Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 514 Where Did My Mother Get the Money?

There were also about ten people in the lobby of the inn, carrying a lot of large boxes.

Li was asking them to open the boxes and look at the contents one by one.

When Li saw Shen Yu coming over, she dodged his gaze and said with a smile, "Why are you here? Didn't you say you were going to the West Store today? If you have anything to do, go get busy."

Shen Yu approached the box and saw a dazzling array of things inside, including cloth and silk, gold and silver jewelry, tea sets and vases, and even a small kang screen with paintings of landscapes of the four seasons.

Although Shen Yu didn't understand, he vaguely felt that these things were related to him, so he asked Li: "Mom, where did these things come from, and what's going on?"

Li rubbed her hands nervously, pretending not to hear, "You don't know how to inspect the goods. Let me finish inspecting the goods first. Go back to the house and wait for me."

As he spoke, he winked at Zheng Sanniang, who was standing next to him helping to unpack and take out the items, with an urging look on his face.

Zheng Sanniang looked at Li, then at Shen Yu, and quickly came around from the box, smiling and said, "Miss, let's go back first and talk about it later."

Although Shen Yu had a lot of questions in his mind, seeing that everyone in the hall was looking this way, he had no choice but to follow Zheng Sanniang back to the courtyard.

As soon as the two of them entered the courtyard and closed the door, Shen Yu asked, "Sister Zheng, what exactly is going on? Do you know about it and are hiding it from me together with mother?"

Zheng Sanniang hurriedly pushed Shen Yu back to the main room, sat down on a chair, and then said to Shen Yu: "Those outside are the dowry that the lady ordered for you."

Shen Yu didn't say anything. He just silently estimated the price of the items in the large pile of boxes outside. He took a deep breath and calmed down before saying, "Where did my mother get the money?"

Zheng Sanniang pinched the corner of her clothes in embarrassment, looked at Shen Yu, and lowered her head again.

Shen Yu slowed down his tone and said, "It seems that everyone in my family knows about it, but they just kept it from me."

"Sister Zheng, just tell me. If you don't tell me, won't I ask someone else?"

Zheng Sanniang raised her head and stammered, "Madam, um, Madam said that it was Mr. Lu who gave her the money."

Shen Yu originally thought that Li had taken out all the savings in the family bank without her knowledge, and used the inn as collateral to borrow the remaining amount from the bank.

She was thinking about how to persuade Li to return the customized dowry and return the silver to the bank as soon as possible, but she didn't expect that the silver was given by Lu Lang.

After hearing what Zheng Sanniang said, Shen Yu was shocked for a moment. In a hurry, he stood up from the chair.

Seeing Shen Yu almost knocked over the teacup on the table, Zheng Sanniang hurriedly said, "Don't worry, young lady. This is really the money given by Mr. Lu."

"It was on the Mid-Autumn Festival when Master Lu came to give the lady a Mid-Autumn Festival gift and asked her to choose an auspicious date for the wedding. Master Lu gave it to her."

Shen Yu thought about it carefully and realized that during these days, Lu Lang had only come on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In recent days, although Qi Xi was sent over several times, he himself was always busy and had no time to come over.

Shen Yu said angrily, "How could mother accept Mr. Lu's money on her own initiative?"

"I have told my mother countless times that it is a good idea to take something from someone else."

"She, how could she do this? Besides, if Mr. Lu didn't ask for the money from his family, where would he get it from?"

Shen Yu sighed, feeling deeply powerless.

As they were talking, Li came in happily.

Seeing Shen Yu's bad face, she hurried forward to explain: "This dowry money was forced upon me by Master Lu, who told me to buy you a dowry."

"Although you are going to the capital to get married, it is a bit inconvenient to bring the dowry from here, but if you don't have a dowry, it will be too shabby and will cause criticism."

Shen Yu had no choice but to patiently say, "Mom, we are a merchant family, we just run a small restaurant and two inns."

"How much money you have and what kind of dowry you can buy, anyone with a discerning eye can see it at a glance. If you use your husband's money to buy a dowry, won't it cause criticism?"

Li had never seen Shen Yu speak in such a serious tone before. She was frightened for a moment and was speechless.

Shen Yu asked directly: "How much silver did Master Lu give you? Hurry up and return the dowry and give the silver back to him."

Li subconsciously covered the purse in her hand and said in embarrassment, "How can I return the dowry I have agreed to? This is too unlucky."

Seeing Shen Yu's resolute face, he tried his best to defend himself: "Besides, when you get married, these dowries will be carried to the Lu family. Aren't they still Lu's?"

"Mr. Lu gave me money to buy these things, but it was just a formality, putting money from the left pocket into the right pocket. I don't want his money."

The more Li spoke, the more he felt that he was right, and his voice became louder.

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Zheng Sanniang also tried to persuade them, "Miss, Master Lu also has good intentions."

"Think about it, their family is so well-off. On your wedding day, the people who come to watch the ceremony and eat the wedding banquet must be either rich or noble."

"Traditionally, on the wedding day, the bride's dowry would be displayed in the courtyard for everyone to see and appreciate."

"When you got married, the yard was empty, and it was embarrassing for the Lu family."

Shen Yu was stunned. She only thought about not taking Lu Lang's money and didn't think about so much.

After hearing what Zheng Sanniang said, he calmed down and said in disbelief, "Really? The bride's dowry has to be displayed in the yard for everyone to see. What kind of rule is this?"

Now it was Zheng Sanniang's turn to be puzzled: "This is how it is in Anping County. Isn't it the same in your hometown?"

"Why does the dowry have to be carried in so many boxes on the day? It's troublesome and slow."

"It's to let people know how good the bride's family is to their daughter and how generous the dowry is. Only such a bride can make people envy her."

Seeing that Shen Yu was not so angry anymore, Li came forward and said with a smile, "You forgot that when the family at the east end of our village had a wedding, you and Yutao were watching from the sidelines."

"When I came back, I said with envy that the bride had a dressing mirror in her dowry. It was bright and big, and it reflected people clearly. It was much better than the small bronze mirror we used at home."

"I heard at the time that when you two sisters get married, they will definitely prepare bronze mirrors like that for you as dowries."

"Now that you are really getting married, I will naturally buy you the bronze mirror I promised you."

When Li said this, she couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Shen Yu was silent, and after thinking for a while, he said, "How much silver do those things outside cost in total? Since they have been delivered to our home, we should not return them and pay for them with our own silver."

"But you have to give me the five thousand taels of silver, and I still have to return it to Master Lu."