"Hello, my name is Chen Jinfu."
Zhao Yuefang had been waiting for a long time.
She slowly turned around, and her stunning beauty made Jin Fu's heart tremble.
Seeing the amazement in the young man's eyes, Zhao Yuefang smiled with satisfaction.
"I'm Zhao Yuefang, I'm seventeen this year, and you?"
"Oh, I'm sixteen, a year younger than you."
"Hehe, would you mind that I'm older than you?"
Jin Fu quickly shook his head.
"I don't mind, as long as it's not the same age as your mother."
Zhao Yuefang was speechless for a moment.
Does this idiot even know how to talk?
Seriously.....
However, due to Jin Fu's outstanding appearance, she nodded to him with a blush.
"Then I won't mind that you're young."
Jin Fu knew that this meant they had taken a liking to him.
Just as he was about to say something, Zhao Zhengshi coughed several times behind the two of them.
Helpless, Jin Fu had no choice but to say goodbye to the beauty.
Back in the main room, Yan Xia saw the smile on her eldest son's face and knew that things had gone well.
The two parties agreed to meet three days later to discuss the marriage.
As for what to discuss, it naturally comes down to things like betrothal gifts and dowry. Once that's settled, a date is chosen for the matchmaker to make a grand entrance and propose marriage. The woman's family pretends to be reserved and politely declines, but on the second visit, they finally agree, and then the two families get engaged.
This is the modern-day engagement party.
After the engagement, the next step is the wedding.
Each step has its own process, and none can be omitted.
If a girl gets married without being engaged, the whole village will laugh her to death.
Once home, Jin Fu's smile never faded.
"Big brother, what do you think? Isn't your wife pretty?"
Jinlu curiously leaned over and asked.
"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!"
Jin Fu answered him with a silly grin.
"mother--"
"I also want to marry a beautiful wife, she must be as beautiful as my sister-in-law."
Upon hearing Jin Lu's words, Yan Xia actually had someone in mind.
Shi Xiaohe!
She looks similar to Zhao Yuefang.
Actually, according to her aesthetic sense...
Shi Xiaohe is prettier.
She possesses a healthy beauty; her skin is neither fair nor dark, but a wheatish hue that reflects her diligence. It's likely she does all the farm work at home. Yet, her hands are incredibly smooth, indicating she takes good care of them. After all, how can you embroider if your hands are rough? You'd ruin the handkerchiefs and wouldn't be able to sell them.
Zhao Yuefang was a typical woman from ancient times.
She hadn't done much manual labor, had slender hands, fair skin, and spoke softly. Fortunately, she had a generous personality; otherwise, Yan Xia really wouldn't know how to get along with her eldest daughter-in-law.
"Son, do you like women older than you?"
Jin Lu shook his head like a rattle drum.
"I don't want to marry an older sister to keep me in check. I already have a second older sister. I want to find someone my age, or preferably a year or two younger than me, so I can keep him in check."
"Alright, no chance."
Yan Xia wanted to introduce Shi Xiaohe to him, but seeing how resistant her youngest son was, she had no choice but to give up.
That brat doesn't know how to appreciate things.
A relationship between an older woman and a younger man is so wonderful!
Time flies.
The three-day appointment arrived quickly.
Yan Xia followed Matchmaker Xu back to Zhao Family Village.
By their third visit, the two were already quite familiar with the place.
When they entered the courtyard, the Zhao family was already waiting.
They were ushered into the main hall, where the two families officially clashed.
Yan Xia single-handedly dealt with more than a dozen members of the Zhao family.
She was not afraid at all; in short, her bottom line was three taels of silver.
Before coming, she specifically inquired with the villagers. For girls with less favorable conditions, such as poor appearance, older age, or poor family background, the bride price was generally one tael of silver. For girls with better conditions, the price was a uniform two taels of silver.
That's all, unless you marry a girl from town, in which case you'll have to pay an extra tael of silver.
Moreover, Baihua Village had just experienced a natural disaster a few years ago.
Every household was struggling financially.
She was the most generous family in Baihua Village to be able to contribute three taels of silver.
As for why the original owner's betrothal gift was five taels of silver, to put it bluntly, it wasn't for the purpose of marrying off a daughter. When the Yan and Chen families were looking at each other, the Chen family had already said that it was only to marry a wife to Chen Shouguo to have an heir, and that he would have to live a life of widowhood in the future.
So, no family in the village with a daughter wants her to get married.
There's no need to ruin your daughter's life for those five taels of silver.
Moreover, three taels of silver is already a lot of money. An ordinary family in Baihua Village can only save two taels a year. This is equivalent to spending a year and a half of the family's income to get married.
Besides, marriage involves more than just dowry.
They also need to make new clothes and new bedding for each of the newlyweds.
Even the furniture in the wedding room will be replaced with new furniture.
A complete set would probably cost at least two years' worth of the family's income.
Jin Fu is no longer needed; the house is newly built, and the furniture is naturally new as well.
All you need to do is give a bride price and make a dress for the new bride.
The miser Yan Xia had exactly 183 taels left. If she took out three taels, she could save a round number, which was perfect.
As for the fabric for her daughter-in-law's clothes, she had already bought it. The color was similar to that of her two daughters' clothes, which was suitable for young girls to wear.
My thoughts drifted away.
Suddenly, Yan Xia was pulled back to reality by Old Lady Zhao's mention of the gilded bracelet.
“Mrs. Yan, did you hear me clearly? My granddaughter is an exceptionally fine girl. In addition to the five taels of silver betrothal gift, we must also make her two new outfits and a wedding dress. Furthermore, we need to buy my granddaughter a gilded bracelet. It doesn't have to be anything fancy; just find a jewelry shop in town. What do you think?”
Five taels of betrothal gifts?
Two new outfits plus a wedding dress?
Do you also want a gilded bracelet?
Good heavens! Is this a landlord's daughter getting married?
Even the cheapest gilded bracelet would cost at least three taels of silver. As for the wedding dress, none of them could be made by the bride herself; she had to buy it from a tailor shop, and a set cost two taels of silver.
Including the bride price, she would have to pay at least ten taels of silver.
Yan Xia was dumbfounded; she hadn't expected the Zhao family to have such a big appetite.
He just opened his mouth and said ten taels.
Even the girls in town don't have this kind of pomp and circumstance.
However, no matter how shocked she was inside, she remained expressionless.
Yan Xia calmly took a sip of the bland sugar water.
"Now that Yuefang is marrying into the family, I will naturally treat her like my own daughter. What my two daughters have, she should have too. I just bought them some gold hairpins not long ago. How about I buy one for Yuefang as well? As for the clothes, we'll do it as you said: two sets, plus a ready-made wedding dress. After all, a woman only gets married once in her life. I understand your requests, but the dowry is a bit too much. This is all I can give."
Yan Xia made a three with her right hand.
Then he smiled and looked at everyone.
Gilded hairpins are cheaper than bracelets, but they are still not something ordinary families can afford; she has already stepped back from her previous lifestyle.
This set will cost at least seven taels of silver.
But is the Zhao family willing to back down?
Yan Xia was waiting for their reply.
The Zhao family members gathered together and discussed in hushed tones.
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