Su Qingyu pushed Su’s mother forward and said, “Mom, haven’t you heard the saying, ‘A person’s character can be truly seen at the dinner table’?”

Was there such a saying?

Mother Su tilted her head and thought. Yes, you can indeed get a preliminary glimpse of a person’s character from the dinner table.

Seeing Mother Su tilting her head and thinking, Su Qingyu added: “Don’t you and Dad always want to know what kind of a person he is? From hearsay, sometimes you can only hear two or three points, and sometimes there is not even one point of truth. You still have to go and judge it yourself.”

After listening to Su Qingyu’s words, Mother Su thought about how Lu Bocheng had eaten in the morning…

He was polite and polite, and let her eat first, then Qingyu, and then he.

He waited until Mother Su moved her chopsticks before eating. When she stopped, he stopped too.

During meals, he was refined and courteous, not fidgeting or making unnecessary noise. He didn’t slurp his soup, had good table manners, and showed a discerning palate. It was evident that he was well-mannered.

“Then what if he is pretending?”

“After eating for more than ten years, habits have long been formed. It’s not easy to pretend otherwise for a short while.”

Mother Su felt a little more satisfied.

Hearing what Su Qingyu said at this time, she felt very happy, and the corners of her mouth were also raised, she took another look at Su Qingyu’s arms.

She said: “Was he waiting at the city gate early in the morning just to give money to you?”

Su Qingyu nodded: “I’m afraid he has been waiting for two days. He said he was afraid that his stepmother would talk about me if I married without a good dowry.”

When her mother heard this, she sighed and said, “It’s hard for him to think so much about you and be so thoughtful. It seems that he wants you to live a good life.”

She reminded Su Qingyi again, “The silver inside should not be touched anymore. When he leaves, let him take it all. In times of need, having some extra money might save a life, especially for those who are poor on the road.”

Su Qingyu nodded.

Then they went to the jewelry store and bought a thin silver bracelet, a pair of silver earrings, and a silver-plated hairpin before I came out. After shopping around the street again and buying some other things, there was only one tael of silver left. Su Qingyu refused to let her buy any more.

Even when she offered her two taels of silver that she had earned, Su Qingyu declined. Considering that she was already married and settled in the town, making it convenient to return if needed in the future, she didn’t insist on taking the money.

Mother Su felt sorry for the money, but at the same time, she was happy. Fortunately, with the three taels of silver given by Su Mujiang’s family and the cloth money paid with Lu Bocheng’s silver, Qingyu’s dowry was more decent.

The mother and daughter carried large and small bags to the clothing shop to take their previous purchase. Unexpectedly, Lu Bocheng jumped out of nowhere and took the things from Mother Su’s hand before they could react.

“Auntie, you bought a lot of things, let me hire a car for you.”

Mother Su waved her hands repeatedly: “No, no, there is a bullock cart in the village, right at the gate of the town, it is convenient. There is no need to spend extra money.”

She followed behind with her hands free, grinning while staring at Lu Bocheng’s back.

Su Qingyu didn’t know what her mother was laughing at. She even forgot about her own daughter. She just followed Lu Bocheng with her hands spread out, not even mentioning helping her carry one or two items.

The three of them entered the cloth shop. Lu Bocheng was teased a few times by the shopkeeper. He blushed and picked up the cloth and walked to the gate of the town.

Mother Su thanked the shopkeeper and pulled Su Qingyu to follow him with a smile.

After finding the ox cart in the village and putting down his things, Lu Bocheng was watched and teased by several villagers who had arrived early.

This guy was also thin-skinned, so after being teased for a few words, he turned around and ran away.

“Mother Qingyu, this is your second son-in-law. The young man is so energetic.”

“Yes, he is so handsome. You have found a treasure. Marrying Qingyyu to the town, I heard you even gave a dowry of fifty taels, fifty taels!”

“I heard that their family has fields, land, and a shop…”

Mother Su was the mother-in-law today, and she became more and more satisfied with her son-in-law. She smiled, sat down on the carriage floor, and started chatting with others.

When everyone arrived and the bullock cart was about to start, Lu Bocheng ran over again, carrying a large bag of pastries and stuffing it into Mother Su’s arms, asking her to take it back for the twins to eat.

After saying that, without waiting for the uncles and aunts to make a few jokes, he ran away again with a red face.

Su Qingyu saw him looking like he had been chased by a dog and found it very funny.

The eldest son of the village chief’s family was driving a bullock cart and said to Mother Su: “Your son-in-law is not bad.”

Mother Su was modest, but she smiled at the eldest son and couldn’t hide her smile: “Well, he is not bad.”

Su Qingyu was teased all the way back. Sometimes she would respond in agreement. If she didn’t want to answer, she would remain silent. Anyway, she just pretended to be a thin-skinned young lady waiting to be married.

Upon entering the village gate, the mother and daughter unloaded their belongings from the ox cart. As soon as they entered the courtyard, a commotion erupted.

“Dàshěn^[1]aunt, you bought so many things!” Zheng Shi ran over exaggeratedly.

She had a noisy temperament and would get in wherever there was excitement. When she saw the mother and daughter carrying a lot of things on their backs, she immediately surrounded them and started to pick them up.

Su Qingyu held all the important things in her arms, turned aside to avoid her search, strode into the house, and put down her things. Then turned around and took the things from her mother’s hand, snatched two pieces of cloth from Zheng Shi’s hand, and turned around to carry her things back to her house.

Zheng Shi’s hands were empty and she stared blankly at Su Qingyu’s back.

After coming back to his senses, she said to Wang Shi: “Mom, how much money did you and Dad give to my dàsǎo for the dowry? My xiǎoshū ^[2]the younger brother of my husband hasn’t gotten married yet, and he has to buy things in two days. The younger ones in the family, as they grow older, the house won’t be big enough to live in…”

Zheng Shi was worried that the fifty taels would be spent by Wang Shi and would not fall into the hands of their third room.

Su Qingyu had just put her things away and heard her. She looked at her calmly and said, “She just gave us one tael of silver. Didn’t you all see it?”

After saying that, she pulled the twins who were leaning over and prepared to take them to wash their hands and eat. They walked all the way, so she was starving to death.

Zheng Shi didn’t believe it: “One tael of silver can buy so many things! The cloth alone is worth several taels of silver! Mom, did you give money to the dasao in private?”

Su Qingyu ignored her. Wang Shi obviously wouldn’t spend a penny more for the big house, so she would do it secretly? She didn’t even bother to do anything superficial about the room of people left behind by the former wife.

Sure enough, I heard Wang Shi raise her voice and say, “What are you calling for?”

Then Mother Su replied weakly, “My parents only gave me one tael of silver.”

“Then how do you have money to buy so many things?” Zheng Shi’s voice was sharp and loud.

Su Qingyu pretended not to hear, she just took the twins and carefully washed their little hands. The two little things clung to her very tightly. They disappeared all morning, and when they came back, they ran to her side.

It was lunchtime and everyone was in the courtyard. They were all very sensitive to money, especially those in the second room.

Marriage before the groom’s arrival—just a couple of days after Su Qingyu was married, Su Yewen was also about to get married. Yesterday, the Liu family caused a scene, and an extra five taels were spent on the dowry. The final amount left for the wedding expenses was uncertain, and Wang Shi had not yet made a decision.

If the eldest brother was given more, there was no reason why the second brother, as his direct grandson, should be given any less. The people in the second room stood still in the courtyard.

Su Qingyu took the twins to wash their hands, turned around, scanned the people in the courtyard, and then focused on the people in the second room.

Second Su was the eldest son of Wang Shi. Although Su Youwen was ranked lower than Su Qingsong, he was the eldest grandson of Wang Shi. There was no reason not to prefer him.

Normally Wang Shi would bully the eldest brother, and the second brother would occasionally help with a few words, unlike the third brother Zheng who liked to follow Wang Shi’s footsteps. Although Feng Shi was a reticent person in this room, in Su Qingnao’s view, her second aunt was truly shrewd.

Zheng Shi was usually allowed to play around, but the second wife got no less of the benefits.

Moreover, her two sons and daughters were well-raised and had a good reputation in the village. Su Chunlan married better than her sister Qingliu.

Xia He seemed to be nimble with his hands and feet, and his two sons looked good too. As the eldest son, Su Youwen was pushed out to the battlefield this time, but she was not seen jumping up.

Obviously, she knew that she couldn’t compete with Wang Shi, and Wang Shi couldn’t let the unmarried Su Siquan go.

So, even if they didn’t explicitly argue, there was still a subtle struggle. This time, Su Yewen’s marriage was largely orchestrated by Feng Shi, and the requests she made were accepted by both Wang Shi and Old Su.

The fifty taels of silver, apart from being used for the dowry to the Liu family, might also require Su Yewen to take away a portion of it.

Su Qingyu had observed the family for so many days and saw that Su Youwen was a sensible person. In addition, he was about to leave home and his life or death in the future was uncertain. Therefore, even if he took all fifty taels with him, Su Qingyu would not say much about it.

For the sake of preserving the Su family’s reputation, she wouldn’t fuss too much about it.

But Zheng Shi, why did she jump up?

She looked at her and said, “You all gave the main household one tael of silver. We did spend quite a bit of money on today’s purchases, but I won’t disclose the source of the silver, so don’t ask. As for the fifty taels of silver, I am letting you keep it all for the family. Use it however you want, and I won’t interfere.”

“Our family hasn’t been separated yet, how can you hide private money in the big house!”

After hearing this, Su Qingyu who was about to turn around and go to the kitchen to serve food turned around and looked at her coldly: “Do you think my parents, who are honest people, can hide so much money under my grandma’s noses?”

“Then where does your money come from?” Zheng Shi said reluctantly.

“Guess.”

Zheng Shi fell back in anger.

Just as she was about to catch up, Old Su said, “Let’s set the food.”

Zheng Shi wanted to make a fuss again, but when Wang Shi glared at her, she immediately stopped. Curiosity gnawed at her mind like insects scratching.

(End of chapter)