Ma Debao looked at his father with a dumb look on his face. He was already prepared to be beaten, but who knew that his father actually praised him?
Although he hasn't read many books, he still knows that "good job" should be a compliment, right?
Right?
Seeing the shock on Debao's face, Li Jie secretly smiled inwardly, but on the surface he remained sullen and patted his second son on the head.
"Okay, don't be dazed, go back to sleep!"
After that, he said something to the other three little ones.
"So are you guys."
Whoosh!
As soon as these words came out, the four little ones immediately ran away like wild horses.
At the entrance of the village, Li Jie looked at the backs of the four little guys escaping in a hurry, with a silent smile on his lips.
This matter was raised high and put down gently.
…
…
…
The next day, at dawn, Li Jie came to Shuihua's house alone.
Although the villagers in Yongquan Village are all poor, there is a difference between poverty and poverty. For example, the Shuihua family is a particularly poor family. Their yard does not even have a gate, and there are only two mud houses and a courtyard in the yard.
A semi-open kitchen.
Li Jie slowly walked to the door of the main house and knocked on the old wooden door.
"Li Laoshuan, are you up?"
clang!
clang!
clang!
Because the door was so broken, it creaked when you knocked on it. The sound was better than the doorbell. After a while, there was a sound of footsteps inside the door.
Shui Hua's father, Li Laoshuan, looked out through the crack in the door with his shiny bald head.
"Okay, stop looking, it's eh!"
Li Laoshuan recognized the voice outside the door, breathed a long sigh of relief, and asked while opening the door.
"Call for water? What are you doing here?"
Looking at Li Laoshuan's cautious look, he guessed that the other party had noticed that the water splash was missing, otherwise, there was no need for him to be so cautious.
After walking into the house, Li Jie looked around but couldn't find a chair that could sit on. So he walked to the kang in a few steps and sat down on it.
"Come here and talk to you about Shui Hua's marriage."
Hearing these words, Li Laoshuan immediately misunderstood and thought that 'Shui Hua' was hidden by the Ma family. It's not surprising that Li Laoshuan thought so. He actually knew that his daughter had a good relationship with the eldest son of the Ma family, but
There is no way, their family is so poor, they don't even have a donkey.
Such a family could not afford a betrothal gift that satisfied Li Laoshuan, so he married Shuihua to An Yongfu from Kushui Village. Although he knew that Shuihua liked Ma Defu, who could make An Yongfu afford the betrothal gift?
This misunderstanding made Li Laoshuan angry.
"Okay, you old man!"
"Please tell me clearly. Did Shui Hua tell your family to hide it?"
Seeing Li Laoshuan getting closer and closer, and it seemed that the other party wanted to grab his collar, Li Jie suddenly frowned and released a little bit of his hidden momentum.
"Quiet!"
Li Laoshuan was an out-and-out farmer, so he couldn't stand this momentum. He immediately trembled with fright, quickly took his hand back, and looked at Li Jie in surprise. Although he didn't speak, there was a look on his face.
His expression expressed everything he wanted to say.
'What do you want to do?'
"Tell me, did you exchange the water for a water cellar, a donkey, two sheep, and two cages of chickens?"
Li Laoshuan nodded subconsciously, but soon realized something was wrong, and his head immediately shook like a rattle.
"Um?"
Li Jie glanced at him sideways and said lightly "hmm"?
"That's not right!" Li Laoshuan immediately defended: "That's not an exchange, that's the betrothal gift!"
Li Jie waved his hand: "Forget it, it's not important. What's important is that when the people from Kushui Village come today, you tell them that this daughter is not getting married, and then return every penny of the bride price."
"What did you say?"
When he heard that the bride price was to be refunded, Li Laoshuan was like a cat with exploded hair, blushing and roaring.
"Refund the gift?"
"No way!"
"Don't be so surprised. Just wait until you finish what you said."
Li Jie glared at him, his sharp eyes making Li Laoshuan take a few steps back unconsciously, and his words suddenly stopped when he reached his lips.
"Well, there is a reason why I asked you to refund the bride price. The Ma family can afford a donkey, two sheep, and two cages of chickens given to you by the An family. Not only that, they will also be doubled for you."
'Double?'
When Li Laoshuan heard this, his heart moved, his eyes rolled around, and he began to wonder whether what the other party said was true or false.
We are all from the same village, and no one knows the affairs of the other. In order to send their eldest son to school, the Ma family is selling everything. Although they are lucky and have become cadres, after all, they have just received royal food. How can their family
The money came?
Therefore, Li Laoshuan decided that "Ma Huishui" was bragging, so he hummed and replied in a low voice.
"You can brag, but who can't tell lies?"
"Bragging?" Li Jie chuckled: "I know a little bit about everything, but I don't know how to do this. Today I just put my words here. If I say double the betrothal gift, I will double it."
Although the money in his pocket was not enough to pay the 'huge' gift, Li Jie showed no signs of timidity. To him, this small amount of money was simply not worth mentioning. He had a hundred ways to earn this money quickly.
Looking at Li Jie with a firm tone, Li Laoshuan couldn't help but doubt his own judgment.
'Could it be that Ma Huishui has made a fortune?'
‘This posture doesn’t look like you are talking big words?’
'Can he really afford two water cellars, two donkeys, four sheep, and four cages of chickens?'
‘If it’s true, wouldn’t I become the richest man in Yongquan Village??’
Thinking of this, Li Laoshuan's heart moved and he asked in an uncertain tone.
"Are you telling the truth? Is it really doubled?"
Li Jie responded decisively.
"certainly!"
To him, money was nothing but an external possession. If he could use such a small thing to buy his son's lifelong happiness, it wouldn't be a good deal.
Li Laoshuan still didn't believe it and asked again.
"real?"
"One spit and one nail!"
Li Jie glanced at him lightly, and in order to prevent Li Laoshuan from asking again, he added another sentence.
"Not only that, when the people from Kushui Village come, I'll follow you and talk to them about refunding the bride price."
Li Laoshuan originally thought that if Kushui Village came to pick up the bride today, a large group of people would definitely come. They were so numerous that he was worried that he would be beaten if he really wanted to withdraw the bride price.
Now it's okay, Ma Huashui wants to be with him. With him in front, he will be much safer. Even if he wants to be beaten, the people in Kushui Village will beat him first and not himself. After all, he is
He persuaded himself to break off the engagement.
After standing there and thinking silently for a while, Li Laoshuan couldn't help but laugh out loud when he thought of the double gift, and then nodded repeatedly.