Xun Liangfen and the others arrived home weary from their journey, only to be met with this shocking news.
Following Hua Xiangyun, Hua Zhian's marriage was also arranged by his mother-in-law. What is the point of her being his mother then?
Her face immediately darkened when she realized that none of her three children could make decisions for her.
"You better take it easy for me later," Tian Guihua said, seeing that she was acting the same way again and showing no respect.
Fortunately, Xie Lanqiao and Hua Zhian went to write letters and send telegrams, otherwise they would have been frightened if they saw that face.
"The marriage is settled, so you don't need to worry about anything. You can just happily be your mother-in-law."
Although the girl came from afar, she's a really nice person, a good homemaker. Our family only wants someone reliable and down-to-earth; we don't like those flashy, superficial types.
As Tian Guihua said this, she glanced meaningfully at Xun Liangfen, implying that if they were to find another granddaughter-in-law like her, the Hua family would be doomed.
“But this girl just arrived yesterday. Isn’t it too sudden for us to settle things today? We don’t know anything about her family or personality. If we can’t get along in the future, how will we live together?” Xun Liangfen pretended not to understand and wanted to object.
"How else can we live like this? Back then, your father arranged the marriage, and I hadn't even met you yet, but the marriage still went through."
"At least the girl let you take a look first, what more do you want?"
These words were full of resentment. Hua Guangzong dared not say more, gave his son a wink, and hid in his room.
Hua Baoguo, "..."
“How can that be the same? Our two families know each other well,” Xun Liangfen said, now somewhat used to her mother-in-law’s sarcastic remarks, since she wouldn’t hit or scold her anyway. “I haven’t even dated her yet, so I don’t know if we’ll get along.”
"You talk as if we've ever been together and gotten along well." Tian Guihua was determined not to let Xun Liangfen interfere in the children's marriages. "I've tolerated it all these years, why can't you?"
"Mother," Xun Liangfen felt a tightness in her chest. She had been exhausted on the train for so long, and now she had to suffer another blow when she got back. She was really going crazy.
“These are two different things. From now on, it will be my responsibility to get along with my daughter-in-law.”
Tian Guihua: "I didn't say you couldn't be together. Am I that kind of bad person?"
Xun Liangfen was speechless; it didn't make sense...
As for Hua Baoguo, he didn't help either side and simply closed his eyes and dozed off.
...
“This daughter-in-law is so petty,” Tian Guihua complained as she returned to her room. “She wants to be the head of the household, but she doesn’t even know what she’s done all these years.”
Do you really think I want to take on all the responsibilities? We'll see if she can handle it.
"With her poor judgment, I'm worried she'll hinder the children's development."
Hua Guangzong said, "We've already made a decision, why are you still arguing with him about it?"
Listen if you want, ignore it if you don't. After all, you're the mother-in-law, so she can still discipline you.
"But the betrothal gifts and such haven't been finalized yet. I'll have a good discussion with Comrade Xie later and see what her traditions are."
Tian Guihua rolled her eyes at her, "Why are you asking about those things?"
"We must treat our two grandsons equally. The amount of betrothal gifts Zhiping received two years ago should be the same for Zhian."
Hua Guangzong: "We don't have bicycle tickets at home yet. How about we convert them into cash and let her take them back?"
He couldn't just marry someone's daughter empty-handed, so Hua Zhian had taken a long leave of absence to take Xie Lanqiao to Kaoshantun for a wedding.
“This is what worries me now. If they accept the betrothal gifts, that’s fine. But what if they bring back two young people and they’ll cause trouble in the car?” Back then, the eldest granddaughter-in-law brought the betrothal gifts back as part of her dowry, but the Xie family’s circumstances are different, so they have to make a different plan.
Anyway, the things given away belong to the young couple in the future. Whether they leave them at the bride's parents' house or bring them back is their business, and the family will not provide any further subsidies in the future.
"I'll ask Comrade Xie later," Hua Guangzong thought to himself, wondering where he could find someone to come up with a solution.
Just then, there was a knock on their door.
Tian Guihua walked over and opened the door, and unsurprisingly saw Hua Baoguo.
She and her daughter-in-law were arguing outside when the boy started snoring. He woke up as soon as they separated.
"Mother," Hua Baoguo walked into the room and sat directly on the kang (a heated brick bed), "Is it really settled like this?"
"Then what else do you want?" Tian Guihua thought he was speaking up for Xun Liangfen, so her tone was particularly aggressive.
Hua Baoguo felt that the old lady was unusually irritable this time when she came back, so he could only smile and say, "I didn't mean anything by it. After all, he is my son, so I just wanted to show some concern."
"It's really touching that you still remember this. I know your wife looks down on Xie Lanqiao because of her poor background, but doesn't she consider her own origins? She hasn't even washed the mud off herself yet..."
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore," Hua Guangzong quickly interrupted her. This old woman's temper was getting worse and worse, like she was on drugs.
He turned to his son and asked, "What brings you here?"
"These are the tickets I've saved up over the past few days," Hua Baoguo said. He now keeps his welfare benefits himself and has accumulated quite a few tickets.
Tian Guihua didn't stand on ceremony and grabbed them all: cloth coupons, meat coupons, mutton coupons, industrial coupons, sugar coupons, grain coupons...
Although the quantity is not large, they are all different, and if you accumulate them, it will be quite a lot.
“We’re still missing a bicycle ticket,” Tian Guihua said, taking a metal box off the kang cabinet and putting all the tickets inside. “I’ll ask someone to take a look and see if we can find a solution.”
"Why do we need a bicycle ticket? Don't we have several bicycles at home?" There was already an old bicycle at home, and later the eldest son's wife brought one in. Jiang Yi also gave two bicycles as part of the betrothal gifts, saying that one was for the family.
However, since there wasn't enough room at home, I put the things at Jiang Yi's place first.
"How can that be the same? Zhiping's wife's bicycle is her dowry. Your father's bicycle has been ridden for over twenty years. Even if it's well maintained, it's still old. Jiang Yi is sending the bicycle over to show his filial piety and wants to get your father a new one."
When Zhiping got married, we gave him a bicycle as part of the betrothal gifts, and Zhian received the same offer.
If the Xie family has any further requests, then Zhi'an should make up the difference himself.
To avoid future family conflicts, it's best to treat everyone equally.
“Then I’ll go find someone to think of a solution,” Hua Baoguo felt that time was still too tight. “If I had known it was so urgent here, I would have found someone in the city to exchange for him.”
Bicycle tickets are relatively easy to find in the city, but they are not so easy to get in this county.
Oh, and there's Jiang Yi. Hua Baoguo thinks he can try to find a way to help his future son-in-law; he'll definitely have some connections.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com