The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 672 - 659: Slapping the Transmigrator 14 (Bonus for 400 Monthly Tickets)

Cui Yiran was in a particularly bad mood.

Yesterday was the day when the Ji Family delivered Anning’s dowry. Cui Yiran listened as the maids at home chatted, saying that Ji Anning’s dowry was extremely generous.

Earlier on when he was reading, he also knew that Ji Anning’s dowry was substantial. The book had said that Ji Anning simply relied on her family background and her rich dowry to oppress Cui Yiran.

However, the book mentioned it only in passing, and Cui Yiran wasn’t inclined to take it to heart.

But, when he truly saw how much Ji Anning’s dowry was, he couldn’t help but feel unsettled.

Anyway, he just felt uncomfortable.

That was more than a hundred carriers of dowry items! Many of the items were individually worth a fortune, and a few were treasures of immeasurable value. That was a serious amount of money.

Cui Yiran was not yet married and was just a young master living off a monthly salary. He had no property of his own nor had he saved much money. One could say his life was very tight; he was in real and urgent need of money. Hence, upon hearing about the extent of Ji Anning’s dowry, he felt extremely uncomfortable.

He had been wearing the same clothes for some days, but even up to now, he hadn’t found any way to make money.

For one thing, there were some matters he couldn’t undertake, and for another, even in industries he knew were profitable, he didn’t dare to get involved.

For example, glassmaking, cement production, soap manufacturing, and so on, these were all highly lucrative in ancient times, but he truly didn’t dare to enter these trades.

If he got involved with these, it wouldn’t just be his personal assets and life at risk, he feared his actions could drag down the entire Cui family.

And small trades, he couldn’t handle those either.

After all, doing business in ancient times was different from modern times; there were so many intricacies involved. Even if Cui Yiran was somewhat conceited and, in Anning’s view, not entirely clear-headed, he wasn’t so arrogant as to disregard everyone under the heavens.

As a result, Cui Yiran’s life hadn’t been very good up to now. At most, he had just gotten a few more informants inside the manor, and then squeezed a bit of money out of Old Master Cui. Other than that, he really hadn’t come up with any other tricks.

This also fueled his envy for the Ji Family’s wealth.

Another thing, he was beaten up this morning after getting someone to put a sack over his head.

He didn’t know who had hit him, but he was beaten quite painfully, especially on the face. His entire face swelled up and he nearly looked like a pig’s head.

And in a few days, it would be the time for the Guan family to send their dowry.

If Cui Yiran’s face hadn’t recovered by then, that would be truly embarrassing.

Anning was unaware that Cui Yiran had been beaten, but the one who had the sack put over his head was Ji Anhe.

Ji Anhe had long found Cui Yiran displeasing and had later heard various rumors.

Ji Anhe really believed Cui Yiran wanted to drown Anning, and he was so angry he almost stormed into the Cui family to make a fuss. He barely managed to restrain his rationality.

Only when the day was free from official duties did he call a few dependable friends to sack Cui Yiran and drag him into a small alley to deliver a thorough beating and vent his anger.

After beating Cui Yiran, Ji Anhe had a meal with his friends and then went home.

Tomorrow Anning was to marry, and Ji Anhe definitely wanted to be at home to see Anning off on the bridal sedan chair.

He didn’t tell Anning about this matter; Anning was about to get married, and Ji Anhe wanted her to marry well.

The wedding day arrived quickly. Anning was woken up in the middle of the night by Moli and others. She took a bath first, applied ointment on her body, and then received all sorts of skincare treatments. Her hair was treated with osmanthus oil, her face with ointment and various kinds of powders and whatnot. After changing into the wedding dress and having her hair done, it was already bright daylight.

Anning sat on the bed, covered with a bridal veil, waiting for Xiao Yuan.

Over there, Xiao Yuan was incredibly happy, decked in red and with festive decorations, riding a tall horse and bringing along eight bridal carriers to Ji Family’s place.

He had just left when Ms. Ping made Xiao Daya help with receiving the relatives and friends.

Although Xiao Yuan’s father went to the Ji Family, he was not an only child. He had uncles and the like, as well as some close relatives. Ms. Ping wasn’t born from a rock either; she also had numerous relatives and connections.

Xiao Yuan’s uncles were not in the Capital; the Xiao family’s old home was in the countryside, not far from the Capital. Xiao Yuan’s father was literate and educated. After getting married, he came to the Capital to work in the accounting room, bought a house here, and stayed on.

The few Xiao branches living in the countryside were peasants in the village, but their lives were still quite manageable.

Now that Xiao Yuan was getting married, naturally, the people from those branches had to be invited.

Xiao Yuan’s father was the second eldest son, with one older brother and two younger brothers. In addition, Xiao Yuan’s grandfather had also taken in an adoptive son. Though called an adoptive son, the child had been orphaned since he was little and was raised by Xiao Yuan’s grandparents, so he was almost like a blood relative.

By this account, the Xiao Family consisted of five branches.

Today, the other four branches had all arrived.

Xiao Yuan’s uncle was named Xiao Cai, he had two more uncles, one named Xiao Jin and the other Xiao Yin, and the adoptive uncle was named Xiao Suozi—that made four branches of the family, each with their own families and children in tow. Their arrival made for quite a commotion.

Regardless, Ms. Ping endured it all.

After all, it was just for this one day. Once it was over and the four branches returned home, peace would return to the household.

Apart from the four branches of the Xiao Family, Xiao Daya’s husband Lu Gui also came.

He busied himself with all sorts of tasks—in truth, he was very diligent.

These concerns were not for Xiao Yuan to handle. After he went to the Ji Family to recite the bridal prodding poems and handed out the red packets, he endured quite a few beatings before finally arriving at Anning’s boudoir.

Xiao Yuan did not enter, but instead stood outside and composed another bridal prodding poem, after which Anning finally came out.

Xiao Yuan and Anning went to bid farewell to Mr. Ji and Mrs. Ji.

Mr. Ji had a stern expression on his face, while Mrs. Ji bore traces of tears.

She held Anning’s hand and kept giving words of advice: she talked mainly about the need for marital affection, advising Anning to curtail her temper, not to nitpick over every issue, to treat her husband kindly, and to be filial to her mother-in-law and such.

Anning listened quietly; behind her, Ji Anhe grew impatient. He coughed and pointedly said to Xiao Yuan: "My sister may be marrying you, but don’t think she is now just a part of your family. If you treat her poorly, I will take her back home. As long as I, Ji Anhe, am alive, you better not think of bullying my sister. Do you understand?"

Xiao Yuan smiled and gave a formal salute to Ji Anhe: "As long as I am alive, I will not let her suffer any grievances. If you wish to take her back, it would have to be over my dead body."

His words were so stern that they caused the Ji Family and others present to be taken aback for a while.

Then Mr. Ji cleared his throat and said, "All right, the auspicious time has come. Hurry and get on the palanquin."

It was Ji Anhe who carried Anning onto the decorated bridal sedan.

After escorting Anning onto the palanquin, he turned around and wiped away tears, then glared fiercely at Xiao Yuan: "Don’t just say fine words; I want to see your actions. Thousands of nice words are worthless compared to one deed."

Xiao Yuan was not offended and smiled, "She is indeed your sister, but she is also my wife. You can’t be with her for life, but I can. Tell me, how could I treat her poorly?"

Ji Anhe remained unconvinced.

Xiao Yuan straightened his attire and addressed Ji Anhe with utmost seriousness: "I am not merely mouthing platitudes; I truly believe it. In this world, parents, children, siblings—who can stay with you for a lifetime? Yet, a spouse is the one who will stand beside you until your last breath. When I am old, bedridden, or even confused due to illness, it will be her who takes care of me. My life or death, whether I should continue to seek medical treatment or be left to fade away—she will be the one to decide. Tell me, how could I treat her poorly?"

The speech left not just Ji Anhe but also the Ji servants who came to watch the commotion, the nearby neighbors, and the friends and relatives of the Ji Family completely stunned.

What Xiao Yuan said was indeed novel to them, something they had never heard before.

Especially for the men, who had only ever heard sayings like "brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes" and had never considered the importance of a wife’s presence in their lives.

Mrs. Ji, who had not come out of the house, also heard his words as relayed by a young servant girl.

After listening, she said to Mr. Ji: "Our Anning has married the right person. No matter what the state of my son-in-law’s family is, the sincerity of his heart is truly rare."

Mr. Ji took Mrs. Ji’s hand in his.

When he was younger, he did not think much of it and did not feel Mrs. Ji was that important.

But now, having seen his parents and older brother off, and with both his younger sisters married with their own children, hardly seeing each other once a year, it was at this moment that he realized how important Mrs. Ji was to him.

Just as Xiao Yuan had said, the one who had accompanied him through life’s latter half and all its storms was none other than his wife by his side.