To be honest, in the past, someone like Liu Dagai would never have been able to stand in front of Li Jin.

Now, for the sake of his children's marriages, Li Jin has no choice but to sit at the same table as Liu Dagai, and even have to take the initiative to pour tea and water, thus becoming subservient to him.

Liu Dagai sat comfortably at the head of the table, picked up the tea Li Jin had just poured for him, took a sip, and then coughed lightly twice, saying, "My dear in-laws, what a coincidence! Who would have thought we'd become in-laws?! Hahahaha~"

It's all thanks to my daughter. Li Jin is a well-known capable man in the whole county, and now Lijiapo is rolling in money.

After his daughter marries into Li Jin's family, he will be able to live a life of luxury!

Li Jin was speechless when he saw that the man's big face was so big that his eyes were almost invisible from smiling. He just tugged at the corners of his mouth and didn't say a word, waiting for the matchmaker he had just found to speak.

Although Li Weijun and Liu Yuxiu were in a free-choice relationship, there were bound to be bargaining sessions and awkward moments when their families discussed marriage arrangements.

Therefore, they would find a matchmaker to act as a middleman for relaying messages and making negotiations.

The matchmaker this time was Ma Jinfang, the younger sister of Ma Jinfu, the head of the Guanyutai brigade. She married Liu Dayong from the same village and was Liu Dagai's cousin-in-law.

Ma Jinfang is in her fifties, with a round face and always smiling.

She looked down on her lazy and good-for-nothing cousin, but she had no choice but to come because her elder brother Ma Jinfu and Li Jin had asked her to.

"Alright, enough with the major changes. Even though it's a happy occasion, stop grinning like that. Let's get down to business!"

Liu Dagai was used to being scolded by his cousin-in-law, so he didn't take offense. "Sister-in-law, you tell me, didn't we already discuss it yesterday?"

Ma Jinfang said to Zhao Sufang and Li Jin, "In-laws, let me tell you about our terms?"

"Sister-in-law, please tell me."

"We live in a new society now; the old practice of selling daughters is no longer acceptable."

"But every daughter is a piece of flesh that fell from her mother's body. Her parents raise her with great difficulty, and just when she's old enough to work and earn work points, she gets married again. Raising a daughter is a losing proposition for us."

"My dear in-law, you also have a daughter, don't you think this makes sense?"

Li Jin frowned upon hearing this, "Sister-in-law, you can't say that. Daughters are just as precious as their parents. Saying that daughters are a burden or a waste of money is just feudal dross!"

Ma Jinfang choked, but she said these words to pave the way for asking for a bride price later. Although she did not expect Li Jin to say such a thing, she immediately realized what was going on.

"Yes, that's true! But once a daughter gets married, she can only visit her parents' home occasionally, which can't compare to having her son take care of her personally."

"Since I can't take care of my parents all the time, I have to make up for it with money and things, right?"

Li Jin and Zhao Sufang hit it off. They also asked for a bride price when their daughter got married, but it wasn't much. What they wanted was for the groom's attitude.

In the end, the couple gave their daughter the betrothal gifts and some of their own dowry to take to her husband's family.

"Sister-in-law is right, giving a bride price is the proper thing to do. I just don't know how much it's expected where you're from?"

Zhao Sufang got straight to the point and asked Ma Jinfang directly.

Ma Jinfang coughed and gave her brother-in-law a wink, meaning that to avoid embarrassment, he should leave quickly because she needed to talk about money.

If the deal goes through, that's it; if it doesn't, there will be more wrangling.

Who knew that Liu Dagai let Ma Jinfang's eyelids twitch without moving an inch, and continued to sit calmly and drink tea.

Ma Jinfang felt indignant. This cousin-in-law was really out of his mind. She didn't care whether it would be awkward for in-laws to talk about money, and directly answered Zhao Sufang, "In-law, Yuxiu's parents mean that your family should give 1,000 catties of wheat, 100 catties of oil, 200 yuan, and make four sets of Dacron summer clothes and four sets of cotton winter clothes for Yuxiu, as well as three turns, one sound, and thirty-two legs."

"Three turns and one sound" refers to a bicycle, a watch, a sewing machine, and a radio. "Thirty-two legs" refers to furniture such as wardrobes, dressing tables, writing desks, chests of drawers, sofas, and beds, which together have a total of thirty-two legs.

After listening to Ma Jinfang's words, Liu Dagai nodded and added, "In-law, we're from the same village, so I won't ask you for more."

Li Jin and Zhao Sufang gasped. This is too much!

This is outrageous! They're trying to skin you alive and drink your blood!

They had a thousand catties of wheat and a hundred catties of oil, but bicycles, watches, sewing machines, and radios all required industrial ration coupons.

Which one doesn't cost more than a hundred yuan?

There are thirty-two legs?

Li Jin picked at his ear and asked Ma Jinfang incredulously, "Sister-in-law, did I hear that right?"

Ma Jinfang gave an awkward smile, "It is a bit too much..."

"That's a lot! After hearing what Liu Dagai and his wife said last night, Ma Jinfang almost popped her eyes out. She thought the two of them had lost their minds!"

But Liu Dagai and his wife spoke with absolute certainty and confidence, as if they were certain that "Sister-in-law, just ask, they will definitely agree."

Liu Yuxiu also spoke gently, "Auntie, Jun's family is rich. His father has earned several thousand yuan! If we don't come, he has two younger brothers! We can save the money for his brothers to spend."

Ma Jinfang said helplessly, "I can't guarantee that I can get it done!"

Liu Dagai laughed, "Sister-in-law, just do as you say!"

Ma Jinfang thought the two families had a tacit understanding, but now seeing Li Jin and Zhao Sufang's shocked expressions, it doesn't seem like they knew in advance!

Zhao Sufang's already sparse smile vanished. "Sister-in-law, we're all farmers, you know we can't get industrial ration coupons for 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a type of cigarette, a sewing machine, a radio, and a watch)! Besides, we do have wheat, but that's enough for everyone in the family. We can't let the whole family starve just to pay for our eldest son's wedding!"

"Also, all the money went to build a house for the eldest son, a four-room brick-and-mortar house. Sister-in-law, tell me, in all the surrounding villages, which family doesn't have to squeeze into a house with the in-laws when a daughter-in-law gets married?"

In fact, if Ma Jinfang were to say, these conditions were good enough. If Li Weijun hadn't been so blind as to insist on marrying Liu Yuxiu, would Li Jin have even been interested in Liu Dagai?

Before Ma Jinfang could speak, Liu Dagai objected, "In-law, don't talk nonsense! Your family received over a thousand catties of wheat and over a hundred catties of oil this year! You also pressed several hundred catties of oil yourselves! Those two harvesters earned a thousand yuan, and you even bought a Flying Pigeon bicycle! Oh, and there's also your son-in-law's demobilization pay of over four hundred yuan!"

"Your family is so wealthy, what's wrong with asking for a larger dowry?"

Li Jin was so angry he almost twisted his nose. Liu Dagai knew his family's wealth better than he did!

After hearing what Liu Dagai said, Zhao Sufang's face turned completely cold. "You seem to know more about my family than I do!"

Liu Dagai gave an embarrassed smile; this was something his daughter had been telling him.

Zhao Sufang was very firm: "If I only had one son, I would pay a hundred if I had a hundred. But I have three daughters and two sons. I don't agree to your outrageous demands!"