Tran Phuong Sinh, who was over thirty and still unmarried, said with his eyes gleaming:
"Not only does she have big hips, but her chest is also well-developed. You can tell just by looking that she'll be good for bearing children. So what if she's dark-skinned? A woman is a woman because she can be married and give you several children!"
These men were all bachelors, and Tran Hung wholeheartedly agreed with Tran Phuong Sinh's words:
"Uncle Sinh is right, what's the use of a woman who can't give birth? When you're old, won't it just be the two of you, all alone? Just like that Mai from Tu's house. The betrothal gift and the house ate up all of Dai's money, and she's been married for two years now, hasn't she? Not even a fart to show for it!"
Van Dau put on a mysterious air: "Of course, if you're going to marry, you have to marry one with a good figure. Look, he just brought her home this morning. That kid Hai Toan has barred his door and hasn't come out since!"
Tran Phuong Sinh wore a lewd expression: "His new wife just got home, what would he come out for? To shoot the breeze with a bunch of bachelors like us? Wait until you have a wife, then you'll see if you can bear to leave the house!"
Tran Hung and Van Dai were the same age, both twenty-five.
Just the mention of women made him uncomfortable.
You couldn't blame Tran Hung. At twenty-five, he wasn't considered an old bachelor in the village yet, but down in the lowlands, men his age already had children growing up.
Hearing Tran Phuong Sinh's words, he was extremely envious. He silently made a resolution to marry a wife, no matter what.
In these deep mountains, marrying a wife was a distant dream. Most of the women were brought back from other places by the village men who went to ask for their hand in marriage.
Just then, another bachelor, Tran Vi, came over: "Damn it, when I've saved up enough money, I'm definitely going to marry a wife with a big butt and big breasts. You guys didn't see her, but I guarantee that wife Hai Toan brought back will give him a whole litter of kids!"
As Tran Vi's words reached them, everyone couldn't help but gulp, thinking to themselves: If only I were Hai Toan!
A group of bachelors gathered around, their conversation circling back and forth, always about women.
Van Dau's family was not well-off. Among the three brothers, the youngest was only ten, while he, the eldest, was twenty this year.
His mother was a lame woman whom his father had married from down the mountain. She had given birth to six or seven children, but now only four remained: three sons and one daughter.
He knew that getting married anytime soon was impossible for him: "Damn it, if heaven ever takes pity on me and lets a wife fall from the sky, I'd die a happy man!"
"Ha ha ha… you kid, you really know how to dream! You're not the only one in this village who wants a wife to fall from the sky. Even if one did, it wouldn't be your turn to pick her up! Come on, it's better to work a little harder, save up some money quickly, and go marry one from outside the mountains."
"Hey, Dai, I think the widow Dien's daughter seems to have her eye on you. What's wrong, you don't want to marry her? Even if she's a young widow, it's still better than having no woman at all, right?"
Tran Phuong Sinh's words successfully shifted the attention from Hai Toan to Van Dai. The image of Thi Hoa immediately appeared in his mind.
It wasn't that Van Dai didn't want to marry; in fact, he desperately, desperately wanted a wife.
But that Thi Hoa not only had a plain appearance, but her mother, the widow Dien, also had dealings with the old bachelors in the village.
Especially when the widow Dien learned that her daughter liked Van Dai, she declared that he would have to build a house with a courtyard larger than his younger brother's, and on top of that, provide sixteen quan as a betrothal gift.
Hearing this, Van Dai was immediately discouraged. The house with a courtyard for his younger brother had already cost him ten quan. To build a bigger one would cost at least fifteen quan, wouldn't it?
Fifteen quan plus sixteen quan, that's thirty-one quan!
And he, in total, had less than five quan to his name!
Which family in this village could possibly produce thirty-one quan? Wasn't this just a deliberate attempt to make things difficult for him?
Although Van Dai was born and raised in the mountain village, he often went down to the town to sell his game, so his knowledge of the world was different from that of the average man.
He knew that the widow Dien looked down on him, so after hearing this news, he decisively gave up on the idea and resolved to marry a good girl in the future.
In truth, he didn't find that woman pleasing to the eye either.
Never mind that Thi Hoa had been married before, she was also dark and skinny—one look and you could tell she wasn't the type who could easily bear children!
Hearing this matter brought up, Van Dai felt displeased: "At the very least, I have to marry a woman like Hai Toan's wife. Didn't Uncle Sinh say a woman needs big hips to bear children easily? In this lifetime, I must have both sons and daughters to make it all worthwhile!"
Everyone found Van Dai's words to be very practical. Who marries a wife just to look at her? What good is a wife who can't give birth?
Besides, that widow Dien, how many of the bachelors over forty in the village hadn't had dealings with her?
Perhaps that Thi Hoa was already intimate with some bachelor herself!