Chapter 10: Marrying This Man Isn’t Cheap

“I’m already twenty-three this year. If I don’t get married soon, they’ll start gossiping. This year’s harvest was good; the family has plenty of grain coupons. If they want to find me a wife this year, of course they’ll ask for a bride price. They don’t want to pay, so they just want to get me married off while the harvest is good.”

After saying that, he looked up at Feng Mian and said, “If you like me, you’ll have to spend a bit. Otherwise, they won’t agree.”

Basically, he was telling her that his family was selling their son, and she should be prepared to pay for him.

Gu Yuelin was straightforward and clear.

He openly explained why he wanted to marry into another family, why his father and stepmother wanted to get rid of him, and even that his stepmother was trying to extort him.

Now it was up to her whether she wanted to make this deal or not.

“Alright,” Feng Mian smiled and agreed, “But I need to think about it first—see just how demanding your stepmother is.”

Gu Yuelin looked at her smiling face, paused for a moment, then said, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you down.”

He was about to take out money.

Feng Mian understood—this ticket scalper had secretly saved some money.

“No need,” she stopped him from pulling out cash, “We haven’t even started properly yet. I haven’t decided.”

Gu Yuelin nodded, also feeling his action was a bit rash.

They had been out for a while, said a few words, and then went back.

Zhang was dealing with the whole family, and even with the matchmaker’s help, a look of impatience showed on her face, clearly revealing Gu Yuelin’s stepmother wasn’t an easy person.

When everyone saw the two return, before Zhang could say anything, Gu Yuelin’s stepmother, Liang, laughed and rushed over. Acting very familiar, she grabbed Feng Mian and said, “I just saw a stone bowl rack in your kitchen. Why is it still got a door with a lock on it?”

Feng Mian twitched at the corner of her mouth, thinking, What does that have to do with you?

Still, she politely explained, “There are a lot of mice in the village. Locking it up makes me feel safer.”

“Oh, mice can’t be kept out like that. They’ll just chew a hole in the door later.”

Feng Mian added, “I’m more afraid of thieves, so I lock it up to feel secure.”

Before she could say more, Matchmaker Xu interrupted, “Sister Liang, the girl lives alone. The Feng family team just finished calculating work points and distributing grain. She should be careful.”

Hearing this, Liang was even more convinced the locked cabinet was full of grain.

A young girl? How much could she eat? Half a bowl of porridge per meal would be enough. She needed to find a way to get the grain for herself.

Liang smiled, “An orphan has her advantages too—eating alone means the whole family doesn’t go hungry. I envy your life. Unlike me, taking care of a whole family, I’ve never had a full meal.”

Feng Mian: “…”

“Ahem ahem.” Matchmaker Xu heard Liang going off-topic and hurriedly stepped in, “You’ve looked and talked. Now both families should see if this can be settled.”

Just as Zhang was about to speak, Liang interrupted again, “Okay, I agree. But it wasn’t easy raising my son this big. Your Feng family can’t let us lose out either, right?”

Zhang, holding back anger, snorted, “Then how much do you want?”

“That ‘three rounds and one sound’—the rich have standards, but we poor folks don’t talk about those. Forget the sewing machine, but at least a bicycle, right? A watch too?”

Feng Mian’s mouth twitched wildly. Before she could say anything, Liang continued, “I know you don’t have grain coupons, can’t buy these things. How about converting it directly to cash? Three hundred for a watch, one fifty for a bike, plus a hundred jin of grain, ten jin of meat coupons, and two zhang of cloth coupons. That should be about right.”

Zhang and Feng Mian went to calculate the work points. Didn’t she know how much she’d get? She only got sixty jin of grain herself.

Not to mention asking for hundreds of yuan like a lion’s roar.

Zhang trembled with anger, “Even people selling their eldest daughter aren’t this expensive. Why don’t you just go rob someone?”

“Is the eldest daughter worth as much as this big guy?” She pushed Gu Yuelin forward and said, “Look at his build, his head, his looks — even if you weighed him by the pound, he’s worth that much.”

Zhang burst out laughing in anger and mocked, “You, as a stepmother, really opened my eyes—talking about weighing by the pound, what, do you think you’re selling a pig?”

After mocking Liang, she glanced at the ‘biological father’ who had remained silent the whole time and said, “They say having a stepmother means having a stepfather too — that saying really makes sense.”

Feng Mian glanced secretly at Gu Yuelin. His stepmother bargained for him like he was a commodity, and his own father didn’t even say a word. No wonder he said he wanted to leave that home.

He seemed used to it, standing quietly off to the side like a good little boy.

At that moment, Feng Mian felt sorry for him. He had both a father and mother but seemed even more pitiful than someone like her who had none.

Earlier, Feng Mian said she needed time to think because his stepmother didn’t seem like a good person, too high-maintenance and not someone she wanted to mess with.

But seeing him looking so pitiful now, her sympathy was stirred, and the words she was about to say died on her lips.

Feng Mian turned and smiled, “Don’t convert it into money. If you do, won’t that wrong my live-in husband? I already have a watch and a bicycle ready, so he can come to my house in style.”

Everyone in the room was shocked when Feng Mian said this.

She smiled faintly without saying more.

Hmph, do they think I’m stupid?

In the seventies, when marrying a bride, the groom prepared the ‘three rounds and one sound’—these gifts were sent to the bride’s family in advance and brought back as the dowry on the wedding day.

If you buy the items, they can be returned, but if you convert them to money, you won’t get a single cent back.

She didn’t have grain coupons, but she had a way to get an old-fashioned bicycle and a watch.

Liang was surprised, “You have coupons?”

“I don’t, but I’ll find a way.”

What way? Most likely getting them on the black market.

Are industrial coupons easy to get on the black market?

Liang laughed, “Fine, if you can get coupons, that’s even better, but you probably can’t…”

“If I can’t get them, I’ll convert the value to money for you,” Feng Mian said immediately.

Zhang was anxious and pulled Feng Mian aside to whisper, “Where will you get the money?”

Feng Mian whispered back, “My mother left me a dowry when she was alive. My father gave it to me when he wanted to leave, to get my mother to sign a divorce.”

She was bluffing, and though her voice was low, the others overheard.

That was exactly the point—to let them hear, so if she really produced something later, it wouldn’t be suspicious.

Zhang looked at her with a ‘you’ve got some secrets’ expression.

Liang was pleased—money was money.

She already had plans to get cash and smiled slyly, “Since that’s the case, let’s hurry up and arrange this marriage. How about after the Lunar New Year? That’s a good day—let’s do it then.”

Wasn’t the Lunar New Year the time Feng Xiaomei was supposed to get married?

Zhang immediately refused, “No, the Lunar New Year won’t do. My family is marrying off my granddaughter then and can’t host an outside son-in-law.”

Not wanting to waste time, Liang said flatly, “Being a live-in son-in-law isn’t shameful enough? Do we also need a big banquet like when people marry off daughters? She’s an orphan with no parents, what’s the point of making a big fuss? After the Lunar New Year, I’ll have him carry the quilt over to your house myself.”

[Hope everyone reads this calmly. Don’t just get mad and call the male lead a weakling or blame him for not standing up to his stepmother. Why are two grown men being controlled? There’s definitely a backstory, right? It will be explained later.]