The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!

Chapter 699: Chapter 699: A Scholar’s Reputation Isn’t Worth 500 Taels

There was a silence at the dining table.

Mrs. Gu spoke, "To be honest with you, your grandfather and I are worried about your aunt’s dowry. The Fan Family’s condition is that your aunt must have at least five hundred taels of silver as dowry, or the marriage can’t take place. Your aunt is getting older, and there’s no better match than Fan Tong. We’ve brought you here to discuss your aunt’s dowry."

In reality, Mrs. Gu exaggerated by three hundred and fifty taels.

She thought that five hundred taels wouldn’t be difficult for Lu Zhaozhao to handle anyway.

With five hundred taels in hand, two hundred for Honglian, two hundred for Gu Youtian, and the remaining one hundred for her own funeral expenses.

Jingzhe didn’t respond to Mrs. Gu. Instead, he turned his head and asked Gu Youtian, "Second Uncle, what do you think about Aunt’s dowry?"

Gu Youtian was suddenly named by his nephew and felt a bit nervous.

What did he think? He didn’t have any thoughts.

He felt that Fan Xiucai, a poor scholar, shouldn’t be asking for a bride’s dowry when he couldn’t even provide a bride price. As Gu Honglian’s brother, she should be bringing a bride price back to him.

But Master Gu and Mrs. Gu couldn’t dissuade Gu Honglian from wanting to marry Fan Tong at all costs.

Since he wasn’t getting any benefits from his sister’s marriage, there was no way he’d contribute to the dowry.

Gu Youtian picked up a piece of egg, stuffed it in his mouth, and said, "What can I think? Ruinian’s marriage still left us with a pile of debts to pay back. There’s no extra money to prepare a dowry for your aunt."

Gu Honglian’s eyes reddened.

Her second brother was completely unreliable.

Even if he had money, he wouldn’t give it for her dowry.

He even wanted to sell her for a good price, but she certainly wouldn’t let him have his way.

Mr. Gu said, "You know the family’s situation. Forget about five hundred taels, even fifty taels is hard to come by."

Jingzhe looked at Mr. Gu, "You all knew you couldn’t come up with five hundred taels, so why agree to it? Five hundred taels, why doesn’t he just go rob someone? And how much dowry is the Fan family giving Aunt?"

From what he knew about Fan Tong, he wished he could trade his scholar status for half of the Yue Family’s wealth as a dowry.

For instance, Huang Jingshan used to be Fan Tong’s goal.

He wanted more dowry, but someone else had to be willing to pay for it.

How many Huang families are there in all of Yan Guan Town?

Since he got involved with both Huang Jingshan and Gu Taohua, under the dual manipulation of the Huang Family and Tong Huaqiong, Fan Tong’s reputation in Yan Guan Town was already beyond repair.

Although he carried the title of a scholar, it didn’t translate to any tangible benefit. Well-off families weren’t willing to marry into his family at all.

Even if they were willing, the title of a scholar wasn’t worth five hundred taels.

The scholar status could only fool Master Gu and Mrs. Gu.

Mr. Gu evaded the question, refusing to answer how much the Fans were offering.

Jingzhe inwardly sneered, fearing that his grandparents were too blinded by the scholar’s status, feeling inferior when facing the Fan family.

Mr. Gu said, "Fan Tong is not like ordinary farmers; your aunt marrying a scholar is already a step up. How can we make the Fan family provide the bride price?"

Jingzhe said, "Why do you lower yourselves so much? How is Aunt marrying up? When Aunt goes to the Fan family, she doesn’t eat for free; she has to do chores and bear children. I believe she puts in way more effort than Fan Tong. Why shouldn’t the Fans offer a matching dowry?"

Jingzhe felt it was fine for Fan Tong to ask the Gu family for a dowry, but he should offer something equivalent in return; he couldn’t just flaunt his scholar’s title alone.

Jingzhe said, "Fan Tong definitely knows your situation. A five hundred taels dowry means he isn’t sincere about the marriage; he just wants to get rich by marrying."

Then it suddenly dawned on Jingzhe.

Fan Tong wasn’t actually asking Gu Honglian for a dowry; he was using her to ask Tong Huaqiong for one.

Mrs. Gu said, "You’re a scholar, so you naturally look down on a scholar. To us farmers, marrying a scholar is already a blessing. Moreover, if your aunt marries a farmer, she’d still have to work and bear children, but she wouldn’t have the prestige of being a scholar’s wife."

Jingzhe couldn’t understand Mrs. Gu’s reasoning and said, "You all just said that Fan Tong agreed to marry Aunt because he values my mother’s resources. If that’s the case, you rely on our family’s resources; how can you still be manipulated by Fan Tong? Just because he demands a certain dowry doesn’t mean the whole Gu family has to hand over everything. That doesn’t make sense."

"You can ask around, other than Aunt, who else in all of Yan Guan Town is willing to marry Fan Tong?"

What Jingzhe said made Gu Honglian uncomfortable.

No matter what, Fan Tong was in better conditions than Gu Ruinian, who had Wu Na marrying down to him.

The attraction of a scholar was far more significant than what Jingzhe imagined.

Mr. Gu pondered for a moment and said, "The point is not how much Fan Tong wants—whether we can give it, the point is that your grandma and I want your aunt to marry without being aggrieved. She’s our only daughter; her dowry shouldn’t be inferior just because she marries into the village."

Mrs. Gu said, "With a dowry, your aunt will have confidence in the Fan family. If Fan Tong becomes successful and starts thinking crooked, your aunt would at least have her dowry to rely on. Just like your wife, why did the Lu family prepare such a large dowry for her? It’s to prepare for such a day."

Jingzhe wanted to hold his forehead.

How was he supposed to respond to that?

If he ever strayed, his mother would be the first to chop him up.

Gu Honglian looked at Jingzhe with burning eyes, wondering how this nephew of hers even passed the county examination, as regardless of what his parents said, he couldn’t get the point.

Mr. Gu was also frustrated, he cared about face, and he wanted to hint for Jingzhe himself to propose adding to the dowry.

But his grandson was stubbornly unwilling to take the initiative.

Mr. Gu looked towards Lu Zhaozhao, thinking that his granddaughter-in-law should remind Jingzhe.

He couldn’t believe that Lu Zhaozhao couldn’t see their intentions. He had heard that she runs the Lu family’s business; she’s seen everything in business dealings. If she didn’t remind Jingzhe, it meant she didn’t respect them nor cared about Gu Honglian.

Lu Zhaozhao pretended to lower her head to sip soup, ignoring the storm at the dining table entirely.

At this time, Mrs. Jia smiled and spoke up.

"Jingzhe, don’t blame your Aunt for being nosy. Your aunt has been sought after since she was fourteen but never met a satisfactory match. Now that she’s finally found a match in Fan Xiucai, it can’t be broken off over a dowry."

"Logically, your grandparents should come up with the silver, but they’re old now with the heart but not the strength to earn money. That’s why they called you here. They were too embarrassed to ask, so I had no choice but to be the bad guy. You’re not short on silver at home now, could you cover your aunt’s five hundred taels dowry?"

Mrs. Gu looked at Mrs. Jia.

For the first time in three years, she felt satisfied with Mrs. Jia.

Gu Honglian also looked at her second sister-in-law with gratitude.

Mrs. Jia smiled at Jingzhe.

Having made things so clear, Jingzhe shouldn’t refuse.