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After Miao Shi arrived in the county alone, her life started to flourish, and she had no intention of returning home.
Wan Family’s second brother, who had become accustomed to being spoiled by his wife, could no longer endure any hardships. He decided to brave the heavy snow and head to the county to find someone.
Upon meeting him, Miao Shi’s anger flared, and without controlling herself, she exposed all of Wan Family’s second brother’s shortcomings, forcing him to obey her before agreeing to return.
Today was also the day Miao Shi was coming back. Wan Family’s second brother, ever cautious, hadn’t expected his dear younger sister to be causing trouble again at the Tan family’s house, which was why he was so upset.
Once the Wan family had left, Madam Liu’s anger slowly subsided as well.
She followed Wan Chunmei into the house and immediately went up to Tan Xiaomei, holding her hand and smiling. “You really are a good child; you’re quite a beauty.”
Tan Xiaomei, feeling shy, lowered her head. “Madam, you’re too kind.”
Madam Liu smiled even more brightly. “You are such a well-behaved child.”
She then pulled out a thick bundle of marriage papers from her pocket and handed them to Old Tan, smiling. “In-laws, have a look at this—this is our marriage requirements.”
“Good, good,” Old Tan immediately snapped to attention and took the certificate. Upon opening it, he carefully read the details, which indicated the wedding date as the eighth of next month.
He quickly calculated in his head based on the almanac and realized it was indeed an auspicious day.
Seeing that Old Tan hadn’t responded for a while, Madam Liu stood up anxiously, smiling. “In-laws, if you have any concerns, feel free to speak up.”
Old Tan quickly shook his head. “No, no, there’s really nothing to worry about.”
Madam Liu’s face filled with joy, and even Liu Zhoucheng was grinning widely.
Next, Madam Liu handed Old Tan another booklet and slowly said, “In-laws, this list contains the dowry we’ve brought for you. Please take a look.”
“Dowry?”
Old Tan opened the booklet, which was filled with densely written items.
He raised his eyes and glanced towards the large chests in the courtyard. It turned out that all of these were part of the dowry.
Although he couldn’t make sense of the exact contents of the dowry at the moment, he could see that there was a full one hundred taels of silver written at the top.
For an ordinary farming family, this was no small sum.
Seeing her husband’s shocked expression, Wan Chunmei also felt something was off. She quickly leaned over and looked at the list, her jaw nearly dropping when she saw the one hundred taels of silver.
“Madam Liu, is this silver too much?”
Madam Liu smiled and said, “Not too much, not too much, one hundred taels is just right.”
Wan Chunmei, feeling embarrassed, said, “Madam, in our area, a dowry of a few dozen taels is enough. It’s too much to give so much.”
Old Tan nodded in agreement. “Yes, a few dozen taels would be enough.”
Madam Liu thought they were just being polite and smiled. “One hundred taels is fine, really, don’t worry. We can afford it. Please accept it.”
Seeing that Madam Liu was so insistent, Old Tan didn’t refuse and accepted the dowry.
After Liu Zhoucheng and Tan Xiaomei’s marriage was settled, Liu Zhoucheng and Madam Liu, accompanied by the matchmaker, prepared to leave. As they were about to depart, Liu Zhoucheng couldn’t bear not to look at Tan Xiaomei and stole a few glances at her.
As the evening sky grew darker, the Tan family gradually returned to calm.
Wan Chunmei and Old Tan were left speechless by the sight of such an extravagant dowry.
Tan Xiaomei spoke up first. “Elder brother, sister-in-law, please accept the silver.”
Wan Chunmei froze for a moment and quickly said, “Xiaomei, we can’t accept this silver.”
Tan Xiaomei’s nose tingled, and her voice became slightly hoarse. “Sister-in-law, you should still take it. Isn’t it customary for the bride’s family to receive the dowry?”
Wan Chunmei held the hundred taels of silver notes, stood up slowly, and gently placed them in front of Tan Xiaomei. “Xiaomei, your elder brother and I don’t need anything from you. Just live your life well.”
Tan Xiaomei lowered her head, her voice soft and a bit rough. “Elder brother, sister-in-law, you’ve had a hard time. Please accept the silver.”