Chapter 208: Chapter Two-Hundred and Eight: Taking A wife
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Zhang Tao’s voice was sharp and high-pitched, and her daughter-in-law subconsciously trembled. She quickly stopped what she was doing and went to the kitchen.
“Cook some dumplings for him! Ones with celery filling!” Zhang Tao shouted after her. Looking at her daughter-in-law’s receding figure, Zhang Tao resentfully commented, “Tsk, she just went off without a single word of reply! I Imow she heard me! That woman’s so quiet she might as well be a mute. She’s such a wimp; she’d probably be bullied to death if she gets a daughter-in-law in the future.”
Zhang Xian had already brazenly sat on Zhang Tao’s rocking chair and lazily replied, “Granny, what daughter-in-law? How can I get a wife with this shabby house of ours?”
Zhang Tao disagreed. “Sweetie, how can you say that about yourself? You’re so good-looking, so—so… What was it again? Ah, yes, dashing and debonair! My grandson is a handsome, dashing, and debonair man. There’s no way you won’t be able to get a wife!”
Zhang Xian rolled his eyes at his grandmother. “Oh, come on, get real. Young women these days are all so realistic. You would need real money to get married! You can’t trick women into marriage nowadays like how you tricked my mother. ”
Zhang Tao retorted, ‘What do you mean ‘trick?! I spent 300 dollars to buy your mother! Hmph! That woman cost me 300 dollars!” So saying, she couldn’t help but look toward the kitchen again. She felt that the 300 dollars she spent wasn’t worth it. If that wretched girl, Xiao He, hadn’t run away, she wouldn’t have had to sDend that extra ROO dollars.
Zhang Xian sighed as he rocked in his rocking chair, “That was way back when. Besides, 300 dollars to buy someone like my mother is already a pretty good deal. You won’t be able to buy such a wife even if you spend 30,000 dollars now.”
“30,000 dollars? What kind of woman would cost so much? That’s more expensive than the pigs in my pen! I’m telling you, Little Xian, a wife’s duty is to work and bear children! You don’t buy a wife so they can sit there and look pretty! Don’t follow Old Li and Old Liu’s families’ examples; those idiots put their wives on a pedestal and dress them to the nines. Those fools dote on their wives so much that those women couldn’t lift or carry anything, let alone do any labor work, and they couldn’t beat or scold them. Our family doesn’t raise idle people! Do you hear me, Little Xian?” Zhang Tao earnestly instructed her grandson.
Zhang Xian disagreed. “Granny! That kind of thinking is old history!”
Zhang Tao glared at him. Zhang Xian suddenly leaned close to Zhang Tao and said ingratiatingly, “Granny, there’s this girl I like.”
Zhang Tao was delighted and asked, “Who is it? Granny will go and propose marriage for you!”
Zhang Xian’s face immediately fell. “The bride price she’s asking for is a little too high. We can’t afford it. Why don’t we just forget about it?”
Zhang Tao raised her eyebrows. “What? Does she think you’re poor? Is she looking down on you?
Zhang Xian sighed. “No, not really. She doesn’t mind that I’m poor, nor does she look down on me. It’s just that her mother is worried about letting her marry someone like me. She’s afraid her daughter will suffer in the future. Her family is quite wealthy, after all.”
‘ Wealthy? Zhang Tao immediately perked up at that. ‘You’re saying you found a girl from a wealthy family?”
Zhang Xian nodded. “Her father is a big businessman. Their family lives in a big house and drives luxury cars. They also have several nannies!”
“Really?” Zhang Tao’s eyes lit up when she heard that. ‘Isn’t that the same as what’s shown on television? she thought.
Zhang Xian nodded and slightly depressedly said, “But I don’t dare to think about marrying her! How can our family support such a rich young lady? Although she says she doesn’t care about material conditions, I’m a man—I care! Granny, what should I do?”
Zhang Tao squinted her eyes and suddenly had a thought. “Then, her family will prepare a huge dowry for her, won’t they?”
Zhang Xian answered a little dispiritedly, “I guess so. She’s her family’s only daughter, so she’ll definitely have a lot of dowry.”
Zhang Tao patted Zhang Xian’s shoulder. “Perfect! Little Xian, don’t worry! Granny will make sure you get to marry that wealthy girl!”
Zhang Xian smiled bitterly. “How? With what? Are you telling me to talk my way into marriage? Save it, Granny! That’ll never work!”
Zhang Tao swatted Zhang Xian’s shoulder mock-angrily. “Why can’t you believe in Granny? If I say you can marry her, then you can! Did you think we don’t have any riches? Well, you’re wrong. You look down on Granny too much! Let me tell you, Granny has already prepared the things for you to get married!”
“What did you prepare?” Zhang Xian asked curiously. “Granny, did you save up money for me? How much did you save? Quick, tell me! I want to see if it’s enough for me to marry Ting Ting!”
Zhang Tao chuckled, “I don’t have any money. Your grandfather and your father—those two idiots—squandered all the money they had!”
Zhang Xian felt disappointed. “Then how am I going to get a wife? You can’t use anything other than money to get a wife!”
Zhang Tao gave her grandson’s head a good whack and scolded him, “Silly boy, you’re really ignorant. You only know that gold, silver, and cash are valuable.. Don’t you know that jade is even more valuable than gold and silver?”