About ten steps away from the front door, Cao went over what he wanted to do in his mind several times. After making sure that there was nothing missing, he rubbed his eyes vigorously with his hands.
Zheng Qiulian was peeking out of the gate of her yard. When she saw Cao, she quickly ran to the gate and stretched her neck to look behind Cao.
"Mom." Cao greeted Zheng Qiulian unhappily.
"Where is the person?" Zheng Qiulian couldn't help but ask when she saw that there was no one she wanted to see behind Cao.
"Who is it?" Cao pretended to be confused.
"Old Secretary! Zhao Qingshan, didn't he come here today to propose marriage to you? Why is he not here?" Zheng Qiulian was anxious.
If Zhao Qingshan doesn't come, who will take her betrothal gift?
"It's gone, no one is coming." Cao pinched the chili pepper in the palm of her hand with her fingernails, covered her face with her hands, and tears flowed out from between her fingers.
Oh my god! What kind of peppers are growing under the wall of Third Aunt's house? I'm almost blinded! A mad sword raced through Cao's heart. While Zheng Qiulian wasn't paying attention, Cao quickly threw the half-sliced pepper in his hand far away.
"Why wouldn't she come? How could she not come?" Zheng Qiulian couldn't help but panic. Her betrothal gift! Was the old secretary scared by her price? If she had known earlier, she would have asked for less. Actually, three thousand yuan, no, two thousand yuan would be fine too.
"Mother, please let Cao come in and talk first." Zhao Hongsheng heard the noise in the house and hurried out to see what was happening. Seeing Cao crying loudly, he was afraid of being laughed at, so he quickly asked Zheng Qiulian and her daughter to come in.
"Yes, yes, go in, then go in again." Zheng Qiulian had already seen someone peeking from next door out of the corner of her eye, so she quickly pulled the grass and went into her own house.
Next door to the Cao family is Eighth Aunt. Eighth Aunt's wife Hong also likes to watch the fun like Eighth Aunt. Since early this morning, she often tiptoes in her yard and looks towards the Cao family.
Zheng Qiulian didn't bother to blame Cao, and took Cao's hand and walked into the house.
I don’t know what kind of pepper it was, but in just a short while, the grass’s eyelids were swollen like ripe peaches, and it looked very miserable.
"Cao, the old secretary's grandson, the one called Zhou...Zhou something, doesn't he like you very much? Why didn't he send you back?" Zhao Hongsheng was more flexible than Zheng Qiulian, and he kept finding ways to get information out of Cao.
"Dad, you're wrong. It's me who likes Zhou Jiasheng, not Zhou Jiasheng who likes me. I'm just a wild girl from the country, and I'm not particularly good-looking. What's so good about me that makes me worthy of his love? Dad, I spent a lot of effort this time and finally coaxed Zhou Jiasheng to agree to marry me, but I didn't expect that Mom..." Zhao Cao blinked and tears flowed from her eyes again.
Seeing Cao crying so sadly, Zhao Hongsheng believed Cao's Hu Ao.
No wonder Zhao Hongsheng always felt that this matter was a bit mysterious since he received the news yesterday. It turned out that he felt the same as his daughter, thinking that his daughter did not have the ability to "bewitch" Zhou Jiasheng.
"Ah? I... I... I thought that person had to marry you, but I didn't expect it was you..." Zheng Qiulian opened her mouth, but she didn't say the unpleasant words "throwing herself at him".
"Oh~! Forget it! Mom, Zhou Jiasheng originally wanted to marry me and promised to help take care of our family in the future. I didn't expect to hear so much gossip as soon as I entered the village. You asked for several thousand yuan in betrothal money. Now Zhou Jiasheng is furious! Look, he sent me back." Zhao Cao said a lot of things dejectedly, paused, and added: "Forget it, forget it, it seems that it's not so easy to turn a sparrow into a phoenix. I'd better just be a village girl peacefully."
"How can I let it go? Zhou Jiasheng has already agreed to marry you, so how can I not let it go? No, I'm going to go find the old secretary and have a good talk with him. Even if his family is powerful, they can't play tricks on others, right?" Zheng Qiulian was so angry that she jumped three feet high and wanted to rush out to settle the score with Zhao Qingshan.
"You can't go." This time, without any hesitation, Zhao Hongsheng hugged Zheng Qiulian's waist.
Zheng Qiulian didn't dare to struggle and stopped due to Zhao Hongsheng's strength.
"Dad, this is a good marriage! After missing out on Zhou Jiasheng, who else can afford so much money to marry our hunk? Even if they don't ask for a penny of betrothal gift, Zhao Yunxiang's son will have a lot of girls vying to marry him. That's a lucky family!" Zheng Qiulian was a little surprised that Zhao Hongsheng didn't support her.
Last night, Zheng Qiulian and her husband were so excited that they didn't sleep for most of the night. They had already agreed on everything about how to use the betrothal gift in the future. Now it was just like that. How could Zheng Qiulian be willing to just let it go?
Zhao Hongsheng understood Cao's meaning. Zhou Jiasheng had originally agreed to support Zhao Cao's family in the future. This time, it was Zheng Qiulian's exorbitant demands that had Zhou Jiasheng upset. If Zheng Qiulian were to make a scene now, and Zhou Jiasheng got angry and insisted he wouldn't marry Cao, what else could their family do? They couldn't just force Cao into Zhao Yunxiang's family, could they?
"You know that it's a blessed place, so why are you asking for so much dowry? You are confused!" Zhao Hongsheng was poured with a basin of cold water by Cao, and his mind became clear.
This marriage was originally a case of them marrying up to Zhou Jiasheng.
If Zhao Cao could successfully marry into the Zhou family, they would have a respected and admired in-law. Who in the surrounding area would dare to look down on them? Perhaps the remaining two sons, even with Zhou Jiasheng as their brother-in-law, would send a matchmaker to propose marriage.
Zheng Qiulian's high bride price scared Zhou Jiasheng into backing out. If Zhou Jiasheng couldn't marry, and he didn't want the bride price, his family would surely become a laughing stock in the eyes of the villagers. The villagers' spitting threatened to drown his family.
By then, even if Cao could get married, she would definitely not marry better than she does now. It seemed like it would be better to be generous now, and then when Cao married into the Zhou family, she could ask her daughter for some money to support her family. This would be the best way!
Zhao Hongsheng was afraid that Zheng Qiulian would cry, so he quickly pulled her into the room and whispered with her.
A sarcastic smile appeared at the corner of Cao's mouth.
Others may not know, but the grass must know. It's true that Zheng Qiulian is calculating in their family, but who knew that the most calculating one in their family was Zhao Hongsheng? However, Zhao Hongsheng always hid it well from outsiders. In fact, Zhao Hongsheng had many complaints about his brother's family not having to take care of the elderly.
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