“Heaven has been defied!” Old Mrs. Wang was furious beyond measure.
“I’m informing you, not negotiating with you. If you don’t agree, then get out and go back to your old Liu family.
Don’t think I don’t know, you ungrateful wretch, you’ve been sneaking things from our old Song family to your mother every day.”
Liu Zhaodi knew she was in the wrong and didn’t dare argue back with Old Mrs. Wang, so she could only turn her gaze to Song Erlin.
“Husband, say something! Your mother wants to use our Hongxia to arrange a marriage exchange for your nephew.”
“Ahem—”
Song Erlin’s eyes darted back and forth. “Mother, Weimin is capable. Being able to marry into the wealthy Wu Family is also the child’s own ability.
But the match Zhaodi’s family introduced for Hongxia isn’t bad either.
They said if the two kids can make it work, they’ll give our family a bride price of six hundred sixty-six yuan and sixty-six cents.”
“That much?” Old Mrs. Wang’s heart stirred fiercely once again.
There were still several grandsons in the family who weren’t married yet. With this bride price of six hundred sixty-six yuan and sixty-six cents, it would be just right to get wives for Yaozhong and Dabao.
Song Yaozhong was the youngest son of the eldest branch, seventeen years old this year.
Song Dabao was the only son of the second branch, fifteen years old this year.
By rights, they were still young, not yet at the age to marry, but Old Mrs. Wang was anxious.
As for those grandsons from the third branch who were already adults and urgently needed wives, Old Mrs. Wang didn’t pay them any mind.
“Grandma!”
Song Weimin gave Old Mrs. Wang a look, and she coughed awkwardly a few times.
“Erlin, it’s not that I’m favoring your eldest brother, but you can see it too—in our family, generation after generation, Weimin is the only one who’s become a Shangpinliang holder.
Right now, his marriage is definitely the most important matter for our family.
Think about it, Dabao isn’t getting any younger either. He refuses to go to school, and it’s no solution for him to just idle around at home, eating and waiting to die.
If Weimin marries Meili, and Hongxia marries Dawei, then our families will be doubly connected by marriage.
With that relationship, I don’t believe the Wu Family wouldn’t be willing to find Dabao a job in the city?
Our Dabao is handsome. With a city job, why worry about not finding a city wife?”
Hearing this, both Song Erlin and Liu Zhaodi felt their minds stir slightly.
Song Dabao was their lifeline. When they, the old couple, passed away a hundred years from now, Dabao would still have to wear mourning clothes, carry the funeral basin, and lead the procession for them.
Compared to their two daughters, they hoped even more for their son to have a future.
After all, only if their son succeeded could they enjoy blessings in turn.
Once daughters married, they were like water spilled out—nothing could be expected from them.
“Second brother, second sister-in-law, don’t mind if your eldest sister-in-law speaks harshly. You know what kind of person our Dabao is.
Every day in the village, if he’s not stealing chickens or dogs, he’s peeping at widows bathing. If he keeps staying in the village like this, sooner or later he’ll end up in jail or eating lead.
But if he could have a stable job, who knows—he might become the pride of our old Song family, just like Weimin.”
For the sake of her third son’s future, Zhao Guifang deliberately made her words sound more severe.
Song Shulin and Shen Xiuzhen also spoke up at the right moment, lending her a hand.
“Second brother, eldest sister-in-law is right. Just yesterday I saw Dabao coming out of Widow Zhang’s house, saying her roof was leaking and he went to fix it for her.
With his kind that can’t carry a load on his shoulders or lift with his hands, what kind of roof could he fix?”
“That’s right, those people in our village gossip every day about Dabao having an affair with Widow Zhang.”
The couple, never ones to shy away from stirring up drama, recounted in detail all the gossip that had spread through the village in their previous life after Song Dabao and Widow Zhang’s affair came to light.
Song Erlin was so enraged by this that his coughing fit stopped, but his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
“What a load of bullshit! That shameless Widow Zhang must have seduced my son again. Just wait till I tear her apart!”
Liu Zhaodi rolled up her sleeves and headed straight for the front door.
“Get back here! Haven’t we been embarrassed enough?” Song Erlin felt utterly humiliated.
He was well aware of the affair between Song Dabao and Widow Zhang.
But Song Dabao had been spoiled rotten by him and Liu Zhaodi since childhood, and now, no matter what they said, he wouldn’t listen.
After a moment of deep thought, he finally spoke slowly.
“I have no objections to Hongxia marrying Wu Dawei, but we want a dowry of one thousand yuan. On top of that, their family must find Dabao a job in the city.”
With the head of the household having spoken, Liu Zhaodi couldn’t bring herself to object any further.
A dowry of one thousand yuan, plus a city job—this deal was far from a loss.
“Uncle, isn’t that dowry a bit too much?” Song Weimin frowned deeply.
Wu Meili, a city girl, hadn’t even asked for a dowry. Why should Song Hongxia, a country bumpkin, demand one thousand yuan?
“Then there’s nothing to discuss!” Song Erlin stood firm.
“Grandma!” Unable to argue further, Song Weimin turned to Old Mrs. Wang for help.
Old Mrs. Wang gave him a reassuring look before shifting her gaze to Song Shulin and Shen Xiuzhen, who were standing nearby.
“I have no money!” Song Shulin spoke up first. “We’re already drowning in debt. If you push me any further, I might as well hang myself.”
“Oh heavens, I can’t go on like this! My mother-in-law is trying to drive her daughter-in-law to her death…”
Shen Xiuzhen realized this tactic worked quite well and immediately began wailing again.
No money to give, but she’d gladly offer her life instead.
“Shen Xiuzhen, shut your mouth!” Old Mrs. Wang’s chest heaved with anger.
Knowing she wouldn’t be able to squeeze any money out of the third branch today, she turned to the first branch’s couple with a cold expression.
“Weimin’s marriage is your responsibility as the first branch. Since that’s the case, you’ll be the ones to come up with the one thousand yuan dowry.”
“Mother, where would we get that kind of money?” Zhao Guifang was unwilling.
Over the years, they had managed to save only two hundred yuan. But wouldn’t the wedding banquet cost money?
New clothes, new furniture, new bedding—wouldn’t all of that require spending too?
Just because the bride’s family hadn’t mentioned it didn’t mean these things could be skipped.
Besides, their son Yaozhong’s schooling also required money.
With all these expenses, how could they possibly have any money left?
“Sister-in-law, if you don’t have the money, you could always borrow some from your parents’ family. After all, Weimin’s wedding is a big event.”
Remembering how her sister-in-law had urged her to borrow money from her own family in their previous life, Shen Xiuzhen felt a surge of anger.
Every time her sons needed money, Zhao Guifang would go crying to Old Mrs. Wang.
Old Mrs. Wang, feeling sorry for her, would then turn to the third branch for a solution.
They had already borrowed from everyone they could, but Zhao Guifang never seemed to care about that.
“That’s right. If you really can’t borrow the money, you could always sell blood in the city!” Song Shulin offered them an idea.
In their previous life, when they couldn’t borrow money anywhere, they had secretly sold their blood.
It was from that time onward that his wife’s health began to decline day by day.
Zhao Guifang’s face shifted through a range of expressions as she repeatedly shot glances at Song Dalin.
Song Dalin spat out a glob of yellow phlegm and rubbed it into the ground with the sole of his shoe.
“Third Brother, listen to yourself. Is that any way for a person to talk?”
If you hadn’t said you were hungry back then, Big Brother wouldn’t have gone to steal those buns. And if he hadn’t gone to steal them, his leg wouldn’t have been broken.
If Big Brother’s leg hadn’t been broken, our family would surely be living a much better life than we are now.
Third Brother, this is what you owe me. A debt must be repaid—that’s only right and proper!
I won’t ask for more than what’s fair. Just cover the thousand-yuan betrothal gift for Big Brother, and he’ll never bring up his leg again…