Director Li Yezhou, holding an important position in the Huayuan Town Supply and Marketing Cooperative, is directly under the command of the city, and naturally attracts a lot of attention.
Li's mother, Leng Kefei, is a junior accountant, but her husband is capable and she is good-looking, making her a target for many jealous people.
Not to mention the Li siblings, who had fewer children, received more resources, were good-looking, and had been outstanding since childhood.
If they were outstanding enough, that would be one thing, but they are just ordinary people, only slightly better than others. That's why they become the target of envy among those around them.
Director Li and his mother tactfully explained to the neighbors that they had many relatives and friends, and it was just a wedding procession, so only a few people were needed and it wouldn't interfere with everyone's work time.
But the neighbors pretended not to understand; they were willing to pay extra to see the Li family make a fool of themselves!
Ke Meiyu, holding her future sister-in-law's arm, said with a light laugh, "Uncle Li, Aunt Li, it's alright. Our house is big, and the villagers are hospitable. As long as the guests sincerely wish my sister Meizi well, they are welcome!"
Upon hearing her promise, the neighbors disregarded her status as a junior and whether she was capable of managing the household, and all expressed their willingness to support her.
Then Ke Meiyu pursed her lips and said, "It's just that our family has made great contributions to the village, and the villagers are so grateful to our fourth branch that they all said they would bring two catties of meat as a gift."
"I hope everyone won't be offended by this."
"Keep it up," the crowd secretly scoffed. The villagers rarely saw oil or meat all year round, and they couldn't even afford to eat meat themselves. Would they be willing to give gifts?
Two pounds of meat? Even two ounces of meat could kill a family in the countryside!
What if they don't know the current situation in rural areas?
If it were close relatives, they might tighten their belts and be generous once in a while, but since everyone in the village gave gifts like this, they didn't believe a word of it!
“Oh, this young lady is quite arrogant despite her young age,” the neighbor next door laughed heartily. “We are city workers who earn wages, so we certainly won’t be stingy.”
"If every household in your village gives two catties of meat as a gift, then I will give five yuan as a gift!"
The others also said they would contribute five yuan.
That arrogant, loud, and playful manner was truly infuriating!
Ke Meiyu frowned. "Aunties, let's not. What we villagers call giving a gift is really just a way of expressing our gratitude. We don't need to reciprocate."
"After all, so much meat won't last long even in winter, so we plan to use it all at the wedding banquet."
“If you all give five yuan as a gift, we can keep it and give it to our in-laws. But when we need to give a gift, we can return it to them. It’s too much trouble to go back and forth like that.”
"Even if you come empty-handed with just your mouth, we will still warmly welcome you!"
“You don’t need to compare yourselves with our villagers.”
The woman glared at her: "Young lady, what kind of talk is that? We usually spend several yuan when we eat out. What's wrong with giving you five yuan? You can't just bring one mouth to feed us."
"Do you look down on us or what?"
“We don’t need you to pay back the five yuan. Anyway, you said all the meat would be used for the wedding banquet, so we’ll definitely get our money’s worth.”
"But young lady, you have to make sure that the villagers are carrying two pounds of meat. Don't just make empty promises to save face."
The neighbors continued to respond enthusiastically, and considering it was an impossible event, they were naturally happy to make the promise.
"Really?" Ke Meiyu asked hesitantly, "Five yuan is not a small amount. How can we just give it away like that? We'd feel so embarrassed to accept it."
“We’re all well and good-natured, so we’re happy to give Juanmei this joyous occasion, aren’t we all?” the woman said with her head held high and a smile on her face.
"Yes, young lady, if you mean it, we're willing to spend the money. If we don't get enough meat at the wedding banquet, we'll really be left empty-handed..."
At this moment, someone stepped forward and said, "Haha, this is a happy occasion for the Li and Ke families. Let's agree on everything in advance so that we don't go back on our word and make things awkward for everyone."
"How about this, Old Zhao, I'll be your witness?"
Director Zhao stepped forward with a smile.
Everyone was taken aback and looked at each other. It was just a joke, why take it so seriously?
Ke Meiyu blinked her eyes. "Uncle Zhao, no need. Regardless of whether everyone keeps their word or not, our Ke family warmly welcomes everyone to visit Luofeng Village!"
Not wanting to be looked down upon by a little girl, the crowd stiffened their necks and said, "Yes, yes, Director Zhao, give us a certificate, and we'll sign and put our fingerprints on it."
"We city folks always keep our word!"
Ah, Luofeng Village is a poor mountain village, where would the villagers possibly have meat to offer? Isn't this just a blatant publicity stunt?
They can sign the papers and then watch the Li family make a fool of themselves. Why wouldn't they do that?
Ke Meiyu smiled and nodded, then whispered to Qin Yuanjiu, "Brother Jiu, I thought city people were all generous. They can't even afford a five-yuan house and have to sign and put their fingerprints on it."
"When the villagers ask us about what happened today, I can't bring myself to tell them."
Qin Yuanjiu looked down and saw the little woman's sly expression. A slight smile appeared on his lips. "Being from the city doesn't mean your family is well-off. Food, clothing, housing, and transportation all cost money. You're probably just poor but generous..."
“Maybe they think that people from the countryside are unsophisticated and think that five yuan is a lot of money…” Ke Meiyu nodded seriously.
They spoke in a low voice, but not too softly either. At least for the women in the compound who liked to eavesdrop and gossip, they could hear them clearly by tilting their ears and craning their necks!
Isn't that infuriating?
This is intolerable!
A fire of urban superiority burned fiercely, burning away half of people's rationality. A woman sneered loudly, "If you ask me, five yuan is far too little. It's not worth signing. I'll take out ten yuan!"
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
