CHAPTER 265: CHAPTER 256: NO DOWRY

Yu Xiaolian told Mrs. Sun that when delivering milk powder to Sun Mantao’s wife, she shouldn’t deliver too much at once as it could easily become damp without being sealed in a container.

It’s best to deliver once every two days, and give one packet each time.

Mrs. Sun nodded in agreement.

Yu Xiaolian asked, "Where’s my father?"

Mrs. Sun said, "He went to your uncle’s house. They are going to hang red silk and lanterns in the courtyard, so your father and your uncles went there to help."

Yu Xiaolian only knew that Sun Fengshou was marrying Qi Lizheng’s niece, a woman from Taohua Village named Qi Dalian, but she hadn’t met her yet.

On Sun Fengshou’s wedding day, when he went to fetch the bride, Yu Xiaolian and a bunch of kids followed along to watch the excitement. It was only then that she realized this Qi Dalian was actually Qi Shanhe’s sister.

Qi Shanhe, at thirty-six, was still studying at the academy. Yu Xiaolian had always thought his family was well-off, but seeing Qi Shanhe’s dilapidated house and his extremely old mother, she was really shocked.

How could they still afford to send their son to study under such conditions?

And Qi Shanhe himself, how could he have the nerve to continue studying at the academy?

Thirty-six years old and still not passing the scholar exam, did he plan to depend on his family forever?

"This Dalian is finally getting married. She’s turned into an old maid," said the onlookers in the village.

"That’s right. Luckily, her uncle has a proper job, or she wouldn’t be marrying into such a good family as the Sun Family."

"Yes, indeed, the Sun Family is a good family. Even though Sun Fengshou has been married once, he is a good person, and the family is well-off. Dalian will definitely have a good life there."

"Sun Fengshou is indeed a good man. When we built the house together for those months, he never bossed us around and was very easy-going, never putting on airs."

"Oh, have you heard how much dowry money the Sun Family gave to Qi Dalian?" asked a curious woman.

The woman across from her held up three fingers, "Thirty taels!"

"Emma!" The woman exclaimed in shock.

If she had known that the Sun Family could offer such a large dowry, she would have introduced her own niece to Sun Fengshou. Her niece was only fifteen, much younger than Qi Dalian, who was an old maid.

Who would have thought an old maid like Qi Dalian would end up being worth more than the young girls?

The woman regretted it deeply, blaming herself for not being in the loop and missing out on this opportunity.

"What does thirty taels even cover? Does Qi Dalian even have a dowry? They accepted thirty taels from the Sun Family and didn’t even send her off with a decent camphor wood chest, some literary family that is."

"Ever since Qi Scholar died, their family just started living off what he left. That little bit of savings he had probably got squandered over the years, and look at this house, in just three years it’s become like this. It used to be a neat and upright house."

Qi Tongsheng doesn’t know anything except stubbornly reading books, he can’t even fix up the house. In summer, when it rained, the house leaked terribly; I heard it was still Dalian who climbed a ladder to fix the roof.

Pity a grown man over thirty doesn’t know how to do anything, just a life-wrecker!"

"Exactly, Qi Shanhe is nothing like his father. Qi Scholar not only read well, but he could also hunt and fix roofs. How did his son end up like this?"

"It’s because they’re all spoiled, I suppose!"

As people murmured, Sun Fengshou had already met his future mother-in-law and elder brother-in-law and took Qi Dalian to get on the ox cart lined with red silk. With a "Get!", Sun Fengshou drove the ox cart in the direction of the Sun’s house.

Before leaving, Yu Xiaolian glanced at Qi Shanhe. She had clearly overheard the conversation among the village women just now and felt more disapproving of Qi Shanhe.

Qi Shanhe happened to look at Yu Xiaolian, disbelief in his eyes, pointing at her, stammering "you, you, you" for a while.

Yu Xiaolian didn’t bother to acknowledge him and turned to follow on the cart.

Behind her, after collecting himself, Qi Shanhe shouted loudly, "Yu Xueguan..."

Someone turned to see Qi Shanhe with both hands cupped, bowing to the cart.

"What did he say?"

"Didn’t catch it; maybe he was greeting his future brother-in-law."

Except for Qi Shanhe and his mother, almost the entire Taohua Village attended Sun Fengshou’s wedding.

Not that Qi Shanhe didn’t want to come, but according to custom, the bride’s family doesn’t send the bride to the groom’s house.

Although the Sun Family had prepared enough food, and it was plentiful, by the time the banquet was over, there was nothing but stacks of empty plates.

No matter if it was dishes or buns, everything was cleaned out.

Even though every household had contributed gifts, the Sun Family ended up losing money on the wedding feast.

But fortunately, nobody cared about that. Old Mrs. Sun, Mrs. Sun, and Sun Fengshou himself were all very happy.

As the guests departed, the Sun family adults were busy washing plates and bowls, tidying up.

The kids were all crowded at the door of the new room, trying every means to peek through the cracks to see what the bride looked like.

Qi Dalian, sitting on the warm kang bed, found it very novel.

Their village had no kang beds; everyone slept on beds. It was said that members of the Sun Family and Yu Family had come from the far north, and she wondered whether their living habits could align in the future.

Moreover, she didn’t have a dowry. Her mother only made her two sets of clothes and brought them in a bundle.

The red wedding dress she wore was sent by Sun Fengshou. She heard it was prepared by Sun Fengshou’s niece.

Qi Dalian felt a bit uneasy, afraid that her mother-in-law might soon ask her about the dowry silver.

How should she respond? Out of the thirty taels, her mother only spent five hundred wens to make her two sets of clothes, and there was nothing else.

She hoped no one would ask her about the dowry issue.

She... couldn’t bring herself to say it.

When Sun Fengshou pushed open the door, Qi Dalian’s heart skipped a beat, and both her hands became nervously entwined.

Though Sun Fengshou was seven years older than her and had been married before, she was willing to marry him.

One reason was that she trusted her uncle, and another was that ever since they came to Taohua Village to build their house, she often heard that Sun Fengshou was both wealthy and kind. She felt it was a blessing to marry such a man.

But if the Sun Family found out she brought none of the dowry money back, they would probably be upset.

Sun Fengshou opened the door, and the children outside followed him in.

"We want to see the bride!"

Sun Manzhi shouted the loudest.

Sun Fengshou smiled and whisked the red veil off Qi Dalian’s head, revealing her slightly flustered face.

"Wow, the bride is so beautiful.

Little Huzi, your stepmother is so pretty!"

Sun Hu, holding the tea cup that Yu Xiaolian gave him, stepped forward calmly, "Mother, please have some tea."

Qi Dalian, overwhelmed, took the cup from Sun Hu and didn’t know what to do.

Normally, Qi Dalian should smile and drink the tea, then casually take out a red envelope, hand it to Sun Hu with a smile, and pat his head saying, "Good boy."

But Qi Dalian couldn’t do any of that; her mother hadn’t given her a red envelope at all.

Little Huzi stood there respectfully waiting for her, and Qi Dalian holding the tea cup was at a loss, unsure whether to drink it or not.