Chapter 3: Do I still need to give a bride price when I get married?
Downstairs, the man sitting on the sofa immediately stood up upon hearing the noise. His gaze fell on Cen Yan's rosy cheeks, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes, and he slowly became somewhat infatuated with her.
"Ahem!" Seeing her nephew's loss of composure, Hu Li'er coughed lightly, "Don't embarrass yourself!"
The Hu family had been poor farmers for three generations. Now that the Cen family was facing liquidation, it was Cen Yan's good fortune to marry into the Hu family. The two of them, aunt and niece, had nothing to feel inferior about in front of Cen Yan.
Hu Zhiwei immediately snapped out of his daze upon hearing the reminder, wiped the sweat from his palms on his trouser legs, and reached out his hand to Cen Yan.
"Comrade Cen Yan, hello, I am Hu Zhiwei. I've heard my uncle mention you before..."
Hu Zhiwei was wearing a white polyester shirt. He had a fair complexion and a refined, scholarly air. He didn't look like a farmhand at all; he looked more like a scholar.
In her previous life, Cen Yan was deceived by this man's well-dressed and gentlemanly appearance. She agreed to meet him and packed her bags that very day, without taking a single penny of her dowry, and returned to the village with Hu Zhiwei.
Now, when I see this demon again, in the dark, secluded cellar, the sounds of him screaming and beating her with sticks and whips are still vivid in my ears, unforgettable.
"What are you standing there for? Shake hands with Zhiwei quickly," Hu Lier urged.
Cen Yan snapped out of her daze, yawned, walked past Hu Zhiwei, and sat down on the sofa. "Why shake hands? He's not my dog. Why should I give him face and shake hands? Am I supposed to play along with him?"
"How can you be so rude, child? How can you say Zhiwei is inferior to a dog!" Hu Lier was also anxious when she saw her nephew being insulted.
Cen Yan chuckled, "Aunt Hu, you said it yourself that he's worse than a dog. I never said that from beginning to end."
Hu Li'er was speechless for a moment, and Hu Zhiwei next to her also frowned, his eyes flashing with displeasure.
My aunt said that the eldest daughter of the Cen family was spoiled, willful, and ill-mannered. Now it seems that she was not exaggerating. This woman is just a capitalist's daughter facing liquidation. What is there to be arrogant about?
Hu Zhiwei didn't appear annoyed, but his tone clearly indicated displeasure.
"Since Miss Cen dislikes me so much, I think it's best to call off this marriage to avoid becoming a resentful couple and causing unrest in the household."
"Alright, stop acting. If you really want to give up, then walk out now! Even though I'm a capitalist's daughter and my social class isn't as good as that of a poor peasant, I'm not someone you can marry just any cat or dog."
Cen Yan didn't have much patience, but now wasn't the right time to deal with Hu Zhiwei directly. She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, she would lose her temper and take action. So, it was best to resolve some things quickly.
“Since we’re getting married, let’s skip the trivial stuff and get straight to the point. Hu Zhiwei, how much dowry are you planning to give me if you want to marry me?” Cen Yan finally looked up and gave Hu Zhiwei a proper look.
Hu Zhiwei was taken aback, his gaze falling on Hu Lier and Shan Jianshe. He was being asked to marry the capitalist's daughter and pay a dowry.
"Yanyan, if you keep making a scene, I'm going to get angry! How can a girl ask a man for a dowry? It's utterly shameless!" Shan Jianshe could no longer control his anger.
Cen Yan did not back down this time, and met the furious eyes of the top laner Jianshe directly.
"Dad, I'm not making a fuss. Everyone knows that how much dowry the groom gives depends on how much he values the bride."
“I can tell Hu Zhiwei clearly that when I marry into the Hu family, I bring 20,000 yuan in cash and a number of vouchers as my dowry. I will use this money to build a house for the Hu family and buy furniture and appliances.”
"But before we get our marriage certificate, I want the Hu family to give me an answer. If they want to marry me, they should give me a dowry of two thousand yuan. If they don't even have this much sincerity, I think this marriage with Hu Zhiwei can really be called off."
Hu Zhiwei swallowed hard and looked at Hu Lier. His aunt was actually willing to give Cen Yan so much dowry.
It's just a dowry of two thousand yuan. Even if he did have it, does Cen Yan deserve it?
Hu Lier felt a pang of pain in her heart when she thought about the 20,000 yuan she had been swindled out of—no, 23,200 yuan. She turned away, not wanting to deal with it.
"You're clearly making things difficult for me!" Shan Jianshe smashed his teacup. "You've never lifted a finger, you don't know what two thousand yuan means! You should know that the highest-ranking permanent employee in the factory only earns fifty-four yuan a month. Where are you going to get two thousand yuan for you?"
"I don't care, Dad. You know I'm used to doing nothing and can't handle hardship. If my in-laws don't value me, they won't appreciate me after I marry them. Anyway, I'm making this clear: I'll marry if they give me a dowry, otherwise I'll find someone else. Dad, I'm going upstairs now. This will give Comrade Hu Zhiwei some time to think it over."
If Hu Zhiwei agrees to give her a dowry of 2,000 yuan, she can make an extra profit before running away. Why wouldn't she do it?
With that thought in mind, Cen Yan went upstairs without looking back. She was going to be fully prepared and make Hu Zhiwei pay the price tonight!
As soon as Cen Yan left, Hu Li'er, who had been restraining herself, suddenly exploded!
"Honey, you need to do something about this wild girl! She swindled 23,200 yuan from me with just a few words. Who can afford to raise such a spoiled brat?! My money!"
Hu Lier felt as if her heart had been ripped out, the pain was excruciating, and she even began to suspect Cen Yan, "Do you think she might have discovered our plan and is deliberately messing with us?"
"impossible!"
Shan Jianshe denied it outright.
“Over the years, I’ve raised Cen Yan into a good-for-nothing who only thinks about enjoying herself. She doesn’t have that kind of deep scheming and cunning. If she really found out that we were transferring assets, given her capricious temper, she would have made a scene by now! But you, have you arranged everything properly, including the people and the boat you asked us to find?”
Hu Li'er quickly nodded: "The boat is at the dock, and the people are all reliable relatives. Once we've transferred all our things to the boat in the next couple of days, we can cross the Hong Kong Strait overnight, and no one will be able to find us!"
“But that brat Cen Yan is demanding two thousand yuan as a bride price. Where would our Hu family get that much money? Honey, if you ask me, we should just go all the way and get rid of Cen Yan…”
Hu Lier looked at Shan Jianshe and made a throat-slitting gesture. Anyway, the original intention of letting Cen Yan marry Hu Zhiwei was just to get Cen Yan away and prevent her from doing anything wrong.
She's not his biological child, so there's nothing to feel sorry for about Shan Jianshe. If it weren't for keeping Cen Yan around all these years to better control the Cen family, how could that brat have survived until now?
But then, Hu Zhiwei spoke up, his face full of displeasure.
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