Yun Xiaoxiao sat at the dinner table, looking at the array of dishes. It was impressive how many dishes they had managed to cook; one had to admit there was talent at home.
They really did just eat, without discussing any matters at the table.
"This fish belly here is tender, with few bones."
Yun Xiaoxiao didn’t refuse either, especially since Zhao Tianlei and his brothers were at the table, and she hadn’t prepared the food herself. She just ate peacefully.
She, along with Da Bao and Xiao Bao, had taken the bowls and chopsticks to clean up. The few men had achieved the ’clean plate campaign’, which was rather good.
"Tell me, what is the situation with your significant other?" Now that they had finished eating, it was time to talk business.
Cao Dali looked at Zhao Tianlei and corrected him, "She’s not my girlfriend anymore. My family can’t offer that much."
"How much? Let me see what you’re dealing with," Zhao Tianhe was also at the age to get married, and his family had plans to sort it out for him.
Cao Dali saw everyone looking at him and didn’t feel the need to hide it, knowing that the whole brigade would find out about this soon.
"A dowry of two hundred yuan and ’three turns and a sound’."
Zhao Tianhe gasped, "That dowry, even girls from the county town don’t quote that high. I remember the dowries around our brigade are usually eighty yuan and thirty-six endeavors."
Even Zhao Tianlei was a bit shocked himself. He had never seen Da Li’s ex, but rural girls generally asked for around the same dowry, all according to standard.
"Da Li, that’s where you went wrong. Your ex must have been a real beauty, definitely prettier than my sister-in-law."
Upon hearing that, Zhao Tianlei looked displeasedly at Zhao Tianhe, "Don’t compare my wife to other women."
Zhao Tianhe chuckled awkwardly and quickly added, "My sister-in-law is the prettiest in ten miles around."
Dali, being an honest man, knew Cuihua was nowhere near as attractive as his sister-in-law—it was obvious to anyone with eyes.
"She can’t compare to sister-in-law."
Zhao Tianhe took up the conversation again, "Since she isn’t as pretty as sister-in-law, they really had the audacity to ask for so much."
Two hundred yuan could be a lot, given that if the family was large, they might only have saved up several dozen yuan in a year—it would take several hard years for the whole family to save that amount.
At this point, Fang Chaoyang spoke up, "Da Li and I went to see Matchmaker Liu. From her, we learned that it was Comrade Li’s older brother who got into trouble; he slept with a widow, and her family caught him, demanding three hundred yuan in compensation. Probably, hearing about Da Li making money, or because of what Da Li bought for his ex, the Li Family thought Da Li was wealthy enough to afford such a ransom, which is why they dared to quote sky-high prices."
Zhao Tianhe gasped, "Slept with a widow? That widow must be quite valuable."
Zhao Tianlei always felt this seemed like a trap. Was his ex’s brother the instigator?
"This matter isn’t so simple; someone’s targeting us."
Fang Chaoyang also thought so, "Third Brother, should we dig a bit more to find out who this widow’s in-laws are? This clearly seems rigged, knowing that we went out to make money before staging this whole drama."
Their enemies were hidden while they were exposed, so they couldn’t make any reckless moves.
For fear of startling the snake by hitting the grass.
Cao Dali blinked, not quite getting it, "What’s this about circles within circles?"
Why couldn’t he understand what Chaoyang and Third Brother were talking about?
"Originally, this trip to make money was meant to get you married sooner, but instead, you ended up being implicated."
All three said in unison, "Not at all."