Chapter 33

Hearing the two sisters’ exclamations, Qiao Changhai began to show off with a proud look on his face.

“Do you know how much that big double-door wardrobe with mirrors sold for at the furniture factory? One hundred and sixty!”

“And that two-story kangqin, even though it doesn’t cost much to make it yourself, I bought it from a furniture factory, it cost 150 yuan!”

“The two wooden boxes on the ground are made of even less expensive wood, but they cost 65 yuan each.”

“Add a dining table, four stools, and a bowl rack in the kitchen. Do the math. Is the 500 yuan that Xiao Shen gave us enough?”

Hearing Qiao Changhai listing the price of each piece of furniture as if he were counting the price of the back of their hand, the Qiao sisters felt so painful that they covered their chests.

If the money was not used to buy furniture for San Ya, and kept in Qiao Changhai’s own hands, they could also borrow a hundred or eighty yuan.

The lame third child has no son to support her in her old age, so she will have to rely on their son for support in the future, so she doesn’t have to pay back the money she borrowed.

But now, all the betrothal gifts have been spent. What should they do?

Qiao Dagui was so angry that she pointed at Qiao Changhai and cursed at him.

“Lame Third Brother! Your legs are lame, and your brain is lame too? You are marrying off your daughter, not finding a wife for your son, so why are you buying furniture?”

“Shen Xiao is a battalion commander who can afford a 500 yuan gift. How can he not afford furniture with 36 legs?”

“She’s just a little girl, and giving her two quilts is already a good thing for them. You’re so poor, and you’re pretending to be poor. If you don’t keep the betrothal money for your old age, who do you expect to support you?!”

Qiao Dagui’s angry look made Qiao Changhai laugh.

He looked at his sister Qiao Dagui and raised his eyebrows, then said calmly, “Sister, I didn’t spend your money, why are you in such a hurry?”

“Besides, who says that if you don’t have a son, there will be no one to take care of you in your old age? I already have a daughter, and now I have a son-in-law who is a battalion commander.”

“Your sons are all members of the cooperative. They work hard for a year, but they don’t earn as much as my daughter and son-in-law earn in two months.”

“Besides, what’s the point of raising a son? You have to live under the mood of your daughter-in-law. You don’t even have time to worry about my retirement. You should think more about yourself.”

Qiao Changhai showed off his daughter and son-in-law with a smug look on his face, which made Qiao Dagui very angry.

“You! You!”

Qiao Dagui was so angry that she was shaking all over. She shivered for a long time but couldn’t find any words to refute.

Qiao Dagui gave birth to five sons and three daughters, all of whom were farmers who depended on the weather for their livelihood. They worked very hard all year round just to have enough food and clothing.

The year before last, several sons quarreled over the division of the family property. The second and third sons fought over a pigpen and a barn, and their heads were broken and bloody. For this reason, Qiao Dagui ran back to her parents’ home to borrow money and built a pigpen and a barn for each son, which finally made the sons and daughters-in-law quiet down.

Qiao Dagui’s sons each had five or six children. With seven or eight mouths to feed, but only two or three able to work, they could not save more than 200 yuan a year. Her second daughter and her husband were lazy, and they owed money to the production team every year. They lived a tight life and had to rely on her parents’ help every now and then.

Qiao Changhai only has one child, Qiao Baozhu, who is an educated youth and earns 32 yuan a month. Shen Xiao, the battalion commander, earns more, and the couple only earns more than 100 yuan a month. The life of a dual-income family is many times better than that of ordinary farmers.

Brothers and sisters in the same family know each other’s lives best. Qiao Changhai’s words were obviously more painful than his sister’s.

After Qiao Changhai touched his sister’s heart, he looked at his younger sister Qiao Ergui.

He asked slowly, “I was busy delivering dowry to my child yesterday and didn’t pay attention to my family.”

“How did you pay for your gifts? I was thinking I’d ask my eldest brother when I got home, but now that you’re here, I don’t have to ask anyone else.”

“Did you give the gift money to my family to our mother for custody, or did you let my eldest brother take it for me?”

When it comes to the gift money, Qiao Ergui didn’t dare to say anything and looked at Qiao Dagui guiltily.

Qiao Dagui said disapprovingly: “San Ya is Second Brother’s daughter, so of course the money should be given to Second Brother. Why do you care about us asking for money?”

Qiao Baozhu was reluctant to get involved in the dispute among the elders, but since the gift-giving matter concerned her, it was finally her turn to speak.

“Aunt, I have been adopted by the Third House for 11 years and have no connection with the Second House. If you don’t want to return the gift, you don’t have to fool me with this.”

Qiao Dagui glared at Qiao Baozhu, dissatisfied with Qiao Baozhu’s “betrayal” of her biological parents, and spoke well of the third wife.

“What do you mean I don’t want to return the gift? Why did I give your gift to the second wife? It was because you two forced me to do it!”

Qiao Changhai and his daughter Qiao Baozhu were both stunned. How could this matter be blamed on them?

Qiao Dagui sneered at Qiao Baozhu: “Let me ask you, are you the second wife’s biological child? Your father and mother gave birth to you and raised you for seven or eight years. They treated you well, right?”

“What is the betrothal gift? It is the money for cutting off one’s flesh and breaking off an engagement. A daughter who is married off is like water spilled, so is it wrong to ask you for some betrothal money?”

“You threatened the reputation of our Qiao family and demanded the betrothal money from your mother. You are so evil! I just can’t stand you bullying the second wife, so I want to give the betrothal money to the second wife.”

“I just did it, what can you do to me?”

When Qiao Baozhu heard these familiar words, she understood instantly.

That day, she relied on the support of the man’s relative Zhang Guifen and the matchmaker Liu Meilan to make the second wife happily pay the betrothal money. But with Ge Liuping’s temper, she would never swallow that anger easily.

Yesterday, when Ge Liuping was picking up the bride, she took advantage of Qiao Changhai’s absence and made up stories in front of the relatives.

Qiao Dagui had always looked down on her lame brother. When she heard that they were bullying the strong and using the family’s reputation to threaten others, how could she sit still? She immediately took out the gift money and gave it all to the second wife.

Not only did she pay double the betrothal money herself, she also instigated others to put Qiao Baozhu’s share of the betrothal money into the second house’s account, leaving not a penny for Qiao Changhai.

However, Qiao Baozhu and her daughter did not know about this originally, and it was only revealed by Qiao Dagui in anger.

Qiao Changhai was so angry at his sister’s outrageous words and actions that he trembled.

“Are you crazy? Those are all favors I’ve been doing over the years. If they don’t pay it back now, when will they pay it back? Who do you think you are to come to my house and meddle in my business?”

“I won’t spend a penny on your three children’s weddings tomorrow! Our two families will no longer be related and will no longer have any contact with each other!”

Qiao Dagui disagreed: “It’s fine if we break off the relationship, what’s so great about you!”

Seeing that her adoptive father’s face turned red and his neck became thick with anger, Qiao Baozhu hurriedly patted him on the back to calm him down.

“Dad, it’s not worth getting angry over such a small matter. Since the aunts look down on our family, Shen Xiao and I will no longer associate with her two families in the future.”

“One less relative means less trouble. From now on, you two old people can live with us. There is no need to associate with irrelevant people.”

Qiao Baozhu’s words made the Qiao sisters all change their expressions.

It’s fine if the cripple doesn’t want to associate with him, but Shen Xiao is an officer, someone they couldn’t get close to before. They finally became relatives, but why are they breaking off the relationship before they even had time to get to know each other?

If my family knew about this, they would definitely blame them.

Qiao Ergui became anxious, so she pushed her sister forward and winked at her desperately.

He pretended to smile and teased the two of them: “Big sister, third brother, you two are old enough to have grandchildren, why are you still quarreling like you did when you were little? You are saying all kinds of nonsense in front of the younger generation.”

“Our parents are still alive. Believe it or not, I will go home and complain.”