Erbao's adorable voice suddenly rang out.
"Erbao, what are you saying?"
Song Lan looked down at the little one in her arms, but to her surprise, the little one was looking up at her too. Their eyes met, and the little one adorably repeated, "Daddy and Mommy are whispering."
After a pause, the little dumpling looked at her older brother, Da Bao: "Brother, is Er Bao right?"
Da Bao, being held by Qin Yaqing, heard his younger brother Er Bao's voice, and with a serious expression, nodded his little head earnestly: "That's right."
The little boy looks serious and reserved, quite like a mini version of a domineering CEO.
As soon as Da Bao finished speaking, the living room erupted in laughter.
More than half an hour later, Qin's father got up: "We'll be busy tomorrow, so go back to your rooms and get some sleep."
After Qin's father left, Qin Yaqing and Qin Yaxin took Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu upstairs.
Only Song Lan, Qin Yanzheng, and their two children remained in the living room.
"Let's go upstairs, wash up, and go to bed."
Da Bao and Er Bao were already fast asleep in Song Lan and Qin Yanzheng's arms.
Second floor.
After settling their two sons in their room, Song Lan and her husband returned to their own bedroom.
"Is there enough food left in the kitchen for tomorrow's guests?"
“I went to the kitchen when we came back from outside. The leftover ingredients can easily fill two tables with ten dishes each tomorrow.”
"I was thinking that if it's not enough, I'll go out and buy some tomorrow morning."
"Don't worry, it's more than enough!"
The couple were lying flat on the bed, talking about the engagement arrangements for Zhou Shiyang's parents to come to their home tomorrow.
"We need to prepare my younger sister's dowry as soon as possible, and it needs to be presentable. This will give her confidence in her husband's family. What do you think?"
“What do you mean by ‘I think’? What you said makes a lot of sense. A more generous dowry will give the bride more confidence in her husband’s family, and it also proves that her family cares about and values her.”
"So, what do you think we need to prepare?"
"The 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a watch, a radio, a sewing machine, and a watch), as well as bedding and such, must be complete. In addition, there should be a thousand yuan in cash in the bottom box. If you think that's okay, I will prepare the dowry for my younger sister according to this standard."
Song Lan wasn't being extravagantly generous. The money she had, not counting the savings Qin Yanzheng had given her earlier, the monthly salary payments he made to her, and the savings account Qin's father had given her...
Besides the half-month's salary Qin Yaqing gave her each month, Song Lan's own savings and the money she occasionally made on the black market amounted to nearly ten thousand yuan.
Needless to say, more than half of these nearly ten thousand came from the black market.
For example, if you dig up a wild ginseng root from the sky and sell it on the black market, you can make a considerable income.
Moreover, Song Lan's space contains other precious medicinal herbs, any one of which could fetch a high price on the black market, just like wild ginseng.
"Isn't that a bit too much?"
Qin Yanzheng looked slightly taken aback.
"You mean..."
Song Lan was puzzled.
"The 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a sewing machine, a watch, a bicycle, and a radio) are usually bought by the man for the woman. Also, the thousand yuan you mentioned as 'bottom-of-the-box money' is equivalent to nearly three years' wages for an average worker..."
Although Qin Yanzheng said he wanted to prepare a decent dowry for Qin Yaqing, he didn't intend to prepare everything as Song Lan suggested, and even put a thousand yuan at the bottom of the trunk.
"It's the man's business if he buys it, but what our family prepared is our way of showing our love and care for our eldest sister."
Once my eldest sister arrives at the Zhou family home, after they see the dowry we've prepared for her, regardless of their inner thoughts, they definitely won't mistreat her outwardly.
Song Lan said, "Besides, a thousand yuan isn't much to me, and it's not like our family can't afford a thousand yuan."
Don't be stingy. It will make me think you don't value or cherish your younger sister, and it might even make me think you're a bad person.
Of course, what followed was just Song Lan making things up; she was teasing Qin Yanzheng.
"..."
Qin Yanzheng was at a loss for words.
"Speechless?"
Song Lan asked with a smile.
"Your words have made me feel quite ashamed."
Qin Yanzheng looked ashamed: "Yaqing is my sister, and I was stingy with her dowry, unlike you, my sister-in-law, who is so generous. Wife, I was wrong."
"It was my fault. I've decided that I will no longer offer any opinions on my sisters' dowries; you will have complete authority to decide."
"Now that Mom's gone, I'm the eldest sister-in-law, so naturally I have to put in a lot more effort regarding my younger sister's wedding. And since you're the eldest brother..."
You can't just abandon them; you have to put in some effort and let your younger sister and the others know that you, their older brother, care about them.
After hearing Song Lan's words, Qin Yanzheng felt that with such a wife, what more could a husband ask for?
"Okay, I'll listen to you, but you should only take what I say as a reference."
Upon hearing this, Song Lan simply smiled and remained silent.
-
The next day, around 10 a.m., Zhou Shiyang's parents arrived at the Qin family's house with gifts.
"Please sit down."
After Zhou's parents entered the living room, Qin's father invited them to sit on the sofa.
"You sit down too, let's sit down and talk about the children."
This was Zhou's father's voice. After he entered the room, Qin Yanzheng took the gifts from his hands. After Zhou's father, mother, and Qin's father were seated, he put the gifts down and poured tea for the three of them before sitting down next to Qin's father.
Time passed slowly, and after the two families chatted for about ten minutes, they finally got to the point. When Qin Yanzheng heard that the Zhou family was going to buy Qin Yaqing a three-wheeled radio and a sewing machine, he said:
“Our family has already discussed preparing three turns and one sound for my younger sister's dowry, so Uncle Zhou, Aunt Zhou, you don't need to prepare those big items anymore, Dad, what do you say?”
Qin's father nodded: "Yes, yes, my eldest son and his wife specifically talked to me about preparing a dowry for their younger sister. Now that the children have made their decision, you two don't need to prepare any more 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a type of jewelry).
Upon hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Zhou glanced at each other. Mrs. Zhou said, "Since the in-laws are preparing 'three turns and one sound' as dowry for the child, then we'll double the bride price. If the in-laws have no objections, then it's settled. What do you think..."
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Before Zhou's parents came to the Qin family, they prepared three turns and one ring as betrothal gifts.
At the same time, the betrothal gift was one thousand, but now they say they will double the bride price, meaning the bride price the Zhou family is giving to the Qin family has increased from one thousand to two thousand.
In fact, Zhou's mother also prepared three gold items for Qin Yaqing: a gold necklace, a gold bracelet, and a gold ring.
This time when I visited the Qin family, I brought [something] with me.
After discussions, the two families finally reached an agreement: the Zhou family would pay a betrothal gift of two thousand and three gold pieces.
Seeing Qin Yaqing, Zhou's parents were genuinely satisfied, feeling that their youngest son had found a wife who was not only beautiful,
And her temperament is impeccable. The key is that she exudes an elegant air in every gesture, like a noble lady who has stepped out of an ancient painting, making her particularly pleasing to the eye.
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