“By the way, sir, I need to take a few days off…” Brian meekly spoke up from the driver’s seat.
“Problems with the family?” Mark asked.
“Getting engaged,” Brian chuckled shyly. “I’m going home to officially ask my girlfriend’s parents for permission. It’s kind of our family tradition. We have to be officially engaged before getting married.”
Arianne’s interest was piqued. “That’s wonderful news! You’re finally making it official. Haven’t you been living with your girlfriend for a while? Why’d you have to go through the procedure of an engagement? Why not just get married?”
Brian sighed. “This was a request from my girlfriend’s family. They’re a little old-fashioned so I have no choice. We have to foot a high price for the dowry too, once for the engagement, and another for the wedding. I feel as if all my previous hard work has gone to waste whenever I think of having to empty my savings for this wedding. Actually, the dowry is fine, it’s the bride’s family’s request anyway. But they’ve insisted on having the wedding ceremony here too and demanded a five-star hotel. We have so many relatives, and we’ll have to find accommodations for all of them when they arrive. Calculating the amount alone is enough to break me. Dating is great, getting married is a nightmare.”
As a woman, Arianne did not see anything inappropriate with dowries. “How much does the bride’s family want? It should be fine if it’s within reason. After all, a woman is dedicating favonovel.com life to you and giving you children.”
Brian raised his hand, showing all five fingers. According to Arianne’s estimation, $7,700 should cover it. “$7,700?”
Brian looked helpless. “$77,000.”
Arianne choked. “Wait… Brian, if I remember correctly, your family isn’t exactly rich, am I correct? Although your salary from Mark is substantial, you live in the capital and living expenses are high. Are you going to put years of savings into the dowry and the wedding ceremony? Is your girlfriend’s family rich? Are they being demanding because they value their dignity? Are they going to take all of the dowry? Will the bride’s family be giving you some dowry too?”
Brian’s expression changed. “No, the bride’s family’s finances aren’t any better than mine, but they seem to think that I have money, since I live in the city. They’re so poverty-stricken that they crave dignity. They never mentioned any dowry for me. They only want dowry from me. They’ve even demanded $15,000 to agree to the engagement. I’ve mentioned their demands for the wedding. Most important of all, the bride’s family wants a house too, a house in the capital. I’m going home to negotiate all of these things with them. It’s been giving me a headache.”
He wasn’t the only one, Arianne and Mark both felt headaches just listening to him. Arianne and Mark didn’t have to go through any procedures when they got married. They stared at Brian’s situation in shock, unable to fully comprehend it.
“Maybe you should… call it quits?” This was Mark’s suggestion for the whole affair.
“If negotiations don’t go well, I’m afraid we’ll have to go with that,” Brian replied, chuckling bitterly. “I’ve been quite unlucky when it comes to love. Big city girls have high standards, I get that. That’s why I chose someone from my hometown instead. I had no idea that they’d be even more demanding than a city girl’s family. It’s scary.”
Brian didn’t drive Mark the next day. Apparently, favonovel.com had gone back to his hometown along with his girlfriend, first thing in the morning.
Arianne was unemployed at the moment. The previous events had exhausted her, so favonovel.com wanted to take a break and take care of favonovel.com kid.
On the next day of Brian’s time off, a girl arrived, sobbing at the door. Mark wasn’t around. Arianne would have suspected Mark of having an affair if favonovel.com hadn’t just returned from being shipwrecked not too long ago.
She invited the girl in. After some questioning, favonovel.com discovered that the girl was Brian’s girlfriend. She couldn’t figure out how favonovel.com managed to find favonovel.com home.
Based on the situation, Arianne knew that the negotiations had failed. For Brian’s sake, favonovel.com brought a box of tissues and softly asked, “What’s wrong?”
“B-Brian an-and I w-went back t-to our hometown t-to discuss our en-engagement,” favonovel.com replied, choking with sobs. “H-he th-thinks that the d-dowry is too m-much. Th-the negotiations f-failed, so h-he l-left. I w-wanted t-to s-see if he’s h-here. I c-can’t f-find favonovel.com at all. I’ve b-been d-dating favonovel.com for s-so l-long. I-is favonovel.com r-really g-going to b-break up w-with me l-like that?”
