Liang Shuyan tidied herself up afterward. After all, it was Jin Xia's happy occasion, and she couldn't dress too sloppily. Many people had come to the house, and she had to maintain a certain image.

Li Lanfang glanced at Liang Shuyan's outfit and said, "This outfit makes you look a bit old. Why don't you wear that dark green one? I think that outfit looks better."

Liang Shuyan said with a smile, "Mom, I bought that for you. How can I wear it? Besides, this is for Jinxia's wedding. Why would I dress up so nicely? Just don't look too sloppy!"

Before, Liang Shuyan was not like this. She would dress herself according to her own habits, change three outfits a day, change the cosmetics she applied to her face from time to time, and control her food intake, for fear that she would gain weight and affect her image.

These days, Liang Shuyan is only concerned with her family and making money. She doesn't seem to care about her image anymore and has really turned herself into a typical middle-aged woman.

“Look at you! You used to be completely different. You would change your clothes three times a day and even change your face wash constantly, afraid of gaining weight. Now, you don’t care about your appearance at all. No matter where you go, a woman’s image is still important. Just imagine, if you become famous one day, what will people say about you looking like this? Your children will be ashamed to have a mother like you, won’t they?”

Liang Shuyan then remembered what she looked like in her past life. Back then, she dressed herself up like a female demon, and she was never afraid of not having men who liked her. As soon as she went out, everyone would stare at her figure and clothes, and she would get 100% attention!

She glanced at her current appearance, which was indeed rather shabby, and said, "Alright, Mother, I'll listen to you!"

After changing into that dark green outfit, I headed towards Aunt Liu's house.

A lively commotion erupted in Aunt Liu's courtyard. Several women from the village were squatting in the yard helping to pick vegetables. When they saw Liang Shuyan come in, Aunt Liu smiled and pulled her over.

"Old Liu's cousin is the village cook. Old Liu invited her over, so you don't need to help with the kitchen. Just come over and take a look at Jinxia's dowry. To be honest, the village head's family is quite generous. I just don't know what will happen in the future."

Jin Xia was wearing a purplish-red cotton-padded jacket. Her hair had been styled by the women in the village, but it looked a little awkward. Liang Shuyan came over, took Jin Xia's hand, and said, "Not bad, our Jin Xia looks very beautiful today. Do you still have any hairpins? This hairpin is not suitable for our bride!"

Aunt Liu said with a smile, "That's right, your auntie can tell at a glance that this hairpin is not suitable. Quick, bring out all your hairpins and let your auntie take a look and see which one is more suitable?"

Jin Xia then took out a small wooden box from a cloth bag on the side. Inside the box, there were several hairpins. Liang Shuyan picked out a hairpin with a little color and helped her put it on her head.

"This is perfect. On such a joyous occasion as a wedding, it would be inappropriate to use a wooden hairpin!"

Jin Xia hesitated for a moment, then said, "My aunt said that a second marriage requires a wooden hairpin!"

Ancient customs are somewhat jarring; why would a second marriage require a wooden hairpin?

Liang Shuyan chuckled and said, "What kind of rule is this? It's true that you're getting married for the second time, but Qiu Dong is getting married for the first time. How will your in-laws feel if you wear a wooden hairpin? Listen to your aunt, since Qiu Dong is marrying you, he doesn't consider you a second-time bride, so you shouldn't lower yourself, understand?"

Jin Xia nodded: "Okay, I understand, Auntie!"

Liang Shuyan sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). Aunt Liu brought over some fried dough sticks and handed them to Liang Shuyan, saying with a smile, "Auntie, have some. You were the matchmaker who made Jinxia's marriage possible. I don't know how to thank you enough. You even took care of my old man's work."

"On such a joyous occasion, let's not talk about these things. Didn't you want me to see Jinxia's dowry? Take it out and let me see it."

Aunt Liu then brought out Jinxia's dowry, pointing to the pile of dowry in front of her and saying, "Oh my, look at all this silk fabric, hairpins, combs, mirrors, embroidered shoes, look at all this stuff, it's much more generous than the Shen family's!"

Jin Xia, however, became angry and embarrassed: "Mother, what time is it? Why bring this up again? It's all in the past!"

A sharp voice came from outside the door: "It's over, what's over? Your second marriage is an insurmountable fact."

Zhao's voice sounded so harsh that Liang Shuyan glanced at her and said, "How can you talk like that? So what if you can't get over a second marriage? What are you trying to say?"

Aunt Liu disliked Zhao Shi and said as soon as she saw her, "So what if Jinxia in our family is remarried? I didn't invite you here. What are you doing here? Get out!"

Right then and there, Aunt Liu began to tell them to leave!

"Hmph, you're marrying off your daughter, so I can't come? All the women in the village can come, but I can't? Then go hang a sieve at your door, really!"

"Shen Dahai is my nephew, even if my sister wronged your Jinxia. What about Dahai? Dahai is a good child. How could you threaten her to divorce? Now, who was I supposed to marry? It turns out it was that idiot from the Lizheng family. What are you so smug about? This dowry is just Jiao's dowry. What's there to be so smug about?"

Liang Shuyan hated people who sowed discord the most. She stood up and walked towards Zhao Shi: "Why do you always have to be involved? Your sister is so ruthless, beating Jin Xia like that, and you, as her younger sister, not only didn't say anything, but now you're saying such things. Jin Xia is a second-time bride, but you don't seem to be a second-time bride. If I remember correctly, you've already been married three times, haven't you?"

Zhao was indeed married three times. At that time, she didn't have any dowry at all. It was Jin Wang who brought her over on a donkey. Old Mrs. Jin was unwilling to spend a single penny and gave Jin Wang a strict order: if Zhao didn't want any dowry, then they could accept her; if she wanted a dowry, then forget it!

Everyone in the village knows about this.

"Speaking of this matter, I think that no matter how Jinxia is a second-time bride, her treatment is much better than yours. If it weren't for Jinwang's insistence, your mother-in-law probably wouldn't have wanted you. Even if she didn't ask for a single penny of dowry, she still wouldn't have agreed. The donkey that was used to bring you home was borrowed by Lizheng. In fact, you should be grateful to Lizheng."

Upon hearing Liang Shuyan's words, everyone burst into laughter.

Seeing everyone laughing at her, Zhao was so embarrassed that she had no choice but to flee from the crowd.

"Mother, Aunt Jiao wants to invite you over!" Zhang whispered in her mother-in-law's ear.

Liang Shuyan then remembered her promise to Jiao Shi, and said to Aunt Liu, "Tomorrow is the wedding day of the two children, I have to hurry to the village head's house!"