Fifty Years of Bride Price: In 1974, It All Began with a Broken Engagement

Name: Fifty Years of Bride Price: In 1974, It All Began with a Broken Engagement
Author: Uncle Wang Tells Stories

彩礼50年，1974从悔婚开始

by Uncle Wang Tells Stories (王叔说故事)

Status: Ongoing
Length: 171k Words
Genre: Urban
Subgenre: Urban Everyday
Updated: 1mo ago
Source: Fanqie

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Synopsis

In the bitter winter of 1974, Zhao Shuangzhu publicly called off his engagement and was given three days to come up with a hundred yuan for the bride price. He swallowed his pride and borrowed from every neighbor he could, took the old folks’ burial savings, and went into the mountains at night to hunt rabbits and trade them for cash on the black market. Dodging the market inspectors, he stumbled through the hardest hurdle of his life. He spent the rest of his life marrying, raising children, and struggling to make a living in the countryside. In 1974, a hundred yuan was enough for his wedding. By 2000, the bride price for his son’s marriage had soared to more than ten thousand. By the time his grandchildren were ready to marry, bride prices had climbed so high they were suffocating. Three generations of the Zhao family, three weddings, three generations of heartache. From a poor young man to a frail old man, he was trapped his whole life by bride prices, making a living, and social obligations. There were no miracles from above and no benefactors to lend a hand. The life of an ordinary farming family was simply a matter of chewing through hard times, making a living brick by brick, counting every last coin, and gritting their teeth through one generation after another as they struggled onward. This is the most authentic account of the ups and downs endured by generations of rural people. You’re sure to see yourself in this book!

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