Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Back to the 80s: A Marriage of Convenience
"You, you!" Grandma Zhao was so furious that her face turned pale, trembling all over. Without thinking, she stood up, wanting to slap Zhao Jin as a lesson.
However, Grandma Zhao was destined to be disappointed. Just as her hand was raised, Zhao Jin was protected behind Qi Zheng. At the same time, Zhao Guoqiang and his two sons also moved.
"Mom!" "Grandma!"
Zhao Guoqiang's heart had already been wounded beyond healing. Seeing that Grandma Zhao still wanted to hit Zhao Jin, he couldn't just stand by. He took two steps forward and grabbed Grandma Zhao's arm.
Zhao Zhenqi and Zhao Zhenan had already clenched their fists. Whether it was their grandparents or Fourth Uncle's family, the two brothers were thoroughly annoyed and wished they would never have to interact again. Yet Grandma Zhao still wanted to hit their Jin; the brothers were not unfilial, but they felt an indescribable disgust towards Grandma Zhao.
Qian Minmin was different. She didn't go to stop Grandma Zhao nor did she run over to protect Zhao Jin. She suddenly placed her hands by her mouth and ran out in a panic while shouting, "Mom, come out and see! Grandma wants to hit Jin! Grandma wants to take Jin's bride price to marry Zhao Lei a wife. The Qi Family doesn't agree, so Grandma wants to hit Jin..."
Qian Minmin's actions were completely unexpected; no one could have predicted them, let alone stop her in time. Thus, accompanied by Qian Minmin's loud voice, the neighbors next door all heard the commotion.
In fact, even before Grandfather Zhao and the others started arguing in the yard, the sharp-eared fellow villagers outside already knew what was going on.
The walls of farm families were not soundproof at all, and with the fences being so low, any noise from a household could be easily heard.
Now with Qian Minmin's loud announcement, Xu Mei and Sun Chun'er hurriedly ran out from the kitchen.
"What’s going on? How can your grandma..." Xu Mei still held a kitchen knife in her hand. In her haste, she hadn't had time to put it down. Naturally, she couldn't care less about putting it down now.
"Mom, you need to go inside and take a look." Oh, her mom was actually still holding a kitchen knife. Qian Minmin's eyes lit up as she feigned panic and pointed towards the main room, shouting, "Grandma, you can't hit Jin! The bride price from the Qi Family is meant for Jin! How can you bring Fourth Uncle's family to take it? Even if it's for Lei to marry a wife, it has to be approved by the Qi Family first..."
With Qian Minmin's shout, everyone in the main room froze. The atmosphere that had been filled with arguments suddenly fell silent.
"Qian Minmin Shut up!" Chen Cui hurried to the door, trying hard to turn the tide. "What nonsense are you talking about? Who is coming to snatch..."
"Um, um, Aunt Si, you didn't come to snatch the Bride Price, nor did you want to take the furniture sent by the Qi Family for Zhao Lei to marry a wife. I must have misheard; my ears must be malfunctioning." Qian Minmin raised her voice, not arguing with Chen Cui, and responded smoothly.
Chen Cui gritted her teeth, her unfinished words abruptly cut off.
Zhao Jin wanted to laugh. Her Second Sister-in-law was truly clever, unmatched by ordinary people.
She decided that she would lean more towards her Second Sister-in-law in the future. She needed to learn from her Second Sister-in-law's skills and abilities.
No matter how much Chen Cui ground her teeth, Qian Minmin had already spread the word.
Chen Cui didn't even need to think much; she could already predict how they would be looked at by the Fellow Villagers when they walked out of Zhao Jin's Family's front door.
It was simply too much! The Zhao Jin family had nothing good from top to bottom!
Grandma Zhao, who stood united with Chen Cui, shared the same thoughts and sentiments.
Especially when she saw Xu Mei rush into the living room with a kitchen knife, Grandma Zhao could no longer bear it. Losing all rationality, she pushed aside Zhao Guoqiang and his two sons blocking her way, angrily grabbing Zhao Lei's hand and striding outside: "Fine! Zhao Guoqiang, you're something! From now on, I won't set foot in your house again! It's as if I have no son like you! No grandchildren from your family!"
In such circumstances, if Grandfather Zhao were willing to mediate, the atmosphere and relationship between them could still be eased. However, Grandfather Zhao had no intention of doing so.
Watching Grandma Zhao drag Zhao Lei away in anger, Grandfather Zhao sneered and also stood up: "Zhao Guoqiang, you are filial indeed! I've raised you for so many years, and it's not as good as raising a dog!"
Zhao Guoqiang did not respond to Grandfather Zhao's insults. He merely lowered his head, staring at the ground, without attempting to speak up for peace.
Even between family members, mutual tolerance and understanding are necessary. If the Parents and the Fourth Brother's family insist on behaving this way, all Zhao Guoqiang can do is remain silent.
Grandfather Zhao initially thought that after this incident, Zhao Guoqiang would at least acknowledge his mistakes and apologize. However, he waited for quite a while without receiving any response from Zhao Guoqiang.
Has he grown wings and no longer regards his own father? Fine! From now on, I will no longer recognize this relative and will cut off all contact!
"Good, very good. From now on, I, your father, will not set foot in your home. Just like your mother, your old parents have no son like you!" Grandfather Zhao said angrily, waving his hand as he left.
Without the support of Grandfather Zhao and Grandma Zhao, Zhao Guofu and Chen Cui couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
They never expected things to escalate to this point. However, they couldn't blame anyone but themselves; they could only blame the eldest brother's family for being so unreasonable.
If the eldest brother's family had obediently handed over Zhao Jin's Bride Price, there wouldn't have been so much trouble.
Thinking this way, Zhao Guofu walked over and patted Zhao Guoqiang on the shoulder, offering him some advice: "Eldest Brother, the Parents are just angry at the moment; don't take it to heart. You should quickly send over the bed and cabinet that the Parents want! After all, your family doesn't lack these things; why provoke the Parents unnecessarily?"
"Yes, yes! Eldest Brother, don't delay any longer. If you wait too long, you might really make our parents angry enough to get sick. The Parents are getting old; their bodies can't handle too much stress. Just be filial and let the Parents have their way!" Just a moment ago, Chen Cui was cursing Zhao Guoqiang's family in her heart; now she was like a bee drawn to honey, eagerly chiming in, "Eldest Brother, since you're hosting the New Son-in-law today, you don't need to lift a finger. I'll help Guofu move things over, and we'll get Zhao Zhenqi and Zhao Zhenan to lend a hand. It will be quick."
"You all know that we have the New Son-in-law visiting today?" Zhao Guoqiang finally raised his head, but his words were filled with sarcasm. "If you really consider me your elder brother, couldn't you wait patiently until tomorrow to come over and cause a scene? My son-in-law is visiting for the first time; he hasn't even settled in yet before he has to witness your shamelessness as relatives? Are you here to demand the Bride Price? You're here to embarrass our whole family!"
"Eldest Brother, how can you say that? I am your biological brother; you..." Faced with Zhao Guoqiang's merciless accusations, Zhao Guofu could no longer maintain his composure and frowned.
"Do you still have the face to call me Eldest Brother? If this is how you treat your own brother, I'd rather not have you as my sibling!" It's not just them who can unilaterally sever familial ties; Zhao Guoqiang can do so as well.
In fact, compared to Grandfather Zhao and Grandma Zhao's bluster hiding their weakness, Zhao Guoqiang's determination was stronger than anyone else's.
“Zhao Guofu, I already talked to you last time! Don't come around anymore. I want to emphasize and reiterate once again, from this moment on, we are no longer brothers.” Zhao Guoqiang did not give Zhao Guofu a chance to respond and continued, “You should give up your underhanded thoughts. No one can take my family's Bride Price. Even if you bring your Parents here to cause a scene, I will not agree.”
“Brother, you...” Zhao Guofu was left speechless, but Chen Cui was not willing to give up and wanted to stay longer.
“Mom, please stop being so annoying. Didn't you hear Uncle say that he won't recognize our family as relatives anymore?” Zhao Ying'er, being young, was even more impulsive. She did not understand why Zhao Guofu and Chen Cui were still willing to stand here and directly walked over to pull Chen Cui away.
Chen Cui almost couldn't hold back from shaking off Zhao Ying'er's hand. Lei had obediently followed his grandparents away; why was Ying'er still here?
Moreover, didn't she see that she was busy helping Lei fight for his future bride? How could Ying'er be so oblivious and only know how to act willfully?
Chen Cui wanted to shake off Zhao Ying'er's hand but couldn't withstand her strength; her determination to pull him away was too strong.
In the end, Chen Cui still couldn't stay as he wished and was forcibly dragged away by Zhao Ying'er.
With that, only Zhao Guofu remained.
Compared to Grandma Zhao and Chen Cui, the prideful Zhao Guofu definitely wasn't the main fighting force. Especially now that he lacked the support of Grandfather Zhao and Grandma Zhao, no matter how angry he was, he couldn't just grab Zhao Guoqiang by the hair and start a fight.
Not to mention that there were already two sons in Zhao Guoqiang's family, plus the three brothers from the Qi Family joining in; Zhao Guofu wasn't foolish and could only leave in disgrace.
Regarding Zhao Guofu's parting words of “there will never be a big brother like you again,” Zhao Guoqiang did not respond or feel shaken.
Anyone can throw around harsh words; weren't Zhao Guofu's harsh words also what Zhao Guoqiang had in mind? If Zhao Guofu could really do it, Zhao Guoqiang would actually be grateful for his insight and self-awareness.
Finally sending off Grandfather Zhao and the others, Xu Mei turned around and apologetically looked at the three brothers from the Qi Family: “I'm really sorry for making you witness this.”
"Nothing." Qi Zheng shook his head. Those two calm words were enough to express his attitude and stance.
Qi Ze and Qi Rui also shook their heads repeatedly, waving their hands to say "it's fine." Who doesn't have a troublesome relative? Their family had one too. However, their grandparents were reasonable elders, so it wasn't as suffocating as the situation with Sister-in-law's family.
That said, they definitely needed to avoid Zhao Ying'er's family in the future. People who can't see things clearly only bring trouble; good days would come to an end if they interacted too much.
The expressions of the Qi brothers were sincere, and their tone was particularly serious, which made Zhao Guoqiang's family feel much more comfortable.
It had to be said that the commotion caused by Grandfather Zhao and others actually strengthened the relationship between Zhao Guoqiang's family and the Qi Family. What initially felt a bit awkward turned into a more natural and familiar interaction.
This could be considered an unexpected gain.
Regardless of whether Grandfather Zhao and others were present or not, today's lunch at Zhao Jin's Family was destined to be very lavish.
Xu Mei and Sun Chun'er almost showcased their best cooking skills, bringing out dish after dish. Of course, there were also many signature dishes specially added by Qian Minmin.
By the time the food was served, the atmosphere in the living room was already lively.
With the New Son-in-law visiting, alcohol was a must. Zhao Guoqiang wasn't very good at drinking, but today he immediately asked for wine. He felt happy because of Qi Zheng's visit as the New Son-in-law and also due to his disappointment after the unpleasantness with Grandfather Zhao and Zhao Guofu's group.
Xu Mei didn't stop Zhao Guoqiang from drinking. On the contrary, since it was a good day, she specifically brought out a jar of aged fine wine. According to Zhao Zhenan, they were all benefiting from Qi Zheng's presence by having good wine to enjoy.
Zhao Zhenan's words weren't exaggerated. Xu Mei looked at Qi Zheng and truly felt like a mother-in-law who increasingly liked her son-in-law.
Not only did Qi Zheng bring a generous Bride Price today, but his actions of always protecting Zhao Jin also significantly improved his impression in the Zhao Family's eyes. Without much effort, Zhao Guoqiang's family regarded Qi Zheng as a genuine family member.
The dining culture always makes it easy to bridge the gap between people. After a lunch, Qi Zheng and Zhao Jin had already become the fresh couple in everyone's eyes. Even Zhao Guoqiang turned a blind eye and allowed Zhao Jin to help Qi Zheng back to her room to rest.
The main host of this lunch was Qi Zheng, and there was no doubt that Zhao Guoqiang and his two sons were toasting her. As a result, Qi Zheng did drink a bit too much, and when Zhao Jin helped her stand up, she was already a little tipsy.
That's right, a little tipsy. Although Qi Zheng rarely drank, he had a good tolerance for alcohol and wouldn't easily get drunk. Today, it was more about the joy of drinking rather than the alcohol itself; he felt happy inside.
Qi Ze also had a bit to drink, but just two glasses, so it wasn't a problem. Qi Rui was only thirteen and still in school, so everyone made sure he didn't touch alcohol, leaving him completely clear-headed at the moment.
The two brothers had a certain understanding of their older brother's drinking capacity. However, seeing their brother being supported into the room by Sister-in-law, both Qi Ze and Qi Rui were particularly tactful and didn't say anything.
It's better to let their brother spend some time alone with Sister-in-law! It's good for them to enhance their feelings for each other. They were all looking forward to Sister-in-law moving in soon!
And so, Zhao Jin successfully took Qi Zheng away. Once again, she brought him into her room...
Comment 0 Comment Count