Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Bai's mother carried a bag of pastries and walked ahead with Jiang the matchmaker, with Bai Qiming following behind. The three arrived at the Liu family home, where Huang Lanhua warmly welcomed them. Old Master Liu, Old Lady Liu, and Liu Dahu were all present.

After the matchmaker introduced the two families, the Liu family sized up Bai Qiming. He seemed honest and straightforward, and easy to manage. The Bai family matriarch also seemed easygoing, so they were quite satisfied.

Liu Bayue stood there with her head down the whole time. Huang Lanhua stood up and said with a smile, "You two chat here first, I'll go say a few words to Bayue."

"In August, this Bai boy is from our village, so I'll arrange this marriage for you."

"I'll listen to my mother."

"You're such a good daughter, I haven't spoiled you for nothing."

Bai's mother told her son to go home first, saying she would stay here alone.

The matchmaker, Jiang, immediately began to mediate, "Both children have been met and seen by the authorities. What do you both think?"

Mrs. Bai smiled and said, "August is a pretty and well-behaved girl, so I'm quite satisfied. My son said he listens to me, so it means he likes her. What does your August mean?"

"This child, August, has been well-behaved and sensible since she was little. She has also taken a liking to your son and said that she will listen to me in everything."

Matchmaker Jiang clapped her hands, "Oh dear, this is wonderful! Since the two children like each other, let's finalize the marriage."

"Okay, then let's discuss the engagement!"

"I wonder how much the betrothal gifts can be?"

"Two silver coins."

"No, no, two ounces is too little. It wasn't easy for us to raise our daughter. Besides, your son is six years older than my daughter."

"So what if you're old? Older people will cherish you."

"Two taels of silver is quite a lot."

"Add some more, add some more."

"Adding more silver is not out of the question, but I have one condition: you must agree to it before I add more."

"What do you want?"

"You've severed ties with August."

The Liu family members looked at each other in bewilderment. Why was another one trying to sever ties with their families? Had they been cursed by some evil spirit that caused such estrangement? Why did all three of their daughters want to break off their marriages?

Huang Lanhua tentatively asked, "If we sever ties, how much silver can you offer?"

"Add another 3 taels of silver, and that will be a total of 5 taels."

"What? You think you can buy my daughter's handover for three taels of silver? You're dreaming!"

"When my eldest daughter and second daughter broke off their engagement, they were each given two taels of silver. They were both married before, and the neighbors all know that. You may not know this since you've just arrived in the village. You can go out and ask around. If you don't believe me, you can ask the matchmaker."

Besides, my daughter isn't married yet in August; she's still young, so raising her for another two years shouldn't be a problem.

"How much do you want? If it's too much, we can't afford it, so let's call off this marriage!"

The Liu family members exchanged glances, then looked at the matchmaker. The matchmaker immediately understood their meaning. "Sister Bai, let's go outside for a walk and let them discuss it first."

"Father, Mother, Husband, what do you think we should do about this?"

Master Liu immediately said, "We can't sever ties. How much money can a family like the Bai family offer to sever ties? Two taels or three taels?"

What can you do with two or three taels of silver? If they could give us 100 taels, we'd keep going. Can they afford that? Even if you sold their whole family, they wouldn't be worth 100 taels.

Two of our daughters have already lost their marriages. If another one loses hers in August, what will outsiders say about the Liu family? And how will our grandchildren find husbands in the future?

How can you, as parents, have any face left after leaving this place?

If you cut ties with August, you'll end up like April—how will you control her then? How will you get her to help your family in the future?

As long as we keep kissing her, she'll always have to listen to us.

"Father is right. If they can give us 100 taels, we'll break off the relationship. If they can't, we won't. Anyway, they don't have much land. They'll have to help us farm our land."

How much should the betrothal gift be? It can't just be two taels of silver!

"Didn't you hear them say they have five taels of silver? Then we'll take five taels."

"Since they've set their sights on August, we can't refuse them."

After the family discussed it, Huang Lanhua invited the matchmaker and Bai's mother in. "We've discussed it. If you can give us 100 taels of silver, we'll break off the engagement. If you can't give us 100 taels, we won't."

The matchmaker and Bai's mother stared wide-eyed. "What? 100 taels! Are you all crazy for money?"

With 100 taels of silver, my family could build a big brick house. What kind of good girl couldn't we marry? Come and marry your August.

Why don't you go out and ask around to find out what your family's reputation is, and who would want to marry your daughter?

Since that's the case, we don't need to get married anymore; let's just call it quits!

After Bai's mother finished speaking, she made a move to leave. The matchmaker was also quite angry. What kind of people are these?

When Huang Lanhua saw that the people were about to leave, she became anxious. They had finally come to propose marriage, how could she let them go? She immediately stopped them, saying, "Please calm down, don't you understand what we mean? We don't want to break off the marriage. Why should my good daughter be separated from her family?"

Why can't we be close in-laws? Why can't we look out for each other living in the same village? Why do we have to sever ties?

"Please sit down, please sit down. Let's sit down and talk slowly."

Bai's mother and the matchmaker sat down again. "Since you don't want to break off the marriage, we will only offer two taels of silver as a betrothal gift. If you are willing, we can continue with the marriage; if not, then we can call it quits."

"Two taels of silver could buy you a good girl in another village."

"Two taels of silver is far too little as a betrothal gift. Could you please add a little more?"

"cannot."

The Liu family members did not expect the Bai family to be so resolute, refusing to give them any more.

"Matchmaker Jiang, let's go. We can't afford to marry their daughter. If you know anyone suitable, please introduce her to someone else for my son."

"Orchids, it seems you don't want to get married, so we won't stay any longer."

"Oh dear, why are you leaving so abruptly? Can we discuss this some more?"

"I won't wait here for you to discuss it. Once your family has made up its mind, tell the matchmaker that if I haven't received a reply by this time tomorrow, we won't talk anymore."

"Matchmaker Jiang, I'm leaving now. Regardless of whether this arrangement works out or not, I'm entrusting my son's marriage to you. I'm hoping to finalize the engagement before the New Year so we can bring him home after the holiday."

"Sister Bai, you should go back first. The Bai brothers are waiting for you to take care of them. Once they've made up their minds, I'll go and tell you."

Don't worry, if this place doesn't work out, I'll definitely find a good one for your son before the New Year, one you'll be satisfied with.

"Alright, thank you very much, Matchmaker Jiang."

After Bai's mother left, Jiang, the matchmaker, gave the Liu family a good scolding: "Tell me, what are you trying to do? I finally managed to find a marriage partner for your family in August, and the person was willing to come and meet, but you just pushed them away. If that's the case, I can't agree to your marriage."

Don't ask me to act as a matchmaker for your child again in the future.

"You know our family is struggling financially, so you wanted to ask for a larger dowry. Look at their attitude—they're so adamant, not giving us an inch more. It's obvious they look down on us!"

"Alright, since that's what you say, I'll give them my answer: this marriage is off."

"We didn't say it was impossible, Dad, Mom, husband, what's your opinion?"