Li Xu had no words to refute this. After all, his sister-in-law Hu Guilan had said before that they could get married after he found a good job.

Li Xu thought for a moment and said, "How much food does the Qin family need?"

Having said this, Li Xu noticed that everyone's faces turned ugly.

Old Mrs. Li sighed and said, "Seven pounds of fine grain."

Li Xu was also surprised, "Why are there so many?"

Fine grains are really not cheap now. Li Xu once exchanged three pounds of white flour for 9 yuan and a thermos ticket on the black market. The man did not hesitate at the price.

If it weren't for that thermos ticket, Li Xu wouldn't have traded with him.

Nowadays, the general betrothal gift for marrying a girl in the countryside is 3 to 5 kilograms of fine grains, and if it is coarse grains, it will be more.

Old Mrs. Li sighed and said, "The Qin family is very patriarchal. This girl has suffered a lot in their family for more than ten years. They said they were marrying her off, but in fact they were selling her off. That's why they asked for such a huge sum.

We had looked at several families before, but we all thought they asked for too much food and refused. It was only this silly boy in our family who took a fancy to them.

We thought our second grandson was old enough to get married, and since we wouldn't have to visit each other after he got married, we agreed."

Li Xu had never seen such a degree of preference for boys over girls. They were simply selling their daughter. One could imagine what kind of life this future sister-in-law led at home.

There is no preference for boys over girls in Li Xu's family. Li Jiakang loves Li Mei, who has the highest education, and Li Ju, who is the youngest but has a sweet mouth, the most. He has never touched them. However, the two brothers Li Xu have been beaten and scolded since they were young.

Mr. and Mrs. Li have only two sons, and they like both their grandchildren. Although there are some differences, it is generally fair.

Not to mention Li Jiafu, who has three sons and one daughter in his family, but he is more partial to Li Hui.

Li Xu asked again, "When will Brother Qiang get married? I'll go back and tell my parents."

"On the 3rd of next month. I was planning to tell you when I go to the county to buy things in a few days."

Li Xu thought, he is really anxious. The marriage was just decided a few days ago, and he will get married in a few days.

"How are the wedding preparations going?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yun gave a bitter laugh and spoke again, "Ever since the Qin family got engaged, they didn't want to keep their daughter for even a single day, fearing she would eat up too much food, so they set the date so hastily.

We went to the carpenter in the team to make a double bed, so it can be finished before the wedding. We have enough cloth at home to make new clothes for both of us. When the time comes, we will just eat a simple meal from the neighbors, and we can slowly make up for the other missing things later."

At this point, everyone fell silent.

Li Xu understood that the price of this marriage was truly high. With so much food, the Li Jiafu family would have to tighten their belts for the next month after the wedding, and even their future meals would likely be inferior to what they had just eaten. Furthermore, Mr. Li and his family must have contributed a lot, otherwise they probably wouldn't have been able to collect enough cloth and grain.

Li Xu also guessed that Li Jiafu would go to borrow some food or bills from Li Jiakang. He was still a junior in front of them, and there were some things they would not tell him.

The Li Jiafu family was silent as they thought about the consequences of this marriage.

Everyone cleaned up the dishes in silence. Others went to work in the fields, and those who needed to clean up went back to clean up.

The Li Jianguo brothers went home, got buckets of water, and went to the river with Li Xu to catch fish.

When he arrived at the river, Li Xu saw more than a dozen naked children catching fish in the water. The water was only up to their waists. There were a few buckets and basins scattered on the shore, and some fish were swimming in them.

Then I heard the Li Jianguo brothers take off their clothes and urge me to go down to the river in a hurry.

Li Xu was too embarrassed to take off all his clothes here, so he just took off his shirt and went into the water with his pants on, thinking that it would dry quickly anyway since it was hot.

After going down, he walked a few steps away from the children, then bent down to feel the fish touching his legs and feet, and when he felt it, he reached out to grab it.

But after all, I had no experience at the beginning, and I didn’t even catch any fish after trying several times.

After a few more experiments, Li Xu slowly mastered the trick and was able to catch fish.

As long as you touch the fish in your hand, put it into the space immediately. This is much simpler.

After all, anyone who has caught fish knows that catching fish with bare hands in a river is not something that ordinary people can do. Fish in the river are extremely strong and slippery, and they will slip out of your hands if you are not careful.

It was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. After Li Xu's clothes were dry, he went to Li Jiafu to say hello and go back.

Who would have thought that the two younger brothers would follow along.

Li Jianguo said as he walked, "Brother Xu, how come you haven't caught any fish in such a long time? You're not as good as us two little ones. Look, these are the fish we caught." As he said that, he picked up the bucket and handed it to Li Xu to see.

Li Xu looked at the lively fish in the bucket, glanced at Li Jianguo, chuckled twice and said nothing.

He walked to Li Jiafu, said hello and told him something. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Li Jiafu say, "Xiao Xu, wait a minute, I'll give you two of these fish." As he said that, Li Jiafu found some straw from somewhere, tied up the two largest fish and handed them to Li Xu.

Li Xu refused again and again but failed. Then he looked at the sincere expression on Li Jiafu's face and accepted it.

Then he turned and left. After walking a few steps, he heard the sound of Li Jiafu beating and scolding Li Jianguo and his brother from behind, mixed with the brothers' crying.

When Li Xu heard the voice, his face was full of smiles, and he walked away without looking back.

Walking on the road, Li Xu recalled that when he was leaving and reported Li Jianguo and his brother to them for skipping classes, the brothers' expressions and the way they looked at Li Xu were really funny.

While resting on the side of the road, Li Xu took the time to look at the small pile of fish that occupied half of the space, and his heart was filled with joy.

Li Xu estimated that these fish should weigh more than 200 kilograms, and they are relatively large. Most of them are more than 1 kilogram, and only a few are more than half a kilogram. The smaller ones are not within Li Xu's reach.

After a short rest, Li Xu continued walking happily, carrying the two fish weighing about 1 kilogram given by Li Jiafu.

Seeing this, many people may wonder how so many fish in the river can starve?

One of the reasons is that in the past, seasonings and salt were expensive, so people were reluctant to use them, and the fishy smell could not be removed and was difficult to swallow. No one ate fish, so there was no special equipment for catching fish, and everyone could only catch it with their hands.

Secondly, adults in rural areas have to work during the day and do not stop all day long. They only have a little time to catch fish after work at night. However, it is more difficult to catch fish at night during this period, and you may not catch a single fish in a whole night. When it is the slack season, adults have time but the weather is cold and there are no fish to catch.

Another reason is that fish are very strong in the water, and only children have time to catch fish during the day. However, if they don’t have enough food to eat, they don’t have the energy to catch fish, and they are worried about being washed away if they go into the water.