Chapter 132 Chapter 132 Vacation begins.
Brother Liu felt that the suggestions from his younger sister and brother-in-law were very good and opened the door to a new world for him. The only pity was that they were both very busy people. After only half an hour of chatting, Liu Xiangxiang brought her parents and her boyfriend to find Liu Suqin. They met here first, and then Liu Suqin drove to Chen's house to discuss the marriage.
As soon as Liu Suqin and the others left, Lin Nanjiang, who had claimed to have taken some time off to entertain his brother-in-law, immediately apologized and said that he had to go back to the fast food restaurant to check on the evening's meal preparations.
Brother Liu: ...
He had no doubt about how busy his brother-in-law was. When he passed by the fast food restaurant at noon, he had witnessed how busy their lunch business was from outside. It was no exaggeration to say that they were busy. With such a big business, he still found time to come back, which was already a great honor for him.
He understood, but the couple's constant, even intensifying, irritability over the years left him speechless. Elder Brother Liu waved Lin Nanjiang off feebly, dismissing him to return to his duties. He also declined his invitation to join him in the shop. "My younger sister already took me there this morning, so I won't bother you. Besides, what you just discussed is very important. I need to discuss it with my parents."
Parents may not be able to help with other things, but when it comes to raising chickens, ducks, geese and pigs at home, they can definitely give useful advice with their half-life experience in farm work.
It was not yet four o'clock when Liu Suqin drove out of the customs. It was still early. She turned the car into a yard at the entrance of the village as if she was familiar with the route, stopped the car, turned off the engine, opened the door and got out of the car, then greeted and reminisced with Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen in a skillful manner.
Although today's destination is Chen's new home, his home is located in the inner part of the village and is not as convenient for parking as Uncle Chen's yard. Liu Suqin is not very familiar with his parents, so of course she chose to park at Uncle Chen's place.
It just so happened that Uncle Chen also wanted to join them.
While Liu Suqin was chatting with Uncle Chen and his wife about the past, Liu Xiangxiang and Chen Jiaxin were busy taking things out of the trunk. They had accompanied Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu for a stroll in the morning and had not forgotten to prepare gifts for the visit, even considering Uncle Chen's family.
Aunt Chen wanted to refuse, but unfortunately she couldn't resist the enthusiastic young man. After a struggle, she stood at the gate of the yard, holding fruits and milk in her hands, and watched the group of people talking and laughing as they walked towards the village.
Chen Jiaxin's parents were very welcoming. The living room where they were received was spotlessly clean, and the coffee table was piled high with fruit snacks. Chen Jiaxin's sister-in-law and elder sister were busy preparing dinner in the kitchen next door. From time to time, tempting aromas wafted by, proving how much importance this family attached to the meal.
Unfortunately, such a harmonious and lively atmosphere froze when Aunt Liu asked for a betrothal gift of 28,000 yuan.
Second Aunt Liu spoke very nicely, constantly emphasizing that Liu Xiangxiang was their first child and only daughter. She said how much the couple loved their eldest daughter and was reluctant to let her leave her hometown to work, so they asked people for help and found her a decent and stable job in the county.
Unfortunately, the child has grown up and has her own ideas. They didn't stop her from coming to Shenzhen to work hard before, and now they can't stop her from marrying far away.
Even so, they had to make more plans for her. As everyone knows, a girl who marries far away will always suffer more grievances. Her parents' home will be unable to help her and will not be able to stand up for her if she is bullied. That is why they have to strive for more protection before marriage. Only if the betrothal gift is generous enough can she marry into the family with her head held high.
But no matter how good the reason sounded, it could not cover up the fact that she asked for an exorbitant amount of money.
Chen Jiaxin's parents were shocked.
Twenty-eight thousand, how dare they do that? To be frank, even if they were to find a local girl, they wouldn't be able to spend that much.
But because Chen Jiaxin had hinted before that no matter how much betrothal gifts his future father-in-law and mother-in-law asked for, it would eventually be used for their small family, which echoed what Aunt Liu had said before, and in order to give face to Uncle Chen and Liu Suqin, Chen's father and mother did not overturn the table immediately.
If they ask for an exorbitant price, then just pay the price.
The two sides began a tug-of-war that lasted nearly two hours.
Liu Suqin and Uncle Chen mainly acted as the atmosphere group, coming out in time to smooth things over when the talks were about to break down, allowing the negotiations to continue.
The Chen family finally succeeded in cutting the price by more than half, settling on the auspicious number of 12,888.
It can be seen that this was beyond their expectations. Not only was the smile a little forced, but he didn't even mention the three golds that the locals valued very much. He probably wanted the Liu family to bear all this.
Such a large amount of betrothal gifts can buy one or two hundred kilograms of gold. How can we not prepare a set of gold jewelry for the bride to show off?
Liu Suqin did not express her opinion on the surface, but she understood the Chen family's calculations in her heart. She had seen too many scenes like this in her previous life. When fighting for benefits, they all made high-sounding claims, saying that they would not be greedy for such a small amount of money, and that their daughter would take the betrothal gift back intact when she went out. They asked for more just to give the young couple an extra guarantee, and so on. They tried to make it sound as nice as possible.
But when it was time to fulfill their promise, they came up with another excuse. They were afraid that their daughter was young and inexperienced, so they kept the money for her first, and as parents they would not embezzle their child's money.
Some parents did return the money in the end, but more often they just kept the money and nothing happened next.
Even if Chen Jiaxin had negotiated in advance and Second Aunt was speaking nicely now, no one could be sure who would get the money until the very last moment.
From the other side's perspective, if the daughter-in-law's parents suddenly regretted their decision and insisted on taking the betrothal gift for themselves, what could they do? Would they sue the in-laws to collect the debt? Before that, the couple would have to get a divorce first, otherwise there would be no grounds for litigation.
Even if the matter goes to the end, there is no guarantee that the money can be recovered in full. In the end, he lost his daughter-in-law and his family became a laughing stock.
So many people can only suffer in silence when they encounter such things.
The Chen family had seen this kind of excitement before, and now that it was their turn, they couldn’t be completely at ease.
Even if they have a strong financial background, they would still be heartbroken to lose so much money for no reason.
Human joys and sorrows are not shared. Several people from the Chen family forced themselves to smile, while Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu across from them were beaming with joy. They dared to ask for 28,000 yuan, which was really an exorbitant price. Anyway, it was a try and it didn't cost any money. If it didn't work out, a betrothal gift of 3,000 to 5,000 yuan would be fine, which was already better than many people in the village.
They didn't expect the result of the try to be so pleasing, twelve thousand. They never dreamed that their in-laws were so powerful.
Aunt Liu had everything planned out. She would use part of the betrothal gift to buy her daughter a dowry, including clothes, shoes, quilts, and gold rings, so that she could marry in style. She would save the rest to help her two sons get married in the future.
With this money, she and her children's father will have an easier time in the future, and their two sons won't have to worry about not being able to find wives.
Satisfied Aunt Liu started to inquire how to pay the betrothal gift, whether in cash or something else, and when would the money be transferred?
Liu Xiangxiang, who had been behaving well and cooperating, finally spoke up to persuade them, "Mom and Dad, how are we going to keep all this cash? I'm afraid it'll be stolen as soon as we leave the house. Everyone uses bank cards now."
When Aunt Liu heard that everyone out there was using bank cards, she got a little anxious. "What should we do? We only have passbooks."
"I have a card. Our company pays salaries directly into the card." Liu Xiangxiang tried her best to sound nonchalant. Chen Jiaxin, Liu Suqin and Uncle Chen also spared no effort to follow suit.
Chen's parents actually saw some clues, but since this matter was in their favor, they naturally cooperated without making a fuss.
Asking for such a high betrothal gift made Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu feel a bit guilty in front of their future in-laws, so when they started to join in the discussion, Uncle Liu immediately switched sides and began to persuade them, "Mother, this betrothal gift was originally asked for our daughter. Wouldn't it be perfect to put it into her card?"
They chatted back and forth, and the helpless Aunt Liu was soon fooled. She agreed to the arrangement in a daze, and immediately struck while the iron was hot, inviting everyone to the table for dinner. During the meal, they toasted each other and talked about all sorts of things, not giving Aunt Liu any chance to calm down and think.
When they returned to the city, the couple had drunk a lot and were snoring drunkenly in the back seat. Liu Suqin drove them directly to Liu Ping's house.
Liu Xiangxiang was worried because her parents were too drunk, so she decided to stay at Liu Ping's house for one night so that she could take care of them personally.
They were only staying for two days this time. Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu were still a little groggy after waking up from their hangover, so they didn't go out much. Their daughter was married in a big city, so were they worried that she wouldn't have the chance to see the world in the future? The most urgent thing was to share this happy event with their eldest brother and sister-in-law!
So everyone gathered at Liu Suqin's house again.
Qian Juxiang cooperated this time and praised her sister-in-law with compliments. She envied her daughter for finding such a rich son-in-law and getting so much betrothal gifts. She easily praised Aunt Liu, who had not felt any sense of superiority in front of her in the past few years, and made her feel flattered. Her mind was full of thoughts about getting rich and enjoying the blessings of having a daughter and son-in-law like her elder brother and sister-in-law.
With this beautiful expectation, Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu were sent on the bus back to their hometown in a daze.
As usual, Liu Suqin drove, but this time Liu Xiangxiang insisted on taking leave to go along. When they arrived outside the customs, her future son-in-law Chen Jiaxin was also waiting at the intersection on a motorcycle, and everyone enthusiastically saw them off to the car.
Chen Jiaxin insisted on paying for the tickets, including that of Brother Liu. He inquired about the market price in advance and did not give He Shengli and Lin Nanhe any chance to be polite. He threw a few Mao Zedong notes at the steering wheel according to the current price and drove away, and also took Liu Xiangxiang away.
The girl was still sitting on the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle and waving at Liu Suqin happily, "Sister, I'm going to his house with Jiaxin first. He will take me back to the dormitory later. You don't have to worry."
Liu Suqin really had nothing to worry about.
This time, my second uncle and second aunt came and brought Liu Xiangxiang's household registration page with them, and handed it to her. They can go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get the certificate at any time, and the agreed betrothal gift will be directly deposited into Liu Xiangxiang's card. The plan has been successfully completed, and she can retire with honor.
Rather than her cousin's subsequent arrangements, Liu Suqin was more concerned about the plan discussed with her eldest brother. Unfortunately, after he returned, he would have to wait until after the New Year to take action, so she couldn't rush.
Feeling that she had nowhere to display her talents, Liu Suqin went home and started taking her mother and Aunt Zhang out to buy New Year's goods. She also prepared some New Year's gifts for her and Lin Nanjiang's employees. Boxes of New Year's goods were brought home as if they were free. It seemed that she was more relaxed than at this time of year in previous years, but she couldn't really lie down and relax.
Liu Suqin was already satisfied with this level of things, and she couldn't let go completely. After she had almost bought the things, she rushed to the store without stopping.
In addition to distributing New Year gifts to employees, she also had to personally distribute money and bonuses. The outstanding employees had been announced, and my younger brother was indeed among them. Liu Suqin gave them a large bonus and filled them with chicken soup. In the evening, she took everyone out for dinner, where they had a one-stop service of eating, drinking and having fun.
After the team building, out-of-town employees can take their holidays, while local employees or those who live nearby can take their holidays a few days later. However, Liu Suqin also has people calculate their overtime pay, so both those on holiday and those working overtime are very happy.
Qian Juxiang and her family also packed up and went back, as did Lin Quansheng, who took his wife and children to his father-in-law's house to celebrate the New Year.
After seeing off relatives and friends, Liu Suqin and the others waited for another two days. Julie, the busy woman, finally had a day off. They reunited and took a ferry to the port city. The port city airport happened to have a direct flight to Rome, saving them the trouble of transfer.
Yes, the first stop of their vacation was Rome. At Julie's recommendation, Liu Suqin bought a DVD of "Roman Holiday" to watch at home. After that, she fell in love with this city with her and decided to go on vacation abroad for the first time. They would first check in and shop in the beautiful fashion capital of Rome, and then go to Sicily and Naples.
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