Chapter 22.1

In recent days, Pear Blossom noticed that Mrs. Xiang had been acting suspiciously and occasionally bringing some people home.

What was most strange was that every time these people came, Mrs. Xiang would have Xiang Juhua call Pear Blossom’s mother and younger sister Xinghua back home to eat together. 

For years, their household only had two meals a day, consisting of rice porridge, rice husks, and wild vegetables. But this time, there was actually cooked rice and meat on the table.

The explanation Mrs. Xiang gave was that she had indeed done something wrong to Pear Blossom recently and specifically went to apologize to Mrs. Xiong. She had cooked a good meal for Xiang Dalang and invited the guests to dine together.

When Pear Blossom’s mother mentioned this, an ominous feeling rose in Pear Blossom’s heart.

The day she was sold to Fubao, Mrs. Xiang was still thinking of sending her to work in the fields. 

How could she suddenly be so kind as to apologize to her mother?

She asked the system, “Do you know what Mrs. Xiang is up to these days?”

The system replied, “As long as it’s within a radius of ten miles, within the next forty-nine days, I know any communication or movement between people and things, unless they keep it to themselves.”

Pear Blossom snorted, “Grandmother has never treated our family with any respect, let alone do something kind like discussing a marriage proposal for her eldest grandson. 

She’d rather we stayed far away. How could she possibly invite my mother and Xinghua to eat together? She must be plotting something sinister!”

The system activated its previously stored memories and said, “I’ve figured it out. The guests who came these past few days are from the Shi family in the neighboring Wuhu Village. Your grandmother and the Shi family matriarch have discussed it and decided to swap marriages.”

“Swap marriages? Who’s marrying whom?”

“Mrs. Shi has a granddaughter named Shi Xiuxiu, but her brother Shi Congcong is a cripple. He hasn’t been able to find a wife for years. 

The two old women have decided to have Shi Xiuxiu marry Xiang Dalang, and then have Xinghua marry Shi Congcong.”

“What?!” Pear Blossom stood up angrily. “That Mrs. Xiang dares to exchange my sister for marriage, and she’s going to give her to that cripple? I won’t agree to this Xinghua is only eleven years old.”

“They say she’ll be raised as a child bride first.”

Pear Blossom was enraged and was about to go find Mrs. Xiang to settle this, but the system stopped her: “What’s the point of going to her? She is now Xinghua’s grandmother. If she wanted to sell you, she could. 

The government won’t intervene in matters like this. As long as Xinghua is still considered part of the Xiang family, she can be sold at any time.”

Pear Blossom sat on the ground, clutching her head, unsure of how to stop this. She hated her own stupidity for the first time and promised herself that next time she’d add more points to her intelligence.

The system spoke again: “If you can solve this crisis for Xinghua, you will earn a reward of five points.”

Pear Blossom had initially planned to let the system help, but after hearing this, she hesitated. She really wanted those five points but knew she wasn’t clever enough to come up with a good solution.

“You still have five days. I heard Mrs. Xiang and Mrs. Shi have already discussed it. After five days, they’ll come to arrange the marriage swap. The Xiang family has already announced it in the village that Xiang Dalang is getting married, and they’ll invite the villagers to the wedding. 

They’ve also sent word to Xiang Laosan’s third son, so everyone will be there except for your father.”

Pear Blossom’s chest heaved with anger, but she thought about her lack of intelligence. If she could get those five points and add them to her intelligence score, maybe next time she’d be better prepared. Gritting her teeth, she said, “I’ll try. If I can’t figure it out in three days, I’ll ask for your help.”

The system agreed.

Pear Blossom went to find Mrs. Xiong and told her what the system had said, claiming she had overheard it.

When Mrs. Xiong heard this, she was furious. Her face flushed, and she gritted her teeth, saying, “That old woman is always trying to take advantage of our family. If it weren’t for Fubao taking your marriage contract, she’d be trying to marry you off to that man. 

The second and third branches already have girls old enough to marry, yet she insists on wanting to take our Xinghua. She’s only eleven! How dare they think of this!”

Pear Blossom said, “That Shi Congcong is both crippled and ugly. How could Mrs. Xiang bear to give up the girls from the second or third branch? Mother, I really suspect our father isn’t their real son. How could they keep tormenting us like this?”

Mrs. Xiong shook her head. “This is likely true. When she was pregnant with your father, everyone in the village saw her and heard her big belly.”

Pear Blossom then asked the system, and it replied, “In the last forty-nine days, there has been no mention of Xiang Dagen’s background. I can’t investigate further.”

Pear Blossom had no choice but to give up. She told her mother, “The marriage swap will happen in five days. You and Xinghua should avoid contact with the Shi family. I’ll think of a way to solve it.”

Mrs. Xiong was anxious. “What can you do? Hurry up and send Daniu to the army camp to tell your father. He has to come back. His mother wants to marry Xinghua off to a mad cripple. He has to come back and take charge.”

Pear Blossom agreed, realizing that no matter what, they needed to notify her father. As long as he was around, the Shi family wouldn’t be able to take Xinghua away, and he might even make a scene over it.

She called for Daniu and sent him to find her father in the army.

When Xiang’s wife saw Daniu was missing, she asked where he had gone. Xiong said that her family was busy these days, so Daniu went to help. Xiang’s wife cursed, saying that there was so much work at home and she let her son help at her maternal family’s place—a real disgrace.

Mrs. Xiong, already angry at this old woman for plotting against Xinghua and recalling how she had treated Pear Blossom before, couldn’t hold back anymore and retorted.

Seeing Mrs. Xiong stand up for herself, Xiang’s wife was furious, thinking of how she would deal with her later. But with the marriage swap approaching, she didn’t want to make things more complicated, so she forced herself to hold back.

The people in the second and third branches of the Xiang family also knew about the marriage swap. Xiang Juhua, in particular, was no exception. She had been warned not to tell the first branch, and it was hard for her to keep quiet. Having just received two slaps from Pear Blossom, her hatred for her reached its peak, and she couldn’t miss this opportunity to mock her.

If Pear Blossom hadn’t learned from the system about the marriage swap, she would have thought this woman was just being unreasonable, like a mad dog biting everything in sight. But now she could sense a tone of schadenfreude in her words.

Since Pear Blossom hadn’t come up with a countermeasure yet and didn’t want to alert anyone, she pretended not to understand and ignored the sarcasm.

Because of the marriage swap, Pear Blossom had been feeling disheartened these past few days. She kept thinking that if she couldn’t come up with a solution in three days, she would run away with Xinghua and hide somewhere no one could find them.

But she knew that this wasn’t the best solution. Now that Xiang’s wife had given Xinghua’s birth details to the Shi family, and the system had said that as long as Xinghua was still considered part of the Xiang family, she couldn’t refuse her grandparents’ arranged marriage.

Moreover, she couldn’t let this old woman force Xinghua to live a life in darkness, unable to live normally with her family.

Dong Yun noticed Pear Blossom’s troubled expression and asked, “What’s wrong? Does our Pear Blossom have troubles too?”

Pear Blossom then explained to Mrs. Xiang and Mrs. Shi about the plan to exchange brides. 

After hearing this, Dong Yun’s originally slightly upturned lips immediately drooped.

“There should never be a system of human trafficking allowed in this world, and your grandparents are always using your family as a bargaining chip. This kind of favoritism is truly detestable.”

Pear Blossom felt comforted by her words of sympathy and replied, “That’s why I always suspect my father isn’t actually her biological child.”

“That’s also possible, but right now no one can prove your father isn’t her biological child.”

“Ah, forget it. If it weren’t for being bought by Fubao, maybe I would be the one exchanging brides this time,” Pear Blossom said, suddenly brightening, “Dong sister, why don’t you ask Fubao to buy Xinghua as well? That way, they can’t do anything to her.”

Dong Yun paused at her words.

In fact, when Pear Blossom was bought, it had caused quite a stir, but it was not what Dong Yun wanted. It was only because others couldn’t raise the money that she had no choice but to intervene. Now, another little girl…

Her thoughts spun quickly, but she didn’t show it on her face, saying, “If we do that, I’m afraid Mrs. Xiang will challenge me this time.”

Pear Blossom knew that by doing this, she was shifting the conflict from the Xiang family to Dong Yun, which wasn’t ideal. However, she had no other choice, so for her sister’s sake, she forced herself to speak, “Of course, you don’t need to pay any silver, just create a fake contract, and Dong sister, you can pretend to be the buyer. I—I will repay you later.”

Seeing her anxious look, Dong Yun suddenly smiled, “Aren’t you afraid I might not honor the deal? With that contract, I could make Xinghua my person without spending a single coin.”

Pear Blossom, seeing her smile, took it as a sign that she wasn’t troubled and grinned back, “Dong sister, you were able to buy all four children of our family with thirty taels before. Even if you take Xinghua to work for you, our family wouldn’t complain.”

Dong Yun sighed, “It seems like you really want Mrs. Xiang to come to trouble me every day.”

“She dares!” Pear Blossom shot back, “She can sell her granddaughter, so my mother can sell her daughter. If she insults you, it’s an insult to my mother, it has nothing to do with you as the buyer.”

“True,” Dong Yun replied, “But Mrs. Xiang never acts by common sense, so she might even vent her anger on me.”

“If she dares insult you, I’ll go deal with her myself,” Pear Blossom said fiercely.

Dong Yun glanced at Pear Blossom’s youthful face and smiled, “Alright, I’ll write up the contract now. You take it back to your mother and Xinghua to sign, and find someone as a witness. Do you have someone in mind?”

Pear Blossom thought for a moment, “I could ask Qin Laohan or Zhang Laowu.”

After saving Qin Xiaobao before, the Qin family was extremely grateful to her, and Qin Laohan would definitely help with this small favor.

“Why not go find the village chief?”

Pear Blossom shook her head, “I only want to find someone I trust, and I don’t want too many people to know about this contract, in case something unexpected happens. I just want the Shi family to come and find out they can’t take Xinghua, and then we’ll see how Mrs. Xiang handles it.”

Dong Yun looked at her in surprise and said, “I feel like you’ve become smarter.”

Pear Blossom felt like she indeed seemed much more insightful than before. Maybe it was due to her newfound wisdom, and she patted her head, “This thing seems really helpful.”

Dong Yun acted quickly, writing up two copies of the contract and handing them to Pear Blossom. “This part is for your mother and Xinghua to sign, and this part is for the witness’s mark. I won’t go with you, but once you’ve signed, bring it back to me. If you can hide it, you can keep it yourself.”

Pear Blossom nodded in understanding, happily taking the contract and returning home.

When the Qin family heard about the exchange marriage plan, they were furious, especially Mrs. Qin, who wanted to confront Mrs. Xiang immediately but was stopped.

Qin Laohan also readily signed as a witness at the middleman’s place, and the matter was settled.

Everything was ready, but Pear Blossom and Xiong were anxious as Daniu had been gone to the military camp for two days and hadn’t returned, leaving them uncertain about what had happened.

The system informed Pear Blossom that although it couldn’t hear sounds more than ten miles away, it could sense the life force of Daniu and Xiang Dagen, and both were still alive.

Fortunately, they had already found a solution, and Pear Blossom finally breathed a little easier. 

Even if her father didn’t return, they should be able to get through this for now.

…
Five days later, as usual, Xiong took Xinghua and Erniu to the fields early in the morning.

Seeing this, Mrs. Xiang quickly stopped them, saying, “Today, the eldest son is getting married. Why are you going to the fields when you should be helping at home?”

Mrs. Xiong replied, “In the past, when there was a joyous occasion at home, my mother wouldn’t allow us from the main family to stay. You didn’t tell me anything about arranging things for me, so I’m not staying at home.”

“What are you talking about? It’s a happy occasion, hurry and change into clean clothes to greet the guests. Xinghua too, your grandmother bought you new clothes. I’ll have Juhua take them to you to change.”

Mrs. Xiang, who had never been kind to the main family, suddenly squeezed out a smile, which looked particularly terrifying.

Today was a crucial day. Pear Blossom had been watching over Xinghua since early morning. When she heard Mrs. Xiang say she wanted to change clothes without thinking, she replied, “No need. Today is the eldest son’s big day, and it has nothing to do with our main family. We’re fine as we are.”

“This won’t do,” Mrs. Xiang immediately rejected, “Since it’s a joyful occasion, the whole family should look nice.”

Xinghua also shook her head, “My elder sister, Daniu, and Erniu don’t have new clothes. I don’t want them either.”

She shot a harsh glance at Mrs. Xiang and said, “If I buy it for you, you’ll wear it. Stop talking so much.”

After speaking, she gestured towards Xianghua. Xianghua understood and dragged Xinghua into the second room of the east wing.

Xinghua refused stubbornly, holding onto Pear Blossom’s arm. Pear Blossom pushed Xianghua aside and said, “If she doesn’t want to wear it, she doesn’t have to. Why should you force her? You can wear it yourself. Our family doesn’t care.”

Xianghua cursed, “What kind of person are you? You have new clothes and still wear the old ones. You really don’t have the fortune for luxury.”

“What fortune? You can have it. We don’t want it,” Xinghua retorted, hiding behind Pear Blossom.

Seeing she couldn’t catch them, Xianghua quickly turned to look at Mrs. Xiang. Mrs. Xiang was watching the guests arrive one by one and frowned. “Pear Blossom, go heat the water and make tea.”

Pear Blossom shook her head. “I’m not going. You sold me off already. Why should I listen to you? I won’t go.”

Mrs. Xiang had no choice but to turn to ask Xinghua, “If she won’t go, you go.”

As long as Pear Blossom, that stubborn girl, doesn’t follow, they could pull Xinghua into the east room. This little girl wasn’t as headstrong as Pear Blossom and could be easily fooled. Once she was in the bridal sedan, that would be the end of it.

Xinghua looked at Pear Blossom.

Pear Blossom said, “I’ll go with you. Wherever you go, I’ll follow.”

Saying that, she pulled Xinghua to go heat the water.

Mrs. Xiang was furious but could only tell the women from the big and second branches and Xianghua to follow Pear Blossom. “I don’t believe this little wench will stay with you all day. 
If it really doesn’t work, we’ll wait for the Shi family to arrive and think of a way to send her away. If not, just throw her in the bridal sedan. We don’t need to worry about the rest.”

The two daughters-in-law and several granddaughters nodded in agreement.

At this point, Pear Blossom was very clever and stuck to Xinghua. When guests from both the big and second families arrived, she wouldn’t leave. Even when they went to the bathroom, the two girls went together.

By the time the Shi family’s bridal sedan arrived at the hour of Si, the villagers saw the large bridal sedan and asked in confusion, “Hey, didn’t Dalang just leave? How is the bridal sedan back already? This isn’t the one that just left from here, right?”