"Uncle, Weiguo is home." Just then, Sheng Xiping and Wang Jianshe pushed open the door and entered the house, greeting the Chen father and son with smiles.

"Oh, Xiping and Jianshe are here! Come on, get on the kang (heated brick bed). It must be cold outside. It's warm on the kang."

As soon as Chen Shiliang saw the two enter the room, he hurriedly invited them to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Uncle, it's alright outside. It's only just gotten cold, not too freezing." Sheng Xiping smiled and sat down on the edge of the kang without any hesitation.

“Isn’t Jianshe back from Songjiang River? Last time we went up the mountain together to kill that black bear and sold its gall. I was thinking of getting Weiguo to join us, so we can settle the accounts and split the money.”

It wouldn't be appropriate to bring up Zhao Juan's matter as soon as they met, so Sheng Xiping made up an excuse.

"Oh, Xiping, we've been so grateful to have you leading Weiguo these past two years."

No matter what you're doing, he gets a share, and our family benefits too.

Look, you all grew up together, you're the same age. Haining's baby is six or seven months old, and yours is about to be born too. Jianshe has also gotten married.

"Our Weiguo is getting on in years, and your aunt and I are so worried we can't sleep."

The Chen and Sheng families were neighbors in the east and west courtyards, and they had a good relationship.

Chen Shiliang felt that the Sheng family's children were almost like his own, so he didn't stand on ceremony with Sheng Xiping and spoke his mind freely.

Upon hearing this, Sheng Xiping was overjoyed, as he was just thinking of steer the conversation toward Chen Weiguo's marriage.

"Uncle, Wei Guo must have saved up a lot of money these past two years, right? How much does it cost to get a wife?"

"You don't need to pay anything. He saved it all up himself. He'll have enough to get married and be well-off. What's there to worry about?" Sheng Xiping said this deliberately.

"That's right, how much money can it cost to get married? After Li Xue and I finished our wedding, we did the math and it didn't cost too much."

Look, your house is already built. You can keep the west room for Weiguo to live in when he gets married.

The rest was just buying the woman some clothes and fabric, a watch, and maybe a hundred or two hundred yuan more. Wei Guo had saved enough for that.

Wang Jianshe was quick-witted and immediately understood what Sheng Xiping meant, so he followed Sheng Xiping's lead and continued speaking.

Upon hearing this, Chen Shiliang couldn't help but roll his eyes at his son several times.

“Jianshe, Xiping, you two are so familiar with Weiguo, so I won’t hide anything from you.”

"My son is such a disappointment. He's got his eye on Liu Daming's daughter. With their demands, how can Weiguo possibly afford it all?"

The thought of this made Chen Shiliang furious. He wished he could grab the broom handle from the kang (a heated brick bed) and whack Chen Weiguo a few times to wake up his blockhead.

"Tell me, they want a dowry of 500 yuan and a separate new house."

Once the daughter-in-law entered the family, they separated from each other. From then on, Weiguo was not allowed to manage household affairs, especially Weimin.

What the hell is going on? We're getting a wife, not bringing home an ancestor!

Even a clay figure has some earthy qualities, let alone these spirited men who ventured to Northeast China.

Although Chen Shiliang was a bit old, he still had a temper, and he would get furious whenever this matter was brought up.