“Two hundred yuan for the bride price?! Don’t you think you’re asking for way too much?!”
The one who spoke wasn’t Miao Miaomiao, nor Huo Qichuan, nor Dong Chengpeng—it was… the village chief.
With his belly sticking out, he scolded Qin Dafen. “Aunt Dafen, don’t bully this young man. In our village, the bride price for girls tops out at one hundred yuan at most. They’re not city girls… What’s more, Daniu is a widow. Asking for two hundred yuan is really excessive!”
“How is it excessive?” Qin Dafen retorted. “I fed her and housed her—doesn’t that cost money? What’s wrong with asking for a bit more? Village chief, honestly, don’t side with outsiders. We should be united against people from outside…”
“Oh, give it a rest,” the village chief snapped. “I’ve received the Party’s glorious education—I will never take so much as a needle or a thread from the masses!”
Miao Miaomiao blinked. She really hadn’t expected that this pot-bellied village chief, who looked like a corrupt official, would actually be so upright and fair.
The argument over there was still raging.
Feeling a bit awkward, she turned back and glanced at that man.
He stood behind them with a stiff, cold face, saying nothing.
What kind of situation was this? He hadn’t even agreed to marry her yet, and over there they were already arguing about how much bride price to give. This was ridiculous.
But…
She also had a slightly selfish thought.
“Comrade, could I borrow a moment to talk somewhere?”
Miao Miaomiao walked up to him and looked up at the tall man before her.
Huo Qichuan lowered his head and glanced at her.
The girl’s eyes were round and bright, glistening with moisture. She lightly bit her lip, which was tinged with a faint peachy pink.
His gaze blurred for a second before he immediately turned his head away.
After all, she was the widow of his deceased subordinate—though only in name, not in fact—and he really couldn’t…
“Talk about what?” he asked coldly, deliberately avoiding her gaze.
Miao Miaomiao spoke awkwardly. “Good comrade, although this idea is very selfish… I still want to ask—would you be willing to marry me?”
“Hm…?”
He turned back sharply, eyes widening.
“But I don’t mean a real marriage,” she hurriedly waved her hands. “I mean… a fake marriage for one year. After a year, we’ll divorce… Please don’t worry, I’ll pay you back the bride price… No, no, I’ll pay you double. Double!”
Miao Miaomiao held up two fingers, her face flushing all the way down to her neck.
She knew this proposal was absurd.
But there was no choice—this might be the only way to pull herself out of the fire pit.
Otherwise, if she stayed, even if she wasn’t sold off by that money-grubbing mother-in-law today, she might still be married off by her son-preferring mother tomorrow.
Rather than letting her family manipulate her, she might as well take the initiative herself.
But that would mean sacrificing him…
Huo Qichuan turned his head back and stared at her in disbelief. “You mean… a fake marriage?”
He frowned, his eyes growing darker, the chill radiating from him even stronger.
Miao Miaomiao clearly felt it.
She shrank back in embarrassment. “Just… a suggestion…”
Sigh. It seemed this wouldn’t work.
That was fine. Such a ridiculous proposal—no normal man would accept it.
She shouldn’t have put him in such a difficult position.
Miao Miaomiao made up her mind: in the future, she would rely on herself to fight those people.
“I’m sorry… just pretend I never said anything.”
After saying that weakly, she immediately fled back as if escaping.
Huo Qichuan stared at her retreating figure, his expression complicated.
Dong Chengpeng quietly sidled up to him and tugged at his sleeve. “Brother Huo, you’re done for. That bunch really seems determined to trap you. We should hurry and slip away.”
Huo Qichuan turned his eyes to him.
After a long while, he finally said, “How can I avoid responsibility?”
With that, he strode forward.
“No, brother… don’t be stupid!” Dong Chengpeng chased after him, unable to stop him in time.
His steps moved farther and farther ahead.
Miao Miaomiao saw him coming and hurriedly waved at him, whispering, “Comrade, you should hurry and leave.”
The next second, her wrist was firmly grasped by the man’s strong hand, and she was pulled along with him.
What… what was going on?
Miao Miaomiao was stunned, staring blankly at the man beside her.
His profile was extremely handsome—the high-bridged nose, the sharply defined jawline, full of masculine charm.
She remained dazed as he led her forward.
Holding her hand, Huo Qichuan walked up to everyone and said, “Stop arguing. I’ll marry her.”
The argument between Qin Dafen and the village chief came to an abrupt halt. Both stared at him in disbelief.
“Hehe, so does that mean you’ll give me the two hundred yuan bride price?”
Qin Dafen reacted lightning-fast, immediately smiling ingratiatingly. “My Daniu isn’t cheap, you know. The whole village knows that all the women in her family are easy to get pregnant. Just look at her—fair and tender, with wide hips. One look and you can tell she’s good for bearing children. The bride price can’t be low!”
The way she said it made it sound like she was selling a sow.
Miao Miaomiao was so angry her face turned red.
This was ridiculous. She wasn’t even her daughter—what right did this wicked mother-in-law have to decide her bride price?
Gritting her teeth, she cursed back, “Old hag, let me tell you—you’d better not be so greedy! When I married into your family, you only paid a hundred yuan. Now you want to double it? Believe it or not, I’ll slash my own face so you won’t get a single cent!”
“You… you wouldn’t dare!” Qin Dafen snapped angrily.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“You little brat, so disrespectful—believe it or not, I’ll beat you to death!”
As she spoke, she raised her hand.
But just as it was about to strike Miao Miaomiao, Huo Qichuan stepped forward, shielding her. “Two hundred it is.”
“Huh?”
Everyone present was stunned.
I mean—even buying a stalk of vegetables at the supply store required bargaining, let alone negotiating a bride price.
The village chief hesitated, Dong Chengpeng behind him jumping anxiously in place.
As for Miao Miaomiao, while she was moved, her head felt even bigger.
What was going on? This man actually agreed to two hundred—didn’t that mean she’d have to pay him back four hundred later?
That was a huge sum!
She wanted to cry.
She’d originally planned to haggle—maybe she could’ve talked it down to eighty yuan. Who would’ve thought he’d agree so readily?
Was this another trap?
But she didn’t have time to think too much. This man looked upright and decent, and he even dared to go to the police station—he clearly wasn’t a bad person. Far better than that filthy family of hers.
Fine. Two hundred it is.
Miao Miaomiao was confident—there was no way she couldn’t earn this money back with her abilities.
In novels, weren’t transmigrated heroines always ridiculously lucky? Just going up a mountain and they’d dig up ginseng or lingzhi. One day she’d go digging too—maybe two hundred yuan would come back just like that.
The matter was quickly settled.
Huo Qichuan gave her a string of phone numbers, told her that someone would come to propose soon, and then left.
Holding the number, Miao Miaomiao felt like she was still living in a dream.
But on the other side, Shen Cuiping was far from happy.
That very night, she snuck into Qin Dafen’s room, tugging at her mother’s arm and pleading, “Mom, please show some mercy. That man spends money so generously—he must be rich. Such a good marriage, why didn’t you save it for me instead of giving it to that widow?”
Qin Dafen glared at her. “Bah! You little wretch, you just fancy him because he’s handsome, right? Use your brain—he’s never even touched you. How am I supposed to make him marry you?”
Shen Cuiping lowered her head after being scolded, her face still full of unwillingness.
“Mom, that’s not necessarily true.”
Shen Jianzhang also came in. “Don’t be foolish. This kind of good marriage should’ve been left for Third Sister. Why should that widow get to marry such a good man?”
He sat down beside the two women and said slowly, “We can agree for now. On the wedding day, we secretly send Third Sister to marry him instead. Then we marry off the widow again—wouldn’t that be three hundred yuan total?”
Hearing this, Qin Dafen slapped her thigh hard. “Right! How did I not think of that?”
“Hehehe…”
The whole family laughed slyly.