Chapter 39: Chapter 25: The Second Humiliation (2)

Liu’er’s mother rushed over to Juhua’s house, enthusiastically greeting Yang Family.

Yang Family had just been talking with Juhua, and she was quite surprised to see Liu’er’s mother. ’Why is she here again?’

Juhua had already seen that morning that the woman was up to no good. Her words were full of concern, but they were utterly insincere. She had also asked how much money they had spent on her father’s treatment, as if she were digging for information. Juhua just didn’t know what her true motive was.

Her rushing over now clearly wasn’t to visit Zheng Changhe; she must have something she wanted to say. Juhua glanced at her, then turned and went inside to keep her father company, leaving Yang Family to deal with the woman.

Liu’er’s mother sat on the small stool Yang Family brought her. Putting on a fawning smile, she said affectionately to Yang Family, “Sister, after I saw Brother Changhe this morning, my heart just ached for you all. I was thinking, I just have to find a way to help you!”

Yang Family, not knowing the woman’s true intentions, was touched and replied gratefully, “Look at you, getting so worried about us. It’s nothing, really. We’re just a bit poor. We’ll manage.”

Liu’er’s mother laughed. “Isn’t that the truth? We’re farmers. Can we really go a whole year without any troubles? As long as everyone’s happy, life is good!”

Yang Family nodded in agreement. “That’s true!”

Liu’er’s mother said smugly, “So I was thinking, you have a son and a daughter, and you used to have such a happy life. Qingmu is so outstanding—and I’m not just flattering you—you won’t have to worry about his future at all. Girls will be lining up to marry him. And Juhua is very capable too. Even with her little flaw, it’s not a big deal. There are discerning men who can see her worth. And well, someone has entrusted me to come and make a proposal! Hehe!”

Yang Family was a mother, and all mothers have one weakness: they can never get enough of hearing others praise their children. Liu’er’s mother’s words were so beautifully spoken that Yang Family was left feeling giddy.

But when she heard the last part—that someone had actually asked Liu’er’s mother to propose a marriage, and for Juhua no less—she was stunned.

Yang Family asked suspiciously, “Whose family sent you?”

Although she often said that even if Juhua couldn’t get married, she would support her for a lifetime, in her heart, she still hoped her daughter could marry into a good family.

Seeing her ask, Liu’er’s mother’s eyes crinkled into a smile. ’Yang Family is so eager,’ she thought. ’This is already halfway done.’ “It’s a distant cousin of mine. He has prepared a generous betrothal gift—four taels of silver!—and asked me to be the matchmaker!”

Yang Family was shocked. ’He’s willing to offer four taels of silver as a betrothal gift?’ It wasn’t that she was greedy, but this showed how much the man valued Juhua! She was a bit dazed and forgot to ask the most important questions, asking hesitantly, “But… wouldn’t that make us different generations?”

Seeing that the matter was settled, Liu’er’s mother grinned so wide her eyes disappeared. “Aiyo! I say, Sister, we’re not even blood relatives! And even if we were, that cousin is very distant, not my actual brother. What does it matter? If you think about it, you’re the one benefiting—you’ll become my elder! Hehe!”

Only then did Yang Family remember to ask who had sent her. “So, how old is this boy? He doesn’t mind our Juhua? You’d better not hide the truth from them. We don’t want people gossiping behind our backs.”

Liu’er’s mother’s smile froze. ’Why are you so clueless?’ she thought. ’What teenage boy would want your Juhua?’

She said tactfully, “He’s a bit older! But when men get to a certain age, they’re more open-minded. They don’t care about looks and just want to find a down-to-earth person to spend their life with. If it was someone who’s just pretty but useless, he wouldn’t even want her! His thinking is sound—why would he marry someone just to put her on a pedestal at home?”

Seeing that she had a whole spiel prepared, Yang Family asked doubtfully, “So how old is he, exactly?”

Liu’er’s mother knew the hardest part had come. She cleared her throat and said, “He’s forty-two this year. His family is very well-off. His son and daughter-in-law live separately, so Juhua won’t be mistreated at all if she marries him. Older men know how to dote on their wives…”

“CRASH!” A sharp sound came from inside the house, followed by Zheng Changhe’s furious roar, “Get out! You wretched woman, get out! Sun Jinshan, you son of a bitch! May your family line die out! I curse your entire family to a miserable death!”

Yang Family also shot to her feet, her face grim. She said to Liu’er’s mother, “We’re not good enough for such a match! I’ll pretend what you just said was a fart. You should leave now, or her father is going to get violent.”

Liu’er’s mother was furious too. ’It’s one thing to disagree, but to curse my old man to have his family line die out? Isn’t that the same as cursing my own son to die young?’

She shrieked, “Oh! So my good intentions have just gotten me into trouble. Is your mangy-skinned girl a phoenix or something, that no one can talk about her? Even a matchmaker can’t make every match work, but no other family would resort to curses when they refuse!”

Yang Family retorted angrily, “What kind of person are you, trying to marry a young girl off to a man old enough to be her grandfather? You call that good intentions?”

Liu’er’s mother said spitefully, “With the way your daughter looks, you still expect to marry her to a teenage boy? If I hadn’t taken pity on you for being up to your eyes in debt, if I hadn’t tried to help by putting in so many good words with my cousin, this proposal wouldn’t have even come to your family! He was originally planning to propose to a young widow! With this kind of betrothal gift, if he proposed to a pretty young widow, don’t you think she’d be jumping at the chance?”

Inside, Zheng Changhe was going mad with rage, but he was stuck in bed and couldn’t move. He could only shout to Yang Family, “Wife, tell that wretched hag to get out! Didn’t you hear me?”

Yang Family said with a dark expression, “Thank you for your ’kindness’, but no matter how poor our family gets, we will never trade our daughter for money.”

Those words struck a nerve with Liu’er’s mother. When Zhang Huai’s family had come to propose a match, she had demanded twenty taels of silver as a betrothal gift, and naturally, the engagement fell through. Zhang Huai’s mother then went around the village, muttering that she was trading her daughter for money!

Now that Yang Family had said this, Liu’er’s mother was convinced she was saying it just to spite her. Enraged, she blurted out recklessly, “Even if you wanted to trade her, you’d need to find someone willing! If my cousin wasn’t set on marrying a down-to-earth woman, who would bother offering such a gift? Anyone else, you couldn’t even give her away for free!”

Yang Family flew into a rage, her words becoming sharp. “If your daughter is so wanted, then go sell her for a good price! Go on, hurry home and sell her! I wouldn’t mind if my daughter stayed home with me for her whole life!”

Zheng Changhe also roared repeatedly, “Get out! Get out! If you don’t get out now, just wait until my legs are better! I’ll come knocking on your door and teach that bastard Sun Jinshan a lesson he won’t forget!”

Amidst the couple’s curses, Liu’er’s mother scurried away in disgrace. As she walked, she spat loudly and muttered, “What bad luck! No good deed goes unpunished! Fine, keep your mangy-skinned girl! Keep her to attend to your funeral! Saying I’m selling my daughter, hmph! I wasn’t really demanding a betrothal gift. I just didn’t want to marry Liu’er off to that poor boy Huai Zi to suffer, so I deliberately asked for twenty taels of silver. My Liu’er is destined to marry into a wealthy family and live a life of comfort. These people are all so ignorant!”

She stomped off in a huff, completely unaware that her daughter Liu’er, far from appreciating her mother’s “painstaking efforts,” was desperately trying to escape the fate arranged for her, struggling in misery and despair.

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The following is not part of the main text:

Juhua bows and thanks all you readers for your support. The competition gets fiercer after signing the contract. This ’ugly girl’ begs for recommendations and for you to add this to your collection! Juhua will do her best to help everyone manage that land on Little Qing Mountain!!!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep