Zhou Yang was sincere in his willingness to pay the betrothal gift, and Chen Xinyi was devoted to him, so Lin Xiaoman didn't say much.
Just then the dishes arrived and the three of them started eating.
After finishing the meal, they chatted for a while about nothing important, and then Shen Xinyi and Zhou Yang left together, and they went to buy rings happily.
Lin Xiaoman returned to the community and chatted with a group of old ladies together with Grandma Sun, and then went out to buy some vegetables and daily necessities.
Supermarkets and vegetable markets are within two kilometers, which is very convenient.
After buying the things, Lin Xiaoman first put the big and small bags back home, and then went to the community to pick up Old Lady Sun...
On the other side, Chen Xinyi and Zhou Yang went to several jewelry shops and picked and chose. Knowing that Zhou Yang was not well off, Chen Xinyi did not choose expensive things. She picked a style she liked. After the discount, it cost 12,000 yuan. Although the diamond was not big, it was still a diamond ring.
Zhou Yang didn't have any requirements for the ring, so he picked a platinum ring that looked like a couple's ring with Shen Xinyi's diamond ring, and it cost less than 6,000 yuan.
As for the wedding ring, since he had no money, Zhou Yang would save a few months' salary before the wedding and buy the gold jewelry then.
The two of them had dinner outside together, and then went to see a movie together, and the day ended.
Zhou Yang first sent Shen Xinyi back to the dormitory, and then he went home. It was almost ten o'clock when he got home, and Li Jing and Zhou Dagui had already gone to bed.
Zhou Yang returned to his room, took a shower and went to bed.
The next day, Monday, I went to work.
Early in the morning, Zhou Yang had just finished washing up and left the room. Li Jing, who had prepared breakfast, asked him as soon as she saw him, "Xiao Yang, did you go to see your mother-in-law yesterday? What did she say? Did she give you a hard time about the house? Did she ask for a betrothal gift again?"
Li Jing was like a machine gun, just like checking household registration.
"Mom." Zhou Yang immediately drooped his face and became distressed. He was really embarrassed being caught in the middle.
"Auntie is very understanding. She has no objection to the house issue. She just brought up the issue of the betrothal gift again."
Zhou Yang turned his eyes away feeling guilty, his gaze drifting. He knew his mother's temper very well. He agreed to the betrothal gift on his own initiative, and he was afraid that his money would be cut off.
"Mom, there's a morning meeting at the company today. I'm going to eat first, so I'm not going to talk anymore." After saying that, Zhou Yang quickly slipped into the kitchen to get some porridge, intending to just eat something and then leave.
"Don't try to change the subject, you little brat." Li Jing chased him into the kitchen to get to the bottom of the matter and twisted his arm angrily.
"Ouch, it hurts!" Zhou Yang howled on the spot.
Li Jing's face sterned, as if she were interrogating a criminal. "Tell me the truth, did you agree to pay the betrothal gift? How much did Li Yanying ask for? Isn't that a huge ask?"
"Mom, Xinyi's dad passed away early, and it's not easy for Auntie to raise Xinyi alone. What's wrong with giving some betrothal gifts? Besides, we agreed on 58,000, which is only my half-year salary, not much. Why do you keep harping on this?" Zhou Yang was helpless.
"Give what?! That's a bad habit of rural people. She's selling her daughter! Look, when girls in the city get married, which one asks for a betrothal gift? Isn't it their parents who have already prepared the house and car?"
Li Jing felt unhappy and her voice rose a notch. "Besides, Li Yanying only has one daughter. Chen Xinyi will have to take care of her in her old age. It doesn't matter whether she gets married or not. What's the point of giving a betrothal gift? How can a girl who receives a betrothal gift and gets married have to provide for her parents in their old age?"
"Mom, the betrothal gift is just a token of my appreciation. Auntie said that when the time comes, I'll buy some furniture for Xinyi to bring back as a dowry. Xinyi is my only daughter, so isn't it my responsibility to provide for her in her old age?"
"Well, you're such a heartless person! You haven't even gotten married yet, but you're already thinking about taking care of your mother-in-law in her old age. I've really raised you for nothing. The old saying that when you get a wife, you forget your mother is really true!"
"Mom...what are you talking about? Xinyi and I are married. It would be great if we could both be filial to you!" Zhou Yang quickly flattered her, trying to get away with it.
"Hmph, that's a nice thing to say!" Li Jing snorted coldly, then said firmly, "Anyway, the wedding house has been prepared for you. Now that our family is broke, we will definitely not pay the betrothal gift!"
"You don't have to help me, I can handle it myself."
"Where did you get the money?"
"I...I'll ask a colleague for help." Zhou Yang said weakly.
"No! Don't even think about it!" Li Jing's face turned grim, and her voice became even sharper. "You're still borrowing money to get married. If this gets out, everyone will laugh at you. Where will my Zhou family stand? Are you trying to piss us off to death?"
"Dad..." Zhou Yang looked helplessly at Zhou Dagui at the dining table for help.
Zhou Dagui, who was drinking porridge, lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the porridge in front of him, completely ignoring Zhou Yang's call for help.
He promised that if he dared to say a word to help his son, his wife would scold him for three days and three nights like scolding a student.
He would never do such a stupid thing that would bring trouble to himself.
"What are you calling me? Calling me ancestors is useless! That's it. Anyway, I don't agree! Let's find a time to have dinner together. You are young and naive. Li Yanying just thinks you are easy to bully, so she is forcing you to give the betrothal gift. These are all discussed by the parents. I will talk to her when the time comes. If we can't reach an agreement, forget it!"
"Mom..." Zhou Yang became anxious when he heard this, but Li Jing frowned and looked sharp, giving him a death stare with a stern face.
Faced with her powerful aura of a principal, Zhou Yang suddenly became intimidated, like a primary school student who had made a mistake, and did not dare to say anything more.
"Hurry up and go to work. I'll be angry when I see you!"
"Oh." Zhou Yang responded hesitantly, drank the porridge in two or three mouthfuls, and hurried away.
…
In order to maintain her persona, Lin Xiaoman worked as her nanny, doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning every day. The most she did was go to the community center and mingle with a group of retired old men and women.
Then, the matter of making money began to become clear.
The old men and women are also divided into small groups, such as table tennis groups, chess groups, square dance groups, knitting groups, gossip groups... They get together because they have the same interests and hobbies.
Among them, two groups attracted Lin Xiaoman's special attention.
One is: stock group.
As the name suggests, it is where old men and women who trade stocks get together and analyze the rising and falling prices every day.
Another: lottery groups.
This group is quite professional, with its core members being several retired mathematics teachers who gather together to study "Probability".
Hey!
Make a small profit from stock trading, and win the lottery.
Wouldn't she be rich?
Although she relied on cheating in the system, it appeared to the outside that she was just lucky, which definitely did not go against her character!
Very good, this kind of opportunistic and safe way to make money is very nice.
After finding the method, Lin Xiaoman began to search through his memory. His memory was so long that he skipped over the trivialities of daily life. It was a huge project to dig into every detail bit by bit.
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