Chen Hui rubbed her aching head where she had been hit.
"Mom, stop it. I am the one marrying Jiajun. As long as I do not mind, it is fine."
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
Tang Guixiang smacked her hard again.
"I said they have to move, so they must move."
Seeing Tang Guixiang getting angrier by the second, Li Suhua hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
"In-law, please do not be angry. When Jiajun and Huizi get married, the young couple will live in their bridal house.
"Wanyi and I will stay in the old house. We will not interfere with each other, so we will not bother them."
"That still will not do."
Tang Guixiang continued to argue. Chen Hui could not listen to this anymore.
"Why not? Why is that not okay? I will not even be living with his sister, so what else could you possibly be unhappy about?"
Tang Guixiang glanced at her son before saying slowly.
"Because your bridal house needs to be given to your brother. You and Lin Jiajun can live in the old house."
"What?"
Chen Hui immediately shot back.
"Mom, what are you talking about? This is my and Jiajun's bridal house. Jiajun prepared it. Why should Chen Qiang live there?
"Does he need such a big house all to himself?"
Chen Qiang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up.
"Sis, you are getting married, but I need to get married too. To tell you the truth, I have a girlfriend.
"She said that to marry her, she wants a bride price of 388,000, 150,000 worth of gold, and a hundred-square-meter bridal house.
"Mom cannot afford it, so I have to use yours."
Chen Hui laughed in disbelief.
She actually laughed.
"Chen Qiang, you are dreaming.
"Why should I give my things to you? If you cannot earn it yourself, go ask your dad or your mom. I am just your sister. It is none of my business."
Chen Qiang's face instantly darkened. "Mom, listen to her. Just listen to what she is saying.
"I am her younger brother; shouldn't she yield to me?"
"Of course she should!"
Tang Guixiang said without hesitation.
"Chen Hui, you are the older sister, you should be considerate of your younger brother. I am not discussing this with you; I will discuss it with your mother-in-law."
She turned her head to look at Li Suhua.
"In-law, you are an experienced person, and you have married off a daughter. Tell me, is what I am doing wrong?
"Shouldn't the bride price, gold, and house you are giving be left entirely for me to distribute as I please?
"You tell me."
Li Suhua naturally could not agree. She said.
"The bride price and gold are our show of sincerity to Huizi. Whether she wants to keep them for herself or give them to your family, I will not interfere.
"But the bridal house is only for her and Jiajun to live in. I cannot agree to give it to Chen Qiang."
"You do not agree?"
Tang Guixiang was very surprised. "What right do you have not to agree? This is my daughter's bridal house. Shouldn't she be the one calling the shots?"
"I do not agree either."
Chen Hui did not even want to look at Tang Guixiang anymore. She said bluntly.
"I am laying it all out for you today. Whether it is my bride price, my gold, or my house, I will not give you a single thing.
"Listen well, I will not give you a single cent."
As soon as Chen Hui finished speaking, she stood up and pulled Li Suhua along to leave.
"Auntie, let's go. There is nothing left to discuss. You will not need to see them ever again.
"I am in complete control of my own marriage; you only need to consult me."
Li Suhua got up and followed Chen Hui out, ignoring Tang Guixiang shouting at them from behind.
"Why are you leaving? Why are you walking away?
"Can't we sit down and talk this over slowly? At worst, we can ask for a little less bride price, but you absolutely have to give us the bridal house!"
Chen Hui led the Lin family away as fast as they could. It wasn't until they got into the car that Li Suhua suddenly remembered.
"Oh no, we haven't paid for the meal yet!"
She looked at Chen Hui, not expecting her to be smiling.
"Haha, serves them right. Let them pay for it themselves. All they ever want to do is leech off me.
"They really thought they could get away with it."
Lin Wanyi felt that Chen Hui was very assertive.
Upon returning home, Lin Wanyi asked Li Suhua,
"Mom, what are you planning to do?"
Li Suhua thought for a moment. "I've thought about this for a long time. What I said at the dinner table was the truth—the bride price and the gold will be given to Huizi to keep for herself.
"The house can also have both Jiajun and Huizi's names on the deed, but we absolutely cannot give it to Chen Qiang."
She took Lin Wanyi's hand. "Don't take Tang Guixiang's words to heart. Just stay here at home with peace of mind.
"This is my home, which means it's your and Keke's home. Tang Guixiang doesn't call the shots here."
Lin Wanyi felt a warm feeling in her heart. Her parents always loved and respected her, no matter what.
However, she also felt sad for Chen Hui. How could she have ended up with such parents?
Chen Hui sat on Lin Jiajun's bed, still fuming.
"How could they leech off me like this? I'm not going back. I'm never going back there again."
Lin Jiajun tried to comfort her, "Don't say things out of anger. They are your parents, after all."
"Are you saying you agreed to give the house to Chen Qiang? Lin Jiajun, did you agree?"
Lin Jiajun shook his head. "Of course not. I didn't even earn this house myself.
"Aunt Su gave it to me. Even if I had bought it myself, it makes no sense to give it to Chen Qiang.
"Huihui, my mom and I are on the same page. I won't interfere with your bride price or the gold. Whether you save it for yourself or give it to them is entirely up to you.
"I will also put both of our names on the house deed. But letting Chen Qiang live there? Impossible."
"Exactly, Jiajun. I won't give them a single cent of my money. And from the looks of it, they won't give me a dime for a dowry either.
"I don't expect anything from them anyway, it's just..."
She looked troubled, prompting Lin Jiajun to ask immediately, "What's wrong?"
"Now that I've fallen out with them, where am I supposed to live?"
Lin Jiajun patted her head.
"Did you lose your memory? Don't we have a house? The marital home is already fully furnished and ready to move in. I'll help you move in tomorrow."
Chen Hui suddenly blushed.
"You... you're so shameless! We aren't even married yet. Who wants to move in with you?"
Lin Jiajun immediately realized his slip of the tongue. "No, no, I meant I'll help you move your things in.
"You'll live there. Just you alone. Come on, I'll take you there right now."
Before they could even walk out the door, Tang Guixiang actually showed up at their house.
She stormed over to Li Suhua.
"What is the meaning of this? Whoever heard of the bride's family paying the bill at a wedding discussion dinner?
"That table cost me eight hundred. Hurry up and give me a thousand."
Li Suhua felt she was somewhat in the wrong, so she promptly and briskly handed her a thousand.
Lin Wanyi poured a cup of tea for Tang Guixiang, but surprisingly, the woman refused to take it.
"I'm not drinking tea from a jinx like you. Don't ruin my good luck."
Lin Wanyi remained silent and stepped aside, but Li Suhua became upset.
"In-law, please don't speak about my daughter like that. She is merely divorced; she hasn't done anything wrong.
"In modern society, divorce is perfectly normal. You shouldn't look at people through colored glasses."
"Heh!"
Tang Guixiang gave a cold snort.
"What kind of nonsense is that? If she were a good woman, why would her husband divorce her?
"The man's family didn't even want the child. Just think about what the reason might be!"
"It goes without saying that Lin Wanyi made a massive mistake. If you ask me, that child probably isn't even her husband's."
"She was having an affair, wasn't she?"
