Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Back to the 80s: A Marriage of Favor
"What should I do with you? I'll send you back to your Maternal Family! You spoiled girl, you're about to get married and still have this temper. From now on, Qi Zheng will have a hard time with you." Given Zhao Jin's obvious tone, Xu Mei couldn't help but be drawn into Zhao Jin's established mindset, firmly believing that Zhao Jin had already decided to marry Qi Zheng.
Then, she heard Xu Mei continue, "No way, our Zhao Family is marrying off a daughter; we can't let Qi Zheng be at a disadvantage. I need to talk to your dad and see if we can add some more to your dowry. We can't let the Qi Family suffer too much loss, can we?"
Zhao Jin had originally pretended to be spoiled in order to win her mother's favor and get her on her side. Unexpectedly, not only did her mother support her, but she also intended to increase her dowry.
This was completely an unexpected delight.
As the daughter of the Zhao Family, Zhao Jin certainly didn't have bad intentions of taking advantage of her Maternal Family's resources for her future In-law Family. It was just that the Qi Family was currently going through a very difficult time financially, and Zhao Jin couldn't help but think more about the Qi Family.
When the Qi Family eventually prospered, Zhao Jin would definitely repay her Maternal Family for what she owed them.
And that day wouldn't be far off. So, Zhao Jin felt completely at ease and planned to take advantage of her Maternal Family's support to repay the Qi Family's kindness.
"Mom! You're being biased again! Cousin hasn't even gotten married yet, and you're already thinking about adding to her dowry?" Living in the same courtyard, Xu Mei's voice was loud enough for Second Sister-in-law Qian Minmin to hear. With some complaints in her heart, she couldn't help but come out.
In Zhao Jin's family, there were two older brothers and one older sister. Except for the sister who had married into her In-law Family, she lived with her brothers and sisters-in-law along with their parents. They saw each other every day; there were bound to be conflicts, but they were family and usually resolved issues behind closed doors. Once outside, they were exceptionally united and protective of each other.
In the past, Zhao Jin couldn't see through all this; she often thought Second Sister-in-law was too harsh on her, always targeting her and taking advantage of her—she wasn't a good person.
But later on, when she was bullied by the Wu Family, the one who jumped up in anger and scolded the loudest was none other than Qian Minmin, who often challenged her.
Zhao Jin still remembered how Qian Minmin had slapped Wu Feng hard across the face without hesitation. At that moment, looking at the long red marks on Wu Feng's face left by Qian Minmin's nails brought Zhao Jin immense satisfaction.
Since then, Zhao Jin suddenly cleared away the fog that had been blocking her view and began to see everyone around her correctly.
Not everyone who smiled gently at her was a good person; for example, Aunt Si Chen Cui. And not everyone who seemed to enjoy making things difficult for her was a bad person; for instance... Second Sister-in-law Qian Minmin.
Recalling how Qian Minmin had defended her in her previous life, Zhao Jin smiled brightly at Qian Minmin: "Isn't it because our Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law are just too wonderful!"
One shouldn't strike someone who is smiling; Qian Minmin had always been someone who responded better to kindness than harshness. Suddenly being met with such a smile from Zhao Jin dazzled her. A particularly sharp tongue suddenly became clumsy: "Who... whose?"
"My goodness! I really think my Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law are the best sisters-in-law in the world. Not only are they beautiful, but they also have such good temperaments. My older brother, Second Brother, is so lucky to have married such wonderful wives; it's truly a blessing he earned over eight lifetimes, they are so fortunate!" In the past, Zhao Jin was not this talkative. But having been given a second chance, she wanted to change herself. The first step was to improve her relationship with Second Sister-in-law Qian Minmin.
Qian Minmin was genuinely taken aback by Zhao Jin's words. She stood there stunned for a while before finally awkwardly managing to say, "Clearly, you are the most beautiful in our family."
To be honest, Zhao Jin was indeed the prettiest in the Zhao Family. But hearing Qian Minmin say that she was beautiful surprised not only Xu Mei, who was standing nearby, but even Zhao Jin herself.
However, after the surprise, what filled Zhao Jin's heart was a greater sense of satisfaction and happiness.
Without thinking much, Zhao Jin shook her head and insisted, "I still think Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law are prettier than me, truly."
Zhao Family's Sister-in-law Sun Chun'er had not participated in the conversation but was often included in Zhao Jin's praises, which left Sun Chun'er both amused and exasperated.
"Alright, alright, Second Sister-in-law should say less. Right now, we only have this one unmarried girl in our family; when she gets married, we sisters-in-law should contribute more to her dowry," Sun Chun'er said kindly. In the Zhao Family, her words carried significant weight. Hearing this, Qian Minmin pursed her lips and didn't say much more; she simply snorted softly and moved on from the topic.
At this point, Qian Minmin's attitude was quite clear; she tacitly agreed to contribute to Zhao Jin's dowry.
Since Qian Minmin spoke up, Xu Mei had remained silent. She was afraid that any wrong word might provoke Qian Minmin; what should have been a minor issue had unexpectedly escalated.
Only when the eldest daughter-in-law Sun Chun'er stepped forward did Xu Mei finally show a smile on her face. In a good mood, she turned and went into the kitchen to prepare pig feed.
Xu Mei couldn't help but feel grateful that both of her daughters-in-law were not malicious or temperamental. The eldest daughter-in-law had never had a falling out with her since marrying into the Zhao Family and treated everyone else in the household kindly.
The second daughter-in-law was a bit tougher. However, most of the time she was reasonable and didn't stir up trouble unnecessarily to make everyone unhappy.
Having these two daughters-in-law made Xu Mei quite satisfied. Otherwise, they would be in constant conflict or at least have an unsettled home without any peaceful days.
The daughters-in-law were very understanding, and Xu Mei as a mother-in-law did her part well. For instance, regarding various farm chores, as long as Xu Mei could manage them herself, she wouldn't specifically ask Sun Chun'er and Qian Minmin to help.
At this moment of feeding the pigs was just like that; Xu Mei planned to do it herself.
"Mom, let me handle it," Xu Mei said. She was a good mother-in-law, and Sun Chun'er as a daughter-in-law was no less impressive. She never entertained thoughts of slacking off and was indeed diligent.
A family should empathize with each other and not be overly concerned with trivial matters; life will be more comfortable that way.
Compared to Sun Chun'er’s eagerness, Qian Minmin was rather quiet. It wasn't that she was lazy or unwilling to do housework; it was just that she found the pigsty too dirty.
In the past, Qian Minmin wouldn’t have been so particular. However, she had a three-year-old ancestor at home, named Zhao Yaozong, who was the apple of her eye. Whenever she went to the pigsty, she would surely return to be scolded by her ancestor for smelling bad, and he wouldn’t even let her, his own mother, touch him.
Qian Minmin loved her child dearly and couldn’t tolerate such treatment. After a few attempts, she resolutely refused to go near the pigsty again.
Of course, as long as it wasn’t feeding the pigs, Qian Minmin would take on other tasks. She rarely slacked off in the fields either; even when she was sick, she insisted on working several plots of land.
Everyone in the family knew about the little drama between Qian Minmin and Zhao Yaozong, so no one forced Qian Minmin to feed the pigs. Usually, it would be Xu Mei or Sun Chun'er who would silently step in to help without saying a word.
This shows that the Zhao Jin family had a good relationship with each other and maintained a rare harmonious atmosphere, which could be described as warm and beautiful.
This is also why Zhao Jin could grow up pampered despite being born in a poor and backward mountain village like Willow Leaf Village. Besides her numerous cousins, she was the most cherished in the family!
Zhao Jin was eighteen this year; her eldest brother was twenty-nine, her second brother was twenty-five, and even her married sister was five years older than her. The family didn’t need her labor, so they never expected her to work in the fields. Even when two sisters-in-law came into the family, they regarded Zhao Jin as an immature girl and rarely asked her for help.
Over time, Zhao Jin's "precious" status became well-deserved, resulting in a rather spoiled personality.
In her previous life, Zhao Jin didn’t think there was anything wrong with her character. Wasn’t she just a bit "precious"? As long as she married into a good in-law family in the future, why should she endure so much hardship? People strive for better lives; Zhao Jin was one of those who followed this principle.
However, after experiencing what she called a "wealthy" in-law family, Zhao Jin had lost all respect for the Wu Family and chose to distance herself from others who were referred to as "good families."
Now, all she could think about was marrying into the Qi Family to become Qi Zheng's wife. She couldn’t care less about anything else.
When Zhao Jin insisted on marrying into the Qi Family, the three men of the Zhao Family who had just returned from the fields were not very pleased. The first to object was Zhao Zhenan, the second brother of the Zhao Family.
"Why should our sister marry over there? Isn’t it Zhao Ying'er’s turn? Why should our sister suffer by marrying into the Qi Family?" Zhao Zhenan rolled up his sleeves as if ready to fight anyone who dared to force Zhao Jin into marriage.
The eldest brother of the Zhao Family, Zhao Zhenqi, also did not support this idea. Although he didn’t show anger like Zhao Zhenan did, he still looked at Xu Mei and asked, “Mom, who came by today?”
Xu Mei was momentarily taken aback by Zhao Zhenqi's question and didn't think much of it, simply replying, "Your Aunt Si came by to talk to your sister about something."
"Aunt Si? What could it be?" Aunt Si's intentions were quite clear; did she want their sister, Zhao Ying'er, to marry into the Qi Family? Not a chance!
While Xu Mei was still processing this, Zhao Jin quickly reacted and added, "Aunt Si is here to introduce me. It's her nephew from Sister-in-law's Family, the Wu Family."
Due to preconceived notions, Zhao Zhenqi was certain that neither the Wu Family nor any other family would be approved: "Which Wu Family? Does she really have such good intentions?"
"I know which Wu Family. That nephew is named Wu Feng, right? From Zhou Tai Village? He even came to talk to me yesterday." Zhao Zhenqi didn't connect the dots, but Zhao Zhenan immediately knew who it was.
However, compared to Zhao Zhenqi, Zhao Zhenan had a better impression of Wu Feng: "I think that Wu Feng looks decent and is quite tall. I've heard his family is doing well; many girls are hoping to marry into that family for a better life."
Upon hearing this from Zhao Zhenan, Xu Mei nodded immediately: "Yes, your Aunt Si thinks the same way. But your sister disagrees, so she didn't accept."
"Huh? Why doesn't she agree? I think this match is better than marrying into the Qi Family!" To express his strong stance, Zhao Zhenan emphasized again, "Not just better, but many times better."
Comment 0 Comment Count