Chapter 16 Chapter 16 The Dowry is Split in Half
Yang Guihua also wants Shu Meilan to marry Lu Jianjun. She also wants Shu Meilan to wear a big gold bracelet on her hand, and she will eat meat and drink soup with her. But the problem now is that Shu Niannian's marriage was arranged by Shu Chengzu. As long as Shu Niannian herself does not cancel the engagement, they have no choice.
Yang Guihua took a bite of the steamed bun and sighed, "Let's just forget about it. We've tried it before. You wanted to start with Shu Niannian, ruin her reputation, and force her to break off the engagement, but that damn girl just wouldn't fall into the trap. What can we do?" Yang Guihua said as she ate. She choked on the steamed bun and kept coughing. She quickly drank some boiled water, but the cold water made her shiver.
Yang Guihua was also angry. Why did that damn girl Shu Niannian avoid her at the critical moment?
If she had been able to successfully trick Shu Niannian into going to the county town two days ago, as long as she went there, no matter what happened or not, she would have found a way to ruin Shu Niannian's reputation!
So, will the person sitting in the sun and eating the delicious hot pot now become her?
Yang Guihua was unwilling to give up, the broth smelled so good!
"Otherwise, mother will introduce you to another man? Your sister-in-law said that one of her distant relatives is not only rich, but also has a very good-looking son, who is the only child. They now run a store in the county town. If you marry him, maybe they will buy you a big gold bracelet and spend money on you like water."
Yang Guihua said this, thinking that Shu Meilan would be moved, but she didn't expect to be met with Shu Meilan's cold eyes, "How much money can a shopkeeper in the county have? They may not be willing to buy a gold bracelet for themselves after saving money for a lifetime, so how could they buy a gold bracelet for me? You still want to spend money like water, that's even more dreaming, look at those businessmen in the county, who doesn't earn money through hard work? They have to get up early before dawn to set up stalls, and they are reluctant to close the shops late at night. Will they let me spend money lavishly? Mom, you think too well."
"You should have thought that the only person who can make me live a good life in this life is Lu Jianjun, the only person who can buy me a big gold bracelet is Lu Jianjun, and the only person who can let you eat meat every meal is Lu Jianjun. The Lu family is very wealthy, and three generations ago they were officials. Which peasant can compare with the Lu family in terms of wealth?"
As she spoke, Shu Meilan looked outside. Her aunt's family was chatting and laughing while eating hot pot, while she could only hide in the kitchen and chew the steamed buns made of mixed flour, which made her throat ache. "Mom, I know you are afraid of the biased old man at home, but for the benefits I just mentioned, do you think we should give it a try?"
Yang Guihua's stomach growled with hunger. The aroma of meat from the next door kept drilling into her nose. Yang Guihua couldn't stand it anymore. She threw the steamed bread to the ground and said, "Okay! Let's fight."
******
Shu Niannian originally intended to use the old hen she bought at the market to make chicken soup for Li Guifen, but Li Guifen was reluctant to do so and said she wanted to keep the hen to lay eggs, and eggs to hatch chickens, so that she would have a brood of old hens in the future.
Shu Niannian couldn't stop laughing, "How many years do we have to wait before we can have a nest of old hens?
”
"Just wait, there will always be such a day!"
Shu Niannian and Li Guifen had a good plan, but who knew that the next morning, the old hen in the chicken coop disappeared, leaving only a few chicken feathers. Li Guifen thought the old hen was taken away by a weasel, and she stamped her feet in anger!
But when she turned around, she saw chicken soup stewing in the next yard. Li Guifen had heard from villagers these days that Shu Guo lost everything in a card game, so where did he get the money to buy an old hen?
The more Li Guifen thought about it, the more confused she became, so she ran to Shu Guoqiang's house to ask if he had seen her old hen.
"Nian Nian is a filial son. Yesterday he insisted on buying me an old hen to make soup. I was reluctant to do so. Who knew that the old hen disappeared early this morning? Second uncle, you get up early every day. Have you seen my old hen?"
Although Li Guifen said this in a subtle way, Shu Guodong was not a fool and should be able to hear what she meant. Li Guifen originally wanted to judge from Shu Guodong's subtle expression whether Shu Guodong had stolen the old hen from her family, but she didn't expect Shu Guodong to admit it so openly.
"I saw it. It's stewing in my pot. It will be ready in half an hour. Sister-in-law, do you want to stay for a bowl of chicken soup?"
This was said so confidently that Li Guifen was stunned for a moment. She didn't even know how to respond. But it only took a few seconds. When Li Guifen reacted, she cursed, "How can you be so shameless?! I just bought an old hen yesterday and was waiting to fatten it up and lay eggs, and you stewed it now?! What gives you the right?!"
"Why should I? I just want to eat it. Besides, sister-in-law, I heard from my wife that you stewed meat and had hotpot yesterday. What's wrong with giving me this old hen?" Shu Guoqiang said in a dishonest manner.
Shu Guoqiang has no ability to deal with outsiders, so he likes to bully others at home. Li Guifen will not tolerate him. Today she lost an old hen, which is a foregone conclusion. No matter what, the old hen that has been stewed in the pot cannot come back to life. She can let go of the old hen, but according to the current situation, their first wife will definitely live a better life than the second wife in the future, and it will get better and better.
If in the future, whenever they make something delicious, Shu Guoqiang takes it without asking like he did today, then how can their family continue to live?
People always have to abide by some rules. For those like Shu Guoqiang who cannot abide by the rules consciously, let them be "forced" to abide by the rules.
After thinking it through, Li Guifen deliberately raised her voice and yelled, "Brother, isn't it inappropriate for you to do this? As the old saying goes, brothers should settle accounts clearly. Even though you and I are from the same mother, we have separated now. In the early years, your family lived a better life than mine. You ate meat every meal, and we ate plain noodles every day. Your yard was full of salted chickens and salted fish, and we never took your things. A few children were craving for meat, and you deliberately smacked your lips and chewed the meat in front of them. You deliberately craved for them, but you didn't give them the food. I felt sorry for the children at the time, and I humbly asked you for a few slices of fat meat to satisfy their cravings. Do you remember what you said at the time? Why? You bought the meat, why do you give it to my children?!
Second brother, I would like to say the same thing to you today. Why did you stew the old hen that my family bought without even telling you? ! ”
Li Guifen was strong, and her voice was as strong as her body, with great penetrating power. It was noon, and the neighbors were all at home waiting for dinner. People in the countryside liked to watch the fun, and when Li Guifen shouted like that, the neighbors all came out with their bowls. They formed a circle, slurping noodles and pointing at Shu Guoqiang.
"That's outrageous. Even if you are brothers, you can't just stew someone else's old hen without saying hello, right?"
“Isn’t it?!”
"When others were down and out, you didn't even give a bite of meat to their children, and now you have the nerve to eat their old hen?!"
"If my second uncle treated me like this when I was a child, I would never pay attention to him when I grow up. What kind of relative is he? He's worse than a neighbor!"
Although their voices were very low, it was so quiet around them that they could hear their conversations very clearly.
Shu Guoqiang is a bully at home. He is shameless and unreasonable in front of his own people, but he cares particularly about how others evaluate him. He is a face-conscious person and usually feels that when he is outside, everyone has to give him some face. How can he tolerate this?
Shu Guoqiang's face turned pale, but he couldn't lose his temper in front of so many people.
At this moment, he even wanted to kill Li Guifen!
When had he ever been so embarrassed?
Isn't it just an old hen?
Isn’t it just that when we were young, there was no meat for those skinny little kids in Li Guifen’s family to eat?
But is it really that? !
Shu Guoqiang now feels like a rat crossing the street that everyone is chasing after. He wishes he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into, but unfortunately he is not a rat, there are no cracks in the ground, and there are more and more people around him.
It was like a snowball rolling, as others saw the scene and formed a circle, wanting to come over and see what was going on.
Since things have come to this, he might as well speak out what has been on his mind for the past few days. Shu Guoqiang thought desperately that after he spoke out, there should be at least a 50% chance that his neighbors would support him.
"It's just an old hen. Your girl has a big gold bracelet on her hand. Do you still care about this old hen? Her marriage was obtained by our father saving her life. Logically, this marriage should be the common resource of our two families. In this new society, the old practice of having three wives and four concubines is no longer popular. Otherwise, this advantage cannot be taken by your family. Sister-in-law, I am not an unreasonable person. After thinking about it, I think it is not wrong for me to suffer a little loss. How about this, this marriage can be yours, but you have to give me half of the gold bracelet and betrothal gift from this marriage. In other words, you have to give me half of the money for the big gold bracelet on the girl Nian Nian's hand."
The more Shu Guoqiang spoke, the more he felt that he was right. Why should the eldest wife get all the gifts and benefits of the marriage arranged by his father? !
How much is a large gold bracelet worth?
How much is an old hen worth?
Not to mention that he ate an old hen from the eldest wife's house today, even if he took Shu Niannian's big gold bracelet to sell for money, he would still think it was reasonable!
Li Guifen was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped to the ground. She had seen shameless people before, but she had never seen anyone as shameless as Shu Guoqiang. !
It is said that one pot of rice cannot feed two kinds of people. How come these brothers, who eat from the same pot, produced a shameless person like Shu Guoqiang?
"Listen to what you said, are you talking like a human being? Why do you want to take half of the betrothal gift given by the in-laws for a girl's marriage? How can Nian Nian live in her in-laws' house in the future? It's fine if her relatives don't support her when she gets married, but you're always trying to scheme against her. How will Nian Nian's in-laws view her? How will she live in the future?!"
Aunt Li, who was of seniority in the village, couldn't stand it any longer and angrily scolded Shu Guoqiang. Unexpectedly, Shu Guoqiang stiffened his neck and said, "How to live? She can live however she wants! Anyway, I have to share half of the big gold bracelet!"
"Bah! I won't give you any!" Aunt Zhang couldn't stand it anymore and spat at Shu Guoqiang, "Shut up! You look like a human being, but you speak nonsense! What do you mean you have three wives and four concubines? You also want a dowry for your niece. Ask Guifen, if her daughter gets married, will she use her daughter's dowry to supplement the family income?"
Li Guifen followed Aunt Zhang's words and said, "Of course not. Not only will I not use it, I will also add makeup to Nian Nian. Although we are poor, we are not the kind of family that would lie on our daughters and suck their blood."
"Of course you said that, maybe Shu Niannian will leave the big gold bracelet to you! Now you are so reasonable, I don't believe that you will not accept the big gold bracelet if Shu Niannian gives it to you!" Shu Guoqiang said sarcastically.
Li Guifen sneered, "I will definitely accept it. If Nian Nian is able to make a lot of money in the future, I will definitely accept it if she buys me a big gold bracelet, but definitely not now. I will definitely not miss the gift her grandmother from her husband's family gave her. I, as her own mother, don't miss it, so why do you miss my daughter's gold bracelet? Her second uncle, you still have to have some dignity as a man!"
At this point, Li Guifen no longer wanted to get entangled with Shu Guoqiang. She turned to the neighbors who were watching the fun and said, "I'm so sorry for making a fool of myself today. I want you to bear witness that from now on, I will never have anything to do with Shu Guoqiang's family, and I will no longer recognize this relative. From now on, if I find him stealing things from my house again, I will definitely call the police. Whether he stole an old hen or the vegetables in my vegetable garden, I will go to the police station to report him. Since he has no shame, I will make him go to the police station to embarrass himself!"
After Li Guifen made those harsh words, she turned around and left. Shu Guoqiang then felt that something was not right. He spoke out what was in his heart, but it seemed that his neighbors did not support him? !
Li Guifen is a stubborn person. She keeps her word. She said that she would never have anything to do with him again, and that definitely means that she would never have anything to do with him again. That would be fine, but if he were to take food from the eldest wife again because he was greedy, Li Guifen would really send him to the police station!
Shu Guoqiang felt flustered and embarrassed. He waved his hand to drive away the onlookers and closed the door with a sullen face. Damn, this is really embarrassing, Shu Guoqiang thought.
It’s all because of that damn woman Li Guifen!
******
Li Guifen was not very angry, because she knew that according to Shu Guoqiang's character, it was only a matter of time before the two families fell out. The first thing she thought of when she returned home was to build a wall around the courtyard. After all, a thief can only steal for a thousand days, so how can he guard against thieves the day before?
If they really have to be on guard against Shu Guoqiang every day, then how can they still live?
However, building a courtyard wall is a big deal after all, so she wanted to wait until Shu Guodong comes back next month to discuss it before starting construction.
Shu Niannian advised, "Mom, this matter can't wait. The wall between our two houses is useless. Second Uncle can just walk into our house. I heard that Second Uncle has lost a lot of money gambling outside recently. What if he loses a lot of money one day and pries the lock of our house while we are not at home and takes away all the money in your box? What should we do? If it comes to that, even if we send him to the police station, we won't get the money back."
Li Guifen was still hesitating, but after hearing Shu Niannian's analysis, Li Guifen suddenly felt that she could not wait any longer.
Build the wall and start work immediately! !
Li Guifen asked Shu Wenhui to take the money to buy red bricks from the next village, while she contacted the village's bricklayer. Li Guifen and Shu Guoqiang had a fierce quarrel at noon, and the bricklayer also went to watch and eat melons. He said to Li Guifen, "Okay, go home and find some glass shards and thin iron wires. After the courtyard wall is built, I will stick them on the top of the wall to ensure that the people next door will not dare to climb over the wall from now on."
Li Guifen asked hurriedly, "Glass shards and thin iron wire? What are they used for?"
The bricklayer smiled and said, "This is a new technique I just learned when I went to work in the county town some time ago. Inserting broken glass and thin iron wire on the wall can prevent thieves."
Li Guifen was also imaginative. She followed the mason's words and immediately understood, "Okay! I'll go find glass shards and thin wire today!"
Li Guifen and Shu Wenhui worked quickly. They bought red bricks, sand and cement in the afternoon and started work early the next morning. In just a few days, a red brick and cement wall was built.
Shu Guoqiang looked at the towering wall and felt so angry that his teeth itched, but he thought, it was just a wall, he could still climb over it if he wanted to. But when he saw that the top of the wall was full of broken glass and thin iron wires, he was dumbfounded.
What is this operation? !
There are so many wall builders in the village, but this is the first one to insert glass shards into the wall like this!
Li Guifen and Shu Niannian looked at the protective wall and smiled with satisfaction.
On the day when the courtyard wall was built, Shu Wenhui specially bought a plate of firecrackers, threw them at the base of the wall and set them off with a crackling sound. Amid the sound of firecrackers, Shu Niannian received two letters from Haicheng.
One letter was sent by Zhang Chunyang, and the other one was actually sent by Ye Jinhong? !
Shu Niannian really couldn't figure out what Ye Jinhong would write to her in the letter. She remembered that at this time in her previous life, the two of them had no intersection at all?
Shu Niannian returned to the room and first opened Ye Jinhong's letter. The content was very concise, with the three words "You're welcome" on the top and his address attached below. Shu Niannian looked at it carefully and found that the address was the same one given to her by the front desk clerk at the guesthouse. However, this time, in addition to the address, he also wrote one more line of words: "If you have any problems, you can come directly to the army to find me."
The language is concise, which is Ye Jinhong's style.
Why does Ye Jinhong think that she doesn’t understand the meaning of the address he left? Even writing a letter to remind you?
He is still the caring uncle after all.
As for Zhang Chunyang's letter, Shu Niannian smiled as soon as she touched it. She opened the envelope and sure enough, there were two brand new bills inside. Zhang Chunyang said in the letter that Sister Chen came to take the cream and hydrosol the next day, and in order to get better after-sales service, Sister Chen also paid for the hydrosol. Zhang Chunyang felt that this was all thanks to Shu Niannian. He only took five yuan out of the twenty-five yuan, and he sent the remaining twenty back to Shu Niannian. He also told Shu Niannian that recently several rich ladies came to the store to buy cream, and he also tried to make cream himself. The ingredients were obviously the same, but the cream he made was not good. He was not sure about the ratio of the raw materials, so he hoped that if Shu Niannian had time, she could make a few creams for wrinkles and whitening and send them to him, and he would try to see if he could sell them.
Shu Niannian was in a good mood after reading the letter. In just a few days, there were already many customers coming in!
Of course, those who can come into the store and directly ask for medicated cream are definitely not pure tap water. These customers are most likely introduced by either Sister Chen or Sister Ruyu. No matter who they are, she thanks them.
It's just to make a medicinal cream. The other materials are easy to buy, but the essential oil is hard to buy. You can't buy essential oil in a small county. Shu Niannian took the twenty yuan and threw it in the air, muttering to herself, "In order to earn more from you, I have to spend you two first."
Shu Niannian is a person of action. Since she had already figured out what to do, she took action immediately. She wrote a letter back to Ye Jinhong and Zhang Chunyang respectively, expressing her gratitude to Ye Jinhong. She also told Ye Jinhong that she was going to take the college entrance examination again and that she was doing business in Haicheng with someone else. Shu Niannian would not have done this in her previous life, but in this life, Shu Niannian has a sense of closeness to Ye Jinhong that others cannot describe.
She just wanted to tell Ye Jinhong about her recent situation.
The reply to Zhang Chunyang was much simpler. In the letter, she wrote down the raw materials and utensils she needed to make the medicinal cream, and asked Zhang Chunyang to purchase them and send them to her.
After writing the letter, Shu Niannian went to the county town. When she mailed the letter to Zhang Chunyang, Shu Niannian put the twenty yuan back into the envelope. She wanted a lot of things this time, and they were all good things. She would regard the twenty yuan as the capital for investment. She believed that in the future she would earn many, many twenty yuan, so many that she would not be able to count them.
Before going home, Shu Niannian went to the supply and marketing cooperative and spent one dollar to buy a lot of colorful fruit candies. Candies were a rare commodity these days. Although they were not very expensive, everyone was tightening their belts and had to make every penny count. If it wasn't for the New Year or other festivals, or if there was a happy event at home, who would be willing to spend money to buy candies?
Seeing Shu Niannian's generosity, the older sister from the supply and marketing cooperative asked with a smile, "Is there a wedding at home?"
Shu Niannian smiled and said, "No, I want to eat it myself."
Under the incredulous look of the elder sister from the supply and marketing cooperative, Shu Niannian walked away with a smile.
She really likes to eat candy. During the extremely difficult days in her previous life, Shu Niannian felt bitter in her heart, so she would quickly eat a piece of candy. Ye Jinhong told her at that time that if she ate a piece of candy, she would not feel bitter anymore.
Later, Shu Niannian developed the habit of eating candy.
After returning home, Li Guifen saw Shu Niannian carrying a bag of candies, and she didn't say anything. When Nian Nian couldn't earn money, she let Nian Nian spend money. Now that Nian Nian can earn money, it is even less likely that she would say anything.
Thinking about how Aunt Zhang and Aunt Li from the village spoke up for her when she had an argument with Shu Guoqiang a few days ago, Li Guifen asked Shu Niannian for two handfuls of candy, put them in her pocket and went to visit her.
Aunt Zhang and Aunt Li were neighbors. When Li Guifen went over, they were sitting under the wall of the main hall, chatting about family matters while sewing shoe soles in the afternoon sun. When they saw Li Guifen, they smiled and called her over to talk. Li Guifen went over, took out two handfuls of candy from her pocket, and stuffed one handful each into Aunt Zhang and Aunt Li's pockets. Aunt Zhang and Aunt Li declined, and Li Guifen said, "I know you two adults are not greedy, but don't you have children at home? Give them to the children."
After she said that, Aunt Zhang and Aunt Li stopped refusing. In this day and age, what kid wouldn’t crave sweets?
They talked for a while before Li Guifen got up and went home. Just as she reached the intersection, she saw a figure hurriedly passing by. Judging from the figure, it looked like Lu Jianjun?
Li Guifen quickly softened her eyes and looked towards the intersection again. The intersection was empty and there was nothing there.
Is it because I am seeing things? At this time, it was almost dark. How could Lu Jianjun appear here?
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