CHAPTER 87: CHAPTER 085: THE GLOWING PHOENIX EGG [250+ VOTES]

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"Mother, if Zhang Shanni doesn’t want to, let’s not force her. We came to acknowledge kindred ties, not to trouble others." Feng Chunling stepped in to stop her mother-in-law’s unfinished words, and instead, she smiled at Zhang Shanni, signaling her not to take her mother-in-law’s words to heart:

"Big sister, don’t be upset, my mother-in-law truly appreciates you for saving my little aunt and her child. Our visit is indeed to genuinely express our gratitude to you, and for your spouse’s help in rescuing my little aunt, she means well."

Seeing this, Zhang Shanni quickly waved her hands, thinking of her own origin, she felt it inappropriate to say more. She just showed a shy, naive smile.

"Indeed, kindred friend, we are here to say thanks and also to bring these newlyweds their wedding gifts. Don’t make it difficult for the young lady to decline! Otherwise, she might get annoyed with us..."

Li Baojia put aside his hidden casual indifference, seeing no one from the Xie Family agreeing, he instead became genuinely sincere towards everyone from the Xie Family, trying to smooth things over.

He also presented the gifts meant for acknowledging kinship as wedding gifts. The original idea between both families was exactly that: if the Xie Family approves, they could become recognized kindred; if not, it would be taken as a gift in gratitude.

But who knew, plans cannot always keep up with reality, now it’s not them looking down on the Xie Family, but rather the Xie Family not caring for it!

Although Li Jianfeng didn’t have his father’s scheming mind, seeing his father making such earnest gestures made him even more thankful, so he also turned around to persuade his own mother-in-law.

For a moment, the hall was filled with harmonious laughter again.

"Alright, Shanni, it’s reasonable for you not to agree at this moment; after all, to you, this old lady is practically a stranger. I can’t force you now, but you wouldn’t refuse our families bringing you wedding gifts, right?" Liu Guilan, seeing her daughter-in-law agreeing and even her son and kindred friends advising her, found it difficult to persist.

After all, kinship must come with the willing consent of both parties, right? They were not here to make enemies, so they couldn’t force it on someone else.

"Ah, Aunt Liu, Uncle Li, Sister Feng, Brother Li, for you all to come and offer congratulations is already a blessing for my spouse and me. But without merit, we cannot accept rewards; we cannot accept your gifts..." Zhang Shanni still insisted on shaking her head, even casting her gaze to her husband.

"No, no! Big sister, you saved my little aunt’s life! For our Old Chen Family, this is a great deed! How can you say there’s no merit! If you don’t accept our gift, Sister will not be pleased!" Feng Chunling saw Xie Jingchen wanting to speak and quickly interjected to speak first.

Xie Jingchen paused, looked at his young wife, then at the equally anxious Li father and son, he fell silent: "..."

It wasn’t that he coveted the gifts from others, but considering their status, whether it’s his older generation or his current young wife, they still need to live and get along in this community. Out of respect for their social standing, he found it difficult to outright refuse.

"Uh, Sister Feng, this is really not appropriate..." Zhang Shanni glanced at the courtyard, where Li Jianfeng had already hastily unloaded a bunch of items and the shining big two items, hurriedly refusing.

Before entering the hall, Xie Jingchen had also seen the pile of goods placed under the eaves of the hall, the most conspicuous of which were the two big items—a Phoenix brand bicycle, and a Huannan brand sewing machine.

As for the fine cloth and grain, they were already brought into the hall by Li Jianfeng and placed shiningly on the table; it was impossible for Xie Jingchen not to see, but if these were indeed meant as wedding gifts, they were indeed too generous!

It seemed that this young couple were not greedy for profit. Both were about to refuse, which unanimously met with disapproval from the Li father and son and the Chen family mother and daughter-in-law—

"What’s wrong with accepting or not? You two young folks saved my grandson and daughter-in-law’s lives, all these are material possessions which are external to the body and are no difficulty or burden to our family. If you refuse to accept these, isn’t that slapping me, Old Li, in the face?"

Li Baojia, seeing Xie Jingchen and Zhang Shanni both wanting to decline and always smiling, now rarely put on a stern face and said to Xie Jingchen.

At this moment, he too noticed that this little girl named Zhang Shan Ni always honored her husband’s opinions as paramount, which showed she was indeed a sensible person.

Li Baojia really enjoyed dealing with such clever people!

Even Li Jianfeng, despite not having as much knowledge as his father, but still a director at the supply and marketing cooperative, also realized that this simple-looking village girl had displayed a sense of grandeur and wisdom in her words and actions upon their arrival. She was no longer like a mere country bumpkin... No wonder Xie Laoer took her off the market so quickly!

Xie Jingchen stopped his wife, who was still trying to decline, poured some more tea for each esteemed guest, and said, "There’s no need to hurry, we’re all family here. Have some tea to moisten your throat. Everyone, please try these homemade snacks my beloved has made and see if they are to your liking?"

Unfortunately, Xie Jingchen’s delicate hospitality was lost on the four visitors, who instead focused all their attention on Zhang Shan Ni, waiting for her to nod and say—

All eyes converged on Zhang Shan Ni, who, following her husband’s lead, pushed the plate with sweet potato cakes towards the guests.

While everyone’s attention was elsewhere, Zhang Shan Ni quietly wiped off a bead of sweat: Stop looking at me; I’m not going to turn dumb from your stares! Ignore, ignore...

"Hey, my little brother, your words are music to an old lady’s ears; we’re all family! When it comes to relations with our family, it’s also my old wife’s opinion. Shan Ni, you may think you’re merely doing a good deed each day, but to our Chen family, your Sister Chen is the only one of my children still alive and well... You’ve saved not just her life but that of my grandson; you’ve saved two lives! You might think the ’three big items’ we brought seem excessive, but really, it’s nothing! You, little girl, may not want to recognize a foster relationship, and I, the old lady, won’t force you, but won’t you even allow me to express our gratitude?"

After finishing, Liu Guilan looked hopefully at Zhang Shan Ni. Feng Chunling also timely took out a small box from her bag, which contained a mechanical ladies’ watch, and continued bombarding following her mother-in-law’s remarks:

"Big sister, please accept our gratitude. The lives of my little aunt and her child were indeed saved by you and your husband. If we didn’t show any gratitude, we wouldn’t be able to sleep well!"

Even Xie Tiesheng, who was quite experienced, was secretly taken aback by the well-prepared ’gratitude gifts’ from the other party; they were truly valuable, akin to ’getting married’ presents!

With grain, cloth, and the ’three big items’, these were indeed the highest level marriage conditions in the county town.

At this moment, Zhou Xiuhua truly began to regard Zhang Shan Ni, the new daughter-in-law, in a new light.

Previously, she felt that her third son had made a decent choice, as Zhang Shan Ni was well known for her tenacity and industriousness within Qingshan Team, a truly suitable candidate for a daughter-in-law.

But considering Zhang Shan Ni’s family background, Zhou Xiuhua still felt her third son was a bit misguided. Compared to the daughters-in-law the family had wedded before, Zhang Shan Ni’s conditions could be said to be the least favorable.

No matter how you put it, she still respected the other daughters-in-law, and if things got really unpleasant, not only would it be awkward for the daughters-in-law, but their families wouldn’t let it go so easily either. Even the most underperforming eldest daughter-in-law still had her mother, which was why she felt that her maternal home was still a place of refuge.

For a woman, her maternal home equals her way out and is also fundamental to securing her footing at her husband’s family.

Hence the saying that a woman cannot be without her maternal family; for many husbands and their families, if a daughter-in-law has her maternal family, they need to think twice about their behavior and handling methods, trying to ensure amicable relations between both families for daily life. If a woman lacks a maternal home, it means there’s no one to stand up for her as a daughter-in-law, even if things get out of hand; due to her status, she cannot directly confront the elders and remains at a disadvantage!

It wasn’t until important figures like Li Baojia and Liu Guilan arrived that she realized the daughter-in-law her third son had picked was actually a ’Phoenix Egg’ that only knew how to shine!

Just by going out to register their marriage, they had managed to save the only child and daughter-in-law of the town grain station chief. From the looks of the relatives who personally visited, if things really worked out, and they became the dry godparents of the third son’s wife, the backing she would gain completely dwarfed that of other Mrs. Xies by a whole three blocks.

Moreover, as she sat in the corner and watched, she noticed that despite Zhang Shan Ni never having much formal education, her handling of the situation was commendable—not only did the old man nod in agreement in secret, but even the smartest third son of the Xie family had no objections!

This... The perceptive and clever performance of the third son’s wife didn’t seem like that of an ignorant villager at all!

This was indeed a rare sight!