Chapter 42: Chapter 27: Liu’er’s mother vs. Juhua’s mother (2)

The Yang Family flew into a rage when she heard Liu’er’s mother claim that her son had seduced Liu’er. ’How could I not know Qingmu’s character? How could he possibly do something like that?’

“The whole village knows my Qingmu’s character! If anyone’s to blame, it’s your own daughter for being indecent! This is the path Qingmu takes to get home, so what’s wrong with him being here? But your daughter, what is *she* doing here? Huh? You like to trade your daughter for silver, so you think everyone is just like you. Even if my Juhua can’t find a husband, I would never marry her off to a man in his forties just for money! Everyone, you tell me, is arranging a marriage between a young girl and an old man something a decent person would do? You have good intentions? When have you ever had good intentions? So that’s why you came to see my Changhe this morning, pestering me about how much I spent on his treatment. You were trying to feel me out! Then you rush over this afternoon to propose a marriage, trying to get me to sell my daughter, weren’t you?…”

Liu’er’s mother hadn’t expected the Yang Family to be so ferocious when roused, and she became livid. “You won’t sell your daughter? As if she could even fetch a good price! I’m afraid no one would take her even if you gave her away for free! Why don’t you take a look at yourself in a puddle of piss! No matter what you do, your daughter is like ’a rat’s tail—you can hit it a hundred times and it won’t swell up.’ My daughter would seduce your Qingmu? Your family is so poor you have nothing to your name. Who would be interested? Isn’t that the biggest joke in the world?…”

By now, the crowd of onlookers had grown, with unmarried girls, young wives, grandmothers, and grandfathers all coming to watch the spectacle. The little kids were listening with great interest, but as more people gathered, their short statures made it hard for them to see. So, they climbed a large nearby tree to get a bird’s-eye view of the whole scene.

Gou Dan led the charge, climbing the highest. From his perch, he kept calling for Little Shitou to come up.

But Little Shitou wasn’t in the mood to watch the drama today. He was worried about Aunt Zheng!

Meizi, her face deathly pale, squeezed her way to Liu’er’s side. She gripped her arm tightly, trembling all over as she whispered, “Sister Liu’er…”

Sensing Liu’er’s wooden silence, Meizi looked up and saw that her friend’s eyes were glazed over. Liu’er was staring blankly at the two village women in the center of the crowd, hands on their hips as they traded insults, as if the matter had nothing to do with her at all!

Meizi grew frightened and forcefully pulled Liu’er backward, whispering, “Sister Liu’er, don’t be like this!”

She was so anxious she was on the verge of tears, but she couldn’t tell anyone!

’Getting caught in a secret rendezvous between a man and a woman is just as terrifying as I imagined!’ She held on to Liu’er, terrified that she wouldn’t be able to take it and would try to jump into Jing Lake like Juhua did last time. Because of this, she decided she had to stay by Liu’er’s side.

At home, Zhang Huai heard the shouting from Liu’er’s mother and felt his anger flare. ’Why are these people always picking on Qingmu and Juhua?’

He rushed over and immediately spotted Qingmu’s back. He plunged into the crowd, grabbed Qingmu by the arm, and asked, “Qingmu, what’s going on? Why the sudden argument?”

Qingmu turned to glance at him but didn’t answer. His face was tense and his lips were pressed into a thin line as he watched his mother and Liu’er’s mother. This wasn’t a situation where he could step in to help; he could only let the Yang Family and Liu’er’s mother trade insults.

Hearing the Yang Family curse her for not being a decent person made Liu’er’s mother even more furious. Even now, she didn’t think there was anything wrong with the match she had proposed for Juhua. ’Four taels of silver as a bride price, and for an ugly girl at that!’

She turned to the crowd and shrieked, “You all be the judge! This spring, when Huang Dagunzi found a wife for his son, it only cost three taels of silver! I arranged a match for her Juhua where the family was offering four taels of silver. Isn’t that sincere enough? What more could they want? Even if they disagreed, that’s fine—not every proposal works out on the first try. But that’s no reason to start cursing people, right? She actually cursed my husband to have no descendants. Isn’t that a curse on my Tie Zhu? You tell me, is that any way for a person to behave?”

The Yang Family’s eyes blazed with fury when she heard this. ’How can she say that? If she’d found a suitable young man for Juhua, what would it matter if we didn’t get even one cent for a bride price?’

She pointed a finger at Liu’er’s mother’s nose and cursed, “Money, money! All you know is silver! Why don’t you mention what kind of person was offering that money? Some people say whoever nurses them is their mother, but for you, it’s whoever has money can make you do anything! If someone offered a high enough price, would you sell your Liu’er to be an opera singer? If you had any sense, you would have left when you heard I disagreed. Then would my Changhe have cursed you? Why did you have to say that my Juhua wouldn’t be wanted even if she were given away for free? Aren’t you just asking to be cursed when you say things like that?”

Liu’er’s mother was so enraged she lost all reason and started spouting whatever came to mind. “Your Juhua is unwanted, and everyone knows it! And you still treat her like some treasure? Listening to you, you’d think she was a heavenly fairy. Aren’t your teeth sore from saying such nonsense!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep