41 Chapter 41: Convincing Them
Taking the opportunity, Big Girl Li told Liu Daniu about her idea of saving up for her own personal savings.
“We are not living separately from our parents yet, so how can we do that?” Liu Daniu rejected the idea immediately.
Big Girl Li immediately became displeased.
“What’s wrong? It’s not like you didn’t see how Sister Sanya treats her mother-in-law and little sister-in-law when she is in charge of the family.”
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“Not only does she allow her mother-in-law to put aside money for her personal savings, but she also allows her little sister-in-law to do so.”
“What do you think that little girl Yun will do with her private stash? Won’t it go into her own dowry in the future? Sister Sanya didn’t even stop this. She’s nothing like your mother!”
“You…” Liu Daniu was a little annoyed.
He wanted to refute her, but he couldn’t think of anything.
“I’m telling you, it’s fine for us to suffer a little hardship. But it won’t be long before we have a baby. At that point, we can’t wait for our child to be born and then ask for everything from your mother, right?”
Seeing that Liu Daniu didn’t answer, Big Girl Li continued, “It’s not like you don’t know Mother’s temperament. She’s extremely stingy. Even if we hand over the money we earn, she won’t be generous when we need it in the future.”
Liu Daniu was silent.
“Also, Erniu is already 14 years old. In less than two years, we’ll have to talk about marriage for him. Mother has gotten a wife for you, so I have no objection to helping Erniu prepare the betrothal gift. In fact, I’m even in favor of preparing a dowry for little sister. But any more than that, I’m not in favor.”
“When my baby arrives, I’ll definitely have to give more importance to our baby and our small family than them.”
Liu Daniu did not reply.
He wanted to reprimand his wife, telling her she should not say such things. However, he also felt that his wife’s words actually made some sense.
Seeing that Liu Daniu didn’t reprimand her, Big Girl Li felt much more emboldened.
“If you don’t dare to say it, then let me say it. We’ll both work in the future, and your salary will be handed over to Mother. I can hand over a part of what I earn, but I have to retain the bigger portion.”
Seeing that Liu Daniu was about to speak, Big Girl Li added, “If you disagree, I won’t work with Sister Sanya anymore. The money I earned won’t end up in my pocket anyway.”
Liu Daniu immediately swallowed back the words he wanted to say.
Knowing his wife’s temper, he knew she would really carry out what she said.
In that case, he would just let her bring up this subject to his mother.
When Big Girl Li saw that her man didn’t object, she let out a sigh of relief and felt more confident.
When she reached home, she told her in-laws about this.
Her mother-in-law naturally objected and was so angry that she almost scolded Big Girl Li.
However, Big Girl Li wasn’t afraid, and instead, she started to behave shamelessly.
“If Daniu go out to earn money and hand all his earnings over, it’s fine. But if you expect me to hand over all my earnings, then I’d rather not do anything and just be a freeloader at home.”
“In any case, when Mother sent the matchmaker to my house to propose marriage, she also said that I would not have to work in the fields.”
At that point, they had painted such a rosy picture, telling her to marry into the Liu family to lead a good life.
In the end, she didn’t experience the good life she was promised.
Fortunately, she was mentally prepared and knew that the farmer’s life wasn’t easy. Otherwise, she would have died of exasperation long ago.
Aunt Liu became even angrier, but she didn’t dare to vent her anger on her daughter-in-law.
It was because what her daughter-in-law said was true. In order to persuade the Li family to let Big Girl Li marry into the Liu family, she did indeed say such things to her parents.
Moreover, if she wanted to arrange for her eldest son to work in town, she would have to ask for help from her in-laws.
If she really offended her daughter-in-law, her eldest son’s plan to work in town would probably be ruined.
Seeing her mother-in-law’s expression, Big Girl Li’s anger subsided a little.
“Mother, I never thought that I would be able to live a happy and peaceful life after marrying Daniu.”
“But you can’t still make me work so hard to earn money to support this big family when I am already deprived of a good life, right?”
Aunt Liu’s brows were tightly knitted.
“The Song family isn’t the only one that allows their family members to have their personal savings. Many families are doing this in Brook Falls Village.”
“It doesn’t make sense that other families are allowed to do it, but when it comes to our Liu family, Mother must hold all the money in your hands, does it?”
“What I meant is, we should hand over the money that Daniu earns to save for Erniu’s betrothal gift and little sister’s dowry. I agree with all these. However, I will only hand over 20% of the money I earn.”
As she spoke, Big Girl Li looked at Liu Erniu.
“It’ll be the same when Erniu gets married in the future. The money Erniu earned will go to the family, his wife would pay 20% of the money she earned, and the rest the couple will keep for themselves. This is fair.”
“And also there’s little sister. If she’s as capable as the Song family’s little girl Yun, she can also save up for her dowry. Anyway, we can’t hand over all our money, or I’d rather stay at home and be a freeloader!” After she finished speaking, Big Girl Li sat down on the stool heavily.
She turned her head and did not look at anyone anymore.
The members of the Liu family looked at each other, and finally, their gazes fell on Uncle Liu.
Uncle Liu looked at his wife and sighed helplessly.
“Ahem! What the eldest daughter-in-law said actually makes some sense…”
Before he could finish speaking, his wife shot him a look that made him shut his mouth.
However, after enduring for a while, Uncle Liu continued, “Of course, since it’s a family matter, we can’t just listen to eldest daughter-in-law alone.”
“Erniu and Xiaomei, what do you two think of this matter?” Uncle Liu looked at his second son and youngest daughter.
If the eldest daughter-in-law wanted to save up for her personal savings, it was inherently unfair to the second son and younger sister.
However, after thinking about it carefully, the eldest daughter-in-law also said that she would allow the eldest son to contribute to the betrothal gift for the second son and even a dowry for the younger sister. This way, he didn’t let his second brother and little sister suffer any losses.
It was indeed rare for a daughter-in-law to support the family in their farming village.
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Some families in the village would accept the money earned by their daughters-in-law, but some didn’t.
In their family’s situation, the eldest daughter-in-law was not a soft-hearted person. If the family insisted on taking all her money, they were afraid that it would cause chaos in the family.
In fact, when Erniu saw that his mother did not explode in anger, he knew that his mother was not that opposed to this matter.
However, his mother had been in charge of managing the family for many years. If Erniu didn’t find a way for her to retreat in a dignified manner, she would never back off.
Liu Erniu exchanged glances with his younger sister as he mulled over these things in his mind.
“Let’s follow Sister-in-law’s suggestion. Sister-in-law doesn’t have to hand over all the money she earned.”
It was fine as long as his big brother promised to contribute to his betrothal gift. After he got married, he and his wife could completely rely on themselves.
Besides, with Sister-in-law as a precedent, his wife would be able to save up her own money, right? He didn’t suffer any losses.
Liu Xiaomei nodded in agreement.
Of course, she was supportive. Sister-in-law said that she would ask Big Brother to help save up for her dowry.
If she had the ability, she could also save up for her own dowry. Things simply couldn’t be better.
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Uncle Liu saw this and nodded.
“Since Erniu and Xiaomei have no objections, then this matter is settled,” he said and then looked at his wife.
Aunt Liu still did not look very pleased.
“Uh-huh.” In the end, she still agreed to the proposal.
When Big Girl Li heard her mother-in-law’s reply, her face immediately lit up, and she quickly turned around.
“Thank you, Father! Thank you, Mother! Daniu and I will work hard in the future!” she said excitedly.
Uncle Liu was amused.
Even Aunt Liu, who had been pulling a long face, couldn’t help but relaxed her expression.
A farce that he thought would blow up uncontrollably ended just like that.