The Li family was having a meal, completely unaware that two pairs of eyes were watching them from the roof of a nearby bungalow.
After a few rounds of drinks, the Li father and son noticed that Yuan Dasheng had drunk quite a bit and his eyes were starting to glaze over, so they began to give him meaningful glances.
Li Xue'e's father, Li Zhenguo, said, "In a while, A'e's older brother wants to build a house, but we're short on money. Dasheng, do you have any spare cash? Could you lend some to A'e's brother to buy some bricks and tiles to build the house?"
Then Li Xue'e's older brother, Li Mingjun, spoke up: "Yes, Dasheng, my sister is now married into your family, so we're all family now, right? I'm just short of this little bit of money right now. Don't worry, I'll pay you back when I make money in the future."
When Yuan Dasheng heard that they wanted to borrow money, his expression froze for a moment, and then his face darkened.
Li Xue'e was also taken aback and looked at her elder brother with some surprise.
She couldn't help but ask, "Brother? What about the dowry money Dasheng gave?"
As soon as Li Xue'e spoke, her stepmother chimed in, "We've already spent the money. We hired people to lay the foundation, we treated them to meals and drinks—all of that costs money. With your meager dowry, how could it possibly be enough to build a house?"
"What do you mean, just that little bit of betrothal money... Two thousand yuan is quite a lot, isn't it? Are you planning to build a house?" Li Xue'e said with a slight frown.
In this day and age, building a house, even a simple one-story house, can be done for around ten thousand yuan.
Moreover, the two thousand yuan betrothal gift given by the Yuan family back then didn't amount to much dowry at all.
There were no valuable three-piece suitcases, only a few quilts.
The Yuan family didn't care about that; as long as they got their daughter-in-law, that was all that mattered.
But now, the Li family's daughter has only been married for three days, and they already want to borrow money from their son-in-law to build a house for their son.
That's a bit too hasty.
Yuan Dasheng's mood, which was initially quite good, instantly soured when he heard that they wanted to borrow money.
Especially when he heard Li Xue'e's stepmother say, "With your meager dowry," he instantly understood that she was looking down on him.
The 2,000 yuan dowry was negotiated back then; the Li family initially agreed on 3,800 yuan.
In this remote little town, who would pay more than three thousand yuan in dowry to marry a woman from the countryside?
The Yuan family said it was too much, that it was an outrageous demand, and refused to give that much.
Later, the matchmaker was sent around to different places by both sides, and they finally agreed on a price of two thousand.
Hearing this from the other party again, Yuan Dasheng's face darkened.
Li Xue'e was somewhat shocked, mainly because she remembered what Yuan Mengge had told her last night.
Last night, Yuan Mengge told her to calm down if anything happened during dinner.
They even said something bad was bound to happen today...
How could she be so accurate?
Li Xue'e turned her head and saw that Yuan Dasheng's expression had already turned rather grim, so she quickly said, "Dad, where are we going to get any money? We spent so much money on the wedding banquet a couple of days ago, and we also spent money on all that new furniture. Where are we going to get any money now?"
"Don't lie to me. You must have received quite a bit of money in wedding gifts, right? So many people went to the wedding, how could there be so little money? It must have been at least several thousand, right?" Li Zhenguo said loudly to her.
Li Xue'e then realized that they had already set their sights on the money they received as gifts at the banquet.
She wanted to say something more, but her brother interrupted her again: "Ah'e, what's wrong with you? You've only been married for a few days, and you're already planning to abandon your father and brother who raised you for twenty years? It's true what they say, a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl!"
These words left Li Xue'e speechless.
She stared at Li Mingjun, dumbfounded, and hurriedly tried to explain, "No... that's not what I meant... I never said I was going to abandon you..."
Her brother had also drunk quite a bit; the alcohol was taking effect.
He never liked Li Xue'e talking back to him, and this time he was even angrier, so he pointed at her and started cursing:
"That's not what you meant, so what did you mean? Basically, you mean you don't want to lend us money anymore? You're such a money-loser, and your father raised you all these years, only to receive two thousand yuan in dowry. Think about it, how much money have we spent on your food, drink, and other necessities? Huh?"
Li Xue'e was instantly brought to tears by the scolding.
She's not good with words and has never had any influence in this family. After being scolded like that, all she could do was cry in grievance, not knowing what else to do.
Yuan Dasheng was already somewhat angry, and seeing her crying only made him more irritated.
He slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and pointed at the Li family members, saying, "I know, you look down on the Yuan family, don't you? You're complaining that I'm not paying enough for your daughter? I've been married to your good daughter and sister for three days, and I haven't even had a chance to touch her yet. Why should I lend you more money?"
Yuan Dasheng slammed his fist on the table and started cursing, which immediately enraged the Li family members, who all stood up, pointed at him, and retorted with their own curses:
"What the hell do you mean? You've already held the wedding banquet and consummated the marriage, are you trying to renege on your debt? Are you even a man?"
"If your family hadn't given such a small dowry, would we still be borrowing money from you? If you didn't want our family to borrow from your family, then you should have given us a dowry of 3,800 yuan in the first place, you know?"
"Why should I give you so much dowry? Is your Li family a wealthy family in the city? Is your sister some kind of rich young lady? Does a country bumpkin like her think she's a phoenix? If you look down on the Yuan family, then you shouldn't have agreed to this marriage in the first place!"
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