Looking closely, I saw that several people in the crowd were members of the Bai family.
They also held cloth, chickens, ducks and other items in their hands.
Thinking of the gossip he heard yesterday, Feng Yijia immediately understood the purpose of their visit to the Meng family next door, and he was no longer in the mood to drink tea and enjoy the scenery.
After all, this matter has its own reasons.
He stood up and walked out, following the crowd to the gate of the next courtyard.
As expected, the Bai family came to the Meng family to cancel the engagement.
The skinny old man led several young and strong children and grandchildren carrying things into the courtyard, and went straight to the point to Meng Chenglin and his wife: "Chenglin, I have sacrificed my old face to come here today just to cancel the marriage between our two families.
This was not a fair thing for me to do, and I want to say sorry to you.
But children and grandchildren are all debts, I hope you can understand my uncle's difficulties."
After he finished speaking, without looking at Meng Chenglin and the other man, whose faces had already turned ashen, he pointed at the things he had brought over and said, "These are the things your family has given us since we got engaged. They are some food and daily necessities. I compared them one by one and found something of similar value to return.
Your eldest son is a good boy, but my Xiaoya is not worthy of him.
I've brought the marriage certificate with me. Take it out and tear it up together. Let's call off the marriage of our two children!"
The old man in his sixties, surnamed Bai and named Zhengchuan, fled here to escape the war in the late 1930s. After settling down, he married a girl from the Chen family. Over the past few decades, he had children and got married in the village. He has been completely integrated into Mengjia Village, and no one dares to bully the Bai family because they are young.
The head of the Bai family came forward, but Meng Anchang, who was of the same generation, was nowhere to be seen, so Meng Chenglin had to go on his own.
He suppressed his anger and said, “Uncle Bai, breaking off the engagement is a big deal.
You didn't come to discuss this with anyone in advance, and you just did this rashly. My eldest brother is not at home.
This is his marriage, so we need to give it some time to decide whether to cancel it or not, so we can ask for his opinion, don’t you think?”
Old Man Bai is a pragmatic man. He knows that his granddaughter is neither good-looking nor capable, so he looked around the village and chose Meng Chao, a potential stock.
If his cousin Meng Jiefang could lend a hand, or if his younger brother Meng Qiang could become successful in his studies, Meng Chao's future would be much better.
Unfortunately, Meng Jiefang has been shot, and Meng Sheng still owes a lot of debts. Even if Meng Qiang finishes his studies, it is still a long way for him to be successful enough to support his brothers.
I don’t know whether my granddaughter will enjoy a good life after marrying into my family, but she will definitely have to work hard to help pay off the debts first.
Meng Chenglin wanted to delay it, but Old Man Bai just wanted to resolve the matter quickly and reduce the time others spent paying attention to and discussing the matter.
Said: "These two children are not in a free love relationship.
The elders made the decision on marriage proposals and engagements, and it is only right that the elders should make the decision on breaking off an engagement now!"
Chen Hongxing on the side couldn't help but stand up and say, "Are you really going to cancel the engagement today?
Can't I just wait a couple of days until my eldest son comes back and bring it up again?"
The old man sighed: “It’s just a matter of waiting!
The children are already old, isn't it time for them to find their own way out? "
Chen Hongxing opened her mouth to say something else when she heard someone shout from the back of the crowd, "Meng Chao is back!"
It was already nine or ten o'clock when Meng Sheng arrived at the county town last night. After finding out where Chen Hai was staying in the guesthouse, he did not knock on the door to disturb him. Instead, he ran to the small courtyard next to the school to rest, planning to go and block him the next morning.
Meng Chao is now doing a booming business. With a fixed channel, purchasing goods doesn't take much time.
In the morning, I go to the market in the towns under the jurisdiction of the county town, and in the afternoon, after closing the stall and returning to the county town, I also go to the night market.
Looking at the balance in my hand that is rising rapidly, I wish I could not sleep at all.
Meng Qiang is in his second year of high school, which is considered the graduating class. He has four self-study classes every night from Monday to Friday, and they finish at after ten o'clock.
When Meng Sheng arrived at the courtyard, the two had just returned.
The three brothers met and chatted.
Meng Sheng talked about the land lease and complained that his father beat his son like a robber and was too cruel.
When Meng Qiang heard his second brother being beaten, he laughed so hard that a duck-like voice came out.
Meng Chao laughed along with the others, but after laughing he decided to go back to the village the next day.
My parents are honest farmers and they always do things according to the money they have.
Now that the second brother has made such a big move, they probably can't sleep well at night without seeing so much cash.
I have to send the money I earned these days back to them so that they can see it and feel at ease.
But he never expected that when he got up early and rushed home, he would meet the Bai family coming to cancel the engagement.
Meng Chao pushed a bicycle loaded with stuff, and looked calmly at the villagers who were looking at him with different eyes.
Walking into the yard and standing beside his parents, he said to Old Man Bai, "Grandpa Bai, I just want to confirm one thing. Does Xiaoya agree to cancel the engagement?"
He looked at the people present and found that not a single woman from the Bai family was there.
The old man looked at the young man whom he had not seen for a while. He was wearing a shirt and trousers and his aura was completely different from before.
He rolled his eyes and said, "If you agree to live separately after marriage and guarantee that the family debt has nothing to do with you, then I won't cancel the marriage!"
Hearing this, Meng Chao no longer insisted on asking for an answer. He shook his head and said, "Impossible. I am the eldest son. It is my responsibility to support my parents."
After he finished speaking, without waiting for anyone to answer, he turned to Chen Hongxing and said, "Mom, go get the marriage certificate and cancel this marriage!"
After hearing this, Chen Hongxing went into the house without saying a word, took out the marriage certificate, and tore it up in front of everyone.
The family is different from before. As long as you want, you can find any daughter-in-law you want. You don't have to pester the Bai family.
Seeing that he had achieved his goal so easily, the old man felt a sense of regret in his heart.
However, things had come to this point, and he had no choice but to regret it under the watchful eyes of the villagers.
He tore up the marriage certificate in anger and left with the Bai family soon after.
With no outsiders in the courtyard, Chen Hongxing stepped forward and closed the gate, blocking the villagers from watching the excitement. She turned and asked Meng Chao awkwardly, "Why are you back today?"
She let the second son do whatever he wanted, but she didn't expect that he would ruin her future eldest daughter-in-law. She felt a little sorry for her eldest son.
Meng Chao was feeling a little down, but only a little.
He is 23 years old this year. His peers in the village who got married early now have children who are already able to help with cooking.
When I was in the village, I dreamed of getting married.
The requirements are not high. The woman should be decent, hardworking and capable. After the two of them get married, they can support each other day after day like their parents.
Now that I've been out there for a while and have some money, the range of options for my partner has widened.
In addition, he has gained more experience and has not thought about changing his partner. It is all because of his sense of responsibility.
Now look what happened, the girl dumped him.
With a sneer in his eyes, Meng Chao shook his head and put his chaotic thoughts behind him.
He took the sack of money off his bicycle and replied to his mother with a smile, "I'm back to give you the money!"
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