The son said that he was a matchmaker, and his mother took off his skin, which was about the difficulty of marrying a wife in the countryside. ？

Then again, the fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law in the countryside are not unreasonable, if the daughter marries an only son, as long as the offspring is good and the family background is comparable, it will generally not be overpriced. If there are many brothers who are married, the bride price will be shouted to a high place, and the matchmaker's feet will be broken, in fact, it is the parents-in-law who fight for their daughter's property, because the dowry belongs to each person, and even if the divorce is in the future, it will belong to the woman.

But there are exceptions, for example, the woman's family situation is really difficult, and she can't start a family for her son, so she can only subsidize her daughter's bride price. There's no way, the daughter is an outsider when she marries, and the son has to support the family and send his parents to the end. This is also what everyone acquiesces to, and it is bitter for those girls who work outside, to help the family make money before marriage, and to let the family receive a bride price when they get married.

Zhang Xiangfeng of Luofang married Li Chuanlin of Yinzitan, one side is the eldest daughter of Huanghua, and the other side is a second marriage with two children, and the Zhang family is so poor that the natural bride price is nearly three or two times that of the usual, reaching 10,000 yuan that scares people to death, which does not include expenses such as parents' clothes (clothes for the woman's parents), brother and sister-in-law's clothes, and river seats (pork for the woman's wine).

Zhang Xiangfeng, who had ripped off the marriage certificate in the township, returned to his parents' house, and accompanied his mother, brother and sister-in-law, who were smiling from ear to ear, and sent away her husband, uncle, and nephew, and was a little anxious to see her dowry.

Big red motorcycles, well-packaged color TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, these things are difficult for people in the city to marry their daughters, plus brand new Simmons beds, quilts, barrels, basins, tables, chairs and benches, etc., this dowry is the best in the county. Zhang Xiangfeng, who was still a little worried just now, breathed a sigh of relief, and several fathers-in-law helped him to stop it, and the bride price money became a real dowry.

The little sister who had been holding Zhang Xiangfeng's hand was very greedy for the big color TV, and pulled her sleeve and whispered: "Mom, is this for our family?"

"Well, do you like it?"

"I like it, the TV is bigger than the fourth aunt's! Mom, the fourth aunt's color TV is good. ”

What a child, Zhang Xiangfeng took her by the hand with a smile, said hello to the two brothers and sisters-in-law, picked up her mother's hand and said coquettishly: "Mom, the three of us squeeze into a bed at night?"

"Child, you're also a mom now."

"Auntie"

"Sister Qiqi!"

The little girl with the small schoolbag on her back suddenly shouted happily, let go of Zhang Xiangfeng's hand and ran out, and Zhang Qi was standing in the valley flat.

"Sister Qiqi, go in and play!"

"Sister Wenwen, you're here, I'm not going in. ”

Zhang Qi, who was holding a small hoe in his hand, stood in the sun-grained flat, greeting his little sister affectionately, but he didn't enter the house, and he didn't even stand under the eaves. She was wearing a woolen hat and half-fingered gloves given by Li Jiaming in the name of her aunt, and a few strands of withered yellow hair were exposed under the hat.

Seeing that her little niece was so stubborn, Zhang Xiangfeng felt sour, walked over and hugged her, and said softly: "Qiqi, take my sister to play first, my aunt will wait to see you." ”

"Hey, Wenwen, why don't you go and see my chickens?"

"Hmm"

Hearing her aunt's instructions, Zhang Qi, who was like a little hedgehog at school, agreed, and pulled her younger sister who was whiter and more foreign than her to see the chickens she raised. That is still the mother-in-law went to her aunt's house to catch her raised, and the aunt has a villain (fetus) in her belly, so she has to eat more chicken to make up for her body.

Seeing that the little niece was still as stubborn as before, Zhang Xiangfeng, who was happy just now, was in no mood to look at the dowry anymore, so she laughed with her brother and sister-in-law, pulled her suitcase and bag, and took her mother to the mud house next door. Next door is her third brother's house, since he did those scandals, the eldest brother and the second brother can no longer raise their heads in front of the whole village, and they will never enter that door again.

A dilapidated mud house, the steps under the eaves are clean, and although there are ten chickens looking for food in the barn flat, it is difficult to hide its dilapidation and depression. Next to the sun-dried valley is a small vegetable garden, where two little guys are squatting in the sun digging earthworms.

"Sister Qiqi, are all those chickens raised by my mother?"

"Well, my mother-in-law caught it from my aunt, and when my aunt gives birth to a little brother, I can make up for her. ”

"Sister Qiqi is really good, my brother said that I was too young to raise chickens, so I could only raise little red fish. Sister Qiqi, next time you go to my house to play, there are a lot of little red fish in my house, all of which were given to me by my sister Honghong. ”

"Hmm".

Listening to the two children talking from a distance, Zhang Xiangfeng looked at the chicks in the sun-grained flat again, and his heart was even more sour. The niece who used to cry and make trouble for her mother every day, and only sleep when she hugged her every day, has also begun to be sensible and know how to honor her aunt.

The gray-haired mother bent her back and pushed open the broken door of the second brother's house, and the hall was clean.

Zhang Xiangfeng turned his head, wiped the moist corners of his eyes, and said with a smile: "Mom, what about Heyou?"

The mother took her daughter's hand and opened her bedroom, which was still bright in the daytime, with two beds, a cupboard, and a table that were old but not shabby, and the bedding and the like were thick, but the charcoal basket in the corner of the room was empty.

"Well, he went to the mountains to collect firewood. ”

"Big brother, they're too much, aren't they?"

The mother patted her indignant daughter's hand and sighed: "Sister Feng, I can't complain about your eldest brother and second brother, but I blame the third brother for not being human." ”

"He Yan and Qi Mei are their own nephews and nieces!"

"Sister Feng, you can't say it like this, if it weren't for your eldest brother and second brother to send rice, oil and salt every month, the two of them would have starved to death. This is their father's mother's sin, and they can't complain about others. ”

Zhang Xiangfeng also sighed, silently and no longer argued, the third brother and third sister-in-law are no longer human, and the nephews and nieces are also innocent. The three acres and five points of land left by the third brother and sister-in-law, and more than 30 acres of mountains, are all cultivated by the eldest brother and the second brother, shouldn't they give some rice, oil, and salt a month?

O iniquity!

The mother poked the small hand stove in her hand with a small wooden stick, handed her daughter to roast her cold hands, and then squatted down and groped under the bed.

"Mom, what are you looking for? I'll help you. ”

"No, you can't find it. ”

After a while, the mother took out a small jar from under the bed, opened the jar, and inside the jar was some dried salt cabbage, and under the dried salt cabbage was a plastic bag. When I opened it, there was a thin stack of money inside, and I saw that Zhang Xiangfeng's heart was pinched by a big hand, and his whole body began to weaken.

Hey, the mother who was still protecting her just now sighed and explained: "Sister Feng, don't blame your mother for not helping you keep the money, your eldest brother and second brother are really difficult." Don't worry, they said they would pay it back, and they will pay it back to you as soon as they let go of their hands. ”

Nearly 20,000 yuan was sent back, but in the end there was not even 300 yuan, and this is because the two brothers have already married, and the eldest nephew and niece have graduated from junior high school! Looking at the more than 200 yuan in front of him, Zhang Xiangfeng felt sad from his heart, and couldn't help but cover his mouth and cry bitterly.

For four or five years, I was reluctant to eat, I was reluctant to wear, and I was reluctant to come back even for the New Year. I knew that this was the end, so I should have listened to Xiaolan and them, and saved my own private money!

The daughter cried into tears, and the mother felt uncomfortable, and regretted that she always gave the money to her two sons with a soft heart, but now she can only cry and comfort: "Don't cry, don't cry, as long as your mother doesn't die, they will pay you back, and they will definitely pay you back." ”

How do you pay back the money and get it back?

Mom is a fool, a mother who has been confused all her life, and the sad Zhang Xiangfeng didn't know how to meet her husband's family for a while. The dowry is purchased with the bride price money, but what about the dowry money? I have worked outside for five or six years and have not saved a penny of private money.

The crying in the house finally alarmed the little sister who was digging earthworms, and hurriedly ran in with her small schoolbag, hugged the thighs of the new mother, and said eagerly: "Mom, what's wrong? Mom, why are you crying?"

"It's okay, it's okay", Zhang Xiangfeng, who wanted to be strong, was hugged by his soft little body, forcibly suppressed his sorrow, wiped his tears and comforted: "It's okay, it's okay, Mom's eyes are gray." ”

"Oh, I'll blow it for you".

The warm wind blew into his eyes, which made Zhang Xiangfeng feel sad and helpless, and hugged his well-behaved daughter to wipe his tears.

Seeing that the new mother was still so sad, the little sister finally remembered her brother's advice and said eagerly: "Mom, I remember."

The little sister with a crying voice broke free from Zhang Xiangfeng's arms, hurriedly put down her small schoolbag, and took out a book-like thing wrapped in newspaper from it and stuffed it into her hand.

"Mom, my brother said that if Mom comes back and is so sad that she cries, let me give you this thing. ”

"Hmm", looking at his daughter's eager look, Zhang Xiangfeng suppressed the discomfort in his heart, squeezed out a smile and opened the paper bag, and couldn't help but be startled.

"Wenwen, where did you come from?"

The little sister was also startled and exclaimed: "My brother gave it, wow, what a lot of money!"

It was indeed given by Li Jiaming, he has so many younger brothers, what is the situation of the Zhang family, he still doesn't know? Human nature is greedy, when he heard that Zhang Xiangfeng's mother was a fool, he had already expected this result.

The problem that money can solve is a small problem, anyway, the money has to be handed over, why not make it convenient for the stepmother, let her treat the little sister better? People's hearts are flesh and blood, and it is impossible for them to call another woman to be their mother, but the little sister is different, as long as she likes it. The mother is in the spirit of heaven, and she will only hope that her little sister will be well, hope that she will be happy and healthy, and will not mind her calling another woman her mother.

…………………………

It is indeed very difficult to ask a teenage son to call his stepmother to be a mother, and after returning home, Li Chuanlin did not force his son to change his words, but took him to see his grandfather and grandmother after eating. A husband and wife for a hundred days, not to mention that the deceased wife also left a pair of sensible children to herself, and her father-in-law and mother-in-law have always regarded themselves as their own sons.

"Mom, yes, this is the padded jacket I bought for you, you like to bake the fire in the cold weather, I'm afraid that the down jacket will burn out. This is the cigarette and alcohol for Yeye, and this is the pocket money for Mom. ”

After receiving the New Year's gift from her son-in-law, her grandfather and grandmother smiled from ear to ear and said yes vigorously.

"Chuanlin, how are the preparations for the marriage?"

"Hehe, it's all my brother who is in Zhangluo, and when Xiangfeng enters the door, I will take her to see you, and recognize you as a godfather and godmother, and she will be your biological daughter in the future. ”

The son-in-law was half a son, and the old couple who were very satisfied with the filial piety of the son-in-law wiped their tears, but their faces were smiling.

"Yes, yes. ”

Grandma took off an old-colored silver bracelet from her wrist, this is still her dowry forty or fifty years ago, her daughter gave one when she got married, and she has buried it with her daughter, and now this is the remaining one.

"Taotao, take it and wash it, and wait for Xiangfeng to come and give it to her. ”

The aunt who had just made the tea took it with a smile and quipped: "Mom, you are so partial, I have served you for more than 20 years!"

The silver-haired grandmother was in a good mood, patted Li Jiaming's hand, and also quipped: "Taotao, be content, my nephew and grandson helped your daughter transfer the national food and find a job in the city, are you still not satisfied?"

"Mom, he's a niece, it's right to help my aunt, how much white rice and egg paste have he eaten from me since he was a child?"

This is true, Li Jiaming, the niece dog in his aunt's mouth, laughed with him, when he used to study here, the whole family ate shredded potato rice, and he ate Xiaozao by himself. It's really natural to help Sister Honghong.

...