Song Dingxiang [Completed]

C56. It Hurts To Hate.

Chapter 56

In the eyes of wealthy families, it's just a matter of marrying off a distant relative and the betrothal gifts are nothing special. But for the Song family, they thought they were already considered wealthy, yet for those wealthy families, it was just the same.

The list of betrothal gifts alone included two pairs of pure gold and gemstone headpieces, fifty acres of good farmland, two hundred acres of mountainous land, six pieces of fine cloth in six different colors, six pieces of fine silk in six different colors, six pieces of brocade in six different colors, six celadon vases, a pair of double-sided embroidered screens, a pair of eight-panel screens, and two shops in the county town.

In addition, there were five hundred taels of silver notes given separately, with the messenger saying it was for the third Miss to prepare her dowry.

Song Dingxiang looked at the silver notes for a moment, then returned them to the messenger, saying with a smile, "After all, we are marrying off our own daughter, we can't let the groom's family spend money. Don't worry about the dowry, although it may not be as extravagant as what you prepared for Master Li, it will certainly not be embarrassing."

The messenger hurriedly replied, "It's not that, it's just that these betrothal gifts are the usual amount from our hometown, the master and madam were concerned about the burden on the third Miss's family, so..."

Song Dingxiang smiled, "We understand this situation, but marrying off a daughter is indeed a big event, and we won't cut corners. Please rest assured Master and Madam."

Seeing that Song Dingxiang refused to accept the silver notes, the messenger put them away and went back to report.

Zhang shi leaned against the wall and said, "This is truly a heavy burden, how much stuff do we need for the dowry... Not to mention, just presenting one copy of that betrothal list in our village would be considered excellent. What should we do..."

She wanted to marry off her daughter in a grand manner, originally thinking it was just a distant nephew. Since he set his eyes on her daughter, it was a good thing; at worst, she could use all the silver they had saved over the years to make a pretty decent dowry.

However, after looking at the list of betrothal gifts, she felt extremely upset.

Song Zijin was also visibly nervous, saying, "Or, maybe we should just forget about it... Where does our family have so much silver..."

She was not unaware of her family's situation; it seemed prosperous with several workshops earning a good amount of money every month, but the labor costs were not insignificant, and it was all physical work. It was really difficult for them to put together an equivalent dowry.

Song Dingxiang reassured her, "It's not as difficult as it seems. We may not have much silver, but we have skills. Originally, there were six sets of bedding in the dowry, we can double it to twelve sets. Uncle can go to the village to see the new house, if it has a raised platform, we can quickly buy wood and make a set of raised beds. If it has a heated platform, we can make a good wardrobe and two good kang cabinets, a set of couches, the cost of the wood and craftsmanship will still be manageable."

Song Zhicheng nodded, "Alright, I'll go and take a look."

Li shi said, "Our family can contribute some silver to make a set of jewelry for our third daughter, but it won't be much. The majority will have to come from you all, the older siblings."

Zhang shi quickly agreed, saying, "Consider it as borrowed. I'll slowly repay it once our third daughter is married off."

Li shi nodded in satisfaction.