When Cheng's father heard him say this, a mouthful of blood choked in his throat. He hadn't expected that his son would really rather split up the family and marry that woman. "Okay, then let's split him up. He's so disobedient, there's no point in keeping him at home. Splitting him out will save some food."
Cheng's father said angrily with a dark face: "Then it will be as you wish. When you get married, we will separate the family."
Mother Cheng stood aside, feeling a little blocked and depressed. She said expressionlessly, "Since you have made up your mind, I will find someone to propose to the Xu family."
In this case, marry them early. It would be best to distribute them before distributing the food, so that you can get less.
Cheng Jiawen looked at the two of them with gratitude, "Thank you, Mom and Dad." He stood still and asked awkwardly, "What about the betrothal gift?"
Mother Cheng rolled her eyes. "Same as your second brother, 50 yuan, plus 100 kilograms of grain."
At this point, Cheng's mother continued, "By the way, after the family splits up, you have to give your father and me 200 kilograms of grain every year."
When Cheng Jiawen heard this, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart. As he said, how could the family be divided so easily? It turned out that there were conditions. Moreover, he only gave 50 yuan for his marriage, while his eldest brother got married with a betrothal gift of 200 yuan, plus the construction of a new house. It's really the same people with different fates.
However, he did not expect his parents to give him anything. He would earn the betrothal gift himself. As for the 200 kilograms of food given every year, he would regard it as pension for his parents. Anyway, since he had given them the food, they should not ask him for anything else.
Cheng Jiawen nodded, "Okay, that's it."
Cheng's father and mother looked at Cheng Jiawen deeply, then turned and left. "I'll go find a matchmaker later and propose marriage tomorrow. Please tell the Xu family in advance."
"Okay, Mom, I understand." Hearing this, Cheng Jiawen could no longer hold back the smile on his face and finally agreed. He didn't expect this to be so simple. That was great.
After watching his parents leave, he returned to his room. He took off his coat and lay on the bed, ready to sleep for a while. He would go to the mountain to pack some things tonight and go to Xu's house tomorrow to talk to Xu's parents about the marriage. Otherwise, if he went there empty-handed, Jiaojiao would not look good.
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The mountains at night are serene and mysterious. Under the moonlight, the rolling hills resemble giant dragons coiling across the earth. The mountain breeze whistles past, creating a mellow rustle of pine trees, creating a sense of incomparable comfort.
Cheng Jiawen quietly got up, put on his clothes, climbed over the wall and headed straight for the mountain.
The harvest tonight was not bad. Although there were no big ones, there were several pheasants and rabbits scattered here and there. He took out a pheasant and a rabbit and hid them in the grass, and gave the rest to the fat man.
Two prey are just right. Too many will arouse suspicion. A chicken and a rabbit are just right.
He carried a large bag of prey and rushed all the way to the city. When he went to deliver the prey tonight, he could also take out some of the money he had saved over the years and give it to Xu's father and mother tomorrow. This would be his private betrothal gift to Xu Qianjiao.
On the surface, it was still as much as his mother gave him, a betrothal gift of 50 yuan, which was not particularly shabby, but it was indeed not something he could afford.
Tonight, he was particularly excited and ran very fast. When he returned home after delivering the prey, more than an hour had passed and it was still dark.
He lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to find a comfortable position. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to burst out of his chest, and his thoughts were like a wild horse running wild in the endless night.
He imagined many scenarios for tomorrow. "What should I do? I seem to be a little nervous. It has to be confirmed tomorrow."
He took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down, closed his eyes, and counted his heartbeats, but it was all in vain. His mind was full of all kinds of thoughts, and he couldn't control his thoughts. They surged into his mind like a tide and blew away like the wind.
He recalled the scenes of his time with Xu Qianjiao and his childhood. Now, he seemed to be looking forward to marriage. He looked forward to marrying Xu Qianjiao, and also looked forward to leaving his original family and having someone who truly loved him.
His emotions grew increasingly agitated, like a balloon about to burst. He didn't know how to release his emotions or express his feelings. He could only pray silently in the darkness, hoping to calm down and fall asleep.
Before I knew it, heavy snoring finally sounded, and the person who had been tossing and turning in bed finally fell asleep.
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The next morning, Cheng Jiawen got up early at daybreak.
At this moment, the earth was still immersed in the embrace of night. The distant mountains were looming in the morning mist, as beautiful as an ink painting. In the sky, a few morning stars twinkled faintly, as if preparing for the coming sunrise.
Mrs. Cheng was cooking breakfast for the whole family in the kitchen. She was a little surprised when she saw Cheng Jiawen standing in the yard. "Fourth Brother? Why are you up so early today?"
Cheng Jiawen looked towards the kitchen and greeted her with a polite smile, "Second sister-in-law, I went to bed early last night, so I got up early today."
Cheng Ersao nodded blankly, and then she silently took out two more sweet potatoes from the kitchen cupboard, washed them, cut them into pieces, and threw them into the pot to cook.
Usually when she made breakfast, she never made a portion for Cheng Jiawen. She would secretly hide a sweet potato and leave it for her daughters to eat. But today it was not possible. Cheng Jiawen got up today. If there was one left, it would definitely not be enough for them to eat, and Cheng's mother would find out.
So she took out a sweet potato that she had hidden today while everyone else was still asleep, washed it, cut it into pieces and put them together to cook.
As time went by, the clouds on the horizon began to grow brighter, and a faint red hue began to appear in the eastern sky. Gradually, this red grew brighter and more intense, as if someone had spilled a bottle of paint in the sky. Then, a corner of the sun began to rise from the horizon, like a shy girl slowly revealing her face.
The Cheng family members came out of their rooms one after another. They went to the yard to wash up, and then sat down at the table spontaneously, waiting for Cheng Ersao to bring breakfast to the table.
Mrs. Cheng deftly brought out the sweet potato porridge and pickles and placed them on the table. She then set the bowls in order and handed the rice spoon to Mother Cheng. "Mom."
Mother Cheng glanced at her, took the spoon and started to distribute the rice.
In this family, food was distributed according to the degree of favor received and the number of centimeters. Obviously, Cheng Jiawen did not have either of these two factors, so he waited until later to get his share of food.
The rice he was given consisted of only a few pieces of sweet potato and a few grains of millet, the rest was water.
Cheng Jiawen was not surprised at all and didn't care much about it. He just picked up the bowl and drank it.
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