Chapter 235: Don’t Want This One
Ji Yulan didn't take the candy from her. She just looked at Su Danhong and said, “I'll definitely come tomorrow!”
Su Danhong put the candy into her hand and smiled. “You trust me that much?”
“You want to introduce me to someone, so of course I will!” Ji Yulan declared.
If it wasn’t someone good, then she definitely wouldn’t make the introduction.
“Since you trust me, call me sister-in-law. I will also tell you that the person I want to introduce to you is Xu Heshan from Dawa Village. He passed the driver's license test and often helps with driving and other jobs. He is a hardworking person. I heard that his family always separates after they get married, so if you and he like each other, you can separate and live together alone after you get married. Xu Heshan's salary after this year will also reach 40 yuan. It will go up again in the future. He has the ability to support his family. He just needs a wife. So far, I think this will be a good match. Jianyun also thinks it is good, that’s why we are trying to look out for the family.”
Su Danhong told her this.
Ji Yulan blushed a little. This means that after getting married, she would be in charge of the family. This sounds very good.
“But…” Ji Yulan hesitated.
“But what?” Su Danhong asked her.
“My father asked for 300 yuan as a betrothal gift.” Ji Yulan pursed her lips and bit her lip.
“So much?” Su Danhong said without concealing her surprise.
Ji Yulan nodded with a pale face.
300 yuan was a lot. Usually a dozen or even 100 yuan was considered a lot, but her family was extremely poor so they hoped for a better betrothal gift.
Su Danhong said nothing.
The betrothal gift was indeed high. Li Zhi's marriage to Ji Yunyun was considered quite a lot, but it was only about 70 yuan.
But Father Ji and Mother Ji definitely confiscated every penny and exchanged it for supplies, and they also gave a lot for the dowry.
Looking at Ji Yulan, she definitely wouldn’t get half a penny for the dowry. For so much money, this was not a daughter marrying off, this was clearly a daughter being sold!
“I don't like to talk about other people's family affairs, but if the betrothal gift is 300 yuan, you have to show me some good behavior,” Su Danhong looked at her and said. “You can't just let the man marry and end up with nothing. You will have to bear the burden of being his wife forever in the future, okay?”
“Sister-in-law, there is no need to worry about these things. As I said before, the water was thrown out. The 300 yuan betrothal gift is almost like selling me. In the future, at most, I will come back to see them during the New Year. Other than that, there will be nothing else. There is no reason to take the things from the husband's family back to subsidize my family,” Ji Yulan said.
“Okay, I understand.” Su Danhong nodded in agreement.
She met with Ji Yulan in the morning, and in the afternoon, she met the grand niece from Aunt Yang's family.
This girl was called Li Xiaoyu. She was also a girl from a poor family. She looked similar to Ji Yulan, but her features were more delicate than Ji Yulan. She had to do a lot of work at home and outside, so with her tanned skin, her beauty couldn’t be seen.
Su Danhong believed that Li Xiaoyu had heard from Aunt Yang what the situation was before coming, so she did not hesitate and went straight to the point.
Like Ji Yulan, Li Xiaoyu was no longer a young girl. How could such a woman not have any idea about her marriage?
And just like Ji Yulan, the situation in her family was not optimistic. Li Xiaoyu was not as straightforward as Ji Yulan, but the betrothal required was quite a lot: 200 yuan. It was 100 yuan less than Ji Yulan. Su Danhong smiled, gave her a few white rabbit candy and left.
Aunt Yang looked at it and sighed. “Girl, I have told you that when you get married, just take care of yourself. Why are you still thinking about your maternal family?”
Li Xiaoyu still couldn't come to her senses, and said blankly, “Auntie, what does sister-in-law mean?”
“Don't think about it. Go back. Take this pound of pork and make dumplings for your family.” Aunt Yang handed her a piece of pork tied with straw.
This pork was given to her by Ji Jianyun.
Li Xiaoyu felt that she was doing quite well, but she didn't understand.
“It's not that you're bad, it's just that it's not appropriate,” Aunt Yang said with a smile.
After she left, Aunt Yang's smile faded. Fortunately, she spoke some good words to Danhong. She didn't expect her grand niece would be taught like this.
It was okay to think about the maternal family, but 200 yuan for a betrothal gift? If this was not enough, then the marriage would be like a marriage to the entire maternal family, and the maternal family also had relatives!
There would be no such thing as a happy life.
Aunt Yang thought about this and went over to find Su Danhong. Su Danhong smiled and said, “I made a lot of wontons in the way they are made in the south, Aunt, you can bring some back to try later.”
“That's okay,” Aunt Yang said. “Don't worry about Xiaoyu. Yulan is pretty good and can take good care of her husband's family.”
“Yeah.” Su Danhong was not polite and nodded.
She was indeed dissatisfied with Li Xiaoyu, but that didn't mean she was bad. It was just that Li Xiaoyu was not the kind of woman she was looking for. She was looking for the kind of woman who could keep her husband's family safe, not the kind who had two sides to take care of.
Su Danhong was filial to her family, but she showed that if you lived your life well, your maternal family would be filial back to you. This was considered real filial piety.
Their area generally had a tradition of favoring sons over daughters, so daughters were at a disadvantage in the family since they were young. If they grow up and study for two or three years, they would be considered promising. However, most of them had never been to school, like Ji Yulan.
But boys were different. They could go to school. Even if they really didn’t want to, they basically did it.
So no one could blame the fact that few daughters were filial. They were all focused on running their household after they got married. For the maternal family, it was natural for the sons who had the advantage in life to take care of the maternal family. Otherwise, what was the use of them?
Ji Yulan obviously had this in mind. She had two younger brothers, who were not young anymore. She had worked for her maternal family for so many years without marrying, so it was enough, right? The betrothal gift was 300 yuan. Her husband's family's wealth would be wiped out, so what else could they want from her?
Li Xiaoyu had an older brother, and a younger brother who was 18 years old, but she wasn’t aware of their roles in the family. Su Danhong didn’t want to be her matchmaker.
When Ji Jianyun came back, Su Danhong told him about what had happened.
Ji Jianyun said, “Okay, I'll ask Xu Heshan to come over and meet with her.”
“As for Su Zhumao, why don't you ask my mother to help take a look?” Su Danhong asked.
Su Zhumao was from her village. She wanted to introduce Li Xiaoyu, but she changed her mind and would not do it.
“Okay, we'll ask your mother during the New Year. But if Xu Heshan and Ji Yulan get married, we have to lend him money for the betrothal gift first,” Ji Jianyun said.
“Lend him 400 yuan, and let him settle down with the other 100 yuan. He can pay it back slowly in the future,” Su Danhong said.