mtl008 Chapter 111 We're Not Getting Married
Chapter 111 We're Not Getting Married
Qian Fulai immediately agreed, "Okay, no problem."
He turned to Cheng Dali and said, "This must be the father of the Cheng family. Since your Cheng family wants to marry Miss Tian Er, then I will put these four hundred and fifty taels in the Cheng family's name."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Dali could no longer kneel. He suddenly stood up, his neck red, and retorted, "Why should I?"
"This is a debt owed by Tian Tian, so why should it be registered under the Cheng family's name?"
Qian Fulai raised an eyebrow and said, "Your family married Tian Tian, so Tian Tian is now a member of your Cheng family. Naturally, you should be the ones to pay off the debt. What's there to question?"
Cheng Dali was stunned. He looked at Lu Tao and then at Tian Tian.
"You..." Cheng Dali pointed at Lu Tao, "You, as her mother, should first help your daughter pay off her debts, and then... then prepare some dowry for her..."
"Why not just let her marry into our Cheng family in a grand and glorious way...?"
Lu Tao had already come to her senses and naturally knew how to answer, "Impossible!"
“All the money in my family belongs to my son, and I can’t possibly pay back the money to Tian Tian.”
As she said this, she looked at Tian Tian with a guilty expression.
Tian Tian winked at her.
Lu Tao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Words are the most hurtful, even though this is a temporary expedient measure taken out of necessity to deal with the Cheng family.
But she was still afraid that Sweetie would overthink it.
"Since your Cheng family wants to marry her, then go ahead and marry her. That's perfect, I won't have to worry about her marriage anymore."
"The dowry... is only one tael of silver."
Lu Tao looked at Tian Zhongqing and said, "As for Tian Tian's betrothal gifts, they should also be given to me."
As she spoke, she reached out to snatch the silver from Tian Zhongqing's hand.
Tian Zhongqing instinctively tried to dodge, as the five taels of silver were a token of goodwill from the Cheng family.
It's the bargaining chip they're willing to use to cooperate.
The Cheng family also promised them that once Tian Tian married into the family and the Baishi Teahouse was registered under the Cheng family name, they would give the Tian family five hundred taels of silver as a token of their gratitude.
But right now, it seems that this plan is no longer feasible.
The Lu family must not be allowed to take these five taels of silver.
When the Cheng family finally settled accounts, they realized they would have to ask them for those five taels of silver back.
Unfortunately, he's old and not as fast as Lu Tao.
Lu Tao grabbed the five taels of silver and held it in her hand with great interest. "Since the Cheng family has given the betrothal gifts, then the marriage is settled."
She turned to Tian Tian and said, "Tian Tian, since the Cheng family is so sincere, you should marry into their family first. When I have extra money, I will send you the dowry of one tael of silver."
Cheng Dali was even more dumbfounded; these words sounded...
Why did he feel like that one or two taels of silver was nowhere to be found?
wrong!
Not only did they lose that one or two taels of silver, they also lost five taels of silver in betrothal gifts.
Not only did they fail to acquire the Baishi Teahouse, they also incurred a debt of 450 taels.
This is a bad deal no matter how you look at it.
This isn't what they originally planned...
"My lord!" Cheng Dali finally remembered Li Huaiyuan. "My lord, the Lu family is making trouble out of nothing."
"Please, Your Excellency, do us justice!"
Li Huaiyuan spread his hands, looking bewildered, and said, "How do you expect me to help you?"
"Weren't you supposed to set a wedding date with the Lu family? Now, Miss Tian Er has agreed to marry you..."
"That day..."
"Since I am willing to help you achieve your goal, the sooner the better. Let's do it the day after tomorrow, no, let's do it tomorrow."
"Miss Tian, you will marry him tomorrow."
Qian Fulai nodded in agreement, “Alright, Tian Er will marry into the family tomorrow, and I will go collect the debt the day after tomorrow.”
"Brother Cheng, you'd better remember to prepare the money, otherwise, I'll have to report you to the authorities."
Cheng Dali blinked blankly, wondering what was going on...
"I..." He opened his mouth...
"Sir, this Lu family is deliberately refusing to repay Tian Er's debt; they're intentionally plotting against the Cheng family." Fortunately, he had other people with him.
"They clearly have money, so why don't they pay off their debts?"
"They did it on purpose."
Cheng Dali chimed in, "Yes, they deliberately plotted against us."
"How can we marry Tian Tian after scheming against us like this?"
Li Huaiyuan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So, are you going to marry her or not?"
Cheng Dali opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Of course, they didn't want to get married.
They would avoid a woman who had caused the death of their eldest son as soon as she entered the household.
But...
Tian Tian has businesses.
It's still the same big Baishi Teahouse!
After hearing about the case of the Tian family suing the Lu family, the villagers went back and told them.
This Baishi Teahouse can earn two to three hundred taels a day.
What does that even mean?!
Cheng Dali was a carpenter who made furniture and drove oxcarts for others, earning a maximum of fifteen taels a year.
Two or three hundred taels is equivalent to his wages over ten or twenty years.
He had already discussed it with Cheng Shi; they were going to marry this God of Wealth, even if they just worshipped him.
As for what kind of girl Cheng Shi likes, with money... he can have whatever he wants.
Now... she didn't marry the God of Wealth, but instead married a money-losing girl!
They don't want to!
"We're not getting married!" Cheng Dali shouted.
Li Huaiyuan was delighted to hear this, but then slammed his gavel down and shouted, "Insolence!"
"Cheng Dali, you said you'd marry into the Cheng family, and now you're saying you won't!"
"What do you mean? Do you think my court is a place to joke around?"
Cheng Dali stammered, "Sir, no, it's not us who want to report to the authorities, it's... it's Lu Shi and the others who want to report to the authorities."
"They're the ones making trouble... Our Cheng family is innocent."
Li Huaiyuan coldly snorted, "Injustice? You were the ones who made a scene in front of Baishi Teahouse, saying you wanted to set a date with the Lu family."
“Now that the Lu family is willing to set a date with you, you’ve gone back on your word.”
"Is it you who are making a fool of yourselves?! Or is it I who am making a fool of myself?!"
He continued, "In my opinion, the marriage agreement between your two families shall continue. You may return home now and come to Baishi Teahouse tomorrow to pick up the bride."
“No…” Cheng Dali felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of the 450 taels of debt. If they married Tian Tian, wouldn’t that mean they would have to help her pay off the debt for ten or twenty years? “We won’t marry her, sir, our family won’t marry her.”
"No, this isn't something you can just decide not to marry," Li Huaiyuan rebuked sternly.
Do you know what the laws of the Great Qi state?
Cheng Dali certainly knew that when he went to Tian Zhongqing for help, Tian Zhongqing had analyzed the situation for him...
If the man breaks off the engagement, he cannot get the betrothal gifts back; if the woman insists on not agreeing, she must compensate with double the betrothal gifts.
"We don't want the betrothal gifts anymore, we don't want them!" Cheng Dali hurriedly waved his hand.
Li Huaiyuan felt that this alone was not enough, and still looked helpless.
"We'll pay another five taels of silver," Cheng Dali said, having no other choice but to raise the price further. "Sir, we won't marry her."