Chapter 1

In a certain urban village in Haicheng, Daxia.

It was 9:55 AM.

Yang Chen sat alone in a corner of the courtyard, lost in thought.

He stared at the time on his phone screen, motionless.

He was waiting for 10:00 AM, when his fate would change.

Today was the day his sister, Yang Yue, was getting married.

However, both sides had a conflict over the dowry.

Yang Chen's parents, following local customs, asked the groom's family for 80,000 yuan as a dowry, three pieces of gold jewelry, and a set of clothes.

However, the dowry and cash they would provide in return would total around 120,000 yuan.

In terms of money, neither side would lose or gain.

However, the groom's family thought 80,000 yuan was too expensive and resented it.

The groom's mother deliberately bought Yang Yue undergarments that were two sizes too small.

There was an unwritten custom here.

If the groom's family deliberately bought small clothes for the bride, it was a way to make her uncomfortable and to show her who was in charge.

This had happened to girls in the village before.

They all endured it and still got married.

With the wedding procession already at the door, they had no choice but to marry.

But after they married, they didn't have a good life and were bullied by their mother-in-law every day.

Those who could endure it, endured; those who couldn't, ended up getting divorced.

Yang Chen was not willing to let his sister fall into the same trap.

If the groom's family started causing trouble on the first day of the wedding, how could they get along in the future?

So, he wanted to stop his sister from getting married.

But he had no say in the matter; it was up to his parents to decide.

His parents asked Yang Yue to communicate with the groom's family and request that they buy new, correctly sized undergarments.

However, the groom's family was stubborn and refused to buy new ones.

They even threatened that she could either wear the old ones or the small ones.

Wasn't this clearly bullying?

After a family discussion, they decided not to go through with the wedding.

Yang Yue and the groom, Zhang Jun, had only met through an arranged marriage and had no emotional foundation.

Why should they force themselves to marry?

Last night,

Yang Yue had already called Zhang Jun and told him not to come to pick her up today.

But he still came.

So, both sides started arguing.

At that moment, the wedding procession was shouting in the courtyard.

"Refund the dowry! Refund the dowry! Refund the dowry..."

The groom, Zhang Jun, angrily shouted at Yang Yue, "Give me a straight answer, are you going to marry me or not?"

Yang Yue firmly replied, "No, I won't!"

Zhang Jun knew that the wedding wouldn't go smoothly today, so he specially hired a TikTok influencer with 5 million followers, Brother Er Long, to help.

This kind of person would rather spend 50,000 yuan to hire an influencer to force the bride to comply than buy a new set of undergarments.

Wasn't this clearly bullying?

How could she marry such a person?

Brother Er Long pointed his phone camera at the bride and said to the 100,000 viewers in the live stream, "Everyone, look. This is the bride who is scamming the dowry. Remember her face, don't fall into her trap. My friend gave 80,000 yuan as a dowry, and today when he came to pick her up, she backed out. Do you know why she backed out? Guess, I guarantee you won't guess it."

The live stream comments immediately flooded in.

"She backed out because her ex-boyfriend came to see her."

"She's pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child."

"Definitely trying to increase the dowry, if not, she won't marry."

"I don't care about the reason, why doesn't the government do something about this? It's too outrageous."

"This person should be arrested and sentenced!"

...

Brother Er Long chuckled and said, "I knew you wouldn't guess it. I was also shocked by her reason. Do you know why she backed out? It's because the groom bought her undergarments that were two sizes too small. Ha... I've lived for thirty years, and this is the first time I've heard of someone backing out of a wedding for this reason."

The live stream immediately exploded.

Backing out of a wedding because the undergarments were too small, could a normal person do such a thing?

"Damn, is this a joke? Backing out of a wedding because the undergarments are too small?"

"What the hell, isn't this clearly a dowry scam?"

"Can't you find a better excuse for a dowry scam? This is too perfunctory."

"Definitely a dowry scam."

...

The argument had been going on for over an hour.

The related videos spread on TikTok.

The entire internet was criticizing Yang Yue for scamming the dowry.

Even many official media accounts commented.

"Backing out of a wedding because the undergarments are too small, is this treating marriage as a joke?"

"The girl backed out of the wedding because the groom's family bought her undergarments that were too small. Are the adults also as immature as the child? How can they act so recklessly?"

"Thank you for not marrying! The girl refused to marry because the undergarments were too small. Is this a dowry scam or is there another reason?"

...

Yang Yue's cousin, Li Fei, showed her the phone and said, "Sister, look, everyone on the internet is criticizing us."

Yang Yue looked at the comments and burst into tears.

These people didn't understand the situation, why were they criticizing her?

Her father, Yang Fu, and her mother, Wang Zhi, also came to look at the comments.

Seeing this, they were also moved to tears.

It was clearly the groom's family who was deliberately causing trouble, trying to give Yang Yue a hard time, why were they being criticized?

The groom's family gave 80,000 yuan as a dowry, and they were returning 120,000 yuan in total, how was this a dowry scam?

Brother Er Long pointed his phone camera at Yang Fu and Wang Zhi and said, "Everyone, look. This is the bride's parents. What do you think? You're scamming the dowry and can't even come up with a good reason. How did you think of using the excuse that the undergarments were too small?"

Yang Fu: "It's the truth. We are not scamming the dowry, don't talk nonsense."

Brother Er Long: "Isn't this a dowry scam? Do you really believe what you're saying? You can fool yourself, but you can't fool the 120,000 people in my live stream."

Yang Fu was a simple farmer.

How could he match the eloquence of a TikTok influencer with 5 million followers?

A few words left him speechless.

The more he was like this, the more people thought he was guilty.

"Look, he can't even speak. Definitely a dowry scam."

"He's guilty, no need to ask, it's a dowry scam."

"Shameful. Didn't expect to be exposed by our Brother Er Long."

"Thanks to our Brother Er Long for exposing it, otherwise, the groom's family would have been scammed and had nowhere to complain."

...

Faced with everyone's accusations and insults, the Yang family's explanations were in vain.

Words were not convincing.

"Beep! It's 10:00 AM in Beijing!"

The old wall clock in Yang Chen's home struck ten.

Yang Chen's eyes lit up.

At that moment, a light screen appeared in front of him, visible only to him.

"Master has persisted in signing in for three years, the [Sign-in Task System] is activated. Here is the activation gift pack, do you want to claim it?"

Yang Chen had been silent while others bullied him.

People in the village were still mocking him for being weak, saying that he didn't dare to speak up even when others bullied him.

It wasn't that he didn't dare to speak up, but he had a more direct and effective way to retaliate.

What could arguing solve?

He had been waiting for this moment, for the system to activate.

He quickly used his mind to click "Yes."

System: "Received the command, here is the new user gift pack. Congratulations, Master, you have won a surprise ten consecutive draws. Do you want to draw now?"

Yang Chen: "Can I customize the rewards?"

Yang Chen wanted to prove to his sister and parents that they were not scamming the dowry.

So, he wanted to customize an ultra-luxurious dowry for his sister to shut everyone up.