Jinkui City, Jiangsu Province.

In a private room of a restaurant, three generations of the Qu family gathered together to have a meal and discuss the issue of the bride price.

"Dad, Mom, Wenhua and Jiang Xue are going to register their marriage in a few days. Before that, we must send the betrothal gift to them first. But how much is the appropriate betrothal gift? Please help us make a decision." The speaker was Qu's mother, who was the vice-principal of a middle school.

Grandma Qu, the owner of a food processing factory, said, "We really need to think about this carefully. We are all aware of the Jiang family's situation. They are not comparable to our Qu family. Even though they don't have any requirements for the bride price, we should also pay attention to it and not let them lose face on the bride price."

Qu's father, who was the president of the Universe Bank, continued, "Mom is right. Apart from anything else, Jiang Xue owns 20% of the shares of the Happy Marriage Agency. She is marrying into our Qu family with the shares. We must give a higher gift and marry her back in a dignified manner."

Grandpa Qu, a retired employee of a state-owned enterprise, didn't waste any words and said directly to his grandson: "Wenhua, Grandpa's small treasury can't compare to your grandma's big boss. I support you with 500,000 yuan."

Qu Wenhua chuckled and said, "Grandpa, you are really generous. You actually saved so much money."

Qu Wenqian couldn't help but joked, "Grandpa, don't empty the small treasury. When I get married, you have to prepare a dowry for me."

Grandpa Qu laughed and said, "Don't worry, you'll be there for me."

Everyone couldn't help laughing when they heard this.

Grandma Qu smiled and said, "This old man has already taken out 500,000 yuan, so I can't lose to him. Wenhua, I support you with 1 million yuan. You must marry Jiang Xue back in style."

Qu Wenqian gave a thumbs up and said, "Grandma is worthy of being the boss of our family. Her moves are extraordinary."

Qu's father said, "I'll also gather 500,000 yuan."

Qu's mother smiled and said, "Wenhua, your grandparents have raised 800,000 yuan for you, and I will add another 200,000 yuan to make it even."

Qu Wenhua's grandfather is a middle-level manager in a telecommunications company, and her grandmother opened a dance training center in partnership with others. The two elders have only one daughter, Qu's mother. Now that their only grandson is getting married, it is natural that they will provide a lot of support.

The family just scraped together money and in the blink of an eye they had come up with three million. Although this family was not extremely wealthy, it was still a very good family.

Qu Wenhua couldn't help but shake his head and said, "Why would the betrothal gift cost so much money?"

Grandma Qu said, "For the betrothal gift, let's choose an auspicious number. How about 1.88 million?"

Upon hearing this, Qu's mother praised: "This is a good number. 188 means 'to be rich' and also means 'to share happiness and difficulties'. It is the most suitable number for a betrothal gift."

Grandma Qu said, "We already have a house, so there's no need to buy another one. We can just decorate it to make it more festive. We already have a car, but it's not as good as it could be. We might as well buy another one worth a few hundred thousand. The remaining money can be used to buy gold and jewelry, and to customize phoenix crowns and robes, dragon and phoenix gowns, Xiuhe clothes, and the like. The money will be almost used up."

Qu Wenhua nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to grandma."

Grandma Qu said, "Well, it's settled then. After you register your marriage in a few days, you can book a hotel and send out invitations."

Sending invitations half a month in advance is enough time.

Qu's mother said, "Mom, let's buy all the gifts tomorrow, fly to the Jiang family early the day after tomorrow, and try to get to the county where the Jiang family is that evening, and then deliver the gifts to the door the day after tomorrow morning. What do you think of this arrangement?"

Grandma Qu hummed, nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it."

Father Qu continued, "Then I will contact the bank in the provincial capital of Guangxi Province in advance. I have a classmate working there. On the one hand, I can make an appointment to withdraw money, and on the other hand, I can ask them to rent a good car for us."

"That's fine. Otherwise, it would be a bit inconvenient to carry one or two million in cash on the plane. Renting a car will also make it easier for us to travel, so we don't have to bother others to pick us up."

"Just buy the main gifts tomorrow, and you can buy the ordinary gifts in the county town, which will be more convenient."

“…”

The family members expressed their opinions one after another, and by the time the meal was over, a solution had come out.

Finally, Grandma Qu said, "Let's do this. Wenhua, remember to say hello to Jiang Xue. We will go to her house the day after tomorrow to give her the betrothal gift."

Qu Wenhua nodded and said, "Okay, I'll call her later."

…

Regarding giving betrothal gifts, different places have different customs. In many places, betrothal gifts are given on the day of engagement, but in many places, there is no such custom.

For example, in Qinghe Town, there is no such thing as engagement.

Here, when sending betrothal gifts, you just need to choose an auspicious day to send them.

That morning, the Jiang family slaughtered chickens and ducks and prepared food to entertain the incoming future in-laws.

Jiang Feng's three siblings and eldest sister-in-law all returned to the village yesterday. This family is very busy, and their sudden return naturally attracted the attention of the neighbors. Upon asking, they found out that it was the guy Jiang Xue was dating who came to give a betrothal gift.

So, in just one night, the whole village knew the news.

The villagers all want to know what kind of person Jiang Xue is dating and how much dowry the man will give?

Early in the morning, after breakfast, the villagers gathered under a lychee tree in front of Lao Sun's house, which was less than 50 meters away from Jiang Feng's home.

"I heard that Xiaoxue's boyfriend is from another place?"

"He's from another place. I heard he's from Su Province."

"This is too far, isn't it at least one or two thousand kilometers?"

"It should be about the same. If you find someone who is so far away, the other party's family conditions should be good, right?"

"I heard from Aunt Jiang that the man is a lawyer, and he seems to be quite powerful. His father is the president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in their city, his mother is the vice principal of a middle school, and his grandmother also runs a factory. His family is well off!"

"If the man's family background is not good, how could Xiaoxue be interested in him? Don't you see what kind of cars Xiaoxue and her two siblings are driving now? Xiaofeng has opened a matchmaking agency in the provincial capital and has made a lot of money a long time ago."

"Xiao Feng is really amazing. He has pulled the whole family together by himself."

"Does anyone know how much dowry the man will give to the Jiang family?"

"I really don't know about this. I asked Aunt Jiang last night, and she said she doesn't ask about the betrothal gift. She just told the man through Xiaoxue to give whatever he thinks is appropriate."

"With the conditions of the man's family, the betrothal gift should not be less. After all, they also want to save face."

"We'll know the exact amount later."

“…”

Amid the villagers' discussion, time passed by unknowingly and it was ten o'clock. A Mercedes-Benz sedan turned from the small bridge and slowly drove towards the Jiang family.

The villagers, whose faces were full of gossip, perked up and stretched their necks to look towards the Jiang family.

The car stopped at the Jiang family yard, and five people got out of the car. One was a handsome young man, and it was obvious that he was Xiaoxue's boyfriend. Two middle-aged people with good temperament, they should be the parents of the handsome young man. There were also two energetic old people, they should be his grandparents.

A family of five came from afar to present the betrothal gift, which shows how much importance the man's family attaches to this marriage.

Several members of the Jiang family also came out to greet them.

After the two sides greeted each other, various gifts were moved from the trunk of the car into the Jiang family.

The villagers didn't see the other gifts clearly. They only knew that there were cigarettes, alcohol, tea, candies, biscuits and so on. It was not until the man carefully took out a uniquely shaped basket from the car that the villagers were surprised.

I saw that the basket was covered with colorful banknotes, mainly red hundred-yuan bills. There were very few banknotes of other colors, which were just used for embellishment. The thick banknotes were arranged in the shape of a character "八" in the basket, and there were some window grilles with the character "囍" on it as embellishment. The overall look was very beautiful.

If it wasn't for the wrong occasion, the villagers would have been unable to help but come forward to watch.

After the Jiang family carried the basket full of banknotes into the house and put it away, the villagers couldn't help but talk about it.

"Oh my god, if I'm not mistaken, the things on that basket just now are all money, right?"

"It must be money. Even though it's more than 40 meters away, the basket of money is so dazzling that it can be recognized at a glance."

"This is the first time I've seen so much money in my life. This must be over a million, right?"

"If all the money inside is in hundred-dollar bills, then it must be over a million, but I don't know the exact amount."

"What a generous gift! If the gift is that high, it will directly break the gift gift record of Qinghe Town. I just wonder if it can be ranked first in Bailiang County."

"It's really enviable to find such in-laws."

“…”

Amid the villagers' discussions, Jiang Feng's family invited the Qu family to the large living room on the third floor for tea. After greeting them, Jiang's mother came down to cook, while his eldest brother and sister-in-law came down to help.

Jiang Feng said with a smile while making tea: "Grandpa Qu, Grandma Qu, Uncle Qu, Aunt Qu, we are in a remote area and transportation is not very convenient. You have worked hard along the way."

Grandma Qu waved her hand and smiled, "It's not hard. You have beautiful mountains and clear waters here. I have seen the scenery along the way. Those small peaks are really unique."

As soon as Grandpa Qu went upstairs, he kept looking around the huge living room, and said with emotion: "My dear, this house is really well built. It must have cost a lot of money, right?"

Father Jiang smiled and continued, "It didn't cost much. The land we built the house on is our own homestead, and the foreman who helped build the house was one of Xiao Feng's clients. He didn't even charge us for the labor. We just spent the money to buy the building materials."

Qu's father said, "If a house like this is placed in a big city, it would easily cost tens of millions. For the same amount of money, living in the countryside is ten times more comfortable than living in a big city."

Qu's mother said: "It is indeed comfortable to live in the countryside, but the educational conditions are a little worse than those in big cities." As expected of the vice principal who has been teaching for many years, the first thing he thought about was education.

Jiang's father sighed, "The education conditions in rural areas are really not good. In our village, many children drop out of school after completing nine years of compulsory education to work. It is not possible for one out of ten children to become a college student."

Qu's mother praised him, "Educational conditions are worse than in cities, but you, my father-in-law, have managed to raise two outstanding 985 university students. This is really amazing. We should all learn from you."

Upon hearing this, Jiang's father shook his head and said embarrassedly, "Mother-in-law, you are really too kind. I am not afraid of you laughing at me when I say this. How can we raise children? We have never taught them to do their homework since they were young.

"Xiaoxue and Xiaofeng were able to get into a 985 university because of their own hard work, and it had nothing to do with us parents."

Mother Qu was slightly stunned when she heard this, then she smiled and said, "That's because you, my father-in-law, have provided a good learning environment for the children. In addition, Xiaoxue and Xiaofeng are both extremely smart, hardworking and studious, so it's not surprising that they were able to be admitted to a 985 university."

Next, everyone drank tea and talked about education issues, and then talked about customs and habits.

The Jiang family members all have rich experience in matchmaking and have trained their tongues. They are all eloquent and can easily entertain the Qu family in every possible way, leaving no one out.

By eleven o'clock, Jiang's mother had prepared the dishes and everyone sat down to eat.

Because the Qu family had informed in advance that they were coming to give the betrothal gift, the Jiang family prepared a very sumptuous meal, with everything flying in the sky, running on the ground, swimming in the water, and hidden in the mountains.

In addition, Jiang's mother's cooking skills have improved by leaps and bounds in the past year, and the Qu family members are full of praise for the food.

Both the host and the guests enjoyed the meal very much.

The meal started at 11 a.m. and lasted until 2 p.m., a total of three hours. Except for Qu's mother who stayed as a driver, everyone else in the family, including Grandpa Qu and Grandma Qu, started drinking.

After the banquet, they went upstairs to drink tea for half an hour before the Qu family members got up to say goodbye.

After some pleasantries between the two families, Jiang Xue took her household registration booklet and drove away with the Qu family. This time, she and Qu Wenhua were going back to their city to register their marriage.

Although it is possible to register for marriage in the county town here, doing so is like recruiting a son-in-law, so Jiang's father and mother still told their daughter to go back to the man's registered place of residence to register for marriage.

After the Qu family left, the villagers who had been waiting impatiently for a long time could no longer bear it and swarmed to the Jiang family, asking about the issue of the bride price in various ways.

"Aunt Jiang, how much did your in-laws give just now? We saw from afar that there seemed to be a large basket of cash. Judging from the thickness, it should be more than one million, right?"

"Aunt Jiang, your in-laws are really nice. They are very generous."

"Aunt Jiang, can we go in and see the gift?"

"Aunt Jiang..."

Jiang's mother said with a beaming face, "Come in, everyone. The betrothal gift is 1.88 million. I told them to just give a small amount as a token of appreciation, but I didn't expect them to prepare so much."

Everyone gasped when they heard this. Even though they all guessed that the gift price should be over a million, they didn't expect it to be 1.88 million. Everyone was envious and couldn't help but flatter him.

Soon, Jiang's mother opened the door where the betrothal gifts were placed and let the villagers in to have a look.

The villagers were amazed to see the 1.88 million yuan in cash gift that was packaged so beautifully. They gathered around and praised it. Even if Jiang's mother hadn't reminded them, no one would be stupid enough to touch it.