Chapter 36: Requesting Betrothal Gifts

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The little ones ran out and started chattering when Bai Xue finally got home.

“Big Sis, you’re finally back. You don’t know what Grandma has done this time! She’s too much!” Bai Ruxia was still limping a little, but she looked much better. She was actually the first to run over and complain.

“What did she do?” Bai Xue frowned. She felt that things were not that simple.

“Big Sis, Grandma brought Third Aunt to ask for betrothal gifts!” Bai Ruchuan ran over to add.

“She said that our father already has sons, but he still wants a man to marry into the family. She says we are an embarrassment!” Bai Rushan said.

“What’s worse is that the betrothal gift she asked for was $50!” Bai Ruyun added.

The four little ones spoke one after another, making Bai Xue feel a little dizzy.

“Stop, stop, stop. Let’s go into the house first. Tell me slowly one by one! Hurry up and help Dad into the house!” Bai Xue shouted.

The little ones had their words stuck in their throats, but they suppressed their urge to speak. One by one, they obediently helped Bai Daliang in.

“Second Uncle, come and listen to what happened!” Bai Xue called out to Bai Dajiang.

After all, it was caused by his mother. Bai Dajiang nodded and followed her in.

After entering the house, Bai Daliang sat on the brick bed. He looked at his wife as she cried and did not know what to do.

“Alright, Mom, stop crying! What happened? I didn’t understand what they were saying. Tell me!” Bai Xue was very annoyed by Wang Cuihua’s crying, but she had no choice. After all, she was her mother. She could only say some firm words to stop her crying.

“Xue… Your grandma ruined you this time… Boohoo…” Wang Cuihua only had time to say this before she started crying again.

“What do you mean? How?” Bai Xue asked.

“Oh god. This is killing me. Let me give you the details! Mother can’t tell it to you straight even if she tried!” Bai Ruxia interrupted anxiously.

“Big Sis, as soon as you left this morning, the village was in an uproar. Grandmother brought Third Aunt and went to the Educated Youth Section to ask Brother Zhang for the betrothal gift! Since Brother Zhang wasn’t there, she made things worse. Grandmother cried and shouted, saying that Brother Zhang had ruined her granddaughter’s reputation and upped and left. In the end, even the captain came over to make her stop.”

“This did not stop there. After Brother Zhang came back in the morning, she ran to ask for the betrothal gift as soon as she found out he was back. She even said if he did not pay $50 as betrothal gift, she would go to the Disciplinary Department to charge Brother Zhang for ruining your reputation!” Bai Ruchuan added.

“Her granddaughter’s reputation? I’m not her only granddaughter! Did she mention my name?” Bai Xue asked.

“She did. She even said that Dad was a disgrace for making a man marry into the family and pay for him! She also mentioned that he refused to pay for his own parents, but was willing to pay for a son-in-law, so he was completely unfilial!”

“I’m so angry. She even said that you and Brother Zhang… She was awful!”

“That’s right! The news has already spread throughout the entire village.” The four little ones did not give the others a chance to speak. They spoke non-stop, their faces red with anger.

When Old Madam Bai tried to snatch eggs from Bai Ruxue and failed, she went home plotting about how to do it again. Bai Ruying, Bai Dahe’s 10-year-old second son, saw Bai Ruxue and Zhang Yuan riding back together and followed them all the way. He even found out that they had entered their house to eat and told his grandmother about it. She caused a commotion about it.

Old Madam Bai brought Bai Dahe’s wife, Li Guihua, to the Educated Youth Section. They went over and even made a lot of noise while they were at it, causing everyone in the village to know.

“Then… what did Zhang Yuan say?” Bai Xue probed.

“Brother Zhang said that he only ate with us and provided his own food supplies. It’s normal for the educated youth to eat with the villagers.”

Word for word, Zhang Yuan said, “I’m only eating with villagers using my own food supplies. It was common for Educated Youth to eat with villagers! Moreover, even if I wanted to marry Bai Ruxue, you’re not in the position to ask for the betrothal gift, right? As I understand, Uncle Daliang has already moved out, so I should give them the betrothal gift and not you! Why are you making a commotion here?”

Old Madam Bai was speechless. She started to throw a tantrum again and insisted that her granddaughter had been bullied. She wanted to seek justice and tell the Disciplinary Department to settle it.

“Big Sis, Grandmother has already told the Disciplinary Department to handle it! I wonder when they will send someone over!” Bai Ruyun’s face was pale from fright.

“Boohoo… She’s Xue’s biological grandmother! What good will it do her to ruin Xue’s reputation like this? How will Xue get married in the future? Boohoo…” Wang Cuihua finally wailed.

“Cuihua, don’t cry. I’ll sort this out! I’ll think of a way! Don’t be sad!” Bai Daliang looked at his sad wife and hated his mother for this.

Although he was a little blindly filial at times, he had a temper when it came to touching his children, let alone his most beloved eldest daughter. This was his bottom line.

As Wang Cuihua wailed, the two babies lying on the brick platform bed, Bai Rufeng and Bai Rucai, also cried loudly.

“Alright, Mom! Calm down! No matter what she does, it’s not true. If there’s no such thing, she can’t do anything to me! We’re upright and not afraid of shadows! Besides, if she dares to charge me, I can do the same to her for abusing her daughter-in-law and stealing our food! You should nurse the babies first! Don’t worry!”

Bai Xue coaxed her for a long time before Wang Cuihua gradually stopped crying and turned to comfort the two children.

Bai Daliang wanted to help him carry one and coax it, but just as he reached out, Wang Cuihua slapped his hand away.

“Don’t touch my child!” Wang Cuihua threw an unprecedented temper at Bai Daliang. She blamed his mother for persecuting her child.

Bai Daliang retracted his hand aggrievedly and used his eyes to signal Bai Ruyun to go to the bed to coax the child.

Bai Ruyun had no choice but to take off her shoes and sit on the bed. She carried Bai Rufeng and coaxed him. Bai Ruxia quickly ran out to make milk from milk powder and fed him.

Wang Cuihua could only feed one child. The other had to be fed with milk powder. Although she had eaten well these few days, she could not feed the two children at once.

“Dad, Mom, I’m going out for a while!” Bai Xue turned around and walked out.

“Xue, where are you going? Don’t run around!” When Wang Cuihua heard that her eldest daughter was going out, she hurriedly stopped her.

“Mom, don’t worry! I’ll go to the Educated Youth Section to ask Zhang Yuan! I’ll be back soon!”

Zhang Yuan did not come over for a meal the entire day. She had to go and see what was going on. She had to find out exactly what Old Madam Bai said.

If she wanted to understand the situation, the person involved had to explain it clearly. Although the four little ones had relayed the information clearly enough, she had to clarify if Zhang Yuan would still be eating at home in the future.

In any case, she was upright and was not afraid of gossip. She did not care what people said.

“Xue, aren’t you adding insult to injury by looking for Yuan at this time? Won’t the villagers criticize you?” Bai Daliang said worriedly.

“It’s alright! I’ll go and talk to him and see how he intends to resolve this matter! Don’t worry! Yun, Xia, after feeding the child, you can start cooking and making Zhang Yuan’s portion as well! We’re just eating together. If we stop eating together the moment someone gossips, it will only make things look worse!” After Bai Xue finished giving her instructions, she walked out.

She went straight to the Educated Youth Section. On the way, there were also people looking at her strangely, but she ignored them.