After Xu Lixia finished stating her requirements, she became somewhat absent-minded. These requirements were not unreasonable; nowadays, families with better financial conditions often do this when they get married. However, she was a little worried that the groom's family might have demands regarding the dowry. She planned to take the money and watch with her. The bicycle, sewing machine, and radio were difficult to take, so she would have Zhan Chunlan take them back to her husband's family. Wouldn't that be a respectable dowry?
However, perhaps Zhan Chunlan had communicated with the other party beforehand, because the man did not mention the dowry at all.
The wedding date has been set for May 1st, Labor Day. Although there's no holiday now, in an era where people don't consult fortune tellers about auspicious dates, Labor Day is still a very good day.
Xu Lixia left the day after the two parties reached an agreement. The round trip alone would take half a month, and she was delayed for another two or three days in between. She had no choice but to leave.
On the wedding day, Section Chief Xie and Deng Bitong both came to Zhan Chunlan's courtyard to help. One was in charge of overseeing the overall situation, and the other was in charge of the specific arrangements, keeping the young people from the factory who came to help running around in circles.
After Zhan Chunlan was picked up, Section Chief Xie also had to help entertain the guests who came today. Although it was not particularly grand, it was very lively. Although she was alone here, she felt a sense of security she had never felt before.
In the Wang family, the eldest sister-in-law, Tan Shuang, was counting Zhan Chunlan's dowry: three hundred yuan in cash, three turns and a ring, which were probably the betrothal gifts given by the Wang family in the past, and returned to the Wang family as part of the dowry. When she saw this, her face turned a little ugly. Her betrothal gifts were also these, but she did not bring them back.
Was Zhan Chunlan doing this on purpose? What will the Wang family think of me now? One of my two daughters-in-law didn't bring back a single penny, while the other brought everything. I used to think Zhan Chunlan was simple-minded, but now it seems she's a cunning womanizer. She's only just entered the family, and she already doesn't respect me, her sister-in-law.
There are also thirty-two legs. The bed, although simple in style, is very well made. The wardrobe has a large mirror on top. The cupboard is a style she has never seen before, and it is not much different from the one at home. The only thing that is not good is the table and chairs, which look like they are quite old. They are probably bought from a recycling station to save face.
These things were clearly not bought by her money-grubbing mother; they were probably bought by Wang Wenfeng to make Zhan Chunlan look good. I really underestimated this couple.
When I got married, my family was unwilling to help me with these things, and I didn't know anything about them. Wang Wenshan never imagined that I would just walk into the house like this, and people would laugh at me behind my back for so long. But this country girl actually thought of these things and even coaxed Wang Wenfeng to go along with her nonsense.
She also had several sets of bedding. The red silk one had dragon and phoenix patterns embroidered on the back, which looked festive and exquisite. She had her eye on this one when she got married, but her mother refused to buy it for her no matter what.
She heard that several of the beds were gifts from her friends in Jiangcheng. The quilts, bedding sets, and pillowcases were neatly arranged there, and she could see the envious looks from many of the girls attending the wedding.
Back then, she brought a red clothing trunk with only a few clothes inside when she got married. The stark contrast made her eyes bloodshot. Seeing her mother like this, her third sister, Wang Suju, who had always been with her, became frightened and dared not follow her any longer. She turned around and went to find her second sister, Wang Sumei.
Ms. Fang Li was pleased to see such a large dowry. She had heard Wang Wenfeng mention before that Zhan Chunlan wasn't doing well at home, and that her in-laws had only been there for two or three days, yet they had prepared so much. It seemed her in-laws really cared for their daughter. She was happy that Zhan Chunlan was a girl who was loved. Although it might seem a bit materialistic, the saying "where there's money, there's love" still held some truth. This large dowry showed that her in-laws truly valued Zhan Chunlan.
Inside the room, Wang Wenfeng looked at Zhan Chunlan with some surprise: "I didn't expect my mother-in-law to care about you so much. She managed to get everything so complete in such a short time."
Zhan Chunlan rolled her eyes: "Listen to what you're saying, don't you find it funny? How can someone be mean to someone for a long time and then suddenly become nice to them?"
"Then... what about those things outside?"
“I saved up all of those myself to prepare for myself.” Zhan Chunlan sat on the bed, her expression calm and expressionless as she said this: “I knew no one would prepare these for me, so when I started working, I prepared these for myself.”
Actually, that's not entirely true. In her previous life, right after she graduated from university, her mother started consciously preparing these things. Every time she went shopping and saw a nice four-piece bedding set, she would buy it, saying it was part of her dowry.
When I see pretty bowls and plates online, I buy them in sets, saying I'll use them after I get married, because my kitchen is almost overflowing with them.
She's lost count of how many videos she's saved selling Xiuhe dresses and wedding gowns: "This looks good on my daughter, this looks good too, the Hanfu is nice, and the wedding dress is beautiful..."
Although she didn't have a boyfriend at the time, her mother was already struggling with the style of her wedding.
When she arrived here, she missed them a little when things weren't going well at first, but she never thought about them again until they started talking about marriage.
At the time, she wasn't actually struggling with whether or not to invite Xu Lixia over; she was saddened that she was getting married but couldn't tell her parents.
So, the night before Xu Lixia went back, she took back the 300 yuan and the watch she had put away.
Their own daughter had died on that night when no one cared. This was Zhan Chunlan's own dowry, which she wanted to keep for herself, or give to her mother if she had to.
Because she knew that no matter how much betrothal gifts the groom gave, her mother would only return more dowry.
In her previous life, her mother would occasionally see videos of women marrying far away and struggling without family support, which would make her feel very sorry for them and worried about her own daughter. Zhan Chunlan would laugh at them, saying, "Don't worry, your daughter isn't love-struck and won't marry far away. I still have to take care of you in your old age."
She laughed happily at the time, but said arrogantly, "Your dad and I don't need you to support us in our old age. We'll just go to a nursing home ourselves and have so many old men and women with us. We'll be so happy."
Occasionally, they would see news about elderly people being abused in nursing homes, which would cause them some worry. Zhan Chunlan would not laugh at them, but would simply hug them and say, "Don't worry, your daughter will not let them go to a nursing home. My job from now on is to take good care of you. As long as you pay me a salary, that's fine."
But now...
She came here to replace this little girl who also has the name Zhan Chunlan, but is there anyone to take her place? To take care of her parents in her place?
She has no other requests now, she just hopes that her parents can be healthy and have someone to rely on in their old age. She knows that they don't really want to go to a nursing home, because it's not as good as advertised.
They only have one daughter. When she was young, things were fine, but as she got older, they started to worry. They were always concerned about becoming a burden to their daughter. So later, she stopped working and stayed home to live off her parents. They were still happy about it. They didn't care how much money their daughter could earn, because their salaries and future pensions would be enough to support their family of three.
But she regretted it; she regretted not working hard after graduating from university.
She hadn't considered the possibility of her leaving, always feeling young and destined to go after them. If she had worked hard and was able to earn more money, she could leave it all to them, ensuring they wouldn't have to worry about money in their old age. Even if they were scammed, having money would allow those who cheated them to treat them better for a while longer.
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