Chapter 76: Chi's Betrothal Presents

A few girls in the village gathered together to chat.

"My mother said that Shen Chi is going to get engaged soon."

"I didn't expect that Shen Chi would get engaged so soon. My mother said that it was difficult for a Bio to find a good husband. Shen Chi is really lucky."

Generally speaking, only kids from rich families would get engaged this young.

Before this, some people had guessed that Shen Chi's reputation was ruined and no one wanted to marry him. Chances were he would get married really late like Chen Xiao Mi, and he would have to offer a handsome betrothal present.

Zhang Ya said sullenly, "This isn't confirmed yet. Maybe there's some misunderstanding."

Zhang Ya's mother, Ma Shi, went to propose marriage to Lu Lin before, but she was rejected. She was furious when she heard the news that Lu Lin had his eyes on Shen Chi.

There had been rumors in the village that Shen Chi was shameless and he tried to seduce Chen Xiao Cai, but no one thought that Chen Xiao Mi would really select Shen Chi for Chen Xiao Cai. And now they all felt so embarrassed.

"Matchmaker Wang already said that, it shouldn't be wrong," a little girl said.

"But my mother said that Matchmaker Wang is full of it. That woman has a glib tongue, you need to be clever when she tells you something," a chubby boy said. Then he seemed to realize he shouldn't have said so he covered his mouth timidly.

......

In Lu family.

Tang said sullenly, "What is Chen Xiao Mi thinking? He has selected someone for Chen Xiao Cai so early. And he selected a Bio! Chen Xiao Cai is so young and naïve, he may agree now. But when he grows up, he would blame Chen Xiao Mi for sure. How can Chen Xiao Mi, the big brother in the family, select a Bis for his own brother? "

Lin Xiu'er smiled and mocked Tang in the heart. 'You were very picky when you selected partners for your kids, but so what, they didn't marry well!'

Lu Cheng Yu married a lazy lady and Lu Tong married a widower with a son.

Lu Tong had already come back several times because of her arguments with her husband and mother-in-law. Lu Tong would just come back emptyhanded and sit idle for a few days in their house as bold as brass. Tang didn't feel embarrassed, but Lin Xiu'er wasn't happy about it.

"Maybe the villagers' rumors has facilitated this engagement.," Lin Xiu'er said. "I wonder how much money Chen Xiao Mi will offer Shen Chi as betrothal present."

Lu Cheng Yu's wedding ceremony was an eye-opener for the villagers. And they all thought that Chen Xiao Mi had money, so they were curious about how much Chen Xiao Mi would offer.

Tang narrowed her eyes and said, "I have no idea, but the villagers are really not wrong! Shen Chi, that little Bio, is very scheming.

Tang felt a little depressed when she thought about the fact that they sold their farmland to Granny Shen.

Tang did not expect that the Shen family and Chen Xiao Cai would actually be betrothed. In a sense, their farmland would be in Lu Lin's hands soon.

......

Three days later, Chen Xiao Mi, Lu Lin and Matchmaker Wang went to Shen's house with two mule carriages.

Lu Lin already had a betrothal present at home, but he rented another one for display of splendor.

Two mule carriages passed through the village, attracting many people to watch.

Chen Xiao Mi's pregnancy had caused yet another round of clamor.

There were rumors in the village that Chen Xiao Mi was barren, and Chen Xiao Mi's belly now was no difference than a slap on their face.

Chen Xiao Mi found that many people in the village were staring at his belly, he couldn't help pouting on seeing that.

Chen Xiao Mi felt that everyone in the village treated him as a man. Seeing that he had a baby in the belly they were all shocked.

Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin came with a dazzling array of beautiful betrothal presents, among them were rice, flour, fine china, fabric, nice garments, shoes, silk and a pair of eye-catching silver bracelets each weighed over 100 grams. The presents were worth about 5 taels in total.

In the village, betrothal presents like these were rare to see, a lot of villagers would just send some rice and flour, some poor people would not expect fabric and accessories.

The betrothal presents sent by Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin were already very decent, but they were not too pompous.

Some villagers who were expecting Chen Xiao Mi would make it as grand as Lu Cheng Yu's wedding now felt a bit disappointed. They called Chen Xiao Mi stingy in the heart, especially those aunties who proposed to Xiao Cai on their daughters' behalf already.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi went back to town after they sent the gifts.

Granny Shen and Shen Chi would go back to town in a day or two.

......

"Shen Chi, you are so lucky!"

At dusk, Granny Shen's house was thronged with visitors.

"The bracelets are so heavy! What a handsome pair! Chen Xiao Mi really made money."

"Chi, you're really lucky!"

Shen Chi was surrounded by everyone and his face was slightly flushed. Many people sent their blessings, but there were still exceptions.

"I heard that Lu Lin bought a bear in town before, but it cost twenty taels. And he sold the bear gall for 12 taels of silver in Willow Town. Hmm, now the bracelets look less impressive."

It was Zheng who said that. Zheng secretly felt that the rumors she had spread might have facilitated this engagement and she was indignant.

Granny Shen smiled and said nothing. What Zheng meant was that Chen Xiao Mi did not take his grandson seriously.

But Granny Shen wasn't a greedy person. It was already very decent for Chen Xiao Mi to spend so much money on the betrothal presents.

She knew that Lu Lin had spent twenty taels on the bear, but that was a bear! She didn't mind that at all.

"I'm satisfied," Granny Shen said.

Seeing that Granny Shen was smiling, Zheng rolled her eyes and decided to say something else to rile Granny Shen up, " I've asked Matchmaker Wang about the reason why Chen Xiao Cai wanted to be betrothed to Chi! Apparently, he doesn't really like Chi, he just wants Chi to work for him for free."

'Shen Chi pouted and said in his heart, 'But I enjoy working for them, I like to work instead of running my mouth all day for a living.'

Chen Xiao Mi had taught him mathematics. He knew they had high hopes on him, and he was grateful for the opportunity.

"I enjoy working," Shen Chi said.

"Ah Chi, I didn't expect you to be so capable! There are not many eligible men in the village. Good job on finding yourself a man! My daughter is too innocent compared to you." Zheng attacked Chi by innuendo, putting Shen Chi on the spot.

"Your daughter likes to square accounts in every detail, like mother like daughter! She just insisted Mi on buying her a new handkerchief when Mi picked up her handkerchief on the ground. Chi would just thank the person who did that for him!" Granny Shen couldn't be bothered to be civil with Zheng.

"Granny Shen, what do you mean?"

Granny Shen glanced at Zheng and said, "Why are you angry?"

Zheng took a look at other guests in the room who were really here to send their wishes, she knew this was a losing battle for her, so she sprang to her feet and left.

"Granny Shen, don't mind her, she is just jealous!"

Granny Shen smiled and said, "You are right."

As soon as the Chen Xiao Cai and Shen Chi got engaged, the women in the village knew that Shen Chi would be a member of the Chen family.

Now many people in the village counted on selling embroidery products to Lu Lin and Chen Xiao Mi. Naturally, they wanted to curry favor with Granny Shen, so someone secretly told Granny Shen that it was Zheng who had been rumors about Shen Chi and Chen Xiao Mi

Even though Granny Shen felt that Zheng was too vicious, Granny Shen didn't want to argue with Zheng anymore, because her rumors had facilitated her grandson's engagement.

......

There were a lot of guests coming and going. Granny Shen said goodbye to all of them at late night.

Apart from the bracelets, all the betrothal presents were put in Shen Chi's room.

They only got to have a close look at the gifts after the guest left.

"Granny, look at this."

"What?" Granny Shen was shocked when she saw what Shen Chi had taken out from a wooden case.

"How is it possible! " Granny Shen held the two title deeds for 2 mus of farmland and her fingers trembled slightly.

Many people talked to Granny Shen that Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin had earned so much money, but they didn't take his grandson seriously, they only sent some inexpensive gifts.

Granny Shen brushed them off, she knew they were just saying that out of jealousy.

Chen Xiao Mi had money, but that was Chen Xiao Mi's own business. Besides, the betrothal presents Chen Xiao Mi had offered were very decent, they couldn't ask for more.

"Gran, are they land deeds?" Shen Chi asked.

Granny Shen nodded. "They are."

Granny Shen bought two mus of farmland from the Lu family, and then she sold them to Lu Lin. However, Lu Lin and Granny Shen agreed on doing the transfer after the harvest season.

But now Chen Xiao Mi had sent the land deeds over, this meant the deeds was also part of the betrothal presents.

Granny Shen couldn't believe it. She thought that the two bracelets were the 'main event', but it turned out the 'main event' was the land deeds.

These two deeds were worth at least a dozen taels of silver. In comparison, the two silver bracelets seemed to be nothing.

"Where did you find it?" Granny Shen asked.

"In the interlayer of the wooden case of the bracelets." Shen Chi said.

Granny Shen said nervously, "Interesting, just imagine you haven't found the interlayer! Maybe Xiao Mi had forgotten that he had put the deeds in the wooden case?"

Shen Chi hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, Cai told me about this."

Granny Shen glanced at her grandson and asked, "Did he?"

Shen Chi nodded and said, "Yeah, Cai said this box was custom made. And he told me to have a good look at it when there are just the two of us at home."

Granny Shen was sure the deeds was also a part of the betrothal presents when she heard this. Chen Xiao Cai must have said that because he knew that there were deeds in the case.

Granny Shen knew that Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin liked to be low-key, they didn't want to impress the villagers by showing them that they were able to offer some handsome betrothal presents. It was meaningless to show off like Lu Cheng Yu.

"Great!" Granny Shen had never been more grateful. She was happy for her grandson, she knew Chen Xiao Mi's entire family would treat Shen Chi and her nicely in the future.