"If the engagement is called off, it's not just your family who suffers; it's also disgraceful for us girls to be jilted. And if we have to pay you compensation for emotional distress, how can Wang Qing possibly live?"
The cunning elder of the male clan said, "You women have no right to say that to us! It's not our fault."
If it weren't for the woman causing trouble, we would have already built a new house and be able to marry her off next year.
Now your family has pulled this stunt, wasting four years of our child's life. He's almost of marriageable age, and we'll have to find him a wife and get engaged again.
Isn't this causing trouble? In our rural area, how many kids this age aren't engaged yet? You're delaying our child's marriage; shouldn't you take responsibility?
Asking you for 60,000 yuan, is that a lot of money? If we go through all that trouble again with the marriage proposal and engagement, we'll have to spend money too.
If you're not satisfied and can't find us men, haven't you already found someone else?
If you withdraw from our side, we can immediately start collecting betrothal gifts and getting engaged again, without delaying anything!
If there are losses, you should talk to your next supplier. Whoever caused this should be held responsible.
We've swallowed our anger and been cheated on, but you women shouldn't bully us like this.
Do you really want to turn against us and fight? If you don't agree to pay this money, we're not going to take it lying down.
No matter how you look at it, we're in the right. If your Wang family had any shame, they'd pay the money to break off the engagement.
Since we're all relatives, let's not make things too awkward and put the matchmakers on both sides in a difficult position.
If we can't be in-laws, there's no need for us to be enemies.
If a real fight breaks out, we won't be able to leave the village, and you won't benefit from it either.
If anyone who comes to help gets injured, it's always our two in-laws who pay for their medical expenses.
If someone accidentally causes a serious injury, the medical expenses alone will be enormous. If the injury results in disability or death, no amount of money can solve the problem.
I think you two should discuss this and not place too much importance on money.
"If things really escalate like this, Wang Qing's father, your family won't be able to stay out of it."
The male clan chief's argument was reasonable and well-founded, and he was right. Despite the large crowd gathered inside and outside the courtyard, everyone was there to show their support.
If any injury or disability were to occur, it would be a burden on his family in the village.
"Uncle, don't worry. Neither of us, as parents, wanted this to happen."
Even if we can't become in-laws in the future, we'll still live in this same little area and see each other all the time, so it's really not worth a big fight.
"Let us discuss this. We really don't have that much money at home. Otherwise, I'll just give you the money and send you away."
Now that the woman's family had expressed their opinion, the relatives and matchmakers from both sides who came to help breathed a sigh of relief.
It would be best if this could be resolved peacefully, so that they wouldn't become enemies in the future. Even if more than a dozen families can no longer be relatives, they wouldn't have to fight and turn against each other.
The clansmen and relatives were helpless. In fact, when they saw their relatives and friends actually showing up to make up the numbers for something, it was mostly just a formality.
Living in a rural area where family interests come first, you won't show up when something happens to someone else's family.
When something happens to your family, no one else will stand up for you!
However, in modern society, the state will not treat large-scale brawls that result in injury or disability as lightly as it used to.
If something really happens, whoever gets hit will be in pain! Afterwards, the host family will have to pay for the medical expenses. If you are disabled, who can really take care of you for the rest of your life?
Don't say the owner doesn't know how to raise them; even if they wanted to, they're just old farmers from the countryside, they don't have the ability!
So, let's just gather enough people to show our attitude; it's better to avoid fighting if possible.
If both sides share this idea, the matter is easier to resolve.
After several rounds of negotiations, Wang Qingjia finally agreed to the man's compensation demands.
The village chief and Uncle Erhu, who were members of the Wang family beyond the fifth degree of kinship, were no longer relevant to them.
Now that the matter had been resolved peacefully, the villagers in the courtyard and the alley outside dispersed, looking rather dejected.
The anticipated large-scale brawl ended abruptly and in a rather anticlimactic manner.
The Wang family's relatives and friends secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that a fight didn't break out; if a fight didn't break out, no one would get hurt.
Anyway, a peaceful resolution is just a matter of how much money to pay. Paying more is acceptable, since it's the Wang family's daughter who's so disappointing.
She's engaged, wearing gold jewelry bought by the man, new clothes bought by the man, and spending pocket money given by the man.
She dresses up extravagantly, attracting attention and cheating on her boyfriend.
This is really disgraceful. Even if you're from the same village, you can't just cover your mouth and lie without any conscience.
It's not that you can't have a free-choice relationship, but you need to break off your engagement first. Once you break off the engagement, you'll be a free person, right?
If you then choose to date freely, besides your own parents, who will have the time or inclination to care if you find a good man or a bad man?
Now look what's happened. No matter how much money she has to pay the man, Wang Qing's reputation is now infamous for miles around.
Aside from the boy next door who was having an affair, no one dared to arrange a marriage with her family.
Chen Hong and the village chief, Uncle Erhu, and a few others walked back. "It's best if there's no fight. At least there won't be any injuries. Losing some money is a small matter; we can earn it back later!"
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