Zhao Fugui and Zhao Liu were both confused, and suspected that they had heard wrong. Didn’t Jiang Zhen come here to propose marriage? How could he say that he brought . . . a dowry? It was really strange for such a domineering person to say that it was his dowry . . .

“You said . . . Are you coming to live in my house?” Zhao Liu asked in disbelief.

“Yes. Haven’t you always wanted to marry in a son-in-law? What do you think of me? As a matter of fact, I wanted to come to your house for a long time, but I didn’t dare to say so before,” Jiang Zhen said.

Zhao Fugui and Zhao Liu were simply stunned by the pies falling from the sky. When they saw Jiang Zhen bring so many things before, they thought it was good for Zhao Jinge to marry Jiang Zhen, but as a result . . . Jiang Zhen was willing to marry in? This . . . This . . . They could continue the Zhao family? They could still have grandchildren later?

All of a sudden, Zhao Liu burst in tears, crying louder and louder. Zhao Fugui wanted to laugh a bit, but resisted, yet the corners of his mouth were lifted, so his expression was very strange. They were all very surprised.

Zhao Jinge, on the other hand, who was still holding the rolls of cloth, looked at Jiang Zhen in shock. At first, when Jiang Zhen left the Jiang family, he wanted to marry Jiang Zhen into his family, but later, he gave up these thoughts. Yet unexpectedly . . .

“Ahem (cough)! You don’t need a dowry. We don’t need it.” Zhao Fugui took the silver from Zhao Liu’s hands and returned it to Jiang Zhen.

Zhao Liu was stunned. She soon wiped off her tears and tried to return the silver bracelet. If Jiang Zhen was willing to marry into their family, it was them who should give Jiang Zhen a bride price and buy things for him. How could they let Jiang Zhen spend his money?

“It is alright. Just keep it!” Jiang Zhen was impatient and pushed the things back towards them. He frowned and said, “I don’t have any requirements as to how the marriage is going to run. I don’t mind if it is up to you.”

As soon as Jiang Zhen said this aloud, Zhao Liu no longer dared to try and return the bracelet again. But looking at Jiang Zhen, her eyes became very kind. “You don’t have to worry. You will have a very decent marriage.” She would certainly prepare a wedding with splendor, letting Jiang Zhen have some face.

“Generally, we don’t have much money now,” Jiang Zhen said. The little money he earned had now been spent again . . .

“Yes, we don’t have much money now, so we should save it,” Zhao Liu said, immediately changing her mind. Their situation now was not good for a living. If they had the money, they might as well save it and buy some land to leave for Jinge’s children, and give to Jinge’s grandson in the future.

“Well, let’s go and have dinner,” Zhao Fugui said with a red face. Although Zhao Liu had cooked all the meat yesterday, he had specially saved a portion of several meat dishes for Jiang Zhen today.

At first, she thought she had done a good job and prepared a good meal, but now . . . Zhao Liu regretted it very much. She shouldn’t have cooked all the meat yesterday, so it could be all freshly cooked today!

“I’ll go get two more dishes.” Zhao Liu said and stood up. She was going to buy some eggs to stir-fry.

“Mother, no need. I can’t eat anymore,” Jiang Zhen stopped Zhao Liu.

“Well, good.” Zhao Liu sat down happily. Why did she think Jiang Zhen calling her mother was scary yesterday? How nice it sounded!

The whole family ate together and enjoyed themselves.

Jiang Zhen was hungry and was not polite, so he ate two bowls of rice in one breath. Maybe before, Zhao Liu would have secretly disliked him for eating too much when she saw him eat like that. But now, she couldn’t wait for him to eat more and put more meat into his bowl. “You should eat more. Don’t be polite. Make yourself at home . . . Alas, you cooked your own food for a few days. It must have been too hard. You should come to our house and eat later.”

Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge were already engaged. In the countryside, it was normal for two engaged families to meet casually. So it was also okay to let Jiang Zhen come for dinner.

As soon as Jiang Zhen thought about it, he nodded and agreed. He did so, not because he was too lazy to cook, but simply because he wanted to improve the food of the Zhao family. He could bring his own food and come back with some of it every day. This way he could make the Zhao family eat better, which was very good.

After having a meal, the family’s relationship became much closer. Jiang Zhen also explained the reason why he bought chicken and ducklings. “In the future, I will catch some fish and snails to feed the ducklings when I have free time. When the ducks grow, we can let them lay eggs and sell duck eggs, or sell them as a whole.”

“Can this work? Can we really sell them?” Zhao Liu was worried. All the families she knew in the village basically raised their own food.

“Yes, they can be sold,” Zhao Fugui said  immediately. He knew that, as long as he sent them to the county town, he could certainly sell them. Thinking of this, Zhao Fugui felt a bit embarrassed. Before Jiang Zhen arrived at their home, he had  already helped them make a living. He had never thought of these ways to improve their life before . . . However, they didn’t have time to catch fish and shrimps to feed ducks before . . .

Jiang Zhen stayed in the  Zhao family’s house until the sky turned black. In fact, he didn’t want to go back and wished to stay, but it had not been easy to make his mother-in-law like him. In the end, he decided to put up with it for the time being. Anyway, judging from the current situation, Zhao Fugui and his wife were eager to marry him to Zhao Jinge immediately. Obviously, he wouldn’t have to bear it for much longer.

After Jiang Zhen left, Zhao Liu was very excited. Although it was getting dark, she was still in good spirits. She went around the house, and then called Zhao Jinge. She said she would go to the river to wash all the dirty clothes at home and then catch some snails to feed the ducks.

In fact, there was no need to hurry . . . Zhao Jinge wanted to persuade his mother, but now, he also wanted to do something to calm down . . . so the two of them went to the river to wash their clothes.

The people who had been watching the Zhao family naturally saw this scene, as well as Zhao Liu’s red and swollen eyes. This . . . They didn’t know what Eldest Jiang had done to the Zhaos to make Zhao Liu cry so bitterly.

Edited by : Faro

Proofreader: Taalia

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