Chapter 432 Meeting

A group of people chatted and laughed as they escorted the Third Uncle to the main hall, where Liu Shi sat somewhat awkwardly on a chair.

While I was helping out at the Lin family's house, I heard someone from below report that my third sister's fiancé's family had just arrived at the Lin family's house and were currently at the door.

Startled, she panicked and hurried home. It was just a coincidence that the two families ran into each other. Old Ma was still on duty at the military post, and her daughter was busy at the shop.

She felt that her current outfit was not formal enough. She had made it a little easier to dress these past few days while helping out here, and she was afraid that if the Shiro family saw her, they would have some opinions about the Ma family.

After Lin's mother and the others had left for a short while, she felt extremely uneasy. She straightened her clothes, checked herself to make sure there was nothing wrong with her, and asked the maid several times to make sure that there was nothing amiss before she finally sat down in the chair.

Hearing the commotion outside, Liu straightened her clothes, stood up from her chair, and looked outside. When she saw several familiar faces, a smile instantly appeared on her face as she went to greet them.

"My sister is finally back."

As Liu spoke, she walked towards the group. When her gaze fell upon her third uncle and the two seemingly honest and kind-hearted Lin Mancang and his wife behind him, her smile deepened.

"This must be the in-laws, and Shiro's grandfather."

With a smile on her face, Lin's mother nodded hurriedly, her face beaming like a flower. She looked at Liu and introduced them with a friendly smile: "That's right, sister. This is my sixth son's third uncle, and also the tenth son's grandfather. These two are the fourth son's parents. They just arrived in Taiyuan from home."

As she spoke, Lin's mother beckoned people to enter the main hall: "Oh dear, look at my memory! Don't just stand there like idiots, let's go into the main hall and talk."

As she spoke, Lin's mother winked at Lin Changning and Lin's second brother. After the group led Lin Shilang's family and Liu Shi into the main hall, they quickly instructed the maids to serve tea and fruit.

Third Uncle looked at Liu Shi with a kind smile on his face. He took the tea offered by the maid, took a sip, and moistened his throat. "This must be my mother-in-law. I recently learned of Shi Lang's feelings and rushed over from home. I hope my mother-in-law will not mind. I originally wanted to come earlier, but I need to take care of the fields and other things at home, which is why I was delayed."

Looking at Lin Shilang's family, Liu seemed to be a kind and honest family. Hearing her elders say this, she waved her hand somewhat embarrassedly: "What is there to worry about? Uncle, please don't make me feel bad. My husband is still on duty, my third sister is busy at the shop, and his two older brothers are also on duty at the military headquarters. I am the only one at home now. I hope you won't think that my family is being neglected."

Lin Mancang looked at the clothes Liu was wearing and after a few glances, he was somewhat satisfied. He had already heard from Shilang that the young lady he was going to marry was the daughter of a colleague in Changning. Judging from the clothes she was wearing and the way she spoke, he knew that she came from a well-mannered family.

"Mother-in-law, please don't say that. We've only been in a hurry these past two days."

As soon as Lin Mancang finished speaking, he saw Lin Changning take a box from the maid and hand it to his wife, concealing it with his sleeve.

Aunt Lin touched the mahogany box that Lin Changning handed her, secretly covered it with her sleeve, and gently opened the box to take a look. Inside, she saw two warm and smooth mutton fat jade earrings lying quietly.

Judging from the style of the box, it must be quite valuable; my hands felt a little hot as I held it.

She glanced at her father-in-law somewhat helplessly, then quietly handed him the box.

He said softly, "Father, the things..."

Uncle Lin frowned slightly as he looked at his daughter-in-law's hesitant and unpresentable manner, then took the things.

When she slightly opened the box, her heart skipped a beat. But when she saw Lin Changning and Lin Erge's smiling eyes, she slammed the box shut.

Those two brats really think he doesn't know what's good for him.

The pair of mutton fat jade earrings were smooth and white, clearly not ordinary items, and could not possibly be bought with the few copper coins he had just slipped to them.

Erlang and Liulang, those two rascals, are doing this to save face for their family.

However, this item was too valuable, and I was a little embarrassed to accept it.

However, when he saw the look in Liu's eyes, Uncle Lin was momentarily at a loss.

Don't let your future mother-in-law think that your family is reluctant to give anything, but at the moment you don't have anything you can give.

Just as he was hesitating, he saw his daughter-in-law grit her teeth and reveal a pair of silver bracelets from her sleeve.

He stood up and placed the silver bracelet in Liu's hand.

"Sister, please don't be disgusted. This pair of silver bracelets was made for me by my mother when I got married. They are not very precious. I hope you can give them to Third Sister. It is a token of our appreciation."

Liu had just witnessed all of the Lin family's little tricks and was indeed curious about what was in the box. When she saw Aunt Lin take off a pair of slightly blackened silver bracelets and put them in her own hands, she was quite surprised.

Only then did she seem to wake up from a dream and refuse, saying, "Oh dear, mother-in-law, it's not appropriate for Third Sister to take this family heirloom so early. Quickly, take it back."

Aunt Lin tightly fastened the slightly heavy bracelet in her hand to Liu's hand.

"My family arrived in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare a suitable gift. The only presentable thing is these two silver bracelets on my wrist. Mother-in-law, please don't mind. We were a bit abrupt today and didn't have time to pay a visit. Another day, my family will host a meal. I hope you and your parents will do us the honor of bringing your children to join us for a meal."

As he spoke, he gripped the silver bracelet tightly in Liu's hand.

At this moment, Liu had roughly figured out what had just happened. Today, she was helping out at the Lin family's house, and it was not proper for the two sides not to meet.

The Lin family arrived in a hurry, so they probably didn't have time to prepare any gifts.

However, it's customary for the man to bring something when meeting the woman for the first time; otherwise, it would seem like he doesn't value her.

These must have been prepared by Lin's mother or Changning. A few days ago, when Lin's mother was planning the betrothal gifts, she had seen the list of gifts more or less. Now that the Lin family has prospered, most of the gifts sent over are of high quality.

The rest piled up in the warehouse were all valuable items. Presumably, the box in the Lin family's hand was taken out of the warehouse by Changning and his family as a gift for their third aunt.

However, the Lin family members quickly realized the item was too expensive after a quick glance at its value, so they temporarily took off their bracelets and gave them to her.