But I also want to get married, I want to find you kids a stepmother!

Yang Zhenshan gave a glance to Yang Minghao.

Should I find you a wife, or should I find you a stepmother first?

This question was worth thinking about.

Yang Minghao felt a bit uneasy under his gaze, "Dad, what's wrong? Can't I get married?"

"..."

Yang Zhenshan was somewhat speechless, you're only fourteen, why the rush.

"Yes!"

"I'll arrange it in a few days!" Yang Zhenshan took the silver note and said gruffly.

Marriage here is about parental orders and matchmakers' arrangements, in simpler terms, a blind marriage and a mute bride, nothing but an arranged marriage.

Getting married is almost like opening a blind box. Before getting married, both parties probably haven't seen each other, not until the wedding night do they find out what kind of wife they have chosen, or what kind of husband they have married.

It's not a big deal for Yang Zhenshan to arrange a wife for Yang Minghao, after all, such are the customs, but for him to go through a blind marriage himself, that's something he can't accept.

He still wants to experience free love, to find someone he likes, not some stranger.

"What kind of wife do you want?" Yang Zhenshan asked.

"A beautiful one!" Yang Minghao said without hesitation.

A slight twitch appeared at the corner of Yang Zhenshan's mouth, 'Don't you even look in the mirror to see what you look like? And yet you want a beautiful wife. Are you worthy?'

Yang Minghao was not particularly handsome. Among the three brothers, Yang Mingzhi was the most attractive with his double eyelids and big eyes. If it weren't for his slightly dark skin, he wouldn't look much different from those creamy-faced young actors.

Yang Mingzhi's looks came from his original wife, while Yang Mingcheng and Yang Minghao resembled Yang Zhenshan somewhat—with their tall figures and ordinary faces.

"You should marry for character, Dad will find you a virtuous wife," Yang Zhenshan said indifferently.

I also like beautiful ones, so you should marry a virtuous one.

It was illogical, but Yang Zhenshan felt that this was the way it should be.

A daughter-in-law is not his own wife, after all. There's no need for her to be too pretty.

"Dad~"

Yang Minghao looked at him grievously, but Yang Zhenshan couldn't be bothered to waste words on this informal son and turned to enter the inner room.

Sitting on the heated brick bed, Yang Zhenshan's thoughts moved, and the phantom image of the Spiritual Spring in the stone pond appeared before his eyes.

The stone pond, the Spiritual Spring, the boundless darkness—it all seemed to be the same as before, but a careful observation would reveal some changes.

Firstly, the spring water in the stone pond, a pool of water clear to the bottom, rippling gently, was no longer just enough to fill a bowl but was now nearly a ladleful.

Considering that today Yang Zhenshan had already drunk a bowl of the Spiritual Spring Water, yet there was still so much left, it was evident that the daily outflow of spring water had increased significantly compared to before.

By Yang Zhenshan's estimate, the spring's daily output from the eye at the bottom of the pond was about two bowls, almost double the previous amount.

Secondly, the stone pond itself had grown larger, from originally only about a foot in size to now roughly three feet.

The increase in spring water and the expansion of the stone pond were quite apparent changes.

Yang Zhenshan took a porcelain bowl, filled it with spring water, and gulped it down.

The water was still refreshingly sweet upon entry, but the warm current and the comfortable sensation spreading throughout his body were no longer present.

This was not to say that the spring water had lost its previous effects, but rather that Yang Zhenshan's body was no longer as run-down as it had been before.

After swallowing a bowl of the water, Yang Zhenshan took a kettle, filled it with spring water, and set it to boil for making tea.

As dusk approached, the sky suddenly began to scatter fine snowflakes.

The snowflakes fell whisperingly like granulated sugar, devoid of the lightness of a heavy snowfall, bringing the crisp chill of deep winter.

"Elder brother, second brother, youngest brother, come drink some tea!" Yang Zhenshan called the three brothers who were tidying the yard into the main house.

"Dad!" The three brothers entered, brushing the snow frost off their bodies.

"It's cold, have a cup of hot tea to warm up!" Yang Zhenshan unobtrusively poured each of them a cup of tea.

Yang Zhenshan also sipped his tea. Tea brewed with Spiritual Spring water tasted sweeter.

The tea at home was nothing special, just the common tea leaves found in the town.

In Anning County, tea leaves are incredibly valuable. Even the most common tea leaves cost four to five hundred copper coins per pound, not something ordinary people could afford.

The reason for this is that Anning County does not produce tea. The tea available on the market is all transported from thousands of miles away.

Yang Mingcheng and his brothers had grown so big but hardly ever drank tea. They had no clue about the quality of tea, so they simply gulped it down after picking up their cups.

"Eh! The tea is actually sweet?" Yang Minghao smacked his lips, savoring the taste of the tea.

Yang Zhenshan watched him, his cheeks twitching slightly, 'What a fool, it's like casting pearls before swine to give him tea.'

"Dad, another bowl!" Yang Minghao, oblivious to Yang Zhenshan's inner commentary, reached out and asked.

"Pour it yourself, fill one for your elder and second brothers too," Yang Zhenshan sipped his tea nonchalantly as the three brothers shared a pot of tea and finished it in no time.

All three brothers felt a warm moisture circulating inside them, their bodies filled with a comfortable sensation. However, they did not suspect there was anything unusual about the tea; they simply thought it was a normal reaction to drinking hot tea in the freezing cold.

Naturally, Yang Zhenshan did not disclose the matter of the Spiritual Spring Water to them. Seeing that the three brothers had finished the tea, he turned back and returned to the house.