NOVEL NEXT Chapter 243: The Betrothal Gifts
"This is a token of my sister's goodwill, let's just accept it."
Song Moting spoke up.
Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't understand, she absolutely didn't believe that Song Moting was greedy for money.
She could absolutely trust Song Moting's character.
"I think my brother-in-law is the best, just accept it cheerfully. You should take this time and go get your marriage certificate, and later head to the department store to see if there's anything you need to buy. If you go too late, you might not be able to get them.
By the way, among these 50 yuan, I've also included some sugar ration coupons for you, because you'll need them to buy fruit candies.
As for peanuts and sunflower seeds, the supply and marketing cooperative might not have enough, so you might have to check the market yourselves.
Recently, a small market opened next to our house. Although there aren't many people, farmers from the surrounding area come here to sell their goods. Sometimes, I can see them selling snacks like sunflower seeds and peanuts."
Jiang Yue and others only took an hour off, and now they have to hurry back to work. They can't keep chatting with these lovebirds here.
The two of them hurriedly left.
Jiang Xiaoxiao shook her head with a smile, "That's my elder sister for you!"
Song Moting stuffed the money into Jiang Xiaoxiao's bag.
"Didn't you realize? This was arranged by my sister and brother-in-law. If you rejected it, they would be so heartbroken. Ever since my sister and brother-in-law used your quota to get jobs in the county, they've probably felt uneasy thinking they took advantage of you.
Taking advantage of the wedding, they likely wanted to compensate their little sister a bit. Of course, it's also a little bit of love from my sister to you, so why reject people so far away? Now that we've received it, next time, we can think of a way to buy some things for my elder sister and brother-in-law and return the favor.
You sometimes draw the line too clearly. How can family be so calculative?"
Song Moting took her hand and walked away.
Holding hands openly like this.
Didn't see that on the street with so many people watching them, Jiang Xiaoxiao had to pull away her hand.
In this era, such behavior was not common; even couples wouldn't dare to walk hand-in-hand on the street.
"I got it, sometimes I do make mistakes. I forgot how kind my sister and brother-in-law are; receiving such a big favor, I surely feel uncomfortable. Got it, got it.
I'll accept this money, and I'll do it with a clear conscience because this is my sister's gift to me, so of course, I should use it well to buy things, and spend it all later. Mr. Xiao Song, you better be careful, you're marrying a spendthrift wife.
Watch out. It's not too late to back out now."
Jiang Xiaoxiao proudly raised the 50 yuan and then stuffed it into her backpack, patting it with her hand.
Song Moting smiled, with a doting expression under his handsome brows.
"How could I back out? Isn't marrying a wife meant for her to help with spending money? Don't worry, you can't spend it all. The ginseng in our forestry farm is still waiting for us to share the profit. Together, the two of us could split quite a bit. I'm even benefiting from having a wife."
Song Moting felt proud. Calling her "wife" at this moment, it seemed he could finally feel that this woman was his.
Song Moting patted the seat on the bicycle.
"Come on, wife, get on quickly, let's go!"
As Jiang Xiaoxiao hopped onto the back seat, both of them suddenly remembered a familiar scene.
They both burst out laughing.
Fortunately, they came to the county a few days earlier to have their photo taken; otherwise, by the time they had gotten their photos several hours later, the office would have been closed.
Holding this piece of paper, looking at their side-by-side wedding photo, both were filled with joy. They were married.
Even though the wedding photo was in black and white, it signified that they had become an official couple.
Song Moting tucked the marriage certificate into Jiang Xiaoxiao's backpack and continued riding the bicycle with her on it.
Jiang Xiaoxiao noticed that the direction Song Moting was taking wasn't right; wasn't this the way to the post office?
"Mr. Xiao Song, aren't we going to the department store? If I remember correctly, it's in the opposite direction; you're taking the wrong path on the bicycle."
"We'll grab something from the post office first, and then we'll head to the department store to buy some things."
Quickly arriving at the post office, Song Moting took out a slip from his pocket and handed it to the staff. Shortly after, the staff brought out a parcel and handed it directly to them.
They were asked to sign and stamp the slip. At this time, receiving or sending items required one's personal stamp.
Jiang Xiaoxiao glanced at the address on it; it seemed to have been sent from Hai City.
She also knew that Song Moting's family background was different, naturally having relatives and friends all over the place.
Moreover, given the elderly couple, how many comrades-in-arms did they have?
Scattered all over the country, likely because of their wedding, someone had sent gifts.
Song Moting patted the parcel, wearing an expression of satisfaction.
"Wife, this is the dowry I prepared for you; you should take it home and carefully see what exactly I got you."
He put a lot of effort into buying these items, with help from his grandfather's comrades and his childhood friends.
In this era, even with the post office, you needed connections; otherwise, it might take ten days to half a month for these items to be sent, and they might even get damaged in transit.
Jiang Xiaoxiao was curious, dowry!?
"My parents never demanded a dowry."
Fan Xiuying and Jiang Laoshi never brought up the topic of dowry. Mainly, for that kind of family, discussing dowry didn't make sense to them.
Their family didn't lack money, and the elderly lady had already promised that they'd have the "three major pieces" and 36 legs in total once they returned to Jingbei.
The elderly couple, who were they? They didn't lack money and wouldn't lie about such things.
"Moreover, Grandma already told me she prepared the 'three major pieces,' which I originally said we didn't need, yet she insisted. In fact, a watch, bicycle, and sewing machine aren't necessary for us now.
I mainly considered that once the two of us take the college entrance exams, if we pass, we'll leave here by next spring. If we prepare those things now, wouldn't it be a waste? Are we going to move with them?"
People in this era had very simple weddings, unlike later on when bridal expenses became so high.
Of course, there existed the issue of requesting dowries, but normally people would discuss and just roughly agree.
After all, no family was well-off; buying the 'three major pieces' was not affordable for average families, but they had to at least prepare one or two of them.
Anyway, it was something negotiable.
Though these things seemed typical to outsiders, for the two of them, they really weren't necessary since they couldn't establish a lifetime home there.
These items, in fact, became extraneous for them.
"I also told Grandma that the things she prepared, we indeed don't need now, but Grandma said that needing or not needing and should or shouldn't prepare are two different matters. Since our family is getting a daughter-in-law, it must be official; otherwise, it would be a bit disrespectful to her granddaughter-in-law.
It's about respect! Respect for the woman; Grandma said everything was prepared, but it was kept directly in Jingbei. The new house in Jingbei will be arranged perfectly for us, and we can just move in when we return.
That house was originally left for me by Grandma. So don't worry about those things. What I've prepared for you is my heartfelt dowry, just for you."
Jiang Xiaoxiao felt a warmth in her heart; many times women say one thing and mean another. They may say they don't love money, that it's fine without a dowry or gifts, that love alone is enough.
Yet, in reality, who wouldn't want their husband's respect and cherishment?