It was said that Miao just didn't like this boy before, but after Old Lady Wang said this, she didn't want to have anything to do with this family at all!
Listen to this, Miao didn't know what to say. You just said that other girls and boys' parents only care about money, and now you turn around and ask their family for ten taels. It seems that you only care about money, right?
Ten taels! The betrothal silver for a young girl in the village is usually only five or six taels, and the young man has to pay a little less. Although marrying a son-in-law usually requires more money, it is still eight taels at most. Ten taels is "only", and he really dares to ask for it. Do you think her family is being taken advantage of?
Another thing, what does "those girls and boys like our child" mean? You have to know how important reputation is to girls and boys in this world. If any girl or boy in the village dares to show such thoughts, they will be drowned in spit. This person wants to promote his own child. Whether it is true or made up, it is enough to show his low character!
However, although Miao's face became gloomier the more she listened, she did not speak directly. Instead, she glanced at Wei the matchmaker first. Seeing that Wei the matchmaker also had an embarrassed look on her face, she knew what was going on.
Matchmaker Wei also regretted it! Generally speaking, why do we need a matchmaker to mediate when we are arranging a marriage? It is because they are afraid that if the two families talk face to face, they may not reach an agreement and hurt their feelings. Sometimes, people talk to each other and argue for the moment. Who knows what unpleasant things they may say! It would be much better if there was a matchmaker to pass on the message. So today, Matchmaker Wei originally planned to bring only Old Lady Wang with her and let Wang San wait at her house first.
But this old lady Wang insisted that if she let Miao see her son's appearance and physique, she would be satisfied at first sight. Although she felt it was inappropriate, she thought about the more than 100 coins, and it was a one-time deal anyway. At most, she would have one more person when Shen Qing drove her out. What else could she do? So she brought the person here. Who knew that the mother and son, one was sullen and gloomy throughout the whole process, and the other talked nonsense without keeping a word!
She was secretly resentful when she heard Miao say, "Sister Chunfang, I don't understand this. Although my family has made a small fortune, you know, we don't have any land, and this house is rented. We don't know how thin our foundation is, how can we afford to buy someone?" She took a sip of the sugar water and smiled, "Sister Chunfang is really a capable person. Isn't being a matchmaker and midwife enough for you to make money for your family? Why do you want to be a pawnbroker? But even if you want to be a pawnbroker, I can't support your business. My family doesn't even have land. This is the only job we can do at home. Qingge and I can do it with a little help. Why do we need to buy someone!"
Fortunately, Shen Qing had just told her about buying a person, so Miao changed her mind and brought the topic here. While the two sides hadn't explained their words yet, she just pretended to be stupid and sent the person away quickly. This old lady Wang looked like an ignorant person, and Miao felt that she was not good at quarreling and was not good at speaking, so she didn't want to confront her head-on.
Matchmaker Wei's face turned slightly red, knowing that Miao was giving her face. She had never expected that Old Lady Wang would dare to ask for such a high price. Her family was not rich, yet she dared to ask for ten taels!
Little did she know that Old Lady Wang still felt that she was getting less! Her family didn't have much money, but in addition to Wang San, there were four other boys who needed to get married, and she had to give Matchmaker Wei two taels of silver as a thank you, which was not even enough to marry two wives! Ten taels was an understatement.
Matchmaker Wei quickly stood up and said, "It's all my fault. I didn't think it through. My sister's family should build a house and buy land first. We can talk about this later." Then she went to pull Old Lady Wang, "Old sister, this matter is over. Let's go."
Old Lady Wang didn't know whether she really didn't understand or was pretending not to understand. She had spent more than a hundred coins to sit in front of Miao, so she was unwilling to be sent away after drinking a bowl of water, "Why are you leaving? Oh, didn't you understand what I said at all, what do you mean by buying and selling people? I'm here to talk about marriage!" She shook off Wei the matchmaker's hand and said to Miao: "Your brother is still nineteen and still hasn't married. Aren't you planning to find a son-in-law? Isn't my son good enough? At your brother's age and appearance, who do you want to marry?"
This is really giving her face but she refuses to take it! When Miao heard this, her face flushed with anger. She didn't expect that she would be wronged for no reason while sitting at home. Someone actually rushed into her house and said bad things about her brother in front of her! But she grunted twice, and before she could think of how to fight back, Shen Qing had already lifted the curtain of the kitchen and came out.
"What's wrong with my appearance and age?"
In Xiaoji Village, Old Lady Wang had only heard of Shen Qing's exploits in hunting wild boars, but she didn't know Shen Qing's reputation as directly as the people in Lantang Village. She also didn't notice that since Shen Qing lifted the curtain and came out, Wei the matchmaker had shrunk into the corner, fearing that Shen Qing would take her with him. At this time, she scanned Shen Qing from head to toe several times, and smiled contemptuously: "You don't know what you look like, but you have to let others say it? I advise you, if there is a man who wants you, hurry up and grab him, be careful that you will miss this opportunity. If you miss a good man like my son, you will find it hard to find him even if you light a lantern!"
He was also very dissatisfied that Shen Qing, a boy, barged in to discuss his marriage. Fortunately, he was sending his son to marry into the family, so they would not have to live under the same roof in the future. Otherwise, such an unruly boy would not be worthy of entering their Wang family!
Shen Qing also imitated her and smiled contemptuously: "Your son is indeed not bad." To Shen Qing, this was the truth.
If he had not had the opportunity to go to the end of the world, and had not gained a lot of knowledge and understood many truths through this opportunity, but had only made a living by selling firewood, I am afraid he would really feel that a man like Wang San is rare to come by.
But he happened to encounter such an opportunity and saw a different world.
Seeing that Old Lady Wang raised her eyebrows and showed a smug look on her face, Shen Qing continued, "But our family refuses this marriage. It's not because your son is not good enough, but because of you. Marriage is not just a matter between two people. It also depends on the family style and character of the in-laws. You seem to be greedy, ignorant of etiquette, and arrogant. Why do you think your son is worth ten taels? You also go to other people's homes to praise and criticize other people's children and praise your own children. No normal person would do such a thing. No matter how upright and capable your son is, our family does not want to have anything to do with you."
When these words came out, everyone's eyes widened. People in this world usually keep some words in reserve and be more tactful, and give the other party some face even if things don't work out. But Shen Qing didn't expect that he would be so direct and straightforward, and directly hit the nail on the head and lifted the fig leaf of Wang Lao Niang.
Especially Wang San. As Shen Qing kept criticizing Wang Lao Niang, he seemed to remember many things in his family and lowered his head in pain.
"You--you--" Old Lady Wang's eyes widened, and she pointed at Shen Qing with shaking fingers, she was so angry that she could hardly breathe. But Shen Qing still refused to let her go: "Besides, this marriage is about making friends, not enemies. Look at your son's expression, how can he be willing? Even if I want to marry someone, I want to marry someone who is good to me and works with me to live a good life, not someone who will give me a hard time."
After hearing this, others were fine, but Wang San looked up at Shen Qing for a while with an inexplicable expression.
Shen Qing looked at the matchmaker Wei who had shrunk into a corner, trying to reduce her presence, and said gently, "Aunt Wei, I have to thank you for arranging a marriage for me and thinking of me. My family has been exposed to some white hair recently, but I earned that money by fighting wild boars in the mountains. If you love me, please help me screen for the sake of knowing my mother, and don't bring such a family to our family!"
Miao felt that her brother had said everything she wanted to say. Her brain and mouth couldn't keep up, so she could only nod in agreement: "That's right!"
"Ah! Ah! Qing'er, I really didn't expect his family to be such people," Wei Matchmaker quickly agreed, too nervous to breathe. "His family gave me a hundred coins to beg me, so I agreed to come here. I won't be greedy for this money anymore. I'll send the money to you in a moment!"
Mrs. Wang: ???
However, at this moment, even her son couldn't stand it anymore and pulled her to the gate of the courtyard: "Mom, stop making trouble, let's go!"
"Why are you leaving!" How could Wang Lao Niang, who thought her plan was set in stone but failed, lose ten taels of silver and more than a hundred coins, and was scolded by Shen Qing, bear this humiliation? You know, she was in Xiaoji Village, and because she had five boys to support her, she was used to being arrogant. The reason why her boys couldn't get married was not entirely because of poverty - Shen Qing really said this, but not everyone was as "kind-hearted" as Shen Qing and would tell her the truth.
"I've never seen such a shameless boy! He's already picky about men, in-laws, and elders before he even leaves the house!" Old Lady Wang had a gloomy face. "I'm not going to argue with you. I'm giving you face, and you'd better take it. It'll be fine if you agree to this marriage now. Otherwise, I'll tell everyone what happened today, and I'll see who dares to come to your house!" Even though they had such a bad relationship now, she had not given up the idea of letting her son marry into her family: because she really needed the ten taels of silver!
Shen Qing looked at her in bewilderment. Was she threatening him? Did he care about his reputation? At this point, Shen Qing hoped that his reputation would be as bad as possible, especially in terms of being fierce and powerful. Look at how scared Wei Matchmaker was. Let's see if she dares to bring such a person to her home in the future!
Shen Qing looked at Old Lady Wang with great sympathy and said, "You don't really think that a reputation can control me. My reputation was bad enough before, but you still came to me eagerly? You should know why in your heart, right? If I had money, would I have to find a man in the village? I would go to the pawnshop in the county town and buy the strongest and tallest one, which would only cost about ten taels of silver. Can a few words of yours stop the pawnshop from selling it to me?"
Old Lady Wang was dumbfounded. She really didn't expect it. How, how could it be like this... She gritted her teeth and racked her brains to come up with one thing: "The women sold in the pawnshop are all low-class women..."
"Yes," Shen Qing said, "but I am happy to buy a whore, what does it have to do with you? To be honest, I would rather spend a few more taels of silver to buy someone who pleases me, at least the one I buy won't have a mother like you to drag me down!"
Wang San suddenly sighed and tugged at Wang Lao Niang fiercely: "Mom, don't embarrass yourself, let's go!" He glanced at Shen Qing, then quickly lowered his head: "He is right, marriage requires mutual consent, and I don't want to! I don't want to marry into the family. We are both boys, why should I be the one to marry into the family?"
Old Lady Wang didn't expect that she hadn't even dealt with Shen Qing in front of her, and her son had already started to rebel. She couldn't do anything to Shen Qing - although she wanted to, and wanted to tear Shen Qing's mouth apart, but looking at Shen Qing's head and strong arms, she was not so stupid as to think that Shen Qing would stand there for her to hit!
But beating her own son was very convenient. At this moment, it seemed that she had finally found a reasonable outlet for the anger she had received from Shen Qing. Old Lady Wang raised her hand and slapped him in the face: "What are you talking about? I am your mother. This marriage has always been decided by parents. If I ask you to marry into the family, you must do so! Your two brothers have not married yet. If you don't marry into the family in exchange for the betrothal money, what will they do? Why are you so selfish? You only think about yourself!"
"I'm a boy too, and I haven't married yet. Why shouldn't they marry into my family's family to help me?!" Wang San covered his face and yelled, staring at Wang Laonian with red eyes.
Old Lady Wang was stunned. Why? Because the eldest was her first child, and she loved him the most. The second child was sweet-mouthed, and would bring back fruits for her to eat when he picked them in the mountains since he was young, and the two younger ones were young, so they naturally needed extra care... She couldn't bear to give up any of her sons, but the third child, who was born in the middle and was easily neglected, and when he grew up, he was always gloomy and unhappy, and she disliked him the most.
But how can she say this? She is biased? She just doesn't like the third child? Old Lady Wang couldn't say it, nor did she want to face it. She was even more angry at Wang San's way of forcing her to face her own little thoughts: "Okay, okay, you unfilial son, you are turning your elbow outward. Others are pointing at your mother's nose and scolding her, but you don't help your mother vent her anger, and now you are joining in to embarrass me!" Old Lady Wang slapped Wang San again, "Who am I embarrassing myself here for? It's not to find you a good family!"
Wang San did not hide and let her hit him, but his pair of red eyes just stared at Wang Lao Niang without blinking, which made her feel more and more guilty. She stomped her feet and ran out of the courtyard at the foot of the mountain.
Miao and Shen Qing squatted in one place and watched the wonderful scene of the feud between the mother and son of the Wang family, and commented from time to time: "I have often heard that the daughter and the son are asked for a high betrothal gift to marry a boy. This is the first time I have seen that the boy is also thinking about using it to exchange for the betrothal gift."
"There is nothing strange in the world. So at some point, I am not always superior to others," Shen Qing thought of those men who make a living by selling prostitution in the last days. Aren't they also serving men? "In some situations, I am also a man, and I am also a girl..."
Miao was confused: "What weird things are you talking about?"
Shen Qing shook his head: "Nothing, just imagination." He saw that after Old Lady Wang left, Wang San stood there for a while and actually walked towards him.
"I'm sorry, my mother is such a bad person..." Wang San spoke with difficulty, apologizing to Shen Qing and Miao. He was about the same height as Shen Qing, and now he looked even more timid and pitiful as he bent his body slightly. "I don't think your brother is a bad person, really."
Miao was a little uncomfortable: "It's okay, it's all your mother's nonsense, it's none of your business." She quickly winked at Wei the matchmaker who was still hiding in the corner: What's going on? Why don't you get rid of her?
Wang San turned his body slightly towards Shen Qing: "We have many boys in our family, five brothers, and our family is poor... Actually, we are not that poor. Because of my mother's personality, no one in the village wants to marry into my family. When it comes to marriage, they deliberately raise the betrothal money. My two brothers and I have been delayed... I am the one my mother loves the least, so she wants me to marry into her family in exchange for betrothal money for my two brothers."
"I am also heartbroken today. If, I mean, if I don't want ten taels of silver..."
Shen Qing tilted his head and looked at him: "Stop. You don't think that after making such a fuss and talking about your pitiful situation, I will soften my heart and agree to this marriage, right?"
Wang San’s body stiffened.
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