To be honest, Liu Gaifeng's miserable state today brought back painful memories of Li Xiangdong's past life of his fourth sister's forced marriage.

Fourth Sister is out of danger now, but how many women are still being forced into arranged marriages, being taken in as husbands to support their parents, or being used by their parents to repay favors or exchange for benefits?

Don't think that these things are rare; it's just that people take them for granted.

Just like Li Xiangdong's eldest aunt, whose husband was nine years older than her, their marriage was a joke.

When Li Qingshan and Li Wanshi went to visit relatives in the next county, they encountered a storm on the way and were soaked to the bone. Just then, their uncle happened to pass by and kindly offered them shelter at the He family's house.

After chatting for a while, the group learned that the eldest uncle's family was dirt poor and that he was still unmarried at the age of twenty-eight. He was an old bachelor. Li Qingshan, who was dazed by the sweet potato liquor served to him, blurted out that he would give his nineteen-year-old eldest daughter to the man.

When Li Qingshan sobered up, he regretted it a little, but once he had said it, taking it back would only make him a laughing stock.

And so, Aunt Li got married without really understanding what was going on.

Fortunately, Aunt Li is a capable person when it comes to managing a household, and she and her husband have managed to make a living together. Apart from his love of drinking and being petty, her husband doesn't have any major flaws and is quite good at earning money for the family.

This is why Li Qingshan was so tolerant of Li Dagu.

Although Li Xiangdong is a man, he is not a beneficiary who pretends to be deaf and dumb; he does not want to build his own interests on the blood and tears of his sisters.

On the contrary, he felt that men should protect their mothers, wives, and sisters.

Besides all that, Li Xiangdong was indeed moved by Wang Erhu today.

In his memory, Erhu was an honest and hardworking man who was always willing to work. He was the same in his previous life, spending all his time tending to his few acres of land except for eating and sleeping.

His land is so clean and tidy all year round that you can't see a single weed.

Liu Gaifeng made all the decisions regarding family matters, both big and small.

Li Xiangdong originally thought that a man like him, whose family had so forcefully arranged a wife for him, would just accept his fate after a couple of days of resentment and continue living the same life as in his previous life, the only difference being that the lady of the house would be someone else.

I never imagined that Erhu would rebel against his family to this extent for the sake of Gaifeng.

He hadn't eaten or drunk anything for three or four days; his face was thin and his lips were chapped. But Erhu's parents were hard-hearted and remained unmoved.

This time, she secretly came to beg him again with Gai Feng, and even planned to elope if he refused to help.

Such feelings are both impulsive and pure, but who can deny that they are beautiful feelings?

Therefore, due to various factors, Li Xiangdong decided to promote a campaign to popularize the Marriage Law, and he even wanted to use this opportunity to prepare a mass wedding.

Recently, with the end of the movement and the improvement of the economic level of the people in Huichuan County, some people have even started to ask for high dowries!

Of course, the instigators were Li Weijun and Liu Yuxiu, and Li Jin and Zhao Sufang were also "accomplices" in a certain sense.

That's how it is in the village. There are always precedents. If Li Weijun's wedding can be so grand, how is my child any worse than Liu Yuxiu?

She could silence a man with just one sentence.

Some might say, "Since Lijiapo is so wealthy, aren't women vying to marry into it?"

But now, the entire Huichuan County has become wealthy thanks to maltose, high-yield wheat, and flexible economic policies. Although it is not as rich as Lijiapo, it is no longer in the days when it was eating chaff and wild vegetables.

They're a pretty young lady, and her family isn't waiting for a few bushels of wheat from Lijiapo to save their lives. What's wrong with wanting a higher dowry?

This trend has grown from its inception to its current rampant state in less than a year.

Even the bachelors of Lijiapo raised the price of bride price in order to marry young and beautiful wives.

Li Ping is particularly good at thinking now. Sure enough, she asked, "Second brother, nowadays, after a woman gets married, she has to have children for the man, do housework, and can't even go home for the New Year. She has to take care of someone else's parents every day. Isn't it reasonable for her to ask for some dowry to help her parents out?"

This idea has a large market and sounds quite reasonable.

Li Xiangdong asked Li Ping, "Xiao Wu, what does the Marriage Law say? Does it say that men and women are equal and that both parents should be respected?"

Li Lan had just finished tidying up the house when she stood behind Li Ping and answered for her, "But in real life, nobody does it this way at all."

The most common perception now is that once a daughter is married, she is no longer considered part of the family; once a daughter marries, she belongs to another family, and her parents will have to rely on her son for old age.

Therefore, making a quick buck with the bride price is the last and greatest value of raising a daughter.

"Big sister, Xiao Wu, do you agree with the provisions in the Marriage Law, or with the reality?"

"That must be in the Marriage Law!"

The two spoke in unison.

"Then we should all work towards this goal! Besides, have you ever thought that if we let the trend of high bride prices become prevalent, some parents might marry their daughters off to someone they don't like just for an even higher bride price?"

Li Lan and Li Ping remained silent. Of course they would!

Li Xiangdong felt that a saying from later generations was very true: "Without buying and selling, there would be no harm."

He believes that only by nipping the trend of exorbitant bride prices in the bud can men and women truly achieve freedom of marriage and equality of rights.

As for the costs women pay during childbirth, those will have to be addressed through advancements in medical technology and men's increased awareness of household chores and childcare responsibilities.

These two things are completely different. Does giving a high dowry to the woman's parents and the man harboring resentment mean that the woman's pain during childbirth can be resolved?

Li Xiangdong's reasoned and well-founded words gave Li Lan, Li Ping, and Zhao Sufang a new understanding: women should not automatically equate themselves with money, as doing so would only make them appendages of men, rather than truly equals.

The matter between Wang Erhu and Liu Gaifeng was resolved by Li Jin and Wang Zhenbo.

They went to the Liu family first, where they ran into Gai Feng's father, who was humming a little tune and preparing to leave.

When Gai Feng saw the two dark faces that resembled those of Bao Gong (a famous judge in Chinese history), she immediately trembled a little. "Captain, Accountant Wang, what brings you here?"

There's no point in wasting words on someone like this, who's all bark and no bite.

"I heard you're planning to bring your old flame's younger brother over to be Gai Feng's son-in-law in her old age?"

Do you still remember what the village rules say?

As soon as he uttered those two casual questions, Feng's father slumped down.

The village rules and regulations of Lijiapo Village clearly stipulate that members are not allowed to engage in illicit sexual relationships.

After dealing with the Liu family with swift and decisive measures, the two changed their attitude when they arrived at the Wang family, earnestly persuading the Wang family's parents.