In those days, households with ten thousand yuan were extremely rare in the Tang Dynasty. And in their small village, there were even fewer.
The bride price was only three hundred yuan.
In addition to those gifts, even if they are not returned, their family cannot easily become wealthy beyond ten thousand yuan, unless they keep getting engaged and breaking off engagements.
But in doing so, their daughter's reputation will probably be ruined.
"What do you mean?"
Upon hearing Ning Hongze's words, Qiao Fang immediately became furious.
“I’m not wrong. If you get engaged to a girl from your family, and then break off the engagement after a month or two without returning the gifts, you can accumulate a sum of money over time.”
"We're just returning the items to you. Don't worry, we definitely won't take advantage of you," Qiao Min said calmly.
That's what Qiao Min said in the story, which changed the villagers' opinion of her a lot.
Yes, what era are we living in now? Qiao Min doesn't like Ning Hongsheng, so we can't force them to be together.
She returned all the betrothal gifts, and even converted the gifts sent during holidays into cash. She was already very generous in doing so.
Ning Hong took the money back without any hesitation. "Oh, by the way, remember, from this year until next summer, have your family come over to work every weekend."
"What?"
Qiao Min's expression changed slightly. "What do you mean? You've taken so much money from me, yet you're still unwilling to let things go?" "No, it's not that I wanted to help you calculate things more clearly because you're so meticulous," Ning Hong scoffed. "Ever since your engagement, my younger brother has been helping your family with chores. He chopped the firewood, and he filled the water tank." Even though there was a tap in the house, he was reluctant to use it. "And finally, he planted your rice paddies."
"What? Is that so?" There's such a thing?
Qiao Min was somewhat taken aback. She had just turned her head when she met Qiao Fang's guilty eyes.
"Ning Hongsheng did all the housework in our house?" It's been so long, the quarrels from their past life are still vivid in my mind, and I've forgotten about what happened before they got married.
Qiao Fang nodded guiltily, "He did it willingly on his own."
"Of course, this was indeed my brother's own doing."
Ning Hongze certainly wasn't just saying that casually.
My brother's engagement was broken off.
He might not be able to find a partner in the future, so he first needs to salvage his reputation, and of course, he also needs to be vigilant against their resurgence.
"I was saying that, looking at that kid Joda, he was no good at doing any work. It turns out there was someone else who was doing the work."
"It's really not easy to get to this point, so why did you only break off the engagement now? If you didn't like him in the first place, you could have just told him directly."
The villagers began to chatter quietly.
In fact, according to the plot, Qiao Min's high-profile decision to break off the engagement and return all the betrothal gifts to the Ning family was highly praised by the villagers at the time.
After all, just as Qiao Fang said, very low-class women do not return the betrothal gifts after breaking off an engagement. Some families do return the betrothal gifts, but not as cleanly as the Qiao family.
Therefore, the villagers were all talking about how Ning Hongsheng had wronged Qiao Min, causing her to call off the engagement just before it was to happen.
Now it's the other way around.
Because of Ning Hongze's question, because she seized the initiative, the villagers all sided with the Ning family.
"I will also give you money for this matter."
Qiao Min blushed, threw down what she was carrying, including a wad of cash, and left in a hurry.
Seeing this, Qiao Fang didn't care about the money anymore and ran after Qiao Min.
Ning Hong then squatted down and picked up the money from the ground one by one.
"Hongze, you're a rich man, why would you care about this little bit of dowry?"
"I don't really care, but there are always people who do, so why not take advantage of it?" Ning Hong winked at the villager who asked the question.
"That's right, why not take it if it's free? We can't let it go to someone else." The villagers nodded in understanding. And so, their attitude towards Ning Hongze improved considerably.
Qiao Min is proud and arrogant, so she definitely won't come to ask for it back, but Qiao's mother and Qiao Fang will surely shamelessly come to pick it up.
After picking up the money, Ning Hongze turned around and saw Ning Hongsheng leaning against the door frame.
Ning Hongsheng was pale, with some bruises on his face. It seemed that his brother had given him a severe scolding because of his suicide attempt.
"Alright, stop looking. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Tomorrow, you're coming to live in the city with me."
"I understand." Qiao Min didn't say a word in his defense when Qiao Fang was insulting him.
He thought there was at least some affection between them, but in the end, it was just wishful thinking on his part.
Thinking of the way Qiao Min looked at him when she said she wanted to break off the engagement—as if she were looking at trash—Ning Hongsheng's eyes reddened, and he couldn't help but shed tears again.
"Before, you refused to come with me no matter what because of Qiao Min. Now that the engagement has been broken off, it's good that you can settle down and focus on your career." Pretending not to see the tears on Ning Hongsheng's face, Ning Hong said calmly.
Ning Hongsheng genuinely likes Qiao Min.
If Qiao Min had been willing to put in a little more effort towards Ning Hongsheng, their relationship might not have ended up like that in their past lives. Even if Qiao Min enjoys doing business, there's no need for her to be so intimate with other men after marriage.
Many men admired her, and most of her colleagues harbored feelings for her. Regardless of who they were, they all felt that Qiao Min's marriage to Ning Hongsheng was a terrible mismatch. But they forgot that without Ning Hongsheng's support and encouragement, how could Qiao Min have achieved such success?
Ning Hongsheng did too much and said too little.
However, now that their engagement has been dissolved, the Ning family no longer needs to help her. What good is repaying evil with good? He's a businessman, not a pushover.
"Um."
Ning Hongsheng nodded heavily.
Although he still can't let go of Qiao Min, he doesn't miss her as much anymore. After all, whenever he thinks of her, he remembers the way his brother beat him up and how she looked down on him.
Ning Hongsheng sighed and touched his face; it still hurt.
“Your brother is right. Focus on your career. When you are successful in the future, you will naturally find a woman who is more beautiful and outstanding than Qiao Min.”
"Mom, I understand."
The next day, Ning Hongsheng left with Ning Hongze. Qiao Min watched his departing figure with mixed feelings. He was finally gone. If he had stayed, who knows how much gossip would have circulated in the village.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
