03 You should have an idea of how much the bride price should be

Liu DaTou noticed the crowd gathered to watch the excitement, his voice once again rose, "Liu An told me that it was the girl who made the first move. My son is a man, and a girl making the first move can be too much to resist. If she hadn't gotten pregnant, this matter would have blown over. But now that she is pregnant, our Liu Family does not want to be the tortoises who shrink their heads. Rest assured, once the girl enters our Liu Family's home, we will definitely treat her well."

"Yes, it was indeed Xiaofeng who took the initiative. Xiaofeng said she was willing to follow me and did not want to spend her life with an idiot. It was two months ago on the hillside, we did that there, and it was Xiaofeng who initiated it, I just didn't…" Liu An's tone was ambiguous, understandable to any adult.

Everyone, hearing this, had completely understood the situation.

It was like this: He Ximei pressured Xiaofeng to marry an idiot, but Xiaofeng absolutely disagreed. Out of desperation to get herself married off, Xiaofeng approached Liu An and they had an affair, which led to her pregnancy.

Xiaofeng lying in the room heard Liu An's words and smiled on her bed.

The villagers might not understand the situation, but she, with the memories of the original host, knew clearly that the child in her belly was not Liu An's. As for whose it was, even the original host hadn't figured that out.

That day, she went with Su Xiaotao to the market, and when they passed by the hillside, Su Xiaotao suddenly said she needed to pick up something from a relative's house in a nearby village and asked her to wait there.

The original host stayed as instructed under a large tree on the hillside. Not long after Su Xiaotao left, Liu An appeared. Seeing Xiaofeng alone there, he came up to flirt and tried to make physical advances, much as he had done today.

Xiaofeng broke free and ran, Liu An laughing as he chased after her.

In her panic, she ran into the woods behind the hillside. There was a steep slope behind the small woods, and before she reached the slope, Liu An had caught up to her and began tearing at her clothes. The original host had been desperate then, struggling with all her might. During the struggle, both she and Liu An rolled down the steep slope. However, during the fall, they rolled in different directions—Liu An to the north and the original host to the south. When she reached the bottom, she only felt her body hit a soft mass, and then she lost consciousness.

Upon waking, she felt as if she had a shameful dream and noticed there were a lot of bloodstains nearby. Seeing the bloodstains, she was terrified and hurried home through a secluded path, fearing that others might discover what she had been through.

The next morning, she suddenly remembered a serious problem—she hadn't gotten her period for two months. Thinking of an unlikely possibility, she became both anxious and frightened, wandering at the village entrance for a long time without coming up with a solution. Just then, Liu An appeared, bringing about the scene at the beginning. She, a modern 21st-century elite woman, had transmigrated into Xiaofeng's body.

Overall, she was quite surprised.

Happy that there was a child in her belly, fulfilling her past life's wish to have a child without marrying, but worried about the original host's predicament and the living standards of the Su Family.

Regarding the living standards of the Su Family, based on her memories, she could sum it up in one word: poor.

Not just ordinarily poor—their family was the poorest in the entire village. No need for further explanation, one look at their house was enough. By modern standards, their house was definitely a hazardous building.

Outside, Liu An continued, addressing her uncle and aunt, "Uncle, Aunt, Xiaofeng and I genuinely love each other, and now that Xiaofeng is carrying my child, I, Liu An, certainly cannot abandon her. I want to marry her and bring her home. As for the bride price, the villagers are all here, you name a figure."

Of course, Liu An knew that the child in Xiaofeng's belly was not his. That day he hadn't done much before the two of them rolled down the steep slope, where he then encountered two men in black holding sharp weapons who seemed to be chasing someone. Liu An lay still, fearing that the men in black would notice him.

Had he not run into Su Xiaotao early this morning, which brought Xiaofeng back to his mind, he would have forgotten about her. Since the last attempt didn't succeed, he had planned today to definitely take Xiaofeng into his hands.

With malicious intent, he saw Xiaofeng at the village entrance and pulled her towards a secluded spot, but unexpectedly they ran into Old Cripple Su.

"Yes, name a figure, as long as we find it reasonable, there will certainly be no second words," Liu DaTou stated loudly, "But then again, your family's girl is no longer a virgin, with a child already in her belly. Even if we discuss with any other family, she wouldn't be worth much, so think carefully about how much dowry you want."

The girl? If she were a virgin ready for marriage, asking for a higher bride price or something like that would be reasonable. But not being a virgin, with a child already on the way, even if it is his Liu family's seed, the girl's side would have to beg us.

After all, if the man changed his mind and didn't want to marry, the girl would have nowhere even to cry.

In such cases, the bride price would just be a token gesture.

Liu DaTou of course had this figured out; if Old Cripple Su asked for too much, he'd turn around and walk away, to see what they would do.

Having said this, Liu DaTou looked up and asked the surrounding villagers, "Everyone, isn't that the proper tradition?"

"You two families, since you're to be in-laws, should naturally sit down and talk things over. The bride price and such are minor matters, as long as you two families have no objections, it's fine," said the third uncle, who was among the older of the villagers and also Old Cripple Su's uncle. He naturally had to step forward and say a few words at this time.

With things having blown up to this point, there was definitely only one way out—marriage. Since they were going to marry, harmony was most important, and other details like the bride price could be discussed.

"If you ask me, what bride price is there to talk about? If you delay the wedding any further, Xiaofeng's belly will start showing. Just pick a date and get them married, that's the real matter at hand." Hu Xiulan, Su Xiaotao's mother, was known for being noisy.

Old Cripple Su stood at the doorway with a dark expression. Hearing Liu DaTou's words, he found it hard to make a decision.

At this point, it didn't matter whether Xiaofeng took the initiative or Liu An did. What was important was that Xiaofeng was pregnant.

Once you're pregnant, marrying the other party is the only path you have; there are no other options.

"Old Cripple Su, surely you aren't really considering agreeing?" He Ximei, seeing his expression, knew he was about to agree.

"Xiulan, are you disappointed?" Hu Xiulan laughed, "You couldn't even keep an eye on her, and now Xiaofeng is going to get married after all."

He Ximei was about to retort when Old Cripple Su interjected, "Since this has happened, there must be a way to resolve it. Come in and..." Before he could finish inviting them inside, a female voice rang out.

"I disagree." Xiaofeng had been listening from her bed and finally couldn't stand it anymore. She got up and walked out, standing at the doorway, about five or six steps from Old Cripple Su, and said word by word, "The child in my belly is not Liu An's."

The crowd was shocked!