The Li family hurried back to Kushan. Mother Li had already made arrangements for most of the banquet supplies.
They were just waiting for Tian Jing and Ouyang Meihua to bring Yuan Feng and Xiao Yuan down from Hot Spring Valley.
The sisters-in-law entered Hot Spring Valley overnight. The wedding banquet was the day after tomorrow, and time was tight.
Li Wanyan and Li Weiyan moved into the newly renovated Western-style house.
Li Weiyan showed Li Wanyan around the Western-style house and recounted its past state.
Li Wanyan was touched by her mother-in-law's thoughtfulness. The renovation style of the Western-style house perfectly suited the mindset of young people.
From her perspective, the materials and furniture were all quite good, not cheap and shoddy as her cousins from her two aunts' families had thought.
Li Weiyan gently stroked her beautiful hair, "This Western-style house is now our home. If there's anything you don't like, you can redecorate it."
"You won't be able to farm the small plot in front of the door, so leave it to Mother. You can raise chickens and rabbits in the backyard. If you're not interested, then don't."
Li Wanyan shook her head repeatedly, "I can learn."
Li Weiyan took out a bank card, "This is my salary card, take it. We have enough money to spend."
"I don't want it."
Li Wanyan pushed the bank card back, "You manage your own salary card. My mother gave me all the betrothal gifts. I have six hundred thousand yuan."
"I don't want to live off my savings. In Kushan, if I don't use Kushan's advantages to make money, I'll be a fool."
"I'll make money, and it will be my pocket money, to spend as I please."
"Then keep it for me."
Li Weiyan put the bank card into her hand, "Your idea of earning pocket money is very good, and you can spend it however you want, but you can't spend it on other men."
"Pah!"
Li Wanyan lightly punched him, "Mother took out all the money she and Father saved for my dowry and my elder sister's dowry."
"I just want to help my younger brother. He spends a lot on university..."
"That's acceptable."
Li Weiyan held her fist, "Helping a brother-in-law is acceptable. Mother's idea of raising chickens in Kyoto is not realistic."
"If you are confident enough to be responsible for breeding with Mother, and I handle sales, we can open a breeding farm in Kushan."
"Can we?"
Li Wanyan looked up at Li Weiyan hopefully.
"Of course."
Li Weiyan nodded, "As long as you don't overwork yourself and can distinguish between primary and secondary tasks."
"Thank you."
Li Wanyan stood on her tiptoes and expressed her gratitude with a kiss.
Li Weiyan accepted without hesitation and took the initiative, "Let's go to the bedroom and test if Mother-in-law's new bed is sturdy."
...
April 1st, the wedding banquet in Kushan for Li Weiyan.
At ten o'clock, Sister-in-law Niu finished her chores at home and went to the second floor of the village committee building. She saw villagers lining up behind the accounting desk and looked at Tian Jing, who was acting as the 'gift receiver.' "How are we receiving gifts this time?"
Tian Jing extended her hand, "Receive them normally."
Sister-in-law Niu immediately produced two thousand yuan in gift money.
Tian Jing counted it and announced, "Niu Defu's family, two thousand yuan."
Lin Si quickly wrote it down.
The villagers were speechless.
If they had known, they would have asked directly like Sister-in-law Niu.
They had come to give gift money, but they didn't know how Li Liguo's family intended to receive it. Seeing that Tian Jing was the 'gift receiver,' they couldn't bring themselves to ask, so they all waited for Sister-in-law Niu.
The villagers returned to the accounting desk and gave gift money according to their relationship with Li Liguo's family.
Tian Jing calmly counted the gift money and announced the names.
At the bridge outside the village, the security guards routinely registered people entering the village.
Villagers from the first and second villages, after reporting their names, had their identities verified by the security guards against the list provided by Li Liguo. Once confirmed, they were allowed to pass.
Old Father Ouyang, leading his family of over twenty people in three cars, was stopped at the bridge.
After registration, the security guards required the vehicles to be parked in the lot and for the people to enter the village on foot.
Elder Brother Ouyang was very unhappy. For a dilapidated village, it had quite a few rules.
Ouyang Lei walked with a swagger and sneered, "If Big Brother took his whole family back, Big Sister would definitely be happy. That's one less banquet table to pay for."
"What do you mean?"
Elder Brother Ouyang looked at his younger brother, with whom he had always been at odds.
"Nothing,"
Ouyang Lei said, but his gaze swept over his nephews and nieces behind his older brother, eleven people in total. They couldn't even fit at one table.
Elder Brother Ouyang felt uneasy under his younger brother's gaze, "I'm giving a thousand yuan red envelope, and I can't even eat at a table?"
"You can~"
Ouyang Lei drew out the sound, "Why not? It would be more than enough to eat at a restaurant. I'm giving ten thousand yuan, and only I will be eating."
Elder Brother Ouyang and his two sons and one daughter rolled their eyes to the sky.
You wish more people could eat here! Do you have anyone?
Old Father Ouyang frowned, "Xiao Feng, Yan Yan is getting married. You're giving a thousand yuan red envelope. Your elder sister, considering you are her elder brother, can tolerate it."
"Your three children are already adults, and they're still following you to the banquet. If you do this, it's not just your elder sister you're embarrassing, it's the Ouyang family."
"If you're that poor, then don't acknowledge this relative."
Elder Sister Ouyang Lan chimed in, "Does Father mean that Big Sister looks down on us poor relatives?"
Like her elder brother, she had prepared a thousand-yuan red envelope.
In the county town, a two-hundred-yuan gift was already considered a high standard. In the countryside, it wouldn't even be enough for a whole family to sit at a table?
Old Father Ouyang looked at his once proud daughter, no, his elder son was also once his pride, even though this pair of children were unwilling to practice martial arts.
Who would have thought that his elder daughter and younger son, whom he had beaten countless times, were the most accomplished:
"Lanhua, when your elder sister married into Kushan, your eyes were in the sky, and you never visited this relative."
"When your elder sister took her two daughters back for the New Year, wasn't your and Xiao Feng's attitude looking down on the poor relatives in the countryside?"
"Now that the poor relatives have prospered, you're accusing them of looking down on you."
"If you and Xiao Feng truly want to maintain this relationship with your elder sister, then show your sincerity and attitude. Otherwise, just turn back the way you came. I, your father, want to live a few more years."
Ouyang Feng glanced at his nonchalant younger brother, "Father, do you mean we have to give ten thousand yuan like my younger brother to show sincerity?"
Old Father Ouyang turned to his wife, who was shrinking behind him:
"Is this the civilized person you raised? He doesn't even understand basic etiquette, and he still has the nerve to live in this world?"
Old Mother Ouyang took a few steps back and said to her elder son and younger daughter:
"Your daughters and sons are all married, and they are of the same generation as Yan Yan. They should each give a separate red envelope. It's not about the amount of money in the red envelope, it's about your attitude. Mooches are unwelcome guests."
"Hmph!"
Old Father Ouyang snorted heavily, "All for naught, Meihua learning martial arts for you."
Old Mother Ouyang's face turned pale. Eldest daughter learning martial arts was to protect her from her husband's beatings...
As a result, at over thirty years old, she was tricked into marrying into the countryside by her youngest son...
Ouyang Rende and his younger brother Ouyang Renxin exchanged glances and took out their pre-prepared red envelopes:
"Grandfather, we are all decades old and understand these etiquettes. Please don't be angry."
"We can't compare to Uncle, but we still need to show our respect."
A smile appeared on Old Father Ouyang's face, and he nodded with satisfaction, "Good, good. You can't be as stingy as your father."
Ouyang Lei secretly shook his head. His father treated these juniors like children, and he praised them for even a slight improvement.
He never considered that Rende was already 40 years old and Renxin was 36.
Even their sons were adults. His father had said so himself. Was he satisfied just because they were compared to their father?
Ouyang Lanhua saw that her two nephews had prepared red envelopes early, and her face looked displeased. Were these two nephews framing her family?
She should have trusted her husband's words and not conspired with her elder brother on how to prepare the red envelopes.
Ouyang Lanhua's husband, Qian Jinjun, took out three red envelopes and handed them to his daughter and two sons respectively:
"You each give your own red envelope separately. It's not appropriate for me to hand them all in at once."
Ouyang Lanhua was stunned for a moment, then immediately looked at her father.
Seeing a satisfied smile on her father's face, she also smiled contentedly. Her husband really had foresight.
Ouyang Lei sighed inwardly. In their Ouyang family, those who practiced martial arts were unrefined, and those who practiced literature were schemers.