After being reborn, I have seven older sisters.

After dinner, Chunsheng and Chunmiao, siblings, were busy with one revising an essay and the other copying classroom notes.

Chunzao sat in the middle of the earthen bed in the room, sewing insoles in her hands.

There were already four or five pairs of finished insoles in a basket beside her legs.

The patterns on each pair of insoles are extremely festive, featuring either magpies or mandarin ducks.

Sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), Chunmiao suddenly stopped writing, turned to Chunzao, and said, "Sixth Sister, you've embroidered dozens of pairs of insoles for yourself and your husband these past few days. Insoles are enough; why did you embroider so many?"

Chunzao glanced at the several pairs of embroidered insoles in the basket, and said with a happy smile, "Dozens of pairs will only last a few years! I think that's far from enough. I hope the embroidered insoles can last us a lifetime!"

Chunmiao couldn't help but chuckle, "A lifetime's worth? That'd probably require hundreds of pairs! Even if you embroidered until your wedding at the end of the year, you might not finish!"

"Then let's get married, and then we can embroider slowly!"

When Chunzao spoke, her eyes were filled with longing for a happy married life.

Just then, Zhang Cuilan from the same village came to our house.

Besides being the wife of Song Qinghe, the village head, she was also a member of her mother Liu Yan'e's sewing group in the commune, so she often came to their home before.

Now she has another extremely important role: she is the matchmaker for Chunzao and Huang Quangang.

Upon hearing that her matchmaker had arrived, Chunzao immediately got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and followed her mother out to greet him.

Chunmiao couldn't help but sigh and said, "Once Sixth Sister gets married, it'll just be the two of us left at home!"

Chunsheng glanced back at Chunmiao and smiled, "Don't rush, maybe you'll leave this house before Sixth Sister gets married!"

Chunsheng originally meant that after his sixth sister Chunzao got married, his seventh sister Chunmiao might be going to university.

But Chunmiao had no idea what Chunsheng was planning for her; she thought he meant she would get married soon too!

So she frowned, gave a wry smile, and said, "Forget it. I'd rather not get married than just settle for anyone just to get married..."

About half an hour later, Chunzao returned, looking strange.

Chunmiao asked curiously, "What happened, sis? What did Aunt Cuilan say when she came to our house that made you like this?"

Chunzao immediately threw herself into her younger sister Chunmiao's arms, blushing shyly and whimpering, "I don't want to get married so soon!"

Chunsheng and Chunmiao immediately exchanged glances, neither of them understanding what Chunzao meant.

Just then, her mother, Liu Yan'e, stepped in, holding a piece of red paper in her hand.

When Chunmiao and Chunsheng saw the smile on their mother's face, they knew that Zhang Cuilan had been chatting with them for so long, and they must have been talking about happy things.

So, Chunmiao glanced at Chunzao, who was leaning on her shoulder, with a mischievous grin, and immediately asked her mother, "Mom, what did Aunt Cuilan say just now? She made my sister not want to get married anymore!"

Liu Yan'e looked at Chunzao, who was blushing with embarrassment, with a doting expression and said with a smile, "Well, how should I put it! Your Aunt Cuilan came over just now specifically for your sister and your brother Quan Gang's wedding."

After Liu Yan'e finished speaking, Chunsheng and Chunmiao realized that their sixth sister Chunzao's wedding date was going to be moved up.

The original plan was to hold the wedding at the end of this year, on an auspicious day in the twelfth lunar month.

But Huang Quangang's grandfather is almost eighty years old, and his health has been deteriorating in recent days.

Huang Quangang was his grandfather's only grandson, so the family wanted him to get married before the old man passed away, so as not to leave him with any regrets.

After telling the whole story, Mother Liu Yan'e handed the red paper she had been holding to Chunmiao and Chunsheng.

After reading what was written on the red paper, Chunsheng remained calm, his heart barely stirred.

But Chunmiao was different. She stared at the list of betrothal gifts on the back of the red paper and was instantly stunned.

She had seen many dowry lists before, including those of her five married sisters and other villagers.

Although almost all the betrothal gifts are to be brought to the groom's house by the bride's family when she gets married, for the young couple to use in their future life, the list of betrothal gifts in front of you is far too extensive and comprehensive.

If the dowry includes the top-of-the-line "three turns and one sound" (sewing machine, bicycle, watch, and radio), it's already considered extravagant.

The list provided by Huang Quangang's family even included detailed information about the brands of "three turns and one sound" (referring to a set of three watches, one ring, and one radio).

The sewing machine was a Shanghai brand, the bicycle was a 26-inch women's Forever brand, the watch was also a Shanghai brand, and even the radio was the most expensive brand at the time, Peony.

Besides the 240 yuan in cash, there were countless other daily necessities such as clothing and bedding.

"Mom, do you think the dowry Quan Gang and his family gave was a bit too much?"

Chunzao pursed her lips and asked.

Liu Yan'e smiled and said, "It is indeed quite a lot, but when you get married, you can take it all with you, and it will still be for you two to use."

Upon hearing this, Chunzao asked in surprise, "So you're taking the 240 yuan betrothal gift with you too? Wasn't it said that the betrothal gift could be left with the bride's family?"

Liu Yan'e shook her head. "Forget it, it's for you two. Your dad and I don't want it."

"Mom, that won't do!"

Chunzao immediately got up from Chunmiao's arm, sat up straight, and said earnestly, "The wedding gift money is meant for the bride's family anyway, so no one will say anything even if we don't bring it!"

Liu Yan'e looked at her daughter Chunzao with a face full of relief and said, "It's good that you have this intention. Mom still wants you to keep more money for yourself, because you two will have many days to spend money on in the future!"

As Liu Yan'e spoke, she suddenly remembered her eldest daughter Chun Tao and son-in-law Feng Jin Suo, "You all saw how your eldest sister looked when she came today."

"It wasn't like that before. Your older sister and brother-in-law rarely argued, and she was very filial to her mother-in-law."

"The reason things are like this now is all because we're poor! Mom doesn't want you to end up like your older sister."

Just then, Chunsheng suddenly asked, "Didn't my older sister say before that her husband earns a considerable income from working at the veterinary station throughout the year?"

The mother sighed, her face full of regret, and said, "That was a few years ago. Ever since your brother-in-law was transferred from the commune's veterinary station back to their Fengjiaying brigade and became a barefoot veterinarian at the village veterinary station, the couple's lives have practically gone back to square one!"

After hearing his mother say this, Chunsheng remembered that his brother-in-law was doing well at the commune's veterinary station, but the commune leaders arranged for their own relatives to work at the veterinary station, thus replacing his brother-in-law's position.

Without his job at the commune's veterinary station, my brother-in-law had no choice but to return to the village and become a barefoot veterinarian.

The commune veterinary station was worlds apart from the village's barefoot veterinarians!

My brother-in-law is incredibly skilled at treating livestock.

However, his personality is quite similar to that of Chunsheng's father, Song Mantun. He is neither good at managing interpersonal relationships nor is he the kind of person who likes to fight.

Therefore, they can only be manipulated by others, and even if they know they have suffered in silence, they have no power to fight back!

Chunsheng thought to himself that now that he knew about this, he couldn't ignore it and had to seek justice for his brother-in-law.

Those people bully honest people, let them pay back their money with interest!