Chapter 8: Matchmaker Reward System, Really Good!
"Uncle Man."
In the supply and marketing cooperative, Guan Yongying greeted her uncle, Guan Dewu.
Guan Dewu asked with a smile, "Yongying, that young man should be pretty good, right? Where did he invite you to dinner? What did you eat?"
Aunt Man said, "That young man is really nice and generous. He invited us to a state-owned restaurant for dinner. We ordered three meat dishes—white-cut chicken, sweet and sour pork, and pork soup—and three vegetarian dishes. It cost six or seven yuan in total!"
Guan Dewu was a little surprised when he heard this and said, "He invited you to a state-owned restaurant for dinner? This guy really spent a lot of money, proving that he really likes our Yongying."
Guan Yongying smiled shyly. The man on her blind date had done a great job this time and given her enough face.
Her parents had told her that many girls in their village went on blind dates, and even if the men were satisfied, they would only treat them to a meal at a noodle stall. They had never heard of any girl who had the opportunity to eat at a state-owned restaurant after a blind date.
Her blind date this time was a small precedent in their Deepwater Village.
"Okay, we just came to say hello to you and take our bikes back. Uncle Jiu will be sending red envelopes and gifts to our house soon, and it will be bad if we're not at home," Aunt Man said.
Guan Dewu nodded and said, "Well, then you guys can ride your bikes back, and I'll just walk home after work."
Nowadays, in the entire Double Prosperity area, apart from government-owned bicycles, very few private individuals could afford one. In the entire Deepwater Village, only Guan Dewu, who worked at the supply and marketing cooperative, had bought one at the beginning of the year.
So, after saying hello, Aunt Man rode her bicycle and hurried home with her niece.
At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Deng Shirong arrived at Guan Dewei's house again with the man's red envelope and gifts.
By this time, Guan Dewei and his wife already knew about their daughter's encounter that day and were quite satisfied with the man's performance.
The most important thing was that their daughter had agreed to have lunch with the boy, which proved that she was also satisfied with him. So, this marriage was indeed a sure thing.
Therefore, Guan Dewei and his wife were very enthusiastic about Deng Shirong, the matchmaker who had come to their house again.
After exchanging greetings, Deng Shirong untied the cardboard box on his bicycle, took out a piece of pork belly and a bag of candies and biscuits, and said, "This is for grandpa and grandma."
The blind date rules in the Double Prosperity area were that if the two were satisfied with each other when they met, and if the girl's grandparents were still alive, the boy had to prepare an extra gift.
Yongying's mother quickly reached out to take the pork and candies.
Deng Shirong took out another bag of candies and biscuits from the carton and pulled out two yuan from his pocket, handing it to Aunt Man next to him. "Aunt Man, this is yours."
Aunt Man took it with a smile on her face. This red envelope was considered generous. Usually, men who went on blind dates with girls would only give red envelopes of a few cents, with one yuan being the norm. Getting a red envelope of two yuan was considered good.
After all, many people only gave the main girl red envelopes of two or three yuan.
Deng Shirong took out another five yuan from his pocket, along with the remaining piece of pork belly and a bag of candies and biscuits from the carton, and said with a smile, "These are for Yongying."
Guan Yongying was too embarrassed to take it, so her mother accepted the money and gifts from Deng Shirong on her behalf.
After Yongying's mother put away the items, Deng Shirong said, "Yongying's father, Yongying's mother, I'm sure you all know what happened today. My nephew fell in love with Yongying at first sight, and his mother is also very satisfied with her. Now it depends on your attitude!"
Guan Dewei looked at his wife and said thoughtfully, "Uncle Jiu, your nephew is really generous. Although we haven't met him yet, we have a good impression of him. We can discuss this marriage."
This result was within Deng Shirong's expectations. He smiled and said, "Since both of you are satisfied, let's not beat around the bush. How much do you want for the bride price? What other items do you want?"
As the topic turned to money, Guan Yongying blushed with embarrassment and wanted to hide. However, she was very curious, so she endured the awkwardness and sat aside to listen.
As for Aunt Man, she was just sitting there listening. It was definitely not her place to speak about something like this.
After the initial meeting was satisfactory, the next step was to visit the house. Before the visit, the bride price and other items the woman wanted had to be negotiated in advance.
Because visiting the house was equivalent to an engagement, the woman would definitely not agree to the visit before the conditions were agreed upon.
Apparently, Guan Dewei and his wife had already discussed their daughter's bride price long ago, so there was no need to hide it from the matchmaker. The couple stated their conditions one after another.
They wanted 288 yuan in cash, 300 kilograms of grain, a sewing machine, and six new sets of clothes for Guan Yongying.
All this would cost about five hundred yuan. If you added in the expenses for the initial meeting and the subsequent house visit, as well as the thank-you gift to the matchmaker, it would cost at least six hundred yuan to marry a wife.
This amount of money was not a small sum in this day and age, but Deng Shirong knew that it wasn't that the woman was asking for an exorbitant price—this was simply the current market rate for marriage.
In short, whether in this poor era or in the future when everyone had escaped poverty, getting married had never been an easy thing.
After the woman laid out all her requirements, Deng Shirong put down his pipe and said, "Okay, I'm clear about your requirements. I'll go back and talk to the man. If there's no problem, I'll come back tomorrow to discuss the house visit."
Although Mr. and Mrs. Guan Dewei felt that the speed was too fast, they had no reason to object.
After finishing the business, Deng Shirong did not stay any longer and rode away on his bicycle.
After leaving Deepwater Village, Deng Shirong calmed down and checked the "Matchmaker Reward System" in his mind. He saw three ten-yuan bills lying quietly in the system space—the tenfold reward he had received after accepting the red envelope from the man.
Originally, he had only received a three-yuan red envelope, but after the system's tenfold reward, it became thirty-three yuan. This money had come so quickly!
Deng Shirong was very happy on the way home. After paying the contract fee for the kiln and the living expenses for his second son, he had only thirty-four yuan left.
When he had gone to the government house to propose marriage, he had spent a few cents on candies and cakes.
As a result, his wealth had skyrocketed in just half a day, and he now had more than sixty-six yuan in available cash.
This "Matchmaker Reward System" was really great!
(End of Chapter)