Hearing Xia's father's words, He Wenhua also got angry and his tone became unpleasant: "Making things difficult? How have we made things difficult for you? What skill do you learn these days without paying tuition? Linlin doesn't charge any money. Let Xia Lifeng learn on the job for a year. What's wrong with that? If you go to other places to learn, you still have to learn on the job and pay tuition. And they might not even teach you everything."
At this point, He Wenhua added in a low voice, "Speaking of making things difficult, I'm the one who's being made difficult. At first, they didn't mention the bride price, then they asked for 50,000, and now, after just one meal, it's increased to 68,000, 88,000..."
Although the sound was soft, the Xia family members all heard it.
Their expressions changed.
Xia Lijuan's eyes widened as she demanded, "What do you mean?"
"It means the bride price is 11,000 yuan, one in ten thousand, that's all I can offer. That's all my family can afford. We can buy the three gold pieces, if you're willing, that's fine. If not, you can go find someone richer. Anyway, that's all my family can offer." He Wenhua didn't want to coax her anymore and laid his cards on the table.
He Wenhua then added, "In my hometown, we don't have the concept of bride price. When we serve tea at the engagement ceremony, we give red envelopes to the bride's parents and the bride's family, which adds up to about five or six thousand yuan. That's how my family is now."
He Wenhua felt he had done well enough. He didn't know what life was like in the city; his relatives were all from the countryside, so he only knew about the situation there.
Xia Lijuan cried and swung her bag at him.
He Wenhua remained silent and did not retaliate.
Xia's father grabbed Xia Lijuan, then said to He Wenhua with a serious expression, "Xiao He, when I was at your uncle's house, I said that the dowry is a matter of attitude. Now it seems that your attitude is really not good."
After saying that, he said to the children, "Let's go, let's go back!"
Xia Lifeng muttered, "I also want to buy two more pieces of clothing."
Xia's father scolded, "What are you buying? Go home!"
The Xia family turned and left, none of them paying any attention to He Wenhua.
He Wenhua was speechless. He didn't know if his attitude and words were right or wrong, but that was indeed the case with his family's circumstances.
When we were discussing marriage, we never mentioned bride price.
After arriving in Shaoxing, they started asking for a bride price of 50,000 yuan, and now the price has gone up again!
He Wenhua is very annoyed.
What He Wenhua didn't know was that before the 50,000 yuan dowry, Xia's father had also mentioned 30,000 yuan. It was Xia Lijuan herself who told He Wenhua that it was 50,000 yuan.
Now that shopping is impossible, He Wenlin is also busy, so He Wenhua has no choice but to take the bus back to the High-tech Zone.
The Xia family took a taxi back to the High-tech Zone.
On the way back, the family of four remained silent.
After a long while, Xia Lijuan said to her father, "The bride price they asked for was way too much. They must have really angered them."
When she said this, Xia Lijuan actually harbored some resentment towards her father.
She liked He Wenhua; otherwise, she wouldn't have started dating him, nor would she have gone to his hometown for the Chinese New Year without getting a marriage certificate.
However, money is just as important as parents' words.
Xia's father was also well aware that with their family's circumstances, it was impossible to find a better in-laws.
After hesitating for a long time, he said to Xia Lijuan, "The bride price is just an attitude. You need to express this to He Wenhua. As long as he is sincere and has the right attitude, a bride price of more than 10,000 yuan is acceptable."
Xia's father was also worried that if He Wenhua broke up with Xia Lijuan in a fit of anger, where would he find someone with such good conditions?
...
He Wenlin was unaware of He Wenhua's affair with the Xia family.
Today is a holiday, and the number of customers was very high in the afternoon. He Wenlin was busy from the moment she entered the store.
I was exhausted after working at the cake shop all afternoon.
The store has been open for quite some time now, and the staff are quite adept at promotions and food tastings.
He Wenlin rode back to the fast food restaurant with Wei Hanqing around 5 p.m.
When I got back to the shop, all the customers had already left.
Grandma He was sitting at the supermarket entrance, enjoying the breeze from the fan. When she saw He Wenlin return, she asked, "How was business at the store today?"
"Business is good today. The turnover should be about the same as when we opened," He Wenlin asked. "Grandma, how's business at your little supermarket?"
Mentioning this, Old Mrs. He opened the fanny pack He Wenlin had bought for her and took out a neat stack of bills: "Business is bad. Today we only sold eleven packs of cigarettes, more than twenty bottles of mineral water, eleven bottles of drinks, and sixteen popsicles..."
"Grandma, you have such a good memory, you remember it so clearly."
"I'll remember that we only sold this little bit. Business was so bad, we couldn't even make back the electricity bill. All the money is here, take it."
He Wenlin refused the money, saying, "Please keep it. I told you this shop was opened for you. I have money, I'm not short of money. Please keep it. You have so many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You'll need to give gifts for New Year's celebrations, weddings, and so on. You can't do without money. This shop is for your retirement."
No matter how old you are, having money to receive every month always makes you feel more at ease.
"But you still owe the bank so much money..." This matter kept Grandma He up all night.
"What's there to be afraid of with that little bit of money? Don't worry, Grandma, your granddaughter is very capable."
Seeing He Wenlin's confident demeanor, Grandma He couldn't stop smiling.
He Wenlin added, "Don't worry about the small supermarket's poor production. It's a holiday today, and the factory workers have all gone shopping, so it's normal for business to be slow. I heard that another factory is going to open there, so don't worry, there will only be more and more people in the future, and the more people there are, the better our business will be."
The road next to He Wenlin's house leads to a farmers' market and several clothing factories that deliver food, and it's the direction to the city center.
Further on are low, dilapidated houses, and the area becomes increasingly remote. If I remember correctly, a new garment factory will open there next year.
Once it's up and running, her home will be located between the Bosi factory and the new garment factory that will open next year.
He Wenlin remembers that factory had quite a few workers.
Running a fast food restaurant or opening a supermarket—of course, the more people the better.
Therefore, He Wenlin's fast food restaurant and small supermarket will only get better and better in the future, and the upstairs apartment will also be easy to rent out.
He Wenlin whispered to Grandma He, "You really don't need to worry about the money. Once the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors of this house are rented out, we'll earn at least four thousand a month, which is forty-eight thousand a year! Forty-eight thousand, in the past, it would have taken my parents three years to earn that even if they didn't eat or drink and worked in the factory together. And the rent is going up every year. The interest on the money we put into the bank to build the house isn't that much."
"You can make the decision," said Grandma He. "Once you've paid off your debts and have some extra money, help your father rebuild the house in your hometown. You should still go back to your hometown for the New Year."
No matter how much money they make, they must build a house in their hometown. The older generation has the idea of returning to their roots, and this idea is even stronger for people of Grandma He's age.
He Wenlin said with a smile, "Grandma, I will try my best to build the house in my hometown within two or three years. I will build the most beautiful and biggest house. When I get into university, I will hold my graduation banquet in our hometown."
"Haha, okay, okay, then Grandma will wait."
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