After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1023 Sincerity
Fang was surprised to open the box that Hai Baozhu handed over, and found that there were indeed five brand new silver notes inside, each with a face value of one hundred taels. It was obvious that Hai Baozhu had specially exchanged them at the money shop before going to Beijing.

Although she was very touched that the bastard was willing to use the family's money to prepare a dowry for her daughter, Fang still put the banknotes back into the box and pushed it back in front of Hai Baozhu: "No need, Baozhu's dowry, I have already prepared it here, there is no shortage of silver, and there are also jewelry. I just need to buy a batch of new materials to make clothes for all seasons, curtains and bedding, and then make a few sets of new jewelry, a set of furniture, and some daily necessities, and that's almost it. I have found a store that specializes in selling wedding supplies, selected the style, and paid a deposit. I just need to wait for them to finish the delivery, and I don't need to worry about it anymore. Our family and the Qiao family are not rich, and we don't intend to hold a big banquet. The dowry is almost enough. I will take out some of my own money to buy two shops for your sister, so that she can collect some rent as cosmetics money, and she doesn't have to ask your brother-in-law for everything. This dowry will be very impressive. Your brother-in-law is not a snob, and he won't look down on anyone."

Although the Hai family's eldest son has an income of more than 500 taels of silver this year, which is more than in previous years, it is not very wealthy. Hai Baozhu will take part in the provincial examination next year. If he passes, he will go to Beijing to take the exam the year after; if he fails, he may have to consider traveling and studying to broaden his horizons. No matter which one it is, he will have a lot of expenses in the future, and when he wants to get married, the money he needs to spend will be even more. The industry in his hometown only has an income of 400, 500 or 600 taels every year, which may not be enough. Since they are not the kind of people who spend lavishly, they should save money on weekdays and save the extra money for the future when the family has big expenses.

Since Fang brought her daughter to Beijing, she had cut ties with the Hai family in her heart. She handed over all the property of the Hai family's eldest branch to Hai Baozhu, and took away only the dowry and the private money she had saved over the past few decades, which she thought was enough to marry off her daughter and support her in her old age. She didn't want to take money from the Hai family anymore, so as to avoid hearing any unpleasant words from the Hai family members.

However, Hai Baozhu insisted: "Son knows what mother is worried about, son does not care. Since mother has handed over the family business to son, son can decide how to spend the family money. Now son wants to take out money to prepare a dowry for sister, who can blame son? Sister and son are close siblings, and it is son's duty to prepare a wedding for the eldest sister. Not to mention just taking out a mere 500 taels of silver, even if son wants to spend all, others have no reason to stop him. I have never touched the ancestral property, how the family's money is spent, what does it have to do with others?!"

Hai Baozhu was touched by what she heard, but she still advised her brother, "I understand your intention, but you still have to take the silver back. Although this is the income of our eldest branch, according to the custom of previous years, our eldest branch has to give money to support the widows, the poor and the weak in the clan. You took out all the silver in the family to prepare my dowry, and only left more than 60 taels of silver. You don't even have enough for yourself, how can you support the clan members? The clan will definitely not agree, and I don't know what kind of fuss they will make!"

Hai Baozhu disagreed: "I have helped the tribesmen every year, but I have helped a bunch of ungrateful ungrateful people! If they want to make trouble, let them make trouble. I will not go back to my hometown anyway, so out of sight, out of mind."

Aunt Qiu also nodded in agreement and said, "If the clan really wants the money from our eldest branch, they should learn to be more obedient and know what to say and what to do. But they are too ignorant! They should be taught a lesson so that they don't eat with the bowl in their hands and curse their mothers when they put the bowl down, as if our eldest branch owes them something."

Both mother and son stood firmly on Fang's side. Fang was touched but also had a headache: "Don't say that. Baozhu is already the head of the eldest branch of the family. He will have to take on the responsibility of the head of the family in the future. If you have resentment in your heart and are always unwilling to interact with the family members, let alone show kindness, how can you manage the entire family? You have been studying away from home and rarely return home. Even if it is for the sake of the houses and fields in your hometown, you should be more polite to the family members. They are in your hometown, and they are close to you in their hearts. They can also help you take care of the family property and save you a lot of trouble."

Hai Baozhu stood up respectfully to listen to the lecture and responded with his mouth, but looking at his expression, it was obvious that he did not really believe what his stepmother said. He had no intention of improving relations with his clansmen and still had resentment in his heart.

Fang felt helpless and was about to persuade them again when Aunt Qiu suddenly remembered something: "Yes, we not only brought banknotes, but also other things. I almost forgot!" She turned around to rummage through the luggage, picked up a wooden box that was more than two feet wide, and placed it on the round table in the middle of the room.

Fang looked at the size of the wooden box and had a bad feeling: "Could this be..." Aunt Qiu took out a bunch of keys from her waist and lowered her head to unlock it. Hai Baozhu smiled and said to his stepmother and eldest sister: "These are things stored in the storeroom at home. My mother kept them tightly and they were never taken away by the Jiang family in the early years. I thought that Uncle Xie Jiazhong went to Beijing to reunite with Uncle Xie, and there was no one at home. The old servants were old and dim, and the clansmen had ulterior motives. I was afraid that these valuable things would be lost in my hometown. I didn't know about it, so I took them to Yongping City and put them at home. This time I brought them all here. It's useless for me to keep these things, so I just gave them to my sister as a dowry. Although my brother-in-law's family is also an official family, they may not have such good things hidden in the bottom of the box. Seeing that my sister has such a decent dowry, he must think more highly of her."

Aunt Qiu opened the box, and Fang looked inside. It was indeed the pair of antique vases that had been passed down from the eldest son of the Hai family. She couldn't help but close her eyes, feeling a bit amused and helpless: "Baozhu, everyone in the clan knows about this. If the clan elders knew that you took it out as a dowry for your sister, I'm afraid there would be a big fuss!"

Hai Baozhu curled his lips and said, "This is our eldest son's property, what does it have to do with others? I just want to give it to my sister as a dowry, no one can interfere!"

Fang was really helpless. She thought it was useless to persuade him any further, so she had to order Aunt Qiu to lock the box again and move it to her room for storage, and discuss it later. She said that Hai Baozhu and his mother were tired from the journey, so she sent them back to rest. She ordered her daughter to stay in the main room to look after the things, and she held the hand of the maid and quietly went to the second room to ask for help from her second uncle and second aunt.

The illegitimate son has a conscience, is filial to his mother, is friendly to his elder sister, and is willing to spend a large sum of money to give his elder sister a dowry. This is a good thing. She is very happy in her heart, and she is even more happy that Aunt Qiu is also a kind and polite person, and has never instigated her son to be estranged from his mother and elder sister. But Hai Baozhu resents his clan members and always alienates them. He does not consider helping the widows and the poor in the clan, and even plans to take out the ancestral antiques known to the whole clan as a dowry for his elder sister. This is a bit too much.

Fang didn't need to think too much to guess what would happen when the clan found out.

She didn't want Hai Baozhu to be unable to study in peace and to be harassed by his clansmen all the time, and she didn't want any of the Hai clansmen to come and make a scene in front of her. Since she had already left the Hai family, she didn't plan to interact with those clansmen anymore. Her daughter's marriage was imminent, and she didn't want anything to go wrong at this time.

Hai Baozhu has gotten stuck in a dead end. There are some things that she, as a stepmother, cannot explain too clearly. She can only seek help from the elders of the second house and ask them to teach her the ways of the world.

If someone from the clan really came to make trouble, the second branch could help Hai Baozhu resist. This simple and filial child was only thinking about his stepmother and step-sister, so he couldn't bear the hatred of the clan members and get a bad reputation just because of his sincerity.