Chapter 1381: If You Want a Bride Price, That's Fine, But the Dowry Must Be Double

The sister-in-law was a bit confused.

Touched?

Why would you be touched?

Before she could ask, Jian Yixin continued, "Originally, when you hadn't brought it up, we were too embarrassed to mention the bride price, but since you've brought it up now, let's put it on the table."

She turned to face the "little stepmother."

Her lips moved a few times, but she couldn't bring herself to say the title.

What should she call her?

Calling her "Mom" was obviously impossible, and calling her "Auntie" was appropriate, but since Wu Ying was younger than both her and her younger brother, she couldn't bring herself to say "Auntie" either.

Addressing her directly by name was clearly even less appropriate.

Although Wu Ying was young, she had married her father, so her seniority had gone up!

She decided to skip the title altogether and get straight to the point.

Jian Yixin said to Wu Ying, "Although today is the first time we've met, I am not satisfied with you doing this. Your family is looking out for your best interests; how can you be so ungrateful?"

Wu Ying grew anxious and was just about to speak.

Jian Yixin stopped her and continued, "The bride price has been a tradition in Jiangzhou since ancient times, passed down for many years, so of course there must be one. I think 500,000 should be the bride price, what do you think?"

"No, I don't agree. It's too much, I won't accept it."

Wu Ying was scared to death.

In her first marriage, her family had demanded a bride price of 68,000 to marry off her older brother, and she hadn't received a single cent in dowry.

It was because of that 68,000 that she hadn't been able to hold her head up in front of her mother-in-law for ten years, suffering endless misery!

Now they wanted to give a bride price of 500,000?

What would the rest of her life be like?

Wu Ying felt as if the sky were collapsing, dim and lightless!

But the sister-in-law's eyes shone with greed, and she hurriedly nodded, "Okay, okay, 500,000 for the bride price..."

Just for an instant, she regretted it.

"500,000—"

The sister-in-law drew out her voice and said, "Is 500,000 too little for you people? I think it should be at least one million."

"Thump!"

Wu Ying was so scared she slid right under the table, trembling all over, her face turning pale, with beads of sweat the size of beans breaking out on her forehead.

"What's wrong with you? You didn't have a heart attack, did you?" Jian Xiansheng hurriedly helped her check her pulse.

Her heart was fine; she was just scared.

Seeing Wu Ying scared like this, the siblings immediately judged her to be an honest, upright, and ungreedy woman, and they felt much more at ease.

Jian Yixin was still smiling, but the sister-in-law from the Wu family couldn't smile at what she said next.

"One million is no problem. For our family, it's certainly no problem, but I'm afraid your family won't be able to come up with a double dowry. To be a sister-in-law to this extent, I truly admire you..."

"Wait a minute, what did you say? What double dowry?" The Wu family sister-in-law realized what was happening.

The woman in front of her looked very shrewd, but she had acted so easygoing the whole time; it turned out she had been waiting for her here.

Jian Yining took over, "If there's a bride price, there's naturally a dowry. This is a rule passed down by our ancestors for many years, but here, the dowry is usually double the bride price."

"That is to say, if the bride price is one million, the dowry is two million. Of course, you won't get this money, and we won't get it either; it's the startup capital for the newlyweds' future life."

"My father has a pension and some savings. If the two of them can't finish spending this money, it will be used for the children later. We are all grown up, so we don't need it, but isn't there a little one?"

The siblings coordinated very tacitly; they could cooperate perfectly without needing to communicate beforehand.

With the two of them singing in harmony, the Wu family sister-in-law was dumbfounded.

"Who said that? There's no such rule!"

She grew anxious and hurriedly explained, "Where we're from, the bride price goes to the bride's family, and there is no dowry. That's the rule where we come from."

Jian Yixin wasn't annoyed and said with a sudden realization, "Oh, so that's the rule where you're from? No wonder your place is so poor. You're always thinking about selling your daughters to make money instead of thinking about going out and creating more value yourselves. Isn't that why you're getting poorer and poorer?"

Jian Yining said, "But this is Jiangzhou, it's the city, not where you're from. So even if we follow the local customs, we have to follow our rules."

Jian Yixin continued, "What you said doesn't seem right. I know your county magistrate; I'll ask him later to see if it's really like what you said."

The Wu family sister-in-law was completely dumbfounded this time.

She couldn't let them ask.

In recent years, the county had been strictly cracking down on exorbitant bride prices. If caught, not only would the bride price be confiscated, but there would also be fines.

The Wu family's eldest brother was an honest man. Hearing the other party say they knew the county magistrate, his legs began to tremble like a winnowing sieve!

The county magistrate was the highest official he could imagine. If his sister's daughter's future husband knew the county magistrate, he must be a person of great ability.

If his sister married into their family, her future life wouldn't be bad.

He hadn't been very satisfied with Jian Xiansheng's age, but seeing the current situation, he had no complaints left.

He tugged at his wife's lapel again and whispered, "That's enough. Don't make things so awkward that they're hard to resolve. If you make your brother lose his job, your mother will fight you to the death."

The Wu family sister-in-law's younger brother worked as a handyman in the county government cafeteria. He usually took pride in being able to see the county magistrate, but he couldn't speak to him at all.

She was afraid.

She couldn't gamble with her brother's future.

But she couldn't provide a dowry either; she couldn't afford it.

"We don't want the bride price anymore, but there's no dowry either. Not a single cent!"

By rights, at this point, both sides should have reached a consensus.

However, they did not.

Jian Yixin hesitated, "No bride price is fine, but there's not a single cent of dowry? Do you not want to associate with this sister anymore in the future?"

"I won't be visiting anymore; a woman who is already married shouldn't be running around for no reason. Serving her husband at home is the top priority."

Wu Ying's sister-in-law only thought about not letting money go out, and without realizing it, she fell into the trap and sealed off her own retreat.

"Come, come, come, eat the food, have some more!"

Jian Yixin began diligently picking up food for Wu Ying's sister-in-law and elder brother, urging them to eat more, saying they still had to go back once they were full.

But no one had touched the food on the table with their chopsticks much; Wu Ying's sister-in-law felt she was losing out and had no heart to eat.

Although they hadn't eaten much, it couldn't be wasted.

While others hadn't finished eating yet, Wu Ying's sister-in-law stood up and called the waiter: "Waiter, bring me some more bags, I want to pack this up."

"Sit down, what are you packing? Others haven't finished eating yet." Wu Ying's elder brother felt embarrassed and wanted to make his wife sit down.

The sister-in-law became anxious: "How long have they been eating and still haven't finished? Everyone else is done, right?"

Except for Wu Ying who didn't express an opinion, everyone else indicated they were finished and to pack it up.

So, she righteously swept the food on the table clean, then carried the large and small bags, took her husband and child, and strode away!

Before leaving, she didn't forget to leave a message for her sister-in-law: "If you're well-off, come back to your maiden home more often; if you don't have money, don't come back, and if you're living poorly, don't come back even more."

Wu Ying was so angry she couldn't speak, and she stomped her feet hard at the sister-in-law's departing back.