On the Su family side.
Liu Hongmei rushed home without stopping. The rest of the Su family had already returned from work and were chattering around her, asking how things went. Liu Hongmei sat down, poured herself a large bowl of water, and drank it in one go before finally catching her breath.
Her face was filled with uncontrollable excitement as she recounted everything in detail.
“What! A betrothal gift of 280 yuan?! Huo Zheng actually agreed?” Liang Zhaonan shrieked, shock and greed flashing in her eyes.
Liang Zhaonan’s son, Su Guangzong, quickly added, “Mom, there’s also a ten-yuan ‘address-change fee’ per person!”
Ten yuan!
If he added a bit more, he could even marry a wife with that money.
This Huo Zheng was really both generous and foolish—to spend so much money marrying a woman like that.
Everyone in the room had greedy light in their eyes.
Two hundred and eighty yuan in bride price, plus ten yuan per person as address-change fees—this time, their family was going to strike it rich!
Liu Hongmei nodded proudly. “That’s exactly what it means!”
Old Madam Su’s eyes were also full of joy. With this money, her grandsons wouldn’t have to worry about marrying wives anymore.
“But…” Liu Hongmei hesitated.
Old Madam Su frowned at her. “If you have something to say, say it. Don’t beat around the bush.”
“Mother, Huo Zheng also said we must prepare a dowry for Su Qi’an. If we don’t, then the bride price and fees will be reduced.” Liu Hongmei gritted her teeth and relayed the demand.
Liang Zhaonan immediately exploded. “Why should we prepare a dowry for that little brat? Her mother isn’t even dead yet—why should it be our responsibility?”
The Su family was already poor enough. What little they earned from work points was only enough to eat. Where would they get extra money to prepare a dowry for someone unrelated?
Old Madam Su’s smile faded a little as she glanced at Liang Zhaonan, who immediately shut up.
Su Jiao Jiao had been silent ever since hearing about the 280-yuan bride price. Now that she heard they still had to prepare a dowry, she felt even more uncomfortable.
Not just her—the entire household was unhappy.
To them, Su Qi’an was just a fatherless and motherless wild girl. She didn’t deserve anything so good.
Liu Hongmei surprisingly agreed with Liang Zhaonan this time. But Shen Qingqing had run away years ago, and no one knew where she was now. After what happened back then, she probably didn’t even have the face to come back.
But if they didn’t prepare a dowry, they wouldn’t get the full bride price. That was like carving meat off their own bodies.
That was money!
Old Madam Su clearly didn’t want to give up the money either and lowered her head in thought.
The eldest grandson of the Su family, Su Tianci, didn’t think as much as the women. A dowry? Just give the girl a few random things to get by. The important thing was getting the bride price first—so he could marry his own wife.
He had already taken a fancy to a girl in town. Her family was well-off, but the bride price demand was high—ninety yuan.
Once they got Su Qi’an’s bride price, wouldn’t he have money to marry?
Su Tianci voiced his thoughts. The others were all shocked, especially Liu Hongmei.
“When did you start seeing someone?” she asked excitedly.
“Just a few days ago.”
“Oh my, my son is so promising—he’s going to marry a town girl!”
“Mother, we’ll handle the dowry from our branch. But once the bride price arrives, it must go to Tianci’s wedding first,” Liu Hongmei said happily.
Liang Zhaonan immediately became unwilling. The eldest branch already had more sons; if things were divided like this, their third branch would suffer.
“Mother, this…”
Old Madam Su ignored her, implicitly agreeing with Liu Hongmei. She happily questioned Su Tianci about his future wife.
Liang Zhaonan’s face turned dark with anger.
The entire afternoon, Su Qi’an kept thinking about what had happened in the kitchen at noon. Her cheeks were faintly flushed like a layer of light rouge, making her look even more delicate.
“Ah ya ah ya—”
Little Huo Jibei’s voice pulled her back to reality. She saw him covering his face with a small blanket and quickly pulled it away, revealing his little red cheeks.
“You silly little thing,” she laughed, poking his soft face.
“Mm ya—”
She chuckled softly and pinched his chubby cheeks. The little one kept burrowing toward a certain place.
She lifted her clothes to feed him.
“Hiss—”
A sharp sting came from that spot. She gasped in pain.
Little Huo Jibei blinked his big round eyes innocently at her.
Su Qi’an pinched his cheeks and checked his gums. A tiny white tooth had just started to emerge.
“Our little Bei is teething already! But you’re not allowed to bite Mommy, understand?” she said gently, tapping his little nose.
“Ah en ah—”
He blinked his round eyes innocently, then happily drank a few more mouthfuls and looked at her again.
“Yes, no biting Mommy.”
He grinned sweetly.
That night, when Huo Zheng came back, Su Qi’an told him about the baby teething.
Huo Zheng raised a brow, interested. He roughly pried the baby’s mouth open to look and snorted when he saw the tiny tooth.
“So he’s finally not a toothless little brat anymore.”
Su Qi’an: …
The little one frowned at him, clearly unhappy, then turned to look at his mother for comfort.
“Don’t talk about him like that!” Su Qi’an scolded softly, rescuing the child from his hands.
Back in his mother’s arms, the baby immediately changed—smiling sweetly and blowing bubbles.
Huo Zheng couldn’t stand it.
This little brat clearly forgot who raised him when his mother wasn’t around.
Now that she was back, he had completely forgotten his hardworking father.
Ungrateful thing.
He snorted. “Not only will I say it, I’ll beat him when he grows up.”
Su Qi’an was speechless. What kind of father says that about his child?
“You’re ridiculous,” she muttered.
Huo Zheng heard her and immediately darkened his face. “Say that again and I’ll kiss your mouth raw.”
The words were exactly the same as what he had said at noon in the kitchen.
Thinking of that moment, her cheeks flushed again.
At noon, without warning, he had suddenly kissed her. It lasted only a few seconds before he pulled away.
Then, seeing her stunned expression, he had said fiercely, “We already have the certificate. What’s wrong with kissing you?”
She couldn’t even remember what she had answered—only that her mind had gone completely blank.
Now hearing his tone again, she felt both shy and annoyed. She looked straight at him with watery eyes and said softly, “Then go ahead and kiss me raw.”