Then she turned around and said to Tonghua in a gentle manner, "Tonghua, come over and give me a hand."

Tonghua glanced at Qin Zun, a little hesitant.

If she went to the kitchen, Qin Zun and her father would be the only ones left in the living room.

Her father is a quiet person who doesn't like to talk, and Qin Zun is not someone who would take the initiative to chat about family matters. She doesn't know if it will be awkward for the two of them to sit together later.

Qin Zun saw her doubts and gave her a reassuring look.

"Don't worry, go ahead and do your work. I'm here alone to talk to my father-in-law."

Tonghua thought that he was a man who had seen big scenes, and he hadn't shown any fear along the way today, so there should be no problem.

She was relieved: "Then you sit here and I'll go to the kitchen to help."

"Um."

Tonghua followed her stepmother Zhang Guiying to the kitchen.

She naturally picked up the apron hanging on the wall and put it on.

After getting dressed, she asked Zhang Guiying, "What do you need me to do now?"

Zhang Guiying: "I just need one more lean meatball, and the meal will be ready. Go get the onions, ginger, and garlic and wash them."

As she was cutting meat on the chopping board, she asked Tonghua, "You've been married to him for so long, and I still don't know what he does for a living?"

Tonghua answered her while peeling garlic: "He works in Xinjiang."

When Zhang Guiying heard it was a big company, she became excited.

"Xinjiang? Xinjiang is a big company. I heard from your dad that he's the company manager. So his monthly salary must be quite high, right?"

Tonghua didn't want to mention this to her, so she said vaguely, "He just works for a small company under Xinjiang. His salary is just like that."

She never asked how much Qin Zun's salary was. After all, they were not an ordinary couple, and it was not her business.

But Zhang Guiying persisted: "A company manager's salary is at least 18,000 yuan, not to mention it's a big company. Does he have a car? Does he have a house?"

"Yes, I do, but they are all mortgages, and I have to pay quite a bit every month."

Tonghua didn't want to tell her stepmother the true situation of Qin Zun, so she made up some words to shut her up.

Unexpectedly, her stepmother scolded her, "They say girls are outgoing. Look at you. You've only been married for a short time and you're already worrying about him. He's the manager of a big company, so why wouldn't he be unable to pay back his mortgage? When you were married before, didn't he mention giving a betrothal gift?"

Sure enough, Tonghua was right, the stepmother came for this matter.

She had no choice but to explain patiently: "We didn't have a wedding, so naturally we didn't need those things."

Zhang Guiying was unhappy: "Whether or not to accept the betrothal gift has nothing to do with whether or not to hold the wedding. We didn't mention it. Don't the man's family know how to handle it?"

Tonghua didn't want to talk about this, so she changed the subject deliberately. She pointed at the pot and asked her to light the fire: "Auntie Zhang, the water in the pot is about to boil."

Zhang Guiying hurriedly skimmed off the foam from the cooked meat in the pot, then took out the meat and mixed it with the scallion, ginger and cooking wine prepared by Tonghua.

As she mixed the meat, she didn't forget to ask Tonghua: "Didn't their family give you any gift money when you got married? Did they just let you marry them straight away?"

"No."

"You're so stupid! They should have paid for it, but you married them for nothing and ended up paying for someone else's money."

This made Tonghua a little angry. When two people get married, they have to talk about whether they are in love with each other, as if the other party is more noble.

His tone was also a little serious: "Qin Zun and I have already discussed the matter of marriage. We only need to get a marriage certificate. Nothing else will be done. As for the betrothal gift, of course there will be no betrothal gift."

Tonghua thought that this was Qin Zun's first time coming to her house, and she didn't want Qin Zun to see her having conflicts with her family as soon as he arrived, so she endured Zhang Guiying's various questionings of Qin Zun and checking his household registration, and did not get angry.

But now she really couldn't bear it anymore. She was afraid that if her stepmother continued to ask like this, she would not be able to help but have a conflict with her.

She made an excuse to leave the kitchen: "I see the other dishes are already cooked, I'll take them out first."

Tonghua went straight out with a plate of shredded pork with fish flavor, without even looking at her stepmother's extremely ugly face.

At this time, Qin Zun and Tong's father were sitting in the living room, chatting casually.

The atmosphere was not as awkward as the fairy tale had imagined.

Tonghua brought the dishes to the table, and then said to the two people sitting on the sofa: "Dad, Qin Zun, it's time to eat."

Qin Zun stood up and prepared to walk to the dining table. Tong's father said, "You guys go sit over there first. I'll go get some medicinal wine. By the way, would you like some wine, uncle?"

Tong's father likes to drink, but he usually buys some medicinal herbs to make wine when he drinks.

Qin Zun refused calmly: "Sorry, father-in-law, I have to drive back later, so I won't drink today. Let's have a drink together another day."

Tong's father didn't force him: "Okay, safety comes first, you did the right thing."

Tonghua went to the kitchen again and again and brought all the dishes to the table, but never spoke a word to Zhang Guiying again.

At the dinner table, Tong's father drank one glass after another by himself.

Zhang Guiying was very attentive in serving food to Qin Zun and told him not to be polite and to eat more.

Qin Zun frowned slightly. He was not used to others picking food for him, and he was a little bit of a germaphobe.

Tonghua, who had been secretly observing Qin Zun, immediately noticed his abnormality.

He didn't even touch the food his stepmother picked for him.

Tonghua took another pair of chopsticks and picked up some food for Qin Zun. Without anyone noticing, she picked up all the food that his stepmother had picked up from his bowl and put it into her own bowl.

Qin Zun naturally did not say anything, but silently ate the food that Tonghua picked for him.

As Zhang Guiying ate, she began another round of questioning: "I heard from Tonghua that you, son-in-law, are a manager at a large company?"

Qin Zun replied calmly: "Yes."

Zhang Guiying looked at Tong Hua and Qin Zun casually and said, "Being a manager must be very busy and hard. Look, you've been married for so long, and you only have time to come back."

Tonghua, who was picking up food, became alert after hearing what her stepmother said. Does she still want to ask Qin Zun to take the betrothal gift?

They have both gotten married, so it is not appropriate to talk about the bride price now.

Qin Zun apologized sincerely: "This is indeed my fault. I should have come back with Tonghua earlier. Even being busy at work is not an excuse."

"Actually, I don't blame you. It's just that I've never heard of my daughter having a boyfriend before. Then she suddenly told us that she was married and moved away immediately. You don't know that after she left, her father was worried about his daughter all day long..."