An Hao was tending to the vegetables she had planted with An Ping. The garden wasn’t large, but under her meticulous care, the vegetables were growing exceptionally well.
For the past few months, she hadn’t taken a single penny from her family; she had been living off the money Qin Jian gave her last time.
She had recorded it in a notebook, this sum of money she would ultimately pay back to Qin Jian.
Tian Niu’s voice arrived before he did, bellowing from the gate, "Sister-in-law, are you at home, sister-in-law?"
Upon hearing Tian Niu’s voice, An Hao quickly ran out from the house. Standing at the doorway, she frowned and said to Tian Niu, "Brother Tian, can we please keep it down a bit? It’s not good to shout so loudly and let all the neighbors hear."
Tian Niu laughed heartily and said with a grand wave of his hand, "What’s there to be embarrassed about, sister-in-law? You might not know but, Qin Jian went to your house with gifts this morning to propose. The whole village saw it, everyone knows you’re Qin Jian’s woman now. There’s nothing for you to be shy about."
"What?" An Hao was both shocked and delighted upon hearing this. "Is he at my house now?"
"Yes, hurry on, sister-in-law! This matter is just waiting for your nod. As soon as you give the go-ahead, the engagement will be set," Tian Niu said, more excited than Qin Jian himself about the matter.
"Alright, I’ll go right now." An Hao hurriedly went back inside to change her clothes and followed Tian Niu out.
An Ping, upon seeing that the chores were abandoned, declared, "No way, I’m going to see my brother-in-law."
Tian Niu, pulling An Hao along, sprinted all the way. When they arrived in the courtyard, An Hao nearly suffocated from the effort.
She opened the curtain, stepped in, and the first thing she did was hunch over and take a few deep breaths. Then, she pulled up a stool and sat down, giving Qin Jian a resentful look, "How come you didn’t tell me beforehand about the proposal? If I hadn’t come, you wouldn’t have been able to proceed."
Qin Jian rarely smiled, but now he chuckled lightly, "Yes, what you’re saying is right."
Seeing his daughter’s reaction, An Shuchao could guess that the match would be a success.
Therefore, he didn’t wait for An Hao’s opinion and directly said, "An Hao, Captain Qin came today to ask for your hand. I think we should settle this matter. I have no objections to Qin Jian."
Seeing that the matter was settled, An Hao too was filled with joy. She smiled at Qin Jian and nodded slightly, "Good. I have no objections either."
At that moment, Qin Jian remembered the envelope in his pocket. He took it out and offered it with both hands to An Shuchao, "Uncle An, I haven’t bought anything for you or An Hao as part of the engagement. Here’s two thousand yuan inside the envelope. An Hao is preparing to go to college, right? This money can be used for her tuition."
In the village, it was customary to provide a bridal gift when proposing.
But two thousand yuan was exceedingly generous.
An Hao didn’t wait for An Shuchao to reply before she pushed the money back, "Take your money back, we can’t accept it. I’m going to take the college entrance exam, but there’s still a long vacation ahead. I can earn my tuition through part-time work."
Qin Jian frowned as he looked at An Hao, "What’s all this about ’you’ and ’us’? In the future, it’s ’we’."
His implication was, what was wrong with spending his money?
After all, he was going to marry her sooner or later.
If his future wife’s family was not well-off and he had money on hand, he certainly couldn’t just watch her suffer!
Qin Jian intended to cherish his wife; besides, she was so much younger than he was.
The money he earned would be hers to spend eventually. What difference did it make whether he gave it to her sooner or later?