A delicate beauty takes a place in a marriage, while a cold, rough man seduces her every night.

During lunch, Qingyan's mind was filled with the words Xiao Jingye had just said.

The gourd you're holding is a bit small...

She furrowed her brows and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye from time to time.

The bottle gourd is too small? How big must it actually be?

Qiao Qingyan tried desperately to suppress the chaotic thoughts in her mind, but he was sitting right next to her, his powerful aura enveloping her and disturbing her peace of mind.

I caught a glimpse of him wearing jeans this morning, and it was quite obvious.

The more Qingyan thought about it, the deeper her brows furrowed. This was too frightening; men were too terrifying.

Realizing she was still at the dinner table, Qingyan coughed twice to pull her wandering thoughts back.

"Come on, eat more meat." Chen Xiuying served food to her eldest daughter and son-in-law.

Chen Xiaomeng said, "Mom, please don't put any more meat on my plate. I've been eating meat at my in-laws' house lately, and I'm tired of it. Please give Qingyan more meat; they're having a hard time, and I imagine they don't usually eat meat."

"Yes, yes, Qingyan, you're back now, you need to eat well." Chen Xiuying hurriedly put food into Qiao Qingyan and Xiao Jingye's bowls.

Qiao Qingyan glanced at Xiao Jingye, who was also looking at her.

For some inexplicable reason, neither of them spoke.

"Qingyan, Jinye, these vegetables are all stir-fried with lard, and I even added garlic to make them fragrant. You should try them."

Xiao Jingye saw Chen Xiuying's actions and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.

He picked up the garlic-fried vegetables from Qiao Qingyan's bowl and put them into his own, saying in a deep voice, "She doesn't eat garlic."

Although they didn't spend much time together, they ate several meals a day, and Xiao Jingye's attention was always on his wife, so he naturally figured out her tastes.

Qingyan was taken aback when she heard the voice and looked at him in surprise.

"Oh dear, look at me, I'm getting old, what a terrible memory I have. Here, Qingyan, eat this fish, it doesn't have garlic in it, I made it especially for you."

Looking at Chen Xiuying's smiling face, Qiao Qingyan felt uneasy, wondering what kind of scheme was behind this trap.

Sure enough, halfway through the meal, Qiao Nianshan put down his wine glass, cleared his throat, and began to speak:

"Today, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

The people at the table immediately stopped eating and looked at him.

"Isn't there a piece of wasteland behind the village? I plan to lease that land and dig a pond to raise fish."

Chen Xiaomeng immediately chimed in with a beaming smile, "Dad, this is wonderful news!"

After a moment's thought, Jiang Runsheng followed up, saying, "It is indeed feasible. Nowadays, the township supports rural animal husbandry, and there are subsidies and rewards for doing well."

"That's right, I already found out. But..." Qiao Nianshan changed the subject, a troubled look on his face.

Qiao Qingyan, sitting opposite him, raised an eyebrow slightly and waited quietly for him to continue.

"Right now, we're short on working capital," Qiao Nianshan admitted.

Chen Xiaomeng: "Dad, how much more do you need? Qingyan and I are both your daughters, we'll definitely help you."

"We can afford the land rent for the fishpond, but we need to spend money on digging the pond, diverting water, and buying fish fry. We are still short more than 400 yuan."

Chen Xiaomeng readily agreed, "What's so difficult about that? Qingyan and I will each contribute two hundred to help you make up the difference."

The food on the table didn't taste good at all.

Qiao Qingyan scoffed inwardly; so this was a trap waiting for her.

No wonder Chen Xiaomeng insisted on making her return the 200 yuan dowry; it turns out her family had conspired to set a trap, just waiting for her to fall into it.

Chen Xiuying immediately feigned admiration, saying, "Oh, Nianshan, look at our two daughters, how sensible and thoughtful they are..."

"Isn't this what we should do? Our parents have worked so hard for over a decade to raise us..." Chen Xiaomeng chimed in.

Qiao Nianshan was so happy he couldn't stop smiling, and the dining table was filled with laughter.

Xiao Jingye subconsciously glanced at his wife; she pursed her lips, her face extremely cold.

"I disagree," Qiao Qingyan said crisply, interrupting everyone.

The noisy atmosphere at the table instantly quieted down.

"What do you disagree with?" Qiao Nianshan looked at him with a deep gaze.

"Dad, I don't agree with you taking over the fishpond business. You're just not cut out for it."

After he finished speaking, the air was silent for a few seconds.

Qiao Nianshan, enraged, raised his hand and slammed it heavily on the wooden table, shouting:

"If you don't want to spend money to help your dad, just say so! There's no need to beat around the bush and say I'm not suited for business!"

Qiao Qingyan was not intimidated by him; her voice remained calm:

"Dad, listen to me. You're brainless and stubborn. Money won't grow in your hands, it'll just slip away. Just stick to being a carpenter."

Qiao Nianshan was so angry at his daughter's words that his chest ached and his lips trembled.

"You... I knew you had no conscience at all. You're nowhere near as good as Xiaomeng!"

"Qingyan," Chen Xiuying immediately put on a peacemaker's act, "when your father asks you for money, it's considered a loan, not something he'll take for free and not pay back. He raised you all these years, so even if he didn't do anything great, he still put in a lot of effort. Now that you're married and have your own careers, your parents want to start a small business, and it's rare for them to ask. How can you refuse like this and hurt their feelings?"

"Stop putting on this act." Qiao Qingyan's gaze was cold as she slowly swept over the three of them. "Don't think I can't see through your schemes. In the end, you're just after my two hundred yuan dowry and want it back."

When the three of them realized that their little schemes had been blatantly exposed, their faces stiffened and turned ugly.

Chen Xiaomeng immediately frowned: "Qingyan, why do you have to be so rude? Dad only wants to borrow two hundred yuan to start a small business, not ask for two thousand. Do you have to act like this?"

"So what should my attitude be? Like you and your mother, saying one thing to your face and another behind your back?"

Chen Xiaomeng sneered: "Your parents emptied their savings to raise money for your dowry, and now you only care about enjoying yourself, turning your back on your family after you've squeezed them dry. Isn't that just being an ingrate, completely ungrateful?"

Qiao Qingyan: "The dowry money was 200 yuan that was promised to me when I left. What family doesn't give a dowry when their daughter gets married?"

The Xiao family gave a full 500 yuan in cash as part of the betrothal gifts, not counting the miscellaneous dowry. Even if the 200 yuan dowry came from the betrothal gifts, you would still make a net profit of 300 yuan by selling me.

How did it become that I emptied the family's coffers and was ungrateful?

"I've raised a thankless daughter! Good, good! I can't count on her now, and when we get old, she'll be even less reliable..." Qiao Nianshan clutched his chest, looking heartbroken.

Of course, saying that he contracted the fishpond was just an excuse.

Yesterday, Chen Xiuying told him that the family had held two happy events in a row, the harvest in the first half of the year was mediocre, and the daily expenses for social obligations and food and clothing were high, so they were already short of money.

Qiao Yi will be entering junior high school soon, and tuition fees and miscellaneous expenses will all cost money, so money will be needed to fill the gaps everywhere.

So the two secretly agreed that, taking advantage of the day when they returned to their parents' home, they would use the pretext of contracting a fishpond to ask their two daughters for money to supplement their household expenses.

"Isn't the point of raising a daughter to support the family and help her younger brother when she grows up?"

"We're getting older and older, and we won't be able to do heavy work in the future, so we should take advantage of this now."

Once they have children, their finances will be even tighter, making it harder for them to ask for money again.

Qiao Yi is still young, and we'll need money for everything in the future. What are we going to do?

Last night, under the dim yellow oil lamp, Chen Xiuying spoke to him earnestly, every word of which was for the good of the family.

Qiao Nianshan thought his daughter-in-law's words made a lot of sense, so he put on this show today.

He never expected that Qiao Qingyan would hold onto her pocket so tightly, refusing to take out even a single penny.