Seeing her future mother-in-law getting angry, Song Yueqin quickly interjected to stop her own mother, "Mom, what are you saying? Look, you have upset Auntie! I don’t even like to hear these words, let alone Auntie."
"Oh, what’s wrong with you child... why are you helping outsiders against your own family."
Zhang Juyun was about to scold Song Yueqin but was stopped by her daughter’s signaling glance.
"Auntie, please don’t be angry! My mom is not good with words, but I know she is anxious about my marriage to Qin Fen. After all, I’m not getting any younger." In the village, girls my age are already married.
"If you want to get married, that’s fine, but our family is not in a position to pay a dowry." Li Junping had seen through it; if this daughter-in-law marries into their household, there will surely be no peace in the future.
Now she was dead set on sabotaging the whole affair.
Last time, Li Junping had outmaneuvered Zhang Juyun over the dowry, but this time she came prepared.
"Your family might not have it, but you could always borrow the money, right?" Zhang Juyun smiled, "Don’t you have a rich relative? The An Family! An Shuchao and his son are quite capable, I heard Song Fei earns sixty yuan a month. That’s nearly as much as what a platoon leader in the army makes, right? So, we won’t ask for much as a dowry. Just five hundred yuan, and their wedding can be held by the end of the year."
"Yueqin’s mom, you might as well go and rob a bank."
Isn’t five hundred yuan a lot?
In this era, you could buy a house in the city for less than three thousand yuan; how can you say that five hundred yuan isn’t a lot?
At this time, being a ten thousand yuan household meant you were really rich.
For their family to save up five hundred yuan in three years would be quite impressive.
"Don’t be too excessive. Which family doesn’t pay a dowry for their daughter-in-law? When Qin Jian married An Hao, he paid two thousand for sure!" Zhang Juyun had always been keeping this issue on her mind.
"That was Qin Jian’s own money. When Qin Jian got married, we didn’t spend a single cent."
Song Yueqin also knew that negotiating the dowry was not easy.
But it was out of the question for the Qin Family to not pay a dowry. She, too, was anxious to marry Qin Fen as soon as possible, so she took it upon herself to say, "Three hundred yuan. Auntie, give my mom three hundred yuan, and we can agree to this."
Li Junping was unmoved.
Anyway, she had already made up her mind; even if Qin Fen remained a bachelor for life, there was no way he would marry Song Yueqin.
They simply couldn’t stand her meddling mother.
Song Yueqin had already guessed Li Junping’s stance, and she realized that she wouldn’t agree unless Qin Fen was brought into the discussion.
So, Song Yueqin made an excuse to go outside, "Mom, you and Auntie have a good talk about this. I’m just going to the toilet and will be right back."
Once she stepped outside, Song Yueqin headed straight to the back of the house.
From a distance, she saw Qin Fen working shirtlessly. However, his skin was soft and tender, so white that he looked just like a plucked chicken.
Without any comparison, she had thought Qin Fen was fine, but today, having seen Qin Jian, Song Yueqin suddenly felt that Qin Fen didn’t look as appealing after all.
Even though he was less appealing, she still had to find him.
Song Yueqin walked over and called out to Qin Fen from behind.
Qin Fen turned around, and upon seeing Song Yueqin, his face immediately lit up with joy, "Why are you here? Did you miss me?"
Song Yueqin felt her eyes welling up upon hearing this, "Qin Fen, I have a feeling that perhaps there’s no more fate between us."