Chapter 263: Chapter 263: Definitely Up to No Good

Ever since Liu Qinghe left early that morning, Mrs. Liu Sr. couldn’t settle her mind.

It wasn’t until Qi Quanjin came visiting and explained the matter of establishing kinship that Mrs. Liu Sr. was initially confused. But then she understood and felt much more spirited, immediately calling Mr. Liu Sr. to go and buy gifts for the kinship.

Meanwhile, at the Lai family’s home in Yongping Village.

Although Er Laizi was once a ruffian back in his hometown, after experiencing escape from famine and life-and-death situations, he had become much more composed.

However, one of his arms was ruined, and now he was left with only one.

Though Mrs. Lai Sr. had survived, she had been physically hurt from that disaster.

These days, she would wash clothes and cook at home, and occasionally when feeling better, she would tend to the vegetable garden.

As for more strenuous tasks, she couldn’t handle them anymore.

In the past two years, the family borrowed money from the Qi Family to build their house. Although it was only two rooms with a kitchen, it was enough for the mother and son to live in.

Er Laizi had always been filial. Even when his mother was in good health, he often thought about her. Now that her health had worsened, his worries increased.

The meals provided by the village were always brought home by him to eat with his mother, and today was no different.

However, something was different today; after the meal, Mrs. Lai Sr. didn’t rush to tidy up the dishes. Instead, she pulled her son to sit on the kang to talk.

“Erzi, you’re not young anymore. It’s about time to talk about marriage.”

Mrs. Lai Sr. didn’t beat around the bush and spoke directly: “In the past, our family’s reputation wasn’t good, so your marriage never happened. But now that we’re new residents here, and we’re different from before, talking about a marriage now might work, I believe.”

At this, Er Laizi was taken aback, then smiled bitterly: “Mom, stop thinking about those unnecessary things. Our family may have a better reputation now, but we still lack everything, and we owe the village head’s family a lot of silver.”

“If we talk about marriage now, can our family afford the betrothal gift?”

Er Laizi was now mature and steady; initially, Mrs. Lai Sr. was worried her son was just pretending, but now she knew he had truly improved, so she didn’t hide the family finances from him.

As he brought it up, Mrs. Lai Sr.’s words got stuck in her throat.

Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Lai Sr. finally said: “If it’s a pure and neat young woman, our family might not afford it. But if we bring home a divorced woman, it might be possible.”

“Erzi, I don’t ask for you to be wealthy and noble. I just hope you have someone to warm your bed and maybe have a few big fat sons.”

Mrs. Lai Sr. was too aware of her family’s situation. Forget daughters from noble families, even ordinary families’ daughters weren’t something they could aspire to.

Er Laizi frowned tightly at this: “Mom, let’s talk about this later! I don’t want to marry now.”

“Oh, you child, what later? Look at your mother’s condition. If you delay another two years, forget about a grandson, I’m afraid I won’t even know what a daughter-in-law looks like!”

Mrs. Lai Sr.’s eyes reddened: “Erzi, if you really are filial, then hurry up and get married, let me hold a big fat grandson, so when I meet your father underground, I won’t feel ashamed.”

“Mom, don’t say that. Take care of your health, and living to a hundred isn’t a problem.”

Er Laizi couldn’t stand hearing his mother talk like this.

“Alright, Mom, I need to work in the afternoon, better take a nap now, or I’ll be drowsy later.”

Saying that, Er Laizi stood up to leave.

But Mrs. Lai Sr. grabbed his arm: “Erzi, we must settle this today! I won’t hide it from you; I’ve had my eye on a girl, and as for the betrothal gift, you don’t need to worry. At worst, we borrow another two taels of silver from the Qi Family.”

“Mom!”

Er Laizi was anxious: “We already owe ten taels of silver, and if we borrow two more, that’s twelve taels! How can we ever repay that?”

It wasn’t necessary to owe so much, but Mrs. Lai Sr.’s health required medicine all the time. Even if the two doctors from the Qi Family gave them a discount, or sometimes didn’t even charge, some medicines had to be bought from the city.

The city’s pharmacies wouldn’t offer any discounts.

Plus, building the house, back and forth, led to a debt of ten taels.

Now, Er Laizi wished he could work day and night to earn more and pay off the debt soon.

He genuinely wanted to improve and sincerely wanted to live a good life with his mother.

With a debt hanging over, he couldn’t feel at ease.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lai Sr. burst into tears: “I know, I’m burdening you. Erzi, I won’t take medicine anymore, and we’ll save that money for your marriage. Mom, Mom…”

“Mom!”

Er Laizi was exasperated: “Can you stop saying things like that? You’re my mother; if you’re sick and I don’t give you medicine, what kind of person would I be?”

“Even if I don’t plan to marry now, even if there’s someone I’m interested in, if they know I wouldn’t treat my sick mother, would they want to marry their daughter to me?”

This series of questions left Mrs. Lai Sr. speechless.

Wiping her tears, Mrs. Lai Sr. said: “Then what do you say? You’re over twenty, and other people’s kids are already running around at that age.”

“Alright, I’ll handle it myself; just focus on taking care of your health.”

Er Laizi was also vexed, waving his only hand: “Big fat grandsons and such, you’ll definitely get to hold one.”

He then left the room and went into the room opposite.

Mrs. Lai Sr. sat on the kang, watching her son’s figure disappear from the doorway, blinking her eyes as big tears began rolling down again.

As she cried, Mrs. Lai Sr. suddenly wiped her tears, cleaned the dishes, and left her courtyard, heading towards the Qi Family Mansion.

The sun was at its peak, and Mrs. Qi watched her fourth son drive away with an ox cart, then turned back into the yard, wanting to nap with her little granddaughter.

But before she could enter the main room, she heard someone at the gate calling: “Sister-in-law, busy?”

Turning around, Mrs. Qi saw Mrs. Lai Sr. standing at the gate looking at her.

Mrs. Qi had never much liked Mrs. Lai Sr., even though her sons and grandsons said the mother and son of the Lai family had improved quite a lot, she just couldn’t like her.

But Mrs. Qi didn’t intend to ignore her, walking towards the gate again: “Auntie, it’s quite hot. Why are you out here?”

Seeing that someone responded to her, Mrs. Lai Sr. breathed a sigh of relief.

They met halfway, and Mrs. Lai Sr. began praising the lush vegetable gardens on either side.

The more Mrs. Qi listened, the stranger she felt.

What was that saying her grandsons learned at school?

No one visits the temple for no reason!

Right, no one visits the temple for no reason!

This sudden visit from Mrs. Lai Sr., and with such enthusiasm, surely wasn’t for any good reason!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep