Chapter 117 Talking about Gift Money
The year ends with the sound of firecrackers, the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu, the sun shines brightly in every household, and people always replace the old charms with new ones - this is the seven-character quatrain "New Year's Day" written by the local scholar Wang Anshi.
Nowadays, time flies. During the Chinese New Year, people no longer use peach boards and peach charms. Instead, they simply paste red paper spring couplets and set off a string of firecrackers to create a festive atmosphere.
During the Chinese New Year, every household has fish and meat on the table. Even the poorest families will buy some and put it on the table. In addition to meat, there must be tofu and radish.
Gao Mingcheng spent the New Year at his parents' home. Although they had separated, he and Xuanyuemei had not yet officially married, so his father asked him to come back to celebrate the New Year.
So he brought back a big wild boar head and about ten pounds of wild boar meat to celebrate the New Year. In addition to his parents' family, he naturally also gave gifts to his grandmother, Xuanyuemei, Gao Shouwang and others.
Because of the meat, Gao Mingcheng had a pretty good New Year. No one gave him trouble and he lived happily every day.
Time flies and it is the sixth day of the New Year.
Gao Zhuang got up early in the morning and started to take care of himself.
He first boiled water to take a bath and wash his hair, then changed into new cotton clothes and put on face cream, feeling refreshed.
Not only him, but his grandmother also dressed up carefully, looking clean and proper.
The table in the main room was filled with fruit snacks, including apples, oranges, grapefruits, rice candy, sesame slices, walnuts, red dates, fried peanuts, fried melon seeds, etc.
In the big iron pot in the kitchen, there was a large pot of stewed pork ribs, and in the clay pot next to it, there was a stewed chicken. This chicken was raised by my grandmother herself, and it rarely laid eggs, so she just stewed it into soup.
Gao Mingcheng was also here, helping to clean the yard inside and out.
Today is the day that He Xiuman goes to the man's house to meet him. If there is no problem this time, the next step will be to talk about marriage.
Around 10:30 in the morning, there was a noise outside. Gao Zhuang's body became stiff with nervousness, but Gao Mingcheng still pulled him to the gate to greet them.
There were eight people in total, pushing four bicycles of varying ages. In addition to He Xiuman, her parents and uncle, the other four were her tall and strong aunt and her family.
His aunt was also going back to her parents' home to celebrate the New Year, so they made an appointment to get together.
"Xiuman." Gao Zhuang's face turned red when he saw He Xiuman, but he still greeted her, and then quickly called He Xiuman's parents and uncle.
"Uncle, aunt, it's cold outside. Come in and have a cup of hot tea and something to eat." Gao Mingcheng helped to entertain them and led the group to the main room.
He Xiuman's parents were about 45 years old, not very tall, with dark complexion, looking old. They were wearing a half-worn cotton coat, but fortunately it was still clean.
As soon as they entered the yard, their eyes did not fall on people, but looked around, taking in the entire yard, looking at how many houses there were, how many chickens were raised, and so on.
At a glance, I am quite satisfied with it.
Gao Zhuang's family is considered to be pretty good in the entire Gaojia Village. The only shortcoming is that they have no parents and no labor force.
When the grandmother in the kitchen heard the noise, she immediately brought over the prepared tea, giving everyone a cup.
Seeing this, Aunt Gao Zhuang immediately said, "Mom, you stay here to entertain the guests. I'll go to the kitchen to cook."
As she spoke, she pulled her younger son into the kitchen to light the fire. When they arrived in the kitchen, Aunt Gao Zhuang took one look at the prepared dishes and knew how to make them. Then the sound of clinking and donging rang out from the kitchen.
He Xiuman sat on the bench beside the table, looking at the food that filled the entire table. She was extremely happy in her heart. She felt that this was a sign that Gao Zhuang valued her.
She glanced at Gao Zhuang with a smile in her eyes and the corners of her mouth raised high, but when Gao Zhuang met her gaze, he became shy.
Gao Mingcheng saw all the interactions between the two of them, and he knew that Gao Zhuang had been completely taken advantage of by this girl.
He Xiuman's parents were also very satisfied with the food on the table. They took the food while secretly putting it into their pockets.
He Xiuman's mother said regretfully: "It would have been better if you had brought your brother with you!"
With so many delicious foods, my youngest son must be very happy!
When He Xiuman heard this, she subconsciously lowered her head to hide the sneer in her eyes.
After lunch is ready, the almost eaten fruits and snacks are removed and replaced with a table full of delicious food.
When seeing the dishes such as stewed spare ribs, stir-fried rabbit meat, stewed chicken, stewed meat with tofu and radish, and braised fish served in large bowls, He Xiuman's parents were even more satisfied. Of course, they also regretted not bringing their youngest son along.
After this meal, the guests had full stomachs.
After dinner, He Xiuman's father drank tea and said, "Our Xiuman is hardworking, capable and good-looking. I don't know how many people are interested in her! But she likes your Gao Zhuang, so let her do as she wishes."
He Xiuman's father first praised his daughter's worth, and then said: "I don't want much for this gift money, just a lucky number, eight hundred and eighty, grandma-in-law, what do you think?"
Grandma Xi had already prepared herself for a heavy loss, but she still felt a little embarrassed when she heard the other party ask for eight hundred and eighty yuan.
Her family lacks labor, she is old, and Gao Zhuang was still young before and didn't earn much money. He spent more than a hundred yuan to buy a bicycle before the New Year. Now the family only has seven or eight hundred yuan in cash left.
Most of this money was compensation for her son's death in a fall.
Seeing that the grandmother was silent, the tall and strong aunt smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Xiu Man's father, you are joking. Which family wants 880 yuan for the gift money? It would be good if you can get 300 or 400 yuan!"
He Xiuman's father said, "Three or four hundred is a thing of the past! Nowadays, who doesn't start at six hundred?"
The tall and strong aunt immediately said, "Okay, I'll give you six hundred and sixty, what do you think?"
He Xiuman's father's face darkened and he looked unhappy.
At this time, He Xiuman spoke up. She looked at her father and said, "Dad, come out for a moment."
Her father didn't know what his daughter was planning and didn't want to pay attention to her, but he was afraid that she would say something unpleasant in public, so he had to follow He Xiuman to the corner of the yard.
In front of her father, He Xiuman asked directly: "Are you going to buy my dowry with the gift money his family gave me?"
Her father's eyes widened, he looked at her in disbelief, and blurted out: "How is it possible?"
"Oh." He Xiuman looked indifferent and not surprised, but she had her own way, and said like a spoiled child: "I just like Gao Zhuang, even if he doesn't give me a gift money, I will marry him! If you don't agree, then don't agree. Anyway, the country advocates free marriage!"
"If you don't let me get married, I'll just stay at home and eat for free and do nothing!"
He Xiuman straightened her back and had a firm look in her eyes. When her father met her eyes, his heart skipped a beat. He knew that his daughter was really capable of doing this!
So, a minute later, her father returned to the main room in dejection, saying, "Six hundred and six is fine, it's quite auspicious!"
"Oh, okay! Okay!" Seeing that her in-laws had agreed, the grandmother breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed with a smile.
Then both sides discussed other gifts, such as new clothes, snacks, wine, etc.
After He Xiuman returned to the main hall, she stopped talking and quietly pretended to be a lady. However, she was thinking in her mind how to get the gift money from her parents.
Do you want her to marry empty-handed?
No way!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
