The Zhu family helped kill the rabbits, pheasants, and roe deer and pickled them with salt.

The rabbit that I had raised before was also killed and pickled, and the mushrooms and black fungus were washed and dried.

The pickled hare, pheasant and mutton are hung in the kitchen and smoked and air-dried.

I could have hung it under the eaves to air dry, but I was afraid of being seen by others, so I decided to hang it in the kitchen to smoke and dry it, which was safer.

Three days later, Zhu's mother packed two rabbits, two pheasants, and several pounds of pork.

He also packed some dried mountain products into the cloth bag.

Zhu's mother asked Zhu Zhen to write a letter to express her concern for the Su family, to greet the in-laws, and to tell them about Su Yan's current situation in the Zhu family.

Thank them for the things they sent. These things are return gifts. They were picked in the mountains and are not worth much. They were asked not to mind.

In short, this letter is just a polite remark from Zhu's mother and has no substantive content.

Su Yan took the initiative to say that she would send the package and she was familiar with the postman.

Zhu's mother didn't doubt it and handed her the package with the letter inside.

The child is still at home, being taken care of by Yang Dan and Zhu Zhen, so she feels relieved.

When Su Yan went to ride the ox cart, he happened to meet Chen Jiao who was also riding the ox cart.

Chen Jiao was surprised and asked, "Su Yan, are you going to town again?"

Su Yan hummed.

Chen Jiao: "Didn't you go there a few days ago? Why are you going again today? Is there something going on?"

Su Yan: "My brother sent me something last time. My mother-in-law felt embarrassed to ask my brother to send things all the time, so she asked Zhu Bin to go to Shandong University to pick some mountain products and send them to my brother and his family. It can be regarded as a gift in return. Our conditions are not good, so we can only live by the mountains. Pick more wild mushrooms and let my brother and his family taste the local specialties."

Chen Jiao laughed and said, "Oh, you're sending something to Brother Su and the others. What's their situation now?"

Su Yan: "My brother didn't say anything in the letter, and I'm not sure either. Anyway, they told me to take care of myself and not to worry about them."

Chen Jiao: "Is that so? That shouldn't be a big problem. What's the address of Brother Su and the others? I'll send something to them someday."

Su Yan: "No need, my brother is most afraid of bothering others, and you know that this is a special period, so you should have less contact with him to avoid causing trouble to you. I am his relative, and it is inevitable that we will be in contact."

After hearing this, Chen Jiao had no choice but to give up.

When she asked for the address, whether she really wanted to send something or was just pretending, only she knew it best.

But if she was really that generous, she wouldn't remember every penny of the fare.

When Su Yan just got on the car, she was ready to pay the fare, but when she saw Su Yan coming, she deliberately procrastinated, saying that she had no change.

So Su Yan said, "I still owe you a fare last time, so I'll pay it for you today."

Chen Jiao pretended to have just remembered this and said with a smile: "Oh, you still remember it, I had completely forgotten it."

Haha, if you really forgot, you wouldn’t pretend that you don’t have any change. Su Yan saw through it but didn’t say anything.

Along the way, Chen Jiao was very curious about what was in Su Yan's package, but Su Yan refused to open the package. He just said it was mountain products and nothing else.

Chen Jiao noticed that Su Yan looked very good recently. Even without makeup, her skin was whiter and more translucent than others, and there was a faint fragrance on her body.

Even if she wears the simplest shirt, she looks more elegant than others.

Looking at her hands again, they are still so slender, smooth and white, not like someone who has lived a hard life at all.

They were clearly still the hands of a young lady, without any calluses or scars. People would believe that she had never touched women.

Even though she married a poor peasant, she still lived a better and happier life than others.

If Chen Jiao doesn't speak, Su Yan won't speak either. Anyway, she is not the type of person who would please others.

However, Chen Jiao was always curious about Su Yan. For example, when she didn't see her carrying a child today, she asked again, "Where's your daughter? Why didn't you carry her to town today?"

Su Yan replied calmly: "Her aunt is with her, so she doesn't have to go to town with me."

"Zhu Zhen, she has nothing to do?"

Su Yan: "School is closed today. I will review my lessons at home and help with housework."

Chen Jiao: "The Zhu family is so poor, but they let a girl go to school. Are they planning to find her a good husband who can help the Zhu family in the future?"

Chen Jiao's meaning was probably that the Zhu family was so poor that they were willing to let one of their daughters go to school, in order to help her marry well in the future and earn more money for the bride price.

Su Yan raised his lips slightly and asked, "How much does your Lin Dong earn? How much gift did he give you when you married him? According to Uncle Chen's personality, if he didn't give enough gift, he probably wouldn't agree to let you marry him."

Chen Jiao was stunned, and said a little embarrassedly: "Not much. Most of Lin Dong's salary was given to his parents to help support the family. It was only after we got married that he started to get his own salary."

Su Yan: "Oh, what about the betrothal gift?"

Chen Jiao's face gradually turned red, because what she just meant was that the Zhu family was planning to sell their daughter for fame and fortune in the future, but it was her parents who actually sold their daughter for fame and fortune.

When she called back to say she wanted to get married, her parents threatened her that they would not allow her to get married without a betrothal gift of 300 yuan.

If she dared to get married secretly, they would ask for leave the next day to come to the Northeast to find her and sue her for trafficking in women and children.

Chen Jiao knew that her parents loved to make trouble, so she finally compromised and said that she would discuss the issue of the bride price with Lin Dong.

When Lin Dong married her, he had some complaints at first.

With a dowry of three hundred yuan, he can marry any girl he wants, and it can even buy a house in town.

However, Lin Dong was finally comforted by Chen Jiao, who simply said that her parents would not bother them in the future, as a way of repaying their kindness in raising them.

She will not give anything to her parents' family in the future, and she will only think about their small family.

After hearing this, Lin Dong calmed down. In other words, the 300 yuan betrothal gift was to buy out the kinship relationship between her and her family, and from now on Chen Jiao would only belong to him, Lin Dong.

Lin Dong thought that the three hundred yuan would save him trouble in the future, so he just regarded it as a deal, which was quite worthwhile.

Chen Jiao stammered, "The betrothal gift isn't much, maybe two or three hundred yuan."

Su Yan sneered, and Chen Jiao asked in confusion, "What are you laughing at?"

Su Yan waved his hand and explained with a smile: "Uncle Chen is really brave to ask for it. Even people in the city may not be willing to give so much. He really thinks highly of you."

Chen Jiao's face was burning with anger. This was not caring at all. He simply didn't care about her life or death and only cared about his own interests.

She has seen through such parents. Anyway, she will never recognize them again in the future.

Su Yan touched Chen Jiao's sore spot. In the second half, she became silent and no longer took the initiative to find topics.