novelraw Chapter 173 His wife plans to outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.
Chapter 173 His wife plans to outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.
Chapter 173 His wife plans to outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.
After these words were spoken, the Zhu family's wives no longer objected; clearly, Old Mrs. Zhu's pancakes were very tempting.
Not only were the wives of the Zhu family tempted, but the sons of the Zhu family, as well as Old Master Zhu, were also tempted.
“If that’s the case, then this marriage is indeed excellent. However, Mei’s father made a scene at our house, and our relationship is currently strained. It’s unlikely that we can get him to agree to this.”
“Father is right. This third son’s wife stole the second daughter’s cloth, and they’ve already made a scene at our house. Now we want to marry Mei’er into the family. Do you think they’ll agree?”
"You don't need to worry about that." Old Mrs. Zhu's eyelids drooped, concealing the thoughts in her eyes.
He simply asked, "Which of your sons is willing to marry Mei? Once we've made our decision, I'll send a matchmaker to the Gu family to propose. Mei's father has already found a matchmaker; if we're a step too late, we might end up with nothing!"
The eldest and second eldest brothers looked at each other, both wanting to agree to the marriage. They both winked at their daughters-in-law, signaling them to speak up and try to secure the marriage.
Qin and Ding, however, still had some reservations. The excuses made by the two sisters-in-law earlier were not just empty words, but were indeed true.
The boys in their house really didn't get along with Gu Mei, and it's still the same now. None of the boys looked down on Gu Mei and ignored her.
If we don't ask them and agree to this marriage on our own, they'll definitely cause a scene later.
Thinking of this, the two sisters-in-law turned around and glanced at the boys behind them. Sure enough, the boys kept shaking their heads at the two sisters-in-law.
They absolutely do not want to marry Gu Mei!
What's two taels of silver as a dowry? According to Grandma, that dowry is to be divided among the brothers, not left entirely to one of them.
So, whether they marry Gu Mei or not makes no difference; it won't prevent them from enjoying the benefits of the two taels of silver dowry.
If that's the case, why marry a girl you don't even like?
Once they receive the dowry, they can easily find a girl they like and marry her.
If the sons can think of these things, then the mother can naturally think of them too.
Qin and Ding stopped insisting, secretly pinched their husbands, and smiled as they refused again.
“Mother, as you can see, my two sons really don’t get along with Mei’er. Even a dowry of two taels of silver can’t tempt them. Why don’t you ask my second brother’s family about this?”
“Sister-in-law, that’s not very nice of you. Your son and Mei’er don’t get along, and so does my son. They both like pretty girls, you know that, so how can you push it onto us?”
Madam Ding gave a light scolding, then shifted the focus to the third branch of the family: "My son has a fiery temper, and I can't make decisions about their marriage. Unlike my third sister-in-law, her son is the most easygoing and obedient. As long as my third brother and sister-in-law agree to this, You Shou will have no objections!"
Qin's eyelids twitched, and she glanced at Ding, her expression unreadable.
Has the second sister-in-law lost her mind? How dare she push it onto the third wife's family!
After a pause, Qin glanced at Yan again, but surprisingly, she did not see Yan in a fit of rage.
Yan kept her head down and didn't speak, fidgeting with her fingers, seemingly plotting something.
Old Mrs. Zhu's eyes flickered twice, as if she was already mentally prepared for Qin and Ding to make excuses again. She wasn't angry, but only asked Yan, who hadn't said a word.
"Third brother's wife, you heard what your eldest and second sisters-in-law said. What do you say? Do you agree to this?"
Hearing her mother-in-law call her, Yan finally raised her head. Instead of replying to Old Lady Zhu, she stared at Zhu Laosan.
If we're talking about who understands the Yan family best, then in the entire Zhu family, there's no one but Zhu Laosan.
Upon meeting Yan's gaze, Zhu Laosan understood his wife's meaning.
She's tempted and wants to agree.
But his mother just said that Mei's two taels of silver dowry is to be divided among the boys in the family.
Even though everything was explained so clearly, his wife was still swayed. There's only one possibility: she's planning to outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.
First, get the dowry in his hands. Once it's in his wife's hands, no one can make her take it out again.
Not to mention dividing it among the sons of the family, that's out of the question.
Zhu Laosan sighed. Back then, his sister caused his wife to miscarry two children in succession. Now that his sister's daughter is marrying in with her dowry, it can be considered that this karma has been settled.
Once the dowry is sold, the family's savings will increase significantly.
As for the Gu family, Gu Lianshan's second daughter is good at earning money, and Gu Lianshan certainly doesn't lack money. With his eldest daughter marrying into the Zhu family, the relationship between the two families can be restored and they can continue to interact.
If you ever need money in the future, just ask Gu Mei to go back and borrow it.
Your own daughter comes to borrow money, and you, as her father, have plenty of money to spare. How can you say no?
If you don't lend it to her, how can your daughter have any face in her husband's family? How can she stand up for herself?
Just to make her daughter's life easier, she'll give him or her some money whenever he asks for it!
With this in mind, Zhu Laosan said to Yan Shi, "You've always been the one in charge in our family. Whether we agree or not, it's all up to you. You decide."
Yan's dull eyes lit up, and she immediately agreed: "My family has a husband for marriage!"
Grandma Zhu breathed a sigh of relief.
But before she could even catch her breath, Madam Yan made another demand: "The dowry that Mei brought should also benefit the first and second wives. In the end, my family's You Shou is the one that suffers the most! The family has to compensate us!"
Grandma Zhu frowned, clearly unwilling.
The first wife and the second wife also looked grim.
Madam Yan's face turned cold: "What? You've taken all the benefits, and we, the third branch, are just here to take the blame?! If that's the case, my family will not marry again if you have a son! We'll all end up with nothing!"
Let Mei'er take her dowry and marry into another family. As for our sons, they'll have to rely on their own abilities from now on. Those who can find wives will marry, and those who can't will remain childless!
The phrase "extinct lineage" was extremely damaging; apart from the third branch of the Zhu family, the other two branches all changed their attitudes.
Grandpa Zhu became even more anxious and, unusually, argued with Grandma Zhu: "I know you're thrifty, but is this the time to be thrifty? With our family's resources, we can only afford to get one son married at most! What about the other sons? Do you really intend to let them die without an heir?"
For men of this era, if the son in their family were to die out, it would be a great disgrace to their ancestors!
I'm too ashamed to be buried in the ancestral graveyard after I die! I'm even less ashamed to face my ancestors!
Therefore, Zhu Laoda and Zhu Laoer also became anxious.
"Mother, let's listen to Third Sister-in-law and give her some compensation." "Yes, yes, yes! Mother, Third Sister-in-law is right. Someone with Mei's temperament is really beneath You Shou; she deserves compensation..."
Qin and Ding also offered a few words of advice. Although they were dissatisfied, they knew which was more important, considering the two taels of silver dowry.
Old Mrs. Zhu's face was ashen. She picked up a bamboo bowl from the table and smashed it on the ground, pointing at everyone and cursing, "A bunch of heartless bastards! Don't you know how much savings we have? You gave it all to the third son's family. How are we supposed to make a living?!"
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly upon hearing this. Apart from the third branch of the family, everyone else looked away with a trembling expression.
Old Mrs. Zhu wasn't trying to fool them; everyone in the house could roughly calculate how much the Zhu family had saved.
Despite the large size of the Zhu family, none of them had a proper business; the entire family relied on renting land to make a living.
The men of the Zhu family didn't know how to hunt or had any other skills. They wouldn't dare go to Beian City to find work. During the busy farming season, they would work in the fields, and during the off-season, they would stay at home idle.
The women of the Zhu family were the same; they had no skills and no courage. Apart from working in the fields during the busy farming season, they spent their days at home taking care of the whole family.
It's easy to imagine that under such circumstances, what savings could the Zhu family possibly have? At most, a hundred or two copper coins, barely enough to cover two meals a day.
These are all things that cannot be used.
After the start of spring, it was the lean season when food was scarce, and every year these copper coins had to be used to buy grain, otherwise people would go hungry.
Just as Old Mrs. Zhu said, if this were given to the third wife, they really wouldn't be able to live like this anymore.
Yan didn't care about any of that. She only knew that only what she held in her own hands truly belonged to her.
Unfazed, she painted a rosy picture for Old Lady Zhu: "What are you afraid of? Once Mei'er marries in, how much of the boys' dowry will be left? The rest will all be yours."
Besides, I don't ask for much. It's my son's wedding. Just make him a new set of clothes: a long robe, a pair of trousers, and a pair of shoes and socks made of fine cloth. As long as you provide these, I won't ask for anything else!
A set of clothes made of fine cloth is indeed not much.
When other families in the village have their sons get married, they make them a set of fine cloth clothes so that both families can wear them on their wedding day and make the family look good.
However, the Zhu family was too poor to afford such a set of fine cloth clothes.
Old Mrs. Zhu softened her expression and told Madam Yan the truth: "I won't hide it from you, we only have two hundred copper coins in total. Half of them have to be used for Mei's betrothal, and the remaining one hundred copper coins are for the wedding feast."
Even if you don't want compensation, the family's current situation will still depend on Mei's dowry to make ends meet.
Yan glared angrily, about to say she wouldn't marry him.
Knowing her temper, Old Mrs. Zhu took a half step back before she could speak: "I have half a bolt of cloth in my room, it's also fine cloth, but it's been stored for many years and the color has faded badly. If you don't mind, cut half of that bolt of cloth and make a dress for You Shou."
Madam Yan was dissatisfied: "How much is half a bolt of cloth? And it's faded. Even if you gave me the whole thing, it wouldn't be enough. But you only gave me half?!"
Old Mrs. Zhu choked on her breath, and her anger flared up again.
Before she could continue arguing with Yan, Old Master Zhu, who was standing to the side, took the initiative and agreed: "Alright! Half a bolt is all yours."
These words angered Old Mrs. Zhu so much that she glared at her and was about to lash out.
Grandpa Zhu stopped her and patiently explained, "This is the first marriage among the grandchildren of our Zhu family. Outsiders are waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves. If you don't have decent clothes on your grandson's wedding day, will you look bad?"
Old Mrs. Zhu's face was long and drawn. She had already planned this out. With Yan Shi around, her grandson wouldn't let her lose face!
Yan was known for doting on her son and had long saved up the cloth he would need for his wedding.
Leaving aside distant examples, let's talk about something more recent. The piece of cloth that Yan stole from the Gu family, apart from making two sets of clothes for Mei and Lai'an, was left untouched by Yan. That alone was enough to make clothes for Youshou.
Yan had cloth in her hand but didn't want to use it, insisting on taking it from her side. Yan did this intentionally.
Yan Shi wouldn't use the piece of cloth she got to make clothes for You Shou. She would most likely sell it and then choose another piece of brightly colored cloth to make clothes for You Shou later.
We've lived together for over a decade; who doesn't know who?
Knowing this, she was unwilling to give all the cloth to Yan Shi. She would give as much cloth as she could, and Yan Shi would sell it all. The copper coins she received would not go to her family, but would all go into Yan Shi's hands.
Seeing his wife remain silent with a long face, Old Master Zhu sighed and whispered, "Putting everything else aside, just for the sake of Youshou, we still owe the third branch of the family something..."
Grandma Zhu paused, feeling a tightness in her chest.
Glancing at Zhu Youshou behind Yan Shi, a pang of sorrow welled up in her heart.
After a moment of silence, he got up and went to the east room.
Before long, Old Mrs. Zhu came out carrying a piece of dark blue cloth, her face drooping, and threw the cloth into Yan's arms.
Madam Yan hurriedly accepted the cloth, beaming with joy: "Thank you for the cloth, Mother! My son Youshou is a filial son, he will always remember your kindness!"
While talking, Yan's hands were also busy. She deftly flipped the cloth over a few times and found that the color had indeed faded badly, with some areas even turning white.
Yan would not use this cloth to make clothes for her son to wear at his wedding. She planned to keep it and sell it for copper coins when the opportunity arose.
Seeing that his daughter-in-law had truly benefited, Zhu Laosan's expression softened considerably when facing his mother, and he urged her to quickly find a matchmaker.
"Since it's all settled, Mother, you should hurry and find a matchmaker. Have the matchmaker go to the Gu family first thing tomorrow morning. Right now, the news that Mei'er has a dowry hasn't spread yet, so we can still visit. But once the news gets out, we're afraid we won't even be able to get through the door!"
These words brought Old Mrs. Zhu to her senses, and she got up to leave.
There are matchmakers in the village, so you can just go and ask them for help. After the marriage is done, you will definitely receive a gift from the matchmaker.
Just as she was about to step out, Old Lady Zhu remembered something, quickly stopped, withdrew her foot, and turned back to sternly warn Yan.
"Now that we've taken Mei's dowry, we can't order people around anymore! If I find out you're ordering her around or trying to torment her, don't blame me for being rude!"
Yan pouted, her hatred undiminished, but she smiled and nodded: "I'm not that heartless. Over the years, Mei has often come to our house. Have you seen me torment her?"
Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. In the past ten years or so, the third son's wife has indeed never mistreated Mei.
Grandma Zhu put aside her worries and quickly left the house.
After everyone left, Madam Yan happily returned to the west wing with her husband and son.
The two sisters-in-law, Qin and Ding, watched Yan leave with the cloth, their eyes filled with envy and resentment.
When their sons get married, they also ask their mothers-in-law for half a bolt of cloth!
They were both grandsons, but Yan's son got to wear new clothes on his wedding day, and so did their sons!
You must treat your mother-in-law fairly!