Sighs rippled through the crowd.
"I've really learned something new today. There are relatives like this! They gave five times more than others, and they still complained it wasn't enough!"
"Gift giving is about the giver's good intentions; it's ridiculous for the recipient to be so picky about whether the gift is too much or too little!"
"They have no sense of propriety, righteousness, integrity, or shame! They're so narrow-minded, all they care about is money!"
"It's best to avoid people like that. When you have money, she treats you like a father, but when you don't, she treats you like a dog!"
Ye Siqi's eyes reddened as she was scolded. "You're starving, what does that have to do with me! Why are you criticizing me!"
Ye Panjiu smiled and retorted, "You're right, it's none of your business. Our family shouldn't have come today. We'll take the five hundred cash gifts back with us, and we don't need to have any further dealings with you."
As she spoke, Ye Panjiu took Ye Laotai's arm and walked out.
Grandma Ye shook her head, "How could a perfectly normal person act like such a rude person?"
On the other side, Liu held onto Old Madam Ye's arm, saying, "Mother, don't be angry. It's not worth getting angry over someone like that."
Ye Panjiu replied, "Yes, Mother, we'll get our 500 coins back. We won't lose anything, and we'll see a person for who they really are. We don't need this kind of relative anymore."
Grandma Ye nodded. "That's how it is. I just can't understand how this little girl, whom I watched grow up, could have turned out like this?"
Ye Panjiu shook her head. "People change. She just thinks money is more important. Mother, let's not think about it anymore."
Seeing that Grandma Ye and the others had reached the door, Ye Daniu hurried over to ask what was wrong.
After figuring out the situation, they went back and called Old Man Ye to leave as well.
Standing in front of the table where gifts were recorded at the door, Mrs. Sun said loudly, "Since you look down on my five hundred coins, then say no more, return the money, and we won't drink this wedding wine!"
The person keeping the gift list, a relative from the groom's side, was taken aback. "Father-in-law, you're joking. How could we look down on you? Isn't there some misunderstanding?"
Sun scoffed, "Go ask your good daughter-in-law, I'm very busy, hurry up!"
Not wanting the matter to escalate further, the man quickly took out five hundred and handed it to Mrs. Sun.
Sun took the money and walked towards Old Lady Ye.
The Ye family came together and went back together.
The Ye family, the Ye Dayi family, the Ye Qijin family, and many other families who were on good terms with the Ye family, all inquired about what had happened that day.
They didn't ask for any return gifts from any of the families, and no matter how the hosts tried to stop them, they insisted on leaving.
At the last wedding banquet, only a few tables were occupied; everyone had already left.
Too many people heard Ye Siqi say those words, and the man's side naturally found out as well.
They all felt incredibly embarrassed and ashamed.
After the Ye family returned home, Liu went straight to the kitchen.
Old Man Ye was unhappy and squatted in the courtyard smoking his pipe.
"What a mess! It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but it's turned into this."
Ye Erniu was chopping firewood. There wasn't enough firewood in the kitchen, so he chopped some to carry inside. As he sang, he replied, "Isn't that because Ye Siqi is dishonest? Our family, my older brother, me, my younger sister, and Ye Lei, together we gave less than two hundred coins as a wedding gift, and she's still complaining about us!"
Ye Daniu sighed, "Little sister is right. There's no need to have any more contact with relatives like that."
Ye Panjiu smiled and said, "I don't think the wedding banquet was as good as my sister-in-law's cooking. It's all in the past now, let's have a happy lunch together."
She didn't want to give gifts again and suffer this humiliation. It would be a good thing to be rid of this greedy relative!
The Ye family survived their most difficult time by uniting as one.
Ye Siqi's relative has already said that she has nothing to do with this person, so there's no point in continuing to associate with her.
The whole family had lunch together and enjoyed it very much.
After lunch, Ye Panjiu, as usual, took a few steps and then went to take a nap.
When I woke up, there were already quite a few people sitting in the courtyard.
Tian, the righteous lady, and Aunt Wang all waved to her as soon as they saw her.
"Pan Jiu, come and sit down quickly, we're just chatting here."
Ye Panjiu smiled and poured them more tea.
"The wedding banquet was so noisy today that as soon as we saw you leave, we didn't want to stay anymore, so a whole bunch of us followed suit," said Madam Dayi, holding Ye Panjiu's hand.
Ms. Tian raised her hand and said, "Oh, I heard that not many people stayed there in the end. They really have no shame and deserve to be embarrassed."
Aunt Wang shook her head. "I heard the groom's family is very unhappy and they're making a fuss about breaking off the engagement."
Sun loved gossip and asked curiously, "So, did you withdraw? If you did, Ye Siqi would be even angrier."
Grandma Ye patted Sun's arm and said, "Be lenient when you can. Just stop associating with people and stop saying these things."
Sun pursed her lips and said nothing more.
Aunt Wang shook her head again, "The elders of both families pleaded with them, but in the end they didn't back down."
Grandma Ye sighed, "My dear sister was in poor health and passed away early. She suffered her whole life."
Ye Panjiu listened to the stories of the older generation without finding it boring at all.
Another day passed, and Ye Siqi's husband's family came to Ye's house with gifts.
After all, Ye Panjiu ran a braised food shop and had taken good care of every household in the village. They were all from the same village and would see each other all the time, so they didn't want things to get so tense.
Only Ye Panjiu and Madam Sun were present at the Ye family home. Madam Sun didn't want to pay any attention to them and just wanted to close the door.
Ye Panjiu stopped her, accepted the gift, and said amicably, "It's alright, Ye Siqi is Ye Siqi, and you are you."
The new son-in-law smiled and said, "It's good that you think that way, Aunt. My family definitely didn't mean anything bad."
Ye Panjiu smiled and prepared some return gifts for him as well. "You've just gotten married and are busy, so take these back with you. It's nothing, so go back now."
The new son-in-law finally breathed a sigh of relief, accepted the gifts, and headed home.
Watching his retreating figure, Mrs. Sun sighed, "If you ask me, Ye Siqi really kept a low profile. She didn't have much of a bad reputation in the village before, but it turns out she's like this. She married a troublemaker; poor thing!"
Ye Panjiu shook her head as well, "She's making trouble for herself. Have you packed your luggage for Shuzhou?"
Madam Sun nodded repeatedly, "I made another set of clothes for Ming'er to wear when he goes to the imperial examination. This time, I specially made a bright red undergarment for good luck."
Ye Panjiu raised an eyebrow, "Will you wear this tomorrow?"
Before entering the examination hall, everyone else is checked at the gate. Everyone else is dressed in white from head to toe, but the next day, when they unfold their outer garments, they will be dressed in red, which will attract a lot of attention.
“That’s not up to him!” Mrs. Sun said, putting her hands on her hips.
After two more days of leisure, on the fifth day of the fourth month, the Ye family set off for Shuzhou in an orderly fashion.
This time, Bai Zhiyuan did not go to Shuzhou; he did not want to leave Bailu Academy.
Duan Jingcheng specially sent someone to pick up Ye Ming to show his respect for his junior brother.
Ye Ming refused; he planned to live with the Ye family in the Wang residence that Ye Panjiu had bought.
He also didn't want to have too much contact with Duan Jingcheng before the exam, lest others think that he passed the exam because of connections.
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