Chapter 159: Losing Control
When Qiu Xiangrong was in his early twenties, several matchmakers came to his house to help him find a spouse.
He was not bad looking, tall and strong, honest, down-to-earth and hardworking, and there were girls from several surrounding villages who were attracted to him.
His parents either don't know or don't care, but the child is already at this age, and it would be embarrassing to delay it any further.
So, he chose a girl from among the girls introduced by the matchmaker based on her ability to give birth to children.
During those years, Qiu Xiangrong seemed like a real fool. His whole brain was in a chaotic state and he had no self at all. He just did whatever his parents said and worked hard without complaint, allowing himself to be manipulated by them.
Maybe the life trajectories of his peers who don’t go to school are all like this, so Qiu Xiangrong didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. This is life, this is his life.
After the blind date dinner, the prospective in-law relationship between the two families was confirmed.
It’s not because the man and woman have a good impression of each other and feel that they can spend the rest of their lives together - whether they have a good impression of each other or not depends entirely on the matchmaker.
Rather, the efficiency of the village's affairs is that sometimes the slow links can be made very fast. If the two families of the blind date can sit at the same table and eat, it means that they can get engaged. If the engagement is put on the agenda, it means that they can get married. After the wedding, it means that the man's parents can wait to hold their grandchildren.
However, Qiu Xiangrong's life journey was blocked by the bride price in a very embarrassing way.
The girl's family saw that Qiu Xiangrong's family had just built a beautiful two-and-a-half-story house, and thought that they must be well-off, so they asked for a dowry of 50,000 yuan.
It wasn't an exorbitant request, because the girl's parents didn't want the money, but wanted to give their child an extra layer of security after marriage. They had already agreed with Qiu Xiangrong's parents that the money would be included in the dowry and taken along when the couple got married.
Qiu Xiangrong's parents were very straightforward before the engagement and agreed readily, but they changed their attitude after the engagement.
I don't want to give the bride price anymore.
They had no intention of paying the money in the first place.
First, they built the house for the sake of face, which almost emptied their family savings. Second, they felt that the money they gave to their daughter-in-law would eventually be brought back as a dowry, but it would have already gone into the pockets of the young couple.
They judge others by their own standards, thinking that it is easy to put things in but very difficult to take them out.
The attitude before the engagement is just a delaying tactic. They think that the woman is unlikely to regret after the engagement, and will even give in for the sake of face.
Qiu Xiangrong's mother said it nicely: "It's not that we don't want to pay the bride price, but we don't want you to pay the dowry. The economic situation of our two families is here, and it's not easy for both of us. Although the child's marriage is a big deal, we can't empty our family's savings for this matter. We still have to save some money for our retirement."
The two families had discussed the gift of marriage several times but still could not reach an agreement. The Qiu family refused to give in, so the girl's family thought they were not really interested in the marriage.
Anyway, they had just gotten engaged and the two families had no financial dealings, so the woman proposed to cancel the engagement.
How could this be possible? If the engagement was cancelled, where would the Qiu family's face be?
As soon as Qiu Xiangrong's mother made a mistake, she announced to everyone like a loudspeaker that the girl was already Qiu Xiangrong's, but she was not satisfied with Xiangrong and felt that they would not be able to live together, so she insisted on canceling the engagement.
Rumors spread rapidly in a very short period of time, becoming more and more unpleasant and outrageous.
The girl's entire family came to Qiujia Village and made a big scene. Qiu Xiangrong's parents were completely humiliated, and he could not hold his head up anymore.
From then on, no one wanted to propose marriage to Qiu Xiangrong. Bad bamboo can produce good bamboo shoots, but the lethality of bad bamboo is really great, and most people cannot afford it.
Qiu Xiangrong did not stay in this house anymore. He packed a few clothes, took his few savings, and left.
He found a job as a stock clerk in a chain supermarket in the city, and then met Tao Huaxin, who worked part-time as a cashier.
When Tao Huaxin was about to graduate from college, the two confirmed their relationship. In the days that followed, Qiu Xiangrong took time out to work part-time, lived frugally, and tried to save up a decent amount of money for the bride price.
Three years later, he suddenly received a call from his neighbor, saying that his father had broken his leg and had been sent to the town hospital. Someone needed to take care of him during his hospitalization, so the neighbor asked him to go back.
Qiu Xiangrong thought about it for a long time, and finally, under Tao Huaxin's persuasion, he went back to take a look.
It was exactly as he expected. They asked him to go back because they wanted him to pay.
The eldest son has settled in a big city and is burdened with car and mortgage loans. The youngest son has also found a job in a big city, but his salary doesn't even last until the end of the month. Both of them are financially tight. Only the second son has no family or job, so he doesn't need to spend.
Qiu Xiangrong listened to his mother chattering away on the bill, finished his cold lunch box in a few bites, and threw the chopsticks into the trash can.
"If you don't have money, then don't treat it. It's just a broken bone. It will heal if you leave it alone. I'm going to get Dad discharged from the hospital and go home now!"
The couple looked at each other, as if they finally realized at this moment that they had lost control of their second child.
His father could no longer work in the fields, and his mother was unable to do heavy work, so Qiu Xiangrong had no choice but to quit his job and go home to take care of his father while also taking care of the crops in the fields.
He treated himself as a male caregiver, asking his parents for money every month. It was okay if they didn't give him money, and then no one would bother anyone else.
The eldest son and the youngest son could not be relied upon, so the old couple could only accept it with a pinch of their nose.
Not long after, Tao Huaxin ran into some trouble, so he resigned and came back. He then found a job in a supermarket in the town, still working as a cashier.
After Qiu Xiangrong's father fully recovered, the two families put the marriage on the agenda.
In fact, Tao's father and mother were against this marriage at the beginning. If you ask around, you will know everything about Qiu Xiangrong's parents. They think that if their daughter marries him, her married life will be a mess.
Qiu Xiangrong also noticed their attitude. During one visit, he brought all his assets with him and gave them all to Tao Huaxin in front of Tao's parents.
Tao Huayu stared at the side with his eyes wide open, and sincerely called him "brother-in-law".
On the wedding day, Qiu Xiangrong didn't give his parents any face at all.
There is a custom in their weddings that the bride cannot enter the house immediately after arriving at her husband's house. She has to sit quietly at the door on a chair prepared by her mother-in-law for half an hour.
It is said that this custom was passed down from ancestors. In the past, people stood for half an hour, but now they sit for half an hour.
Very considerate, right? The purpose is to test the bride's filial piety. Only after passing this test can the family live in harmony in the future.
But this, like the wedding pranks in some areas, is actually a cultural dregs. With the development of the times, the custom of sitting quietly before entering the house has gradually been abandoned in this area.
Nowadays, if anyone dares to do this at a wedding, it would simply be making the bride unhappy.
(End of this chapter)
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