"Darling, what are you planning to wear on your wedding day? Mom will go buy you some fabric later."

Guo Xuqing told her husband yesterday what they needed to buy, and he would get the things that were hard to find in department stores.

Everything else is pretty much settled, except I need to discuss the wedding dress with my daughter.

"Mom, I'll just cut the fabric and make it myself." Suti originally wanted to say no, since she had just made a festive outfit for the New Year, but then she thought that she would definitely need to wear a new outfit for her wedding.

"Okay, Mom will get you some fabric." Guo Xuqing thought that the satin fabric was fine for making quilts, but it wouldn't look good for making clothes.

"Mom, I want woolen fabric." Suti didn't want to make any more padded jackets; a woolen one would be fine too.

"Wool?" Guo Xuqing thought it was fine, but this material wasn't good for making clothes. She thought that if it really didn't work, she would find a tailor to make it.

"Mom, here you go." Suti handed her mother a wad of cash.

When we got married in the countryside, my mother divided all the money in the house equally. She couldn't let the family pay for everything twice.

"What does this mean? Your family is preparing a dowry for you, and you still have to pay for it? What kind of nonsense is this?" Guo Xuqing looked at her silly daughter with annoyance.

"Mom, this is a belated wedding for me. Didn't you already give me your dowry? You love me so much, and you even let my brother and me divide the family's belongings in two. I remember all of that."

“When you get old, I will definitely take care of you in your old age just like my brother. But once I’ve given you all that, I can’t keep giving you more. You should also save some money for your retirement.”

Suti knew that her family loved her and her brother didn't care about these things, but she couldn't take it all for granted.

It's only been a short time, and if the family throws another big celebration, they'll start taking her brother's share of the money—that's going too far.

“My dear, when you got married in the countryside, I gave you half of the things in the house. At that time, I was thinking of helping you out.”

"But Mom didn't prepare any dowry for you openly back then, so this is to make up for it."

"Mom only has two children, you and your brother. Even if you get married, you will still be my daughter, and you will still have a share of the money the family earns in the future."

"The bulk of it is done behind the scenes. What's on the surface is just for show. In reality, it's just a matter of a family's salary for a few months. We can afford that."

"Mom also wanted to talk to you about this. The things your family gave you when you married into the countryside are enough for you to live a life without worrying about food and drink."

“But things are different now. You’ve married into the Li family. Putting everything else aside, the dowry the old marshal prepared for your marriage is just so-so.”

"Mom knows that the other family has given you their entire savings as a betrothal gift. I can't give you all of my savings as a dowry, which is already unfair to you. Now you can't refuse to prepare some small things."

Guo Xuqing had been keeping this matter in mind, and she had discussed it with her mother in private. They had also considered whether to take something else from Linzi's half.

"Mom, you're wrong to think like that. Luckily, I only got married once. If I had gotten married ten or eight times, your family would have been completely broke."

"Even the Li family can't find fault with what you've given us. When it comes to marrying off daughters, we hold our heads high and when it comes to taking in wives, we stand tall with pride."

“Who else gets married like me, with my family giving half of their savings as a dowry? Don’t feel indebted to me; I only feel sorry for my silly older brother.”

Suti didn't expect that her mother was still thinking about making up for her dowry. She didn't know how much stuff the family had, but she knew her family well enough.

They loved her more than anything, and they would never do something like being so devoted to their son that they couldn't care less about their daughter's life or death. They gave her more than enough.

“Silly girl, you’ve grown up. But you can’t stop me from having a proper dowry. Your grandparents gave your mother a lot of money so you could have a grand wedding.”

“We didn’t attend your wedding in the countryside, and that made us feel really bad. But now it’s great that we can see you get married.”

Guo Xuqing put her arm around her daughter's shoulder, feeling very gratified. Her daughter had grown up and become sensible, and was about to become a mother.

"Okay, I won't stop you. Mom, you've prepared so much for me. That gives me confidence."

Suti thought about it and realized that with her grandparents' and parents' salaries combined, it was indeed only a few months' worth of wages. She felt bad for trying to stop them.

Under Suti's indulgence, a lot of things were brought back to the house over the next few days.

Grandpa and Dad went around making arrangements, and judging from the way they did, they had notified everyone they knew, indicating that they were determined to hold a big event.

The phone at home has been ringing non-stop for the past few days; it's only at night that it's her phone ringing.

She was finally able to speak with Baichuan; these past few days, both families had been exhausted from preparing for their wedding.

"Baichuan, have you prepared your clothes?" Suti has been researching wedding attire for the past few days.

If Li Baichuan were here, she could prepare it together, but now that he's so far away, even if she prepared it and sent it over, it would be too late.

"I'm all ready. I bought some ready-made clothes." Li Baichuan listened to Bian Cheng's suggestion and chose a Zhongshan suit.

He met that guy when he went shopping at the department store. Knowing that he was getting married, the guy followed him around, busy with all sorts of things.

He knew every street and alley in the capital, which saved him a lot of trouble and allowed him to buy many good things.

“My grandfather’s idea is to wait until the eighth day of the month for you to come early and stay overnight there, in case you are delayed on the road the next day and don’t make it in time.”

This was Suti's suggestion; otherwise, we would have had to set off in the middle of the night to arrive at the door by noon on the ninth day.

The journey will be rushed, and the wedding will be held later. Her grandparents are old and definitely won't be able to handle it.

"Honey, I've thought of that too. I plan to go tomorrow night and arrive on the morning of the eighth day of the lunar new year."

"We'll have a simple banquet at home before heading out, and we'll try to arrive tonight so we can get a good night's rest."

Li Baichuan was also thinking about this; his wife was pregnant and couldn't afford to not get enough rest.

"Okay, that's what I was thinking too. How's the preparation at home going?" Su Ti thought that time was tight and things were already chaotic at her home, so she guessed it was even more chaotic on their end.

"That's about it. Grandpa has spoken to the higher-ups about the banquet. All we need to do is pay. They'll provide the dishes, bowls, and chopsticks, which saves us a lot of trouble."

“There are no relatives in the family, except for one great-aunt, and no one else. There are also my grandfather and father’s comrades-in-arms. They have all been notified one by one.”

"The grandfathers said there are many things in the family that cannot be brought out as betrothal gifts. We just need to keep that in mind. We'll just go through the motions when the time comes."

"Oh, right, honey, I also prepared a surprise for you." Li Baichuan muttered to himself, seemingly having endless things to say.