Autumn has gone and winter is coming, the days quickly arrived at the end of November. Lin Kangping had moved back to Qingyuan before Mid-Autumn Festival, and his elders said that he couldn't see his fiancée for three months before their wedding. Zi Qing didn't know what he was busy with afterwards. What surprised everyone was that Zifeng's family rushed back on New Year's Eve, saw Shen Shi, learned that the betrothal gift had not been received yet, and said: "Fortunately we made it in time, or our trip would have been in vain."

  The next day was the day of the betrothal gift, and Old Master, Tian Shi, Zhou Shi, and Zi Qing's three aunts all came. Fortunately, this time Chun Yu only came alone, so naturally, they didn't know about it, and Old Master and Tian Shi specially told Chun Yu for a long time.

  Especially the Tian family, this year also tasted the bitter fruit. Unexpectedly, the youngest son who was usually good at talking, this year, except for the festival gifts, really didn't give her any money for expenses. Let alone support Chunyu, their own two elderly people's lives were also tight. They thought the problem might be with Chunyu, so they asked Chunyu's family not to always appear in front of Zeng Ruixiang as a big family, especially Damao and Guiying, it's best not to come again for a year or two.

  Chun Yu also had no choice but to agree, after all, she was still thinking that in the future, Zeng Rui Xiang would take care of Old Master and Tian Shi, and she could still bask in their glory.

  He brought two uncles and aunts from the Shen family, as well as three grandmothers with their five daughters-in-law. Zi Qing was also curious about what Lin Kangping had prepared, but Shen told him not to be too showy, after all, this was still in a rural village.

  At ten o'clock, the groom's family set off firecrackers at the gate of the courtyard to welcome the dowry. The dowry procession made a big circle around the village before entering the courtyard. First came a pair of large white geese, followed by a pair of half-human-height pink porcelain vases with a pattern of deer and pine trees, symbolizing peace and prosperity on all roads. Then came one piece each of white jade, green jade, black jade, and red jade scepters. Next were the seasonal gifts: four sets of head ornaments made of gold, silver, green jade, pearls, red jade, and agate. There were also eight pieces of fabric for the four seasons, four fox fur skins, a light and elegant cloak with a pure white fox fur lining and a bright red feather trim, weighing one hundred and eighty-eight taels of silver. The gifts included two sedan chairs of wedding cakes, ten boxes of wedding tea, and ten jars of wedding wine, totaling thirty-eight sedan chairs. The small courtyard was packed full of gifts.

  "Wow, so many things! How much silver will it take? Just the gift money alone is over a hundred taels, my eyes are dazzled by all these valuable items. Zi Qing is really lucky!"

  Qiu Yu said, "How much can this be worth? The garden of their house alone cost a thousand taels of silver. This must have been what Er Sao said. Afraid that he would show off too much and invite others' jealousy, Kang Ping just barely managed to scrape together some things. However, I think Zi Qing's clothes will last her a lifetime, the family made so many big boxes full of them, and there are still eight more, all of which are expensive and good materials. As I said, Old Zeng's wife is just lucky."

  "Zi Ping would have been better off listening and finding a good family to marry into back then, rather than now. This child is just destined for hardship." Zhou Shi sighed.

  "That's not necessarily true. In our time, all the family property put together wasn't worth as much as this one courtyard. Next, it depends on Guiying, big sister, is there any news about Guiying? She's a year older than Ziyun. If you ask me, let's just settle for someone who's good enough, not many people have a fate as good as Ziyun's." said Qiu Yu.

  Chun Yu was unhappy after hearing this. This is not a matter of which pot to open, but Guiying has talked about so many families this year, who knows that none of them liked her. Next year she will be 18 years old, if she doesn't get married, it will really affect the younger children. This had become a heart disease for Chun Yu, thinking about it made her feel like she was being scorched by hot oil, how could she bear Autumn Jade's teasing?

  Chun Yu glared at Qiu Yu and said, "What's the use of being jealous of others? If you have the ability, wait until you have a daughter in the future and see if she can marry into a rich family?"

  "We're so clever, from a young age she was capable, the good days of Er Sao's family were all brought about by Zi Qing, and wasn't Kang Ping's orange garden also created by Zi Qing? I'd say, maybe Kang Ping even borrowed some of Zi Qing's light. As the saying goes, what pot matches what lid, our child doesn't have that kind of intelligence. So, we didn't give birth to that child, no need to envy others." Xia Yu said.

  "Yes, it would have been better to tell Da Mao at that time." Chun Yu said, the annoyance in her heart was not just a little bit, otherwise, where would these troubles come from later?

  "You're still talking nonsense? Shut up early. Look at Kangping, which one is not better than Damao. The granddaughter has been hugged, and you say these things. It's because of you that even your parents are implicated." Autumn Jade hummed and said.

  "I was just talking, I didn't dare think about these things, if I keep thinking, I'll be even more unwelcome, without parents to accompany me, now my second brother and sister-in-law won't even let me in the door, last time when Damao's child was born, my second brother didn't even prepare any gifts." Chunyu sighed.

  "How dare you say such things, look at the kind of life your parents are living now? They even have to calculate for half a day just to buy a few pounds of meat. If it weren't for you always dragging your mother into calculating with your second brother, your second brother probably wouldn't have pushed your parents out either. You're still not satisfied, just calm down and live a peaceful life for a few years, if you stir up any more trouble, your parents really won't be able to help you." Autumn Jade said.

  "I know, how can I not know? This year, didn't you see that I haven't even returned to my hometown a few times? Every day, I'm exhausted from working in the fields, just barely enough to eat, and the several children at home are all big eaters. The fourth child doesn't even attend school anymore, and even if he did, there's no future for him anyway. What can such young children do besides eating? The third child went out to find work for a year and only brought back two strings of cash, and now it's hard to find temporary work too."

  Chunyu sighed, "Without the support of my hometown, this life is really too difficult. If I had known earlier, why bother with all this? I could have just stayed in my hometown, and those annual subsidies would have been enough for me to live a good life for a while. Unfortunately, how did I become so confused back then?"

  "Hey, big sister, isn't it true that you said she's not good enough for our family? You should take a look at your own family's reputation. Your husband is what kind of person? He dares to think about marrying our Ziqing? It's really like the saying goes, 'a toad wants to eat swan meat.' I must say, I admire you two, you're so good at shifting the blame onto others. Unfortunately, this time you didn't get to eat the mutton, but instead got a whole body of trouble. You're not just dragging down your parents, but also our whole family! Poor big brother works hard all year and only earns 10 taels of silver, now he has to give 3 taels to your parents. No wonder you always complain that big brother doesn't treat your family well. Look at what you've done, is this how to make people like you? From now on, I'll also keep my distance from you, lest second brother's family also starts treating us poorly."

  The two aunts of the Shen family were helping on the side and heard their conversation, covering their mouths and secretly laughing.

  At this time, Tian came over and said: "What are you still doing here? The other family has come to add dowry, haven't you seen enough? I told you, Chunyu, don't cause me any trouble, otherwise your father won't forgive you either. This year, because of you, many people have been affected, and even I haven't been spared from being scolded by your father."

  Chun Yu listened and nodded in agreement, although she didn't like it.

  The Shen family rewarded those who brought gifts, and after everyone had finished watching, they locked everything in the warehouse.

  At this time, everyone gathered in Zi Qing's boudoir, waiting to add makeup for Zi Qing. Because they were all women, there was no fuss about it, and San Popo said: "Sister-in-law, our family's granddaughter is going to get married, I don't know what good things you have prepared, we are all waiting to see, in theory, you should be the first to take them out, we are all waiting."

  Tian heard the dark way: Hum, want to come again this time, good, I prepared enough this time, otherwise, you will be laughed at again.

  Mrs. Tien slowly took out a large piece of red silk, which she had begged from Old Master for a long time, and spent five hundred coins to buy this piece of cloth. For her, it was already very expensive, and she had to squeeze every penny. After all, before Old Master's birthday this year, Chunyu's family stayed at home for a month, and they were able to get by without starving thanks to the few silver coins left over from last year.

  Tian took out the ruler and looked at San Bao, thinking to himself: "I'd like to see what good things you're willing to give up. After all, Zi Qing isn't your own granddaughter. I spent a lot of money on this."

  The three old ladies stroked Zi Qing's head and smiled, saying: "Our Qi'er is a good child, but unfortunately, I don't have anything good to give you. Let me add a pair of ankle bracelets for you. After you get married, no matter where you go, don't forget that this is your mother's family, we are all your support." The three old ladies finished speaking and put a pair of exquisitely crafted silver ankle bracelets into the tray.

  Ziying's eyes reddened as she listened, and she hastily expressed her gratitude. Tian Shi's face indeed changed color, and he was truly somewhat regretful and puzzled. Reasonably speaking, Ziying was just a paternal granddaughter, and the conditions of these three aunties' families were not very good, so how could they be so generous? She didn't know that in recent years, they had been getting close to Ziying's family, but had borrowed a lot of light from her. For example, when building a house, Ziying gave about 50 taels of silver as wages to the five sons of San Po, not to mention other things. Zeng Ruyu didn't even need to be mentioned; the new house they built and the land they bought were all earned from Ziying's family. As for several grandsons, it was even more unnecessary to mention them. San Po was a person who knew how to repay kindness, and she had not failed to educate her five sons to know how to repay kindness.

  The three wives have finished, and it's Zhou Shi's turn now. Zhou Shi was also stunned for a moment, but soon regained her composure. Zhou Shi is also a piece of cloth, similar to Tian Shi. It's estimated that the two of them had discussed it beforehand. Next are the several daughters-in-law from San Bao's family, all wearing silver accessories, no exception, such as hairpins, bangles, necklaces, rings, and earrings. San Bao's eldest daughter-in-law said: "Zi Qing, your aunts don't have anything good either. Just take it as a thought, also the heart of several aunts."

  "Ah, you're all too polite! This is indeed a good thing. I reckon you didn't even dare to wear it yourselves and hastily sent it over for the child instead. What an honor this is for us! Our Qing'er must really thank you properly."

  "Second sister-in-law, you've said too much. We're all family here, and we understand each other's hearts. On this happy day, let's not say anything extra." The second daughter-in-law finished speaking and looked at Chunyu.