We had dinner at Liu Guanghui's house tonight and invited He Wenting and her sister. It was like the girl's family came to visit. Xuemei's family and my aunt's family served as witnesses and decided on the betrothal gifts for Mingwen and He Wenting.
After work, Xuemei didn't even go home. She rode her bike directly to the old house. After dinner, she sent Ruirui, Feifei, Juhua, Qingya and others away, and everyone started discussing business.
Wang Shuihua looked at Liu Guanghui, who pushed her arm. Wang Shuihua had no choice but to speak: "Wanting, your grandfather saw that the tenth day of April is a good date, which is six days later. The village will be busy again. We plan to hold a banquet for you on the tenth day.
When Mingzheng got married, I gave him 100 yuan. He also prepared the betrothal gifts and the meat and dishes for the banquet. But Mingzheng's salary is higher than Mingwen's, so after getting the approval of Mingwen's older brother and his wife, we decided that in addition to giving Mingwen 100 yuan, we'd also cover the meals for your wedding! Of course, we'll give half of the gifts, just like Mingzheng and his wife did. Don't worry, Mingwu's wedding will be the same as yours.
Mingwen prepared the betrothal gift for you. We won't get involved in these matters. If he saves more, he'll give you more. I also hope you won't compare the betrothal gift with Mingwen's sister-in-law. After all, his brother has been working for six months since Mingwen and earns a much higher monthly salary! Besides giving money to the family every month, he can also save quite a bit himself!
When Mingzheng got married, he bought Xinyan a sewing machine and a watch. Xinyan left the watch at her parents' home. Her dowry: Wang Weimin and his family prepared a solid wooden double bed, 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters long; a chest of drawers, two camphorwood boxes, four chairs, a desk; two 7-jin quilts and a bed sheet; 50 yuan as a dowry; Xinyan also made a new set of clothes and a pair of new cloth shoes for herself and Mingzheng.
At that time, Mingzheng and Xinyan's betrothal gifts and dowries were discussed in Liujia Village for several days. This was the largest dowry and betrothal gift in Liujia Village in recent years.
He Wanting also remembered the scene at that time. Although she was envious of Xinyan's dowry, she didn't mind when she heard Wang Shuihua say that the money they gave to the two brothers Mingzheng and Mingwen to marry their wives was almost the same.
"Aunt, uncle, I understand. I am marrying Mingwen, and I will not compare the betrothal gift with his sister-in-law!" said He Wenting.
After He Wanting expressed her position, Wang Shuihua, Liu Guanghui and Mingwen finally felt relieved.
Wang Shuihua then continued, "Mingzheng's new house is in the old house. Although most of his and her belongings have been moved to the county town, the family still has to leave a room for them.
Your new house and Mingwu's future new house are both inside the old house. When Mingwu gets married, he can swap rooms with his grandparents. The rooms in the old house are bigger, each about 20 square meters, so you'll have more space. When your children grow up, they can all live in the blue brick house. Are you okay with this arrangement?"
He Wanting nodded in agreement. Wang Shuihua couldn't pretend to be serious anymore, so she nudged Liu Guanghui with her elbow, asking him to continue what she was saying, and then she stood up and poured herself a glass of water.
Liu Guanghui looked at the crowd waiting for him to speak, swallowed his saliva, and then said, "He Zhiqing, let me continue what your aunt said. Your aunt and I have agreed that after you and Mingwen get married, the work points you earn will be combined with your family's, but Mingzheng's monthly allowance and the extra money you two earn will be kept by you two.
Although Mingzheng and his wife only come home a day or two each month, they still give your aunt and me five yuan a month. Mingwu only gives him a few yuan in allowance from his tractor driver job and keeps the extra money he earns. Do you agree with this arrangement, He Zhiqing?
When He Wanting heard that Mingwen could keep all the money he received every month, she couldn't agree more. When Liu Guanghui asked, He Wanting nodded quickly.
Liu Guanghui thought about it and realized that everything he had discussed with Wang Shuihua and the others had been completed. There was nothing else to do, so he said, "Then there's nothing more to say. Take He Zhiqing to your room to discuss the matter of the explicit betrothal gift!"
Wang Shuihua hurried over and added, "Mingwen, Wanting, after you've agreed on the betrothal gifts and dowries, go to the commune's Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to get your marriage certificate. The next two days won't be bad either!"
Wang Shuihua felt relieved only after she saw He Wenting blushing and nodding. Wang Shuihua was afraid that if they didn't get the marriage certificate, when the educated youth could return to the city, He Wenting would just walk away, and Mingwen would have no reason to look for her then!
After saying that, Mingwen took Wanting into his room. In order to avoid any misunderstanding, he also called Xuemei and He Jing in.
After discussion between the two parties, Mingwen planned to buy a watch and a pair of leather shoes for He Wenting as a betrothal gift.
He Wenting didn't plan to take the furniture from the Youth Institution. She would return the thirty yuan to her when the time came. She planned to use the thirty yuan to buy two camphorwood boxes, a wooden bed, and a chest of drawers from Xuemei's second uncle, Wang Weimin. Add to that the quilt and sheets her aunt and uncle prepared for her, and with the thirty yuan, her dowry would be quite good. Of the remaining twenty yuan her aunt and uncle sent, she planned to keep five to buy some local specialties for them and send back, and the remaining fifteen for He Jing.
The next day, Mingwen took a day off from school and took He Wanting to the county town to get their marriage certificate. A funny thing happened when they were getting the certificate. Mingwen was born in the first month of the lunar calendar, so he was twenty years old, but he wasn't even twenty yet. The staff refused to issue them a marriage certificate. Later, Mingwen specifically called the village office, and Liu's father assured him that Mingwen and He Wanting were voluntarily getting married. Mingwen also wrote a letter of guarantee on the spot, and only then did the staff at the Civil Affairs Bureau issue them a marriage certificate.
After getting the marriage certificate, Mingwen used He Wenting's watch ticket to buy her a Shanghai brand watch. It wasn't cheap, costing 120 yuan! Mingwen spent the 100 yuan Wang Shuihua gave him and added 20 yuan of his own money. Now he had only 22.37 yuan left in his savings, which he planned to use to buy He Wenting a pair of leather shoes and some wedding candy.
That evening, Mingwen came to Xuemei specifically to borrow thirty yuan. He had agreed with He Wanting in advance. He had five or six yuan left when he returned from the county town that day. He had exchanged some local specialties in the village that afternoon, dividing them into two large and small portions. He planned to send the thirty yuan to He Wanting's uncle and aunt the next day, and also send some local specialties to He Wanting's uncle and his family and her younger brother. They were the most important people to He Wanting.
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