Upon hearing the amount of 88,000, Lin Hui also worried, hurriedly chiming in, "This is too small a betrothal gift. Qiqi will get criticized for being cheap. If things don't go well and she frequently comes home, people will gossip."
"You are the one running home every two to three days," Su Tiancheng sneered coldly, showing no respect to his sister-in-law.
Lin Hui was stunned, did this old bastard take the wrong medication? Usually, he didn't dare to breathe one extra breath, but today he speaks so out loud.
Feeling extremely unhappy inside, Lin Hui complained to Chen Shujuan, "Mom, did I say something wrong? Qiqi, she..."
"Just shut up! Don't you think it's enough to lose face?"
Su Tiancheng interrupted Lin Hui, then said sternly, "Qiqi is my daughter, and I am the head of the family. Whatever I say about the betrothal gift, goes!"
"Su Qiqi is my daughter, too. The betrothal gift should be a million, not a penny less!" Chen Shujuan obviously wanted to confront Su Tiancheng.
Jin Muchen had gotten a sense of the situation in the Su Family from his investigations, so he was prepared.
However, facing such an exaggerated situation, he was still shocked.
He couldn't help but look at Su Qiqi sympathetically.
If he continued to stay silent, this argument would likely go on and on.
So he spoke up, "Mom, I will give the betrothal gift in full, not a penny less. But you have to give me time to raise the money, I can't come up with it all at once."
"Don't call me mom. Wait until you've prepared the betrothal gift then call me mom." Chen Shujuan showed no respect.
Jin Muchen's cold eyes flashed. Raising an eyebrow, he managed to hold back his anger.
"Alright, Auntie."
"Mom, if you keep acting like this, consider me not your daughter anymore." Seeing Jin Muchen suffering for her sake, Su Qiqi stepped forward to speak.
"What did you say?" Chen Shujuan's eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing Su Qiqi. When she saw her daughter's firm gaze, she couldn't manage to utter the words she intended to say.
"Enough, everyone lower your voices a bit. Aren't you embarrassed to let Muchen see all of this?" Su Tiancheng spoke again, "Fine, the betrothal gift will be 188,000. It's decided."
Lin Hui wanted to speak again, but Su Tiancheng's stern gaze made her retreat, including Su Xingchen.
Then Su Tiancheng patted Jin Muchen on the shoulder and said solemnly, "The amount of the betrothal gift is not important. What's important is that you should treat Qiqi well."
The hand that patted his shoulder became extremely heavy to Jin Muchen.
He didn't respond to Su Tiancheng, only nodded with a smile.
At this moment, Su Qiqi's eyes were full of tears. The grievances suffered over the years seemed to be washed away by Su Tiancheng's few sentences.
"Dad!" The tears eventually began to flow.
"Let's go, I will escort you two downstairs." Su Tiancheng pushed Jin Muchen and Su Qiqi to leave.
The three in the parking lot.
Jin Muchen greeted Su Tiancheng, then got into the car, leaving enough space for the father-daughter pair.
Su Tiancheng nodded at Jin Muchen in the car as a token of appreciation.
Then he wiped the tears on Su Qiqi's cheeks, whispered, "Qiqi, your dad is useless, I failed to take good care of you, and let you suffer all these years."
Su Qiqi shook her head, crying.
"Muchen is a good man, I can tell he cares about you. After you get married, you can't throw tantrums, and don't be as aggressive as your mother, okay?"
Su Qiqi opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word, in the end, she nodded vigorously.
Su Tiancheng revealed a relief smile, ruffling her daughter's hair with one hand and holding out a card with the other to Su Qiqi.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Su Qiqi was surprised and quickly pushed it back.
But Su Tiancheng shook his head and again pushed the card into Su Qiqi's hand.
"Qiqi, your mom means well, don't take what she said to heart. There's a hundred thousand in this card, some of it is money you gave me and some of it is my savings over the years, take it."
"No!" Su Qiqi quickly refused, "Dad, I can't take your money."
"Take it!" Su Tiancheng said seriously, "Muchen has suffered enough embarrassment today, we can't let him suffer anymore."
"Besides, this is the dowry money I prepared for you. If your mom and others knew, your sister-in-law would certainly take it."
Su Qiqi hugged her father, it had been a long time since she had gotten to do that.
She remembered how she used to sleep peacefully when her father carried her on his back and she could lean on his secure shoulder.
She cried, "Dad, thank you."
"Silly girl, I'm your dad, why are you thanking me? Go back quickly, don't keep Muchen waiting."
Su Tiancheng watched Su Qiqi get into the car and drive away, then he headed back upstairs.
...
In the car, Su Qiqi wiped away her tears, leaning her head against the window and looking outside, the whole journey was quiet, no one spoke.
When the car stopped, just as Jin Muchen was about to get out of the car, Su Qiqi spoke.
"Mr. Jin, I'm sorry for the embarrassment caused by today's events. It was my lack of consideration, I apologize to you on behalf of my family."
Jin Muchen passed over a tissue, while looking at Su Qiqi, "It has nothing to do with you, you don't need to apologize to me."
Su Qiqi gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, "That's just what my family is like, my dad and my brother are both whipped. My mom is rather old-fashioned and has a male preference. My sister-in-law isn't a bad person, but she can be very sarcastic."
"That's what my life used to be."
For all this time, Su Qiqi had wanted to confide in someone. Now, it felt like a dam bursting open, years of grievances pouring out.
Jin Muchen didn't rush to get out of the car. He put his hands on the steering wheel and quietly played the role of a listener.
"Mr. Jin, seeing my family in this state, do you regret having a flash marriage with me?"
Jin Muchen casually replied, "I married you, not your family."
Under the dim street light, Su Qiqi's face was half illuminated. Her three-dimensional facial features looked exceptionally gentle, and her long eyelashes fluttered slightly.
For a moment, Jin Muchen wanted to push aside the other half of the darkness, to look carefully into this woman's eyes.
She's clearly very fragile, but she appears so strong.
After hearing Jin Muchen's words, Su Qiqi gave a wry smile.
"I'm overthinking. But don't worry Mr. Jin, you don't need to pay the betrothal gift, I'll take care of it."
"Isn't the betrothal gift always prepared by the groom?"
Jin Muchen's deep eyes darkened a little. He didn't care about the money, it's just that this woman was always considering things for him, so he felt incapable, and it upset him.
"I get it, but Mr. Jin, you've to pay the mortgage and Jin Lin's tuition fees, so for the betrothal gift..."
It was obvious that Su Qiqi didn't pick up on Jin Muchen's hint.
"I married you, that's what I should be doing."
Jin Muchen unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.
Su Qiqi felt that Jin Muchen was a bit upset, but she was at a loss as to why.
By the time she returned home, Jin Muchen had already gone upstairs.
Right now, Jin Lin was watching TV on the first floor. Upon seeing Su Qiqi, he immediately shut off the TV and stomped upstairs.
Su Qiqi stood frozen in place.
What the hell, both father and son were acting the same way.