If Song Yueqin could have it her way, she wouldn’t want to address An Hao as her sister-in-law, but there was no helping it—An Hao had met Qin Jian before her and beat her to the punch.
Otherwise, shouldn’t she be the woman standing by Qin Jian’s side today?
Every time Song Yueqin saw the smile on An Hao’s face, she felt incredibly uncomfortable, as if she desperately wanted to tear her apart. Yet today, she was putting on a front of gentleness and approachability.
"Sister-in-law!" Song Yueqin said with a pursed-lip smile, "After I’ve entered the family, I’ll have to ask for more of your guidance!"
"Sure. I will take good care of you," An Hao said with a smile, emphasizing the words "take care."
Not behaving herself the moment she entered the door? Well, she would just have to wait and see.
In her last life, she had been harmed so miserably. Was she planning to set traps for her again in this life?
If it’s digging she wants, let’s see who ends up burying whom in the end?
The ceremony to acknowledge family ties was completed, and the couple was then ushered into their bridal chamber.
Once in the bridal chamber and seeing the furniture, Song Yueqin felt unhappy. But she said nothing because she didn’t plan on staying here long anyway. Whatever.
The wedding party was only able to catch their breath after they had settled the newlyweds in.
In the village, when taking a bride, first you look at the man’s bride price and arrangements. Second, it’s about the bride’s dowry.
Generally, a bride takes with her some dowry from her parents’ home.
One reason is to ensure the daughter has a better life, contribute to household expenses, or have something in case of emergencies.
Another is to strive for a better position for the daughter in the husband’s family; a larger dowry can show that the bride’s family has financial strength.
And third, it’s for the sake of appearances.
Different regions have different customs, so the contents of the dowry vary.
In An Hao’s village, a typical dowry would include jewelry or fashionable items for the girl. For example, old man Sun from the east end of the village bought his daughter a watch and a tape recorder as part of her dowry not long ago.
These were valuable items, walking out with them made one feel especially prestigious.
Now, looking at Song Yueqin’s provisions, her family had provided beddings and clothes—which the groom’s family had already prepared. Did they even need it from her family?
Onlookers crowded at the door of the bridal chamber and started to gossip.
"The Song family is really stingy. Song Jincai only has this one daughter, and he still can’t bear to spend more money."
"This is the shabbiest dowry I’ve ever seen."
"That’s nothing, An Hao from the An Family didn’t have any dowry either."
"Oh please, what do you know! They didn’t display hers openly. I heard from folks that old An stuffed quite a bit of money for his daughter! And that number was huge!"
Song Yueqin felt even more suffocated with anger after hearing this; previously, her mother had said nothing about her dowry, only mentioning that as a mother, she certainly wouldn’t shortchange her.
And this was what her mother had provided?
The lead person of the wedding procession, a distant maternal aunt of Song Yueqin’s, felt a bit of a loss of face upon hearing the negative comments about the Song Family.
She stepped forward, cleared her throat, and said to Song Yueqin, "Yueqin, this is the dowry your mom has given you. Each of us six is holding one. Here in my hand is... the money for the watch."
"Here’s for the electric fan," another added.
"Sewing machine..." added another.
Qin Fen, who was standing by, practically had green light shooting from his eyes—what a generous mother-in-law indeed!! Previously, he had been upset about today’s marriage, thinking he’d have to settle scores with his mother-in-law later. Now, seeing all this, his anger immediately dissipated.
He was doing the math in his head, adding up the money, which seemed to be quite a significant sum that an average family couldn’t just pull out on a whim.
"Wife! Your mom is really something!" Qin Fen was so excited he didn’t even know what to say.
Song Yueqin proudly lifted her chin, thinking to herself that indeed, her mother really did care about her!
The red envelopes were passed one by one into Song Yueqin’s hands, and just as she was about to open them, she was abruptly intercepted by the distant maternal aunt.