Chapter 5: The Two Families Meet

In the evening, the Lin family gathered around Lin Momo. Lin’s father and two older brothers wore expressions that were difficult to describe.

“Sweetie, think about it some more.”

“Yes, little sister, there’s no rush to get married.”

“Momo, how can you be getting married the day after your first meeting? You should date a bit first.” Her sister-in-law, Cao Shulan, had a disapproving expression.

“Momo…” Though it was Zhang Hui who had arranged the blind date, no one expected that Lin Momo would settle on it so quickly.

“Stop. Cheng Jinghao only has one week off. If we keep dragging this out, I’ll receive the notice to go to the countryside. You all remember how much trouble it caused when Sister-in-law and Brother-in-law got married, right? They had to use all kinds of connections to smooth things over,” Lin Momo said, looking at everyone.

Previously, when Zhang Hui received the notice to be sent to the countryside, it was only thanks to Cao Shulan’s relatives working at the youth office that they managed to pull some strings. Then, they rushed to get their marriage certificate to prevent the situation from getting worse.

“If Cheng Jinghao goes back to the army, and I get the countryside notice, am I supposed to go out and marry just anyone from the street?”

“Here, take a look at his photo,” Lin Momo said, handing over the picture of Cheng Jinghao she had taken that day.

“He looks good, but I’m not sure about his character.” Lin’s father muttered softly.

“He’s a soldier; his character should be fine, right?” Lin’s mother looked at Zhang Hui, since she was the only one who knew Cheng Jinghao better.

“He was a good kid when he was young. He was specially recruited into the army,” Zhang Hui explained.

“He’s so young and has already become a battalion commander. His character should be fine,” Lin Ze said, taking the photo from Lin’s father and carefully studying it.

(For reference, in some historical novels, the male lead may be a battalion commander or even a division commander at a young age. A battalion commander’s age typically ranges from 33 to 35, but here the male lead is written as 26 to avoid making his age too high, while still maintaining military eligibility.)

“His parents will come over tomorrow morning. You’ll know for yourselves. The bride price is one thousand, with three dowries and a set of wedding rings. The total is one thousand in cash, with the tickets to be given separately,” Lin Momo explained.

She couldn’t exactly tell them that she had known Cheng Jinghao for 28 years and that his character was beyond reproach.

“Isn’t the bride price too much?” The Lin family was surprised. In the city, the typical bride price for someone with a three dowries set and wedding rings was around seven hundred.

“Their family is well-off. Cheng Jinghao’s father is a retired soldier and now works as the factory director at a bearing plant, and his mother is the director of a shoe factory,” Zhang Hui explained. “The two families are quite well-matched.”

“They only have Cheng Jinghao as an only child, and both his parents are friendly and easygoing,” Zhang Hui added.

Actually, she personally thought this marriage was a good match. When she visited her parents’ home a couple of days ago, she met Cheng Jinghao and felt he was well-suited to her younger sister-in-law.

“This is from him,” Lin Momo said as she returned to her room. She took Cheng Jinghao’s bankbook from her space and handed it to Lin’s mother.

“This is the allowance and bonuses he’s accumulated during his years in the military.”

Lin’s mother opened the bankbook and was surprised, “So much? How can you accept this, child?”

“But Dad gave his wages to you, and my brothers gave their wives their allowances. Why can’t I take this?” Lin Momo took the bankbook back from her mother and kept it safe.

“…” The Lin family exchanged awkward glances. Lin Momo’s response seemed perfectly logical, and there was no argument against it.

Although they hadn’t yet gotten their marriage certificate, Lin Momo had already handed over the money. The Lin family was quite satisfied with this.

“The Zheng family has given so much betrothal money. Our dowry can’t be lacking; we can’t let Momo lose face. Since Momo is going to follow the army, we can’t prepare too many things, but we’ll convert them into cash, and she can buy what she needs once she’s in the army,” said eldest sister-in-law, Cao Shulan.

“Dad, Mom, Lin Ze and I are the eldest, we joined the workforce earlier, and we have more money than the second eldest. We should contribute more. We’ll give 500 yuan, and we also have some useful tickets; we’ll add them to Momo’s dowry,” Cao Shulan said with a smile.

“Eldest sister-in-law, no, no! Which family has so much dowry?” Lin Momo quickly waved her hands.

“Then we’ll contribute 300 yuan. I also have some tickets, I’ll add them for Momo,” Zhang Hui thought for a moment before speaking. She had joined the workforce later, after getting married, and had spent some money buying work-related items.

“Second sister-in-law…” Lin Momo was a little speechless, wondering if they would ever listen to her.

“We’ll contribute 1,200 yuan, make it a nice round number, and add some tickets,” Lin’s mother added, without considering Lin Momo at all. They continued discussing among themselves.

Lin Momo felt like a tool, hearing them talk excitedly.

Soon, Lin Father, Lin Ze, and Lin Yu joined the discussion, and Lin Momo didn’t even get a chance to speak.

Listening to their conversation, Lin Momo felt touched. From the memories of the original owner, she had always known her family spoiled her, but she didn’t expect that her two sisters-in-law would be so generous when it came to her dowry.

After all, in her previous life, she was a fan of novels and had read about many families where the relationship between sisters-in-law was tense. Even in real life, there were many such cases.

This could be attributed to Lin Father and Lin Mother’s personalities. When their two sons got married and bought houses, they both contributed a lot. Lin Mother wasn’t a domineering mother-in-law, and when it came to their daughter, she would also consider the daughter-in-law.

The next morning, Cheng Jinghao brought his parents to the Lin family. The Lin family had already arrived early. The two sisters-in-law were busy preparing lunch in the kitchen. Cao Shulan had even specially sent Lin Xiao Jie to her mother’s house.

The Zheng family brought a lot of gifts. As soon as Zheng’s mother saw Lin Momo, she enthusiastically pulled her aside to chat.

Yesterday, when her son went to meet her, she couldn’t stop praising him. Today, seeing Lin Momo, she thought she was such a lovely young lady.

Zheng’s father smiled and handed over the prepared betrothal gifts to Lin Momo. In addition to the betrothal gifts, Zheng’s parents had also prepared a red envelope as a greeting gift.

Actually, even before the two had met, Zheng’s parents had already asked around about Lin Momo and the Lin family’s character through Zhang Hui’s family.

They were very satisfied with the match, especially since their son liked her. Naturally, they were happy about it.

Lin Father and the two brothers, Lin Ze and Lin Yu, asked about Cheng Jinghao’s life in the army. People of this era were generally very curious and respectful towards soldiers. Cheng Jinghao patiently explained, and the three men nodded continuously in agreement.

As Cheng Jinghao spoke with Lin Father and his brothers, his gaze occasionally flickered towards Lin Momo, accompanied by a faint smile. This small gesture was noticed by Lin Mother, who became even more satisfied with the handsome future son-in-law.

“Your family really raised a great daughter, so beautiful and sensible,” Zheng’s mother said with a smile to Lin Mother. She had always wanted a daughter, but unfortunately, when she gave birth to Cheng Jinghao, her health was compromised, and she was unable to conceive again.

“Your son is also great. At such a young age, he’s already a battalion commander,” Lin Mother replied with a smile.

Lin Momo sat between the two mothers, listening to their mutual compliments, smiling on the surface, but feeling incredibly awkward inside.

She and Cheng Jinghao had been fighting since they were children, how had she never realized he had so many good qualities?

Luckily, the two sisters-in-law had finished preparing lunch, which was a relief for her.