Chapter 22: Slap Lin
Lin immediately stood up and said, "I will go to the Jiang family to ask for the betrothal gift now. You want to marry a girl from our Ye family without a betrothal gift?"
If someone who doesn’t know her sees this, they would think she loves Ye Mingzhu very much.
"Mom," Ye Yunkang quickly pulled Lin back, "The Jiang family will start digging the foundation tomorrow. Let's go directly to ask for the betrothal gift. If you don't give the betrothal gift, don't even think about marrying Ye Mingzhu."
"She's already been taken away by someone, and now the whole village knows about it. How can we not marry her?" Lin curled her lips.
"It's because we can only marry that we can get the betrothal gift. Tomorrow, mother, you will stand on the Jiang family's foundation and ask for it. If you don't give the betrothal gift, you won't let them build a house. Let's see what they will do."
Ye Yunkang's face was full of evil smiles, and Lin immediately agreed.
Neither of them thought that if Jiang Hongyu did not marry Ye Mingzhu, Ye Mingzhu's reputation would be completely ruined.
The next morning, Ye Yunkang went for a stroll near the second branch of the Ye family.
Ye Mingzhu and Ye Yun'an also had their meal early and boiled a large pot of hot water.
The Jiang family is going to build a house next door, so even though they won’t be providing food, they still have to provide water.
Jiang Hongyu brought a bag of mung beans before dark yesterday, and wanted to ask Ye Mingzhu to make some mung bean soup for everyone in the afternoon.
When Ye Yun'an was making breakfast today, he specially steamed an extra steamed bun, waiting to give it to Jiang Hongyu when he came.
Ye Mingzhu casually asked, "Why did you do more today?"
Ye Yun'an looked at her with a look of disappointment: "Sister, my brother-in-law is building a house next door today. He must be very tired. This is for him."
Ye Mingzhu didn't expect that the person who accepted this marriage the best was Ye Yun'an. He started calling him brother-in-law since yesterday and even prepared food for Jiang Hongyu today.
When Ye Yun'an saw the food she bought yesterday, after his excitement wore off, he hid all the food, saying he wanted to save it for himself. Unexpectedly, she was willing to give it to Jiang Hongyu.
"Then you can send it over later." Ye Mingzhu said casually.
"Of course you will deliver it." Ye Yun'an stuffed the steamed bread into Ye Mingzhu's hand, "Give it to your brother-in-law quietly later. If he is thirsty, he can come to our house to drink water. We have sugar at home."
Ye Mingzhu didn't expect Ye Yun'an to be so generous. She hadn't drunk any sugar water since she woke up.
"Sister, what's with that expression on your face? While there aren't many people around here, please give the steamed bread to your brother-in-law first." Ye Yun'an pushed Ye Mingzhu out of the house.
Ye Mingzhu held the steamed bread in her hand and shook her head, and could only obediently walk to the side.
A group of people were already standing in the open space next door, discussing where to start digging. Jiang Hongyu was tall and very conspicuous in the crowd.
She walked over and quietly put the steamed bread in her hand into Jiang Hongyu's hand.
"This is what my little brother prepared for you."
Jiang Hongyu smiled slightly. "I've already had breakfast. Take this steamed bread back to Yun'an. If you don't have enough food at home, tell me and I'll buy more."
Yesterday at the grain store, Ye Mingzhu didn't buy much food. Jiang Hongyu felt that the Ye family probably didn't have much money, so he felt embarrassed to eat the Ye family's food.
"There's more at home. Yun'an left it for you." Ye Mingzhu is not the type of person who does good deeds without leaving a name.
Ye Yun'an will live with them in the future. Even though Jiang Hongyu said he didn't mind, she still wanted to help him improve his favorability.
"Why are you here so early, Mingzhu?" a sharp female voice sounded.
Ye Mingzhu didn't expect that Lin would come.
"Oh, Hongyu chose a very big house." Lin walked around the open space and successfully attracted everyone's attention to her.
Jiang Hongyu first looked at Ye Mingzhu and asked in a low voice, "What does your aunt mean by this?"
"Whatever it means, it's not a good intention."
Just as Ye Mingzhu finished speaking, Lin's voice rang out again: "Hongyu, you want to marry our Mingzhu, how much do you plan to pay as a betrothal gift?"
Ye Mingzhu knew that Lin would definitely not say anything good, but she didn't expect that she would ask for a betrothal gift in public. It was really throwing her face on the ground and stepping on it a few times.
Which girl from a good family would ask for a betrothal gift from a man in front of outsiders?
"My aunt-in-law neither gave birth to me nor raised me, so how can you have the nerve to ask for my betrothal gift?" Ye Mingzhu would not give her any face. Since she had no shame, she would just throw it away.
Lin froze for a moment, then quickly wiped away the nonexistent tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "They say an eldest sister-in-law is like a mother. Now that my second brother and his wife are gone, I must of course give you more consideration."
"You are still young, so don't let anyone fool you."
"Hongyu, Mingzhu is beautiful and can pick pearls. The betrothal gift should be at least ten taels of silver, two pieces of cloth, and one hundred kilograms of grain."
Everyone who was listening attentively widened their eyes. Lin must be dreaming. No one in the entire Yuanshan Village asked for a betrothal gift of ten taels of silver. She actually wanted two pieces of cloth and some grain.
Ye Mingzhu laughed out of anger: "If my aunt wants to accept the betrothal gift, that's fine."
As soon as Mrs. Lin opened her mouth, Ye Mingzhu continued, "The dowry must have been paid by my aunt, so just give me twenty taels of silver as a dowry."
For a moment, the entire open space was extremely quiet. These two people were really more outspoken than the other.
"Which girl needs so much dowry for her marriage? Do you think you are a lady from a wealthy family?" Lin reacted immediately and looked at Ye Mingzhu with an indignant look on her face.
"Why, aunt-in-law, you only want the betrothal gifts but not the dowry?" Ye Mingzhu had a smile on her face but her eyes were cold.
"It's a pity that such a beautiful thing doesn't happen in this world. Not to mention that we have long since separated, I was collecting pearl oysters for your family and selling them for money, but you were so cruel as to throw me into the sea and leave me alone. I almost lost my life. How dare you still act like a senior here?"
Ye Mingzhu was ready to take the opportunity to completely break off the relationship with Lin, but she was unexpectedly interrupted by Uncle Ye who arrived shortly afterwards.
"Why are there so many people here? Am I too late? Hongyu, it would be great if you could build a house here. Mingzhu's father died early, so I'll be relieved to have you take care of her in the future."
Uncle Ye looked pleased and looked at Lin: "I told you, Mingzhu is old enough to make her own decisions. It's not good for you to interfere too much. People who don't know will think you are taking advantage of her."
Lin stiffened her neck and was about to speak, but Uncle Ye gave her a threatening look, and the words on her lips immediately changed.
"Mingzhu is the only girl in our Ye family. She must not be wronged."
The people around looked at Lin's inconsistent reactions. Some people believed her, but more people began to doubt what Uncle Ye and his wife often said about loving their nephews and nieces.
"Mingzhu, you are getting married soon. There are many things to do, and you, a little girl, don't understand anything. Just leave it to your aunt." Uncle Ye's face was full of kindness.
Ye Mingzhu didn't want to play along with him. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and her eyes narrowed into a crescent shape, but the smile didn't reach her eyes: "Don't worry about my marriage, uncle. I've already asked Third Aunt to help me arrange it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
