Old Man Mo is quite famous in Linjiang Village. He is nicknamed "Stingy Man". He is one of the most powerful people in the village, along with the old lady of the Qin family. There are not many people in the village who dare to compete with Old Man Mo in bargaining or who are more stingy than him.
In fact, it is not entirely true that Mr. Mo is a miser. For example, he is very generous to his eldest daughter and son-in-law.
In order to support his eldest son-in-law to take the imperial examination, he spent all his money, but when it came to his younger brother Mo Xiaobao, he was as stingy as if he was determined to be stingy.
Whether it's working at home or arranging a marriage for Mo Xiaobao, Old Man Mo has the intention of not giving up until he has squeezed every last bit of value out of this young man.
After all, Old Man Mo is still bothered by the fact that Mo Xiaobao is not his son. He was clearly born with a male appearance, so how come he turned into a boy with just the last bit?
When Mo Xiaobao was born, Old Man Mo felt so aggrieved. This little boy was no different from a man except that he could give birth to a baby. But he was not considered a male heir and could not see him off to the grave.
Nowadays, not having a male heir is a serious matter, as the family line will be cut off without a trace. Boys and girls will not be able to see the family off to the grave. In the underworld, they will be inferior to others because they have no male heir to support them in the world of the living!
Old Man Mo is a genuine ancient man, and he is a male chauvinist in his bones, so he is extremely stubborn about the matter of men.
In fact, he was not really so cruel as to push his younger brother into the fire pit. He hesitated, but when comparing it with his eldest son-in-law becoming the top scholar and the Sun family passing on the incense to the Mo family, the balance in his heart naturally tilted.
It's not impossible to marry Mo Xiaobao to Pei Shaorong. The betrothal money is the same anyway, so he won't lose out no matter who he marries. However, Old Man Mo has never been a person who will suffer losses. He will strive to gain the greatest benefit for himself in everything.
Now that someone has taken the initiative to propose marriage to his brother, Old Man Mo's first reaction is not to be happy that someone finally takes the initiative to propose marriage to his little brother, but to think about how to get the most betrothal money to send his eldest son-in-law to take the imperial examination!
Old Man Mo is a well-known stingy person in the village. Aunt Qin is no pushover either. You should know that her family has an awesome person, Aunt Qin, who is as awesome as Old Man Mo.
Thinking back to the time when Aunt Qin was a well-known figure in their village before she got married, she was famous for her sharp tongue. After she married into the Qin family, she fought wits and courage with Aunt Qin, who was like a Bodhisattva who scatters wealth, and her skills were honed to an extremely high level.
If we talk about those people in Linjiang Village who are not afraid of Old Man Mo, Aunt Qin is one of them. She has never lost a fight!
Since she had promised Pei Shaorong that she would give Mo Xiaobao to him as his wife, Aunt Qin would not go back on her word and she gathered her strength to start a quarrel with Old Man Mo.
Less than a quarter of an hour after they sat down in the Mo family's house, Aunt Qin and Old Man Mo began to argue over the issue of betrothal gifts, and the room was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder.
Pei Shaorong and Aunt Mo stood aside and could not say a word. Pei Shaorong was concerned that Old Man Mo would be his future father-in-law, and he believed in Aunt Qin's ability so he did not say a word.
Aunt Mo didn't even have the courage to interrupt. In the Mo family, she was bullied more than Mo Xiaobao. After all, Mo Xiaobao was brave enough to talk back to Old Man Mo, but Aunt Mo's character was relatively weak. She had been timid in front of Old Man Mo for many years.
Aunt Qin and Old Man Mo quarreled for a long time, and in the end, they were evenly matched and neither of them gave in. However, Old Man Mo's face did not look good, because it was obvious that Aunt Qin had poked him in several painful places with her sharp tongue.
"I say, Mo family, why are you so stubborn? Abao is not your biological child, and you marry him to Shanghe Village to be a mistress to an old man. Do you think it's glorious? It's only two and a half strings of silver, and our brother Pei also gave it to you, so you didn't lose a cent..."
"Look at how poor our eldest brother is. He just doesn't have a field. He can buy one when he earns money. He can also hunt. Look how strong he is. He will definitely not let Abao starve. During the busy farming season, he can even help your father-in-law with work. Why are you hesitating?"
Aunt Qin spoke one sentence after another at such a fast speed that she didn't even take a break to drink water. Not only was Father Mo hurt by her, but Pei Shaorong was also stunned.
He thought to himself that the ability to quarrel depends on women. If the marriage really goes through, he would have to thank Aunt Qin very much. Who knows, there might be a time in the future when he will need Aunt Qin's help. He must make friends with people like her!
While people in the room were having a lively discussion, Mo Xiaobao, who was hiding outside and watching, was extremely anxious. What was wrong with his father? He was already wanted but he was still acting so arrogant. What if Brother Pei didn't want to marry him?
Mo Xiaobao knows his father best. He cannot hear what is said in the room because he is far away. But by looking at his father's expression and his position in the room, Mo Xiaobao can guess roughly what is said.
There has been no result for such a long time, it must be that his father is showing off and wants to collect more betrothal money from Brother Pei. His father will not use the money as a dowry for him, and will definitely give it to his sister and brother-in-law.
It won't be long before his brother-in-law goes to Beijing to take the imperial examination. His father is counting on his brother-in-law to pass the exam so that the Mo family can gain honor. Most of the family's assets have been sent to his brother-in-law's family, and now he is counting on sending his own betrothal money as well.
The more Mo Xiaobao thought about it, the sadder he became. He finally had someone who wanted him, and this was the person he loved. If his father killed him, he would have no choice but to be someone else's widow!
Mo Xiaobao was anxiously jumping outside the door, and the fight between Aunt Qin and Old Man Mo in the house was also coming to an end from the white-hot stage.
Compared to the stingy old man Mo, it is obvious that the fighting cock Aunt Qin, who fights wits and courage with Aunt Qin all day long, is more powerful.
Old Man Mo's face was already red at this moment, and he stared at Aunt Qin with a glare, but he didn't kick her out in the end. He took a puff of his pipe to calm himself down, then looked at Pei Shaorong.
"Okay, Aunt Qin, don't tell me anymore. I want to ask this big brother a few questions..."
Compared to the experienced Aunt Qin, Father Mo obviously felt that Pei Shaorong, who looked honest and simple, was easier to talk to.
"Uncle, please speak..." Receiving Aunt Qin's worried and suggestive look, Pei Shaorong understood what she meant and still looked honest and simple in front of Old Man Mo.
Father Mo was obviously very satisfied with Pei Shaorong's attitude. He nodded and said, "How old are you this year? What's your name?"
To be honest, Pei Shaorong has moved to Linjiang Village for several months, but few people in the entire village know his full name.
The main reason is that the name Pei Shaorong seems too high-end compared to the Dazhu Goudan in the village, and many people can't remember it. Everyone doesn't have much contact with each other on a daily basis, so they only know that his surname is Pei.
"My name is Pei Shaorong, I'm twenty-five..."
Pei Shaorong answered honestly. Although his soul was almost thirty years old, his body was young. He did not think he was pretending to be young. The worst that could happen was that he would be older in his heart.
"This name is quite tongue-twisting. Is there anyone in your family who is educated?" Father Mo nodded and continued to ask, "Aunt Qin just said that you want to buy a field. When do you plan to buy it? How are you going to survive in the winter when you can't hunt? My family doesn't have any food to support you..."
"I never went to a private school. I just learned a few words from a master chef in the temple... I will buy the land when I have saved enough money. Don't worry, uncle. I have the strength to work and will not make things difficult for you..." Pei Shaorong continued honestly.
"Well..." Old Man Mo nodded, feeling satisfied. Even if this man really wanted to borrow food and money from him, he would not agree. What followed was the main point he wanted to make.
"Brother, I think you are a good young man, so it's not impossible for me to marry my younger brother to you..."
"But it's not easy for me to raise such a little boy. You want to take my little treasure away with just two and a half guan. You look down on me too much. So, you give me three guan as betrothal money, and the wedding date will have to wait until after the Chinese New Year..."
Actually, Father Mo was still not satisfied with the three strings of silver as betrothal money, but seeing that Pei Shaorong didn't even have any land, he certainly couldn't afford to pay more silver.
After careful consideration, Father Mo also felt that Aunt Qin was right. It was better to marry Mo Xiaobao to Pei Shaorong than to marry her to Shanghe Village and become a mistress.
Anyway, the betrothal money is about the same. If I marry a woman named Pei, I can ask Mo Xiaobao to come home and help with the work in the same village in the future. The Pei man is also strong and can help with the work. It is better than exchanging some betrothal money and betrothal gifts directly with the people from Shanghe Village!
“…”
After hearing what Old Man Mo said, Pei Shaorong still had that honest expression, but he was a little unhappy in his heart. It was not because he was reluctant to give an extra half a string of silver.
Instead, Old Man Mo said that the wedding would have to wait until after the Chinese New Year, which was obviously an attempt to exploit Mo Xiaobao's value by making him do New Year's work.
Pei Shaorong frowned and stared at Old Man Mo's expressionless face and fell silent.
Just when Father Mo was feeling a little nervous because of his stare, Pei Shaorong smiled and leaned close to Aunt Qin's ear and asked, "Aunt, I want to ask you something. Do you know how much is Sister Xiaobao's betrothal gift?"
Aunt Qin's eyes lit up instantly when she heard this, and she slapped her thigh and said, "Hey, brother, I know, it's two strings of cash. The Sun family has a scholar, but their family is very poor..."
When the Sun family married Old Man Mo's eldest daughter, they indeed only gave two strings of money. It was not because the Sun family was poorer than Pei Shaorong was showing now, but because the two elders of the Sun family were not very willing to marry into the Mo family, so they only gave two strings of money.
At that time, Father Mo did not care about it because of Sun's son's status as a scholar and the promise of adoption. In the end, he returned the two strings of money as a dowry. Many people in the village knew about it.
Aunt Qin immediately found an excuse to poke at Old Man Mo's pain point. "I'm talking to the Mo family. Do you have any shame? Your daughter only got two strings of silver when she got married, but this boy wants three strings of silver to marry you. Can the boy be more valuable than the girl?..."
"Mo family, don't you see what kind of reputation Abao has now? Where can you find a family as good as Big Brother? Can the man you found in Shanghe Village help you with some work like a big brother?"
"Forget it, big brother. Let's not get married this time. I'll find you another one tomorrow. Since you don't like our big brother, you can keep the one from Shanghe Village as your son-in-law..."
"It's really ridiculous, a brother-in-law who is older than me, Dad Mo, you are also the only one in our village!"
Aunt Qin laughed at Old Man Mo and winked at Pei Shaorong. Pei Shaorong understood and bowed to Old Man Mo, sighing.
"Since my uncle doesn't like me, I won't make things difficult for him. Let's just call this marriage off..."
Originally, Father Mo was not in a hurry to let Aunt Qin go, but when Pei Shaorong said he didn't want to marry her, Father Mo was dumbfounded and hurried to stop her.
"Hey, wait, wait, sit down, why are you leaving in the middle of discussing the marriage..."
“………”
Aunt Qin, who was held by Old Man Mo, gave Pei Shaorong a smug smile, then sat back in the house with Pei Shaorong with a stern face.
"What do you want to talk about, Mo family? Go ahead. I have things to do at home and don't have time to waste with you. I heard that Xiaohong from the Liu family at the end of the village has reached the marriageable age..."
Aunt Qin no longer spoke with the previous politeness. She stared at Old Man Mo whose face changed and laughed in her heart, "You dare to put on airs with me? I will be so anxious that I will die of anxiety!"
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