I Became a Vicious Supporting Role in the '70s
Chapter 116: You’re Just a Wimp

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: You’re Just a Wimp

It’s absolutely explosive, this demand was a blast even in the entire matchmaking circle of the seventies. It’s understandable that this girl’s family doesn’t want their newly married daughter to help repay the debts of a famine. It makes sense for them to want more guarantees for their daughter, and it’s normal to ask for a larger dowry.

Then there’s buying shoes and things for her nephews and nieces, Xiao Bin is about to become an uncle, it’s not unacceptable to show some goodwill. But to cover travel expenses for all the relatives that came over, although she couldn’t comprehend it, if they really demanded it, and if Xiao Bin really wants to marry their daughter, it wouldn’t hurt to give a little - as long as they get along well afterward. She reckons her parents would agree.

But what kind of absurdity is it to ask her elder sister and brother-in-law to arrange jobs and help with enlistment for her family members???

"Can’t we just talk it over? Didn’t you say Xiao Bin and that girl took a fancy to each other, and the next meeting was meant for engagement? Since that’s the case, surely there’s room for negotiation, right? It’s about becoming family allies, not enemies."

Negotiation is possible, we can scrap buying shoes for the children, but not the other things. Especially arranging a job for her elder brother and enlisting her younger brother is off the table.

Lu Zhenping said this with a deep frown, thinking of that girl’s family’s attitude, he still felt immensely repelled to this day.

"What about Xiao Bin, what does he say?"

Parents can hardly win against their children’s will. Just take Uncle Guai’s family, Lu Xingchang and Huang Maochun, aren’t they a cautionary tale? Shen Meng was tempted to let it all go, after all, there are plenty of good girls out there - but it would also require Zhou Xiaobin’s agreement. If he insists on marrying her, at most they’ll have to draw clear boundaries after the wedding; otherwise, there will just be endless trouble.

"That girl is pretty, and Xiao Bin really likes her. But as soon as those demands were made, he refused. He almost chased them out with a broom at that moment, I didn’t let him. They came in droves, and I had the folks prepare food, treated them well before sending them off. It was only after they had left that I told the matchmaker that this marriage can’t happen. The initial requests could perhaps be met if our parents went so far as to lose face and borrow money, and we drained our coffers, but the rest would fall on us. I don’t have the ability to arrange jobs, let alone enlistment – what kind of place do you think the military is that it would allow such people?"

"Alright, alright, don’t get mad. As long as Xiao Bin doesn’t want it, it’s fine, let’s just drop it and we’ll talk about it another time. We’ll look for another good girl for Xiao Bin later on, he’s still young, there’s no rush to get married. I was thinking about finding someone to teach him a trade, and Xiao Long too, he’s not young anymore, he could learn as well."

Lu Zhenping paused with his eating, learning a trade would be quite straightforward.

"Xiao Bin is actually too old to learn a trade, but Xiao Long can. I think it would be good for him to learn carpentry with Jiasheng, he could also do odd jobs in the mine during the slack farming season and earn quite a bit."

"Why didn’t I think of that? Okay, okay, let’s do that. I’ll talk to elder brother and sister-in-law about it."

The braised meat was truly fragrant and chewy. Lu Zhenping polished off the meat in both dishes, ate four buns, and didn’t spare even the small plate of vegetables.

He drank a fair amount of liquor and naturally didn’t go easy on Shen Meng that night, resulting in her not getting up the next day again. Luckily, there was plenty of braised meat left; he heated up a lot, so he could have some in the morning. Mingyang and the other kids had a full meal before heading to school, and Ming Kai, after finishing his meal with a piece of good meat in his hand that he had secured and not yet had the heart to eat, said:

"Are you saving this for Dad?"

"Not for Dad." Lu Mingkai not only didn’t intend to give it, but he also hid his hand with the meat behind him.

Lu Zhenping, who was merely teasing, now squatted in front of him, guessing the meat must be for his wife.

"That’s for your mom then. How about you give it to Dad, and I’ll deliver it to your mom, okay?"

Lu Mingkai shook his head and didn’t dare to speak, afraid his father would snatch the meat away.

It was quite strange, this little one, though young, was a sly one, always saving any good thing for Shen Meng, never giving to anyone else so stingily. This was truly the first time!

Lu Zhenping decided to leave it aside for now and went straight to the main room, filled a bowl of water and delivered it to the east side room.

Seeing his father enter the room, Lu Mingkai hesitated for a bit, then started running outside with his little legs. Lu Zhenping, already waiting at the entrance of the main room, followed him as soon as he departed. He was a former scout and wasn’t about to be fooled by a child.

Lu Mingkai ran all the way to the collapsed house at the southern end of the village, out of breath, but still clutching the meat in his hand. After a while, a few older children surrounded him.

"Did you bring the thing we asked you for? You better not disobey, or we’ll go after your brothers and sisters. If they end up getting beaten, don’t blame us."

Scared out of his wits, Lu Mingkai handed over the meat. The little guy was just over three years old and not very articulate in speech—easy enough to manipulate. The leader of the children was Lai Zi’s eldest son, Dezi, who’d picked up his lazy demeanor from his father. Nearly every child in the village had been bullied by him at some point.

Lu Mingkai was afraid of him because, in the past, the original host had been arbitrary in his treatment of Mingyang and the other children, hitting and scolding them at will. Dezi knew they were not cherished, so he often bullied Mingyang, Mingliang, and Ming Fang outside the home. Lu Mingkai bore this well in mind.

Fearing his brothers and sisters would continue to be beaten as before, when Dezi came looking for him in the morning, all he could do was nod obediently.

"Just this much? Are you dumb? Couldn’t you grab more? I heard your mother made lots of tasty food. You think this little bit will satisfy me? If I don’t show you some colors, you won’t realize how tough I am!"

Dezi ripped the meat into several pieces, keeping the largest for himself and handing out the rest to the two kids behind him. After they finished the meat, he glared fiercely at Lu Mingkai.

Lu Mingkai shrank back, trembling, watching Dezi roll up his sleeves—his fear was unbearable, and tears began to flow, sobbing like a scared little animal.

Lu Zhenping appeared just as Dezi was about to hit Lu Mingkai, grabbing hold of Dezi suddenly. The other children, seeing an adult approaching, quickly ran off.

"Ah, Dad, wah wah wah, Dad, he’s going to hit me, wah, I’m scared!"

"You brat, now you start crying. What were you doing before? Come here, let Dad hold you."

Lu Mingkai walked over "wah wah wah" and hugged Lu Zhenping’s legs, smearing his tear and snot-covered face on his trousers. Even though Lu Mingkai was his own child, at that moment Lu Zhenping still couldn’t help but feel disgusted.

"You coward, you actually told the adults at home. I despise you, pah, I don’t want to eat your family’s meat at all. It doesn’t taste good one bit."

Dezi spat fiercely on the ground and looked at Lu Zhenping with defiance.