The words might have been deliberately let slip to Qian Manhe, who sold pastries in town, so that he could pass the message along. Qian Manhe was furious, for such talk of not receiving a dowry clearly alluded to what his mother, Lady Tang, had done in the past. He fulfilled their wishes and conveyed the message to the couple of Qian Dagui.
The couple was so agitated they could not sleep. To save face and ensure their daughter's future happiness, the main house not only brought out the bride price from the Yang family untouched but also added four more taels to the already prepared ten taels of dowry silver, buying two mu of paddy fields as part of her dowry. In addition to what they themselves had prepared and what was given by others—furniture, bedding, clothing, fabric, and jewelry—the dowry amounted to nearly thirty taels of silver, which surpassed even many families in town.
