Chapter 55: Betrothal Presents and Dowry

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had a few visitors when Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony was in full swing.

Qin Yi was fully recovered now, he hunted a stag and brought it with him as a thank you gift for the couple. The couple felt bad for taking this present, they declined several times but to no avail, Qin Yi and his kids insisted them taking the stag.

Lu Lin finally agreed, but he insisted that Qin Yi and his kids should stay for dinner. Qin Yi felt a bit shy, but he agreed to stay in the end.

Lu Lin cooked three courses and some soup, Stewed Chicken with Dried Bamboo Shoots, Braised Fish in Brown Sauce, Scrambled Eggs with Tomato, Pork Bone Broth and some veggies as side dish.

The Qins lived in deep mountain, they had not had a feast like this before. They hadn't had a proper meal since Qin Yi's wife passed away. The two boys tried to take small bites and act civil in the beginning, but soon they started to devour the dishes.

Qin Yi kept shotting warning looks at his kid but to no avail. Qin Lang and Qin Ming just couldn't help themselves.

Qin Yi shook his head, he gave up, he knew he couldn't blame his kids. Lu Lin was such a great chef, soon Qin Yi gave up on his table manners as well.

Both Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were glad that they had guests, they hadn't had any guest for so long.

"Mi, I'm so happy for you, I cannot believe a young hunter like you now has a such big household!" Qin Yi said with emotion and admiration in the tone.

Qin Yi wished he could buy a house and settle down in the village as well, but he didn't have any money. Qin Yi knew Chen Xiao Mi when Chen Xiao Mi first started hunting, Qin Yi felt sorry for such a young Bio who had to risk his life in the deep mountains so he helped Chen Xiao Mi several times, but life was so unpredictable, now not only had Chen Xiao Mi survived, but he was leading such an affluent life.

Chen Xiao Mi scratched his head and said modestly, "I just... I just have some good luck."

Chen Xiao Mi was very respectful to Qin Yi who was a senior hunter, he always acted humble in senior hunters' presence.

Qin Yi finished his rice in the bowl, Chen Xiao Mi served him another bowl.

"Thank you so much, Mi. This is such a feast!"

Chen Xiao Mi smiled, "Lu Lin is a great cook."

Qin Lang Qin Ming and Chen Xiao Cai Chen Xiao Mai became fast friends, they kept talking and laughing after dinner.

Qin Yi looked at the moon and estimated the time, it was time to say goodbye. Qin Lang and Qin Ming felt reluctant to part with their new friends and such a nice household.

Lu Lin gave Qin Lang and Qin Ming a bag of pancakes as a gift, the kids gazed at Qin Yi like two puppies, Qin Yi felt bad to take more gift from Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi, but he didn't have the heart to upset his kids, so he told his boys to say thank you to Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi.

Qin Lang held the bag like it were a bag of treasure on the way home. As a matter of fact, he wanted to sell that stag for money and give Lu Lin something else as a thank you gift. But now he was glad he listened to his father, Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi had beautiful souls and they deserved the best.

"Father, that was the best food I have ever had! When can we visit them and have dinner at theirs again?" Qin Ming smacked his lips.

Qin Yi put on an angry face, "Is that all you want to do? Have dinner at Chen Xiao Mi's?"

Qin Ming scratched his head with confusion, "Father, you seem to have really enjoy the food as well, you have eaten three bowls of rice, I saw that!"

Qin Yi made a face, he was so glad that the moonlight was dim and his kids hadn't seen how blushed he was. He agreed on what Qin Ming said, that was indeed the best food he had ever had in his life, too.

In Chen Xiao Mi's house.

Lu Lin touched the pilose antler on the stag and said, "Qin Yi is such a grateful person! He can sell this stag for a large amount of money, yet he gave it to us as a thank you gift."

Chen Xiao Mi nodded, "Yes, Qin Yi is a great person!"

Lu Lin did some quick math in the heart, the pilose antler alone was worth about 8 taels (T/N: traditional Chinese medical science values pilose antler). Some people would buy the stag as game, it was worth at least 1 tael.

Lu Lin was surprised that Qin Yi had given the stag to them just to say thank you, Qin Yi and his kids needed money more than anyone, but they were just too grateful to keep the stag to themselves.

Lu Lin was touched by the simple and honest folkway that Qin Yi possessed, he hated a lot of people in the village, but he was genuinely touched by Qin Yi.

Lu Lin cut the pilose antler and stored them in the store, pilose antler was precious, both Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi agreed on saving them in the store, they didn't want to sell them just yet. And they agreed on eating the stag meat by themselves instead of selling it as game to the wealthy people in town.

The villagers kept talking about Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony for a long time.

"Why didn't the Secretary-General show up in the end? Isn't the bride the Secretary-General's daughter?"

"No, the Secretary-General is the bride's brother-in-law."

"Oh, just brother-in-law."

"But he is still supposed to show up and send his wishes even though he is just the bride's brother-in-law, isn't he?"

"Is it because he is an official in town, and he looks down upon villagers like us."

"But Lu Cheng Yu goes to school in town, he is a Tongsheng."

"Tongsheng is not a big deal, even Chen Jing is a Tongsheng. I heard most of their schoolmates now are Tongsheng."

"The Lus offered the bride a handsome betrothal present, I do wonder whether the bride has brought some decent dowry."

"Me, too. To think Grandma Lu and Tang agreed to spend such a large amount of money on the bride! But from the little bit I know, I don't think the bride has brought handsome dowry, her family didn't send many guests to escort her on her wedding day, remember? I don't think the bride's family are taking the Lus seriously."

"I agree."

... ..... ...........................................................................................

The villagers were right, the bride didn't bring much dowry as Tang and Grandma Lu had expected.

Tang didn't ask the bride Li Fang Yue directly, but Li Fang Yue was young after all, she had spilled the beans when Tang beat about the bush.

Tang had prepared 30 tales of cash and several gold hairpins for Li Fang Yue, this Li Fang Yue just brought 5 taels and some blankets as her dowry, 5 taels was totally unworthy of being mentioned compared to the betrothal present and the expenditure they had spent on the wedding ceremony.

Lu Song Shi's mother Lin Xiu'er was so discontented about the outcome. Grandma Lu had asked for money from her little family for Lu Cheng Yu's wedding, and she didn't even get to see the Secretary-General that Grandma Lu and Tang kept talking about.

The Lus had been having some simple diets since the wedding.

Li Fang Yue didn't like the homely fare she was having, so she kept complaining the food was not up to her maiden family's standard. Grandma Lu who already nursed a grievance against Li Fang Yue scolded her.

Li Fang Yue was not the one to be trifled with, she wept and wailed after she was scolded, she started packing and saying she was going back to her maiden family right away. The Lus were unhappy about her, but they didn't want to offend the Secretary-General, so they had to patch up the quarrel.

Tang complained to Lu Tong, "The more I think about it, the more I'm pissed off about your brother's wife."

Lu Tong ignored her mother and she thought, 'Stop complaining, this is what you signed up for!'

Li Fang Yue was indeed an average-looking girl, Lu Tong would feel sorry for herself for about to marry a widower.

'This Li Fang Yue is so ugly, but she has 30 tales as betrothal present! And look at me, I get this pretty face for nothing!'

Lu Tong was so worried about herself, she knew her family didn't have any extra money to prepare her dowry because they had spent every penny for Lu Cheng Yu's wedding. But she wished she could have some presentable dowry to show her future husband and mother-in-law that her family doted on her and they would protect her even though she was married off.

'My grandma and my mother kept talking about this Li Fang Yue in such an affectionate tone before she married into our family, but they started to detest her after finding out she only had 5 tales as dowry. I can't imagine what will become of me after I got married. This Li Fang Yue at least has a powerful brother-in-law that my family dare not bully on her too much, but what do I have, nothing!' Lu Tong distressed herself about her future marriage.

Lu Tong used to admire her brother Lu Cheng Yu, but not any more. Now she secretly blamed Lu Cheng Yu for spending the entire family's saving.

In Lin Xiu'er's room.

"That Li Fang Yue, who does she think she is! A lady? No, now she is a villager's wife!" said Lin Xiu'er indignantly to Lu An, "Lu Tong is lazy, too. But at least Lu Tong is willing to help out when I ask her to. But this Li Fang Yue, the new bride just keeps rattling on how her sister's husband and in-laws all cherish her and ask her not to lift a finger."

Lin Xiu'er stamped her feet in anger and she continued, "Her sister Li Hong married an official intown, but she married a villager! There's a difference!'

Lin Xiu'er couldn't help but recall the days when Lu Lin and his mother lived under the same roof with them, they would do everything for the entire family. And now Lin Xiu'er thought she now had replaced Lu Lin's dead mother's role, everyone was treating her like a slave.

Lu An tried to change the subject, "Lu Tong is getting married soon, otherwise we need to pay tax for her. It cannot delay any further."

Lin Xiu'er nodded, then she grabbed Lu An's arm and asked, "Is Li Fang Yue really a lady? I don't see that in her to be honest."

Lu An frowned and said, "I think so, yeah. Her sister is betrothed with Secretary-General, she must come from an official's family too."

"But how come her sister didn't show up at her wedding? You have no idea how many guests pestered me with questions like where the Secretary-General is, is the Secretary-General coming or not. I was so embarrassed."

Lu An shook his head resignedly, "Maybe they are just really busy."

"This is drawing water with a sieve, we spent so much money on the wedding ceremony to leave a good impression on the Secretary-General and his wife, but they didn't even show up in the end! All of our efforts were wasted!" Lin Xiu'er got furious as she was saying this.

"Do you remember Li Fang Yue's brother Li Hong? Li Hong kept referring us as 'you peasants', what a snob!"

Lu An shook his head, he pinned his hopes on future, he hoped the two families would get along as time went by.

No one in the family was happy about Li Fang Yue, including Lu Cheng Yu.

Lu Cheng Yu had always imagined he would marry a beautiful lady in an official's family after he became a Xiucai. Li Fang Yue was an average-looking girl, but that was okay by Lu Cheng Yu, he married Li Fang Yue purely because she was the Secretary-General sister-in-law. So he held a grudge that the Secretary-General didn't even show up on his wedding ceremony.

Lu Tong didn't like her new sister-in-law for a different reason or different reasons. She was jealous of Li Fang Yue for getting such a big amount of money as betrothal present, she also blamed Li Fang Yue for their family now couldn't prepare a handsome dowry for her.