Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

"We're divorced now, who she brings home is none of my business!"

After saying that, Liu Guomin prepared to take the bowl into the kitchen. At this moment, Liu Lishi objected and began to curse Chen Lianxiang with foul language, "That slut, that jinx, how dare she find another man!"

When He Lu heard Liu Li cursing and swearing at Chen Lianxiang from afar, she immediately covered her little grandson's ears. The child didn't understand and thought his grandmother was playing with him. He laughed and reached out to grab his grandmother's hair.

But Liu Lishi's insults became increasingly vile, hurling vulgarities like "slut," "whore," and "pimp with prostitute" without a second thought. He Lushi couldn't bear it any longer and, carrying her little grandson, headed towards the courtyard gate.

How could I possibly be related to such a person by marriage? It's unbearable to look at!

"Mom, that's enough, stop scolding," Liu Guomin clearly couldn't take it anymore, his voice rising a few decibels in his anger, "Have some good karma for yourselves and for our Liu family!"

"Why can't I curse her? That damned Chen Lianxiang!" Liu Lishi not only didn't stop, but instead pointed towards Lianzhai and stomped her feet as she cursed, "You still want to protect her? As soon as her rich cousin came, she looked down on our Liu family. She hid in America for a year, and when she came back, she divorced you."

"I bet it was during her year in America that she hooked up with this bastard. She's so unfaithful, can't I even vent my anger by yelling at her?"

"What good will it do you to scold her? Will she lose a piece of flesh or anything?" Liu Guomin irritably shook his wet hands, walked to the main room, sat down, and started rolling a cigarette to relieve his annoyance.

Fang Songmao walked over and handed a red plum blossom to Liu Guomin. "Brother-in-law, you can let it go. After all, you and Chen Lianxiang are indeed divorced, but the child isn't someone you can just abandon just because you two are divorced."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guomin frowned and looked at Fang Songmao, "Songmao, what do you mean?"

"Brother-in-law, all three children are with Chen Lianxiang now. What if she really marries that man and just takes the kids to America?" Fang Songmao sat down. "What are you planning to do? Just let Chen Lianxiang take Shaozhong and Shaoqun away?"

Liu Guomin asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"Brother-in-law, you're really optimistic. What's wrong?" Fang Songmao lit a cigarette himself and said, "Kids are the easiest to be misled. The reason I asked you to visit Shaozhong and Shaoqun at the school gate from time to time is to let them know that they still have you as their father!"

"If you let Chen Lianxiang take Shaozhong and Shaoqun to America, separated by thousands of miles, they will completely forget about you in less than a year, and then the children will really belong to someone else's family," Fang Songmao said, shaking his head. "You may not feel anything now, but when you get old, see who will take care of you in your old age and see you off in your final days."

"But," Liu Guomin said, lowering his head in frustration, "when we got divorced, we accepted five thousand yuan from Chen Zaixing and promised not to bother the children anymore. I used to sneak to the school gate, and Chen Zaixing saw me. He even tried to hit me."

"Yes, you accepted five thousand yuan from Chen Zaixing and promised not to disturb Chen Lianxiang and the three children's lives, but you didn't say that you allowed Chen Lianxiang to take the three children abroad," Fang Songmao said, slapping the coffee table. "It was Chen Lianxiang who broke the agreement first."

"Yes, brother, Songmao is right," Liu Jiashui chimed in, also trying to persuade her husband's elder brother, Liu Guomin. "The Chen family may be wealthy now, but can wealth supersede human relationships? Regardless of whether they divorce or not, you are still the biological father of Shaozhong and Shaoqun, and that's a fact that no one can change!"

Originally, Liu Jiashui did not plan to come to her parents' home to talk about this matter. She even pretended not to hear others talking about Chen Lianxiang outside. It was because the Liu family had been ridiculed by the villagers for a long time because of her eldest brother's divorce.

They had such a good eldest daughter-in-law, but she caused trouble all day long and almost drove people to their deaths. Now look what happened, the Chen family has prospered, while the Liu family can't even get a taste of meat. They can't even catch a hot meal of shit.

But when Liu Jiashui returned home, her husband, Fang Songmao, told her about something he had heard elsewhere: that Chen Lianxiang planned to marry the man from America and then take her brother-in-law's three children to live in America, with no intention of returning.

Fang Songmao felt that if Chen Lianxiang really left with the three children, who would take care of his brother-in-law in his old age and when he could no longer work?

You're suggesting Liu Guomin remarry? With a mother like Liu Lishi, who has such a notorious reputation, what family would be so foolish as to marry their daughter into that family?

Liu Lishi had considered finding another wife for her eldest son, Liu Guomin. After all, with the five thousand yuan given by Chen Zaixing, Liu Lishi felt that at worst, her family would have to pay a higher dowry. There were plenty of girls out there, and she could choose whichever she wanted.

Liu Lishi even planned to tell the matchmaker that she must find another gentle and obedient woman for her eldest son, not someone like that vile woman Chen Lianxiang, who only knows how to anger her old woman.

However, Liu Li underestimated her bad reputation and overestimated the five thousand yuan she had. In the 1980s, things had not yet developed to the point where, as long as you had money and were willing to spend it, you wouldn't have to worry about not being able to find a wife.

In Tuocheng during the 1980s, although the concept of matching social status was no longer emphasized, it didn't mean that people wouldn't inquire about your family background. If you had a bad reputation in the village, no matter how much money you had, it wouldn't matter. No one would marry their daughter to you, or rather, no one would want to be related to you.

I can't bear the shame!

In China, a society based on personal relationships, marriage is not just a matter of a marriage certificate between two people, especially in places like Tuocheng where clans are still very strong. Marriage is a major event for two families or even two clans.

Even in later generations, when dowries of tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan were common in other places, Tuocheng still valued character more than money.

As long as the man is of good character, hardworking, and able to manage a household, and the family is in dire financial straits, the bride's family will usually use the betrothal money to purchase furniture, a color TV, and other items as part of her dowry.

In some cases, the bride's family is well-off and will even provide her with a dowry, just so that her daughter won't be looked down upon by her husband's family after marriage.

After marriage, the two families become related by marriage and are expected to visit each other; they are not to become estranged forever.

If you ask for a dowry of tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan without warning, in Tuocheng, if the woman dares to ask for that, her neighbors and relatives will laugh at her for being desperate for money.

Who would dare marry a daughter from a money-grubbing family? They'd be gossiped about the whole time they went out.

"So what do you suggest we do?"