Font Size:
“Younger Sister-in-law, come inside and let’s talk. Don’t cause a scene—so many people are watching—” Lu Qiniang said with a forced smile, trying to reason with her.
“What’s there to talk about that can’t be said in front of everyone?” Madam Zhao pushed forward, her arms akimbo over her barrel-like waist. Her jujube-pit-shaped face tightened as her sharp, upturned eyebrows nearly flew off her forehead.
She shouted, “Qiniang! We agreed back then—you wouldn’t remarry, and Daya would bring in a live-in husband!”
Before she even finished speaking, a spray of spittle had already landed on Lu Qiniang’s faded blue cotton blouse.
The watching neighbors instinctively stepped back half a pace. A timid child began to cry aloud, only to be silenced immediately by a fierce glare from Madam Zhao.
Standing just behind her was a boy of about fifteen or sixteen, tugging at her sleeve and pleading, “Mother, please, speak more gently.”
This boy was none other than Hutou, the son of Madam Zhao and the hunter Xiao Dashan.
Hutou was Daya’s fiancé.
Or to be more precise, he was to be the live-in husband, a man marrying into the wife’s family.
The engagement between the two families had already been settled; it was just that the children were still young. They had agreed that when Daya turned sixteen and Hutou turned eighteen, they would marry.
Madam Zhao came today to stir up trouble because she had heard that Lu Qiniang had once again taken in a husband and planned to give birth to a son.
Now that there was a son—what about the inheritance?
She had agreed to let her third son marry into Lu Qiniang’s family for two reasons. First, she had four sons, and arranging marriages for all of them was too much of a burden. Second, she had taken a liking to Lu Qiniang’s capable nature—strong and hardworking—and how she had managed to secure positions for all three of her daughters in the Zhou household.
Madam Zhao had already been displeased that they left the Zhou household, and now she seized the chance to make a scene and annul the engagement.
“Speak gently, my foot!” Madam Zhao snapped, glaring fiercely at Hǔtou. “You foolish boy—what do you know? Their family deceived us, tricked us into an engagement! I’ll report this to the Officers. Lu Qiniang will be flogged and thrown in jail!”
Lu Qiniang was actually very pleased with this match.
True to his name, Hutou had been a sturdy and robust child from a young age. Following in his father’s footsteps, he had learned a full set of hunting skills.
If he were to build a life with Daya, they could surely support a household together.
Besides, both children were willing and had feelings for each other.
So now, Lu Qiniang kept speaking kindly, trying to pacify Madam Zhao.
“Sister-in-law, this is all a misunderstanding. This man of mine… he might not even make it, right? And even if he does, I don’t have anything left—I’m completely destitute now. There’s nothing to divide. I promise you, this house will be left to Daya and Hutou in the future…”
This house was the most valuable thing she owned.
In her heart, she knew very well that having a son was unlikely.
There was even a dog sleeping between the two of them.
Even the dog disapproved of her and Xiao Yan having a child together.
Besides, what was she, really, to think Xiao Yan would fancy her?
Ever since she had grown fat like this, no one had come knocking on her widow’s door again.
But these things—she couldn’t say them out loud.
Madam Zhao, however, was relentless, spitting as she barked, “Cut the nonsense. I’m calling off this engagement today!”
“I won’t call it off,” Hutou muttered, turning his face away, his ears burning red.
“I have the final say!” Madam Zhao snapped.
“Then so be it,” Daya’s voice rang out, calm and even, without sorrow or joy. Her expression was far too composed for a thirteen-year-old girl.
“Daya, don’t talk nonsense. Your mother is speaking with Aunt Zhao—children shouldn’t interrupt,” Lu Qiniang said.
Daya stepped forward and gently took her hand. “Mother, a melon forced off the vine won’t be sweet—what’s the point? Let’s part on good terms. Aunt Zhao, if I remember correctly, my mother gave your family twenty taels as a betrothal gift. Now that the engagement is off…”
Madam Zhao jumped three feet into the air. “If I go to the yamen and report you for marriage fraud, all of you scammers will get flogged and thrown in jail. You have the nerve to ask for the betrothal gift back after deceiving us? What about the two years my son wasted?”
From her words, it was clear—she wanted to call off the engagement but had no intention of returning the money.
At that moment, someone in the crowd, unable to bear it any longer, spoke up for fairness.
“Sister-in-law Zhao, that’s not right. Your Hutou is only fifteen. What exactly did he lose? If you don’t want the marriage, then return the money.”
“Exactly. She clearly changed her mind because Qiniang got sick, spent a lot of money, and lost her job with the Zhou family. Now she’s just being snobbish, loving wealth and despising the poor. Yet she still thinks she’s in the right.”
Someone muttered quietly in the crowd.
“Who’s out there gossiping behind my back? Get your ass out here!” Madam Zhao flew into a rage.
“Forget it, Mother,” Daya said, shaking her head, her voice calm and steady.
Lu Qiniang knew her daughter well.
Daya was always soft-spoken, but her decisions were firm.
Hutou’s eyes reddened in panic. “Daya, how can you say that? Weren’t we fine just yesterday? My mother was just upset and said a few things in anger—it doesn’t mean she really wants to call off the engagement. And now you’re…”
“If your mother can casually say a few words when she’s upset and nearly get my mother and me dragged to the yamen for a flogging, then if she ever gets serious, will she have our entire clan executed?” Daya replied calmly, her voice still soft but with a quiet steel underneath.
Inside the house, Xiao Yan was taken aback.
He hadn’t expected this gentle-looking girl, Daya, to have such a resolute and unyielding heart.
“I… I didn’t say I wanted to break off the engagement,” Hutou muttered weakly.
“You didn’t, but shouldn’t something this important be discussed thoroughly at home before bringing it out to the streets, making a scene, and turning it into a public spectacle?” she asked, her gaze calm and unwavering.
Hutou had no response. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Lu Qiniang, hearing this much, now fully understood Daya’s stance. So did her second daughter, Erya.
Erya ran into the house, and when she came back out, she was holding a kitchen knife in her hand. “If you people are really planning to cheat us out of those twenty taels, then no one’s leaving here alive!”
Lu Qiniang was startled and quickly snatched the knife from her. “What nonsense are you spouting? Get back inside!”
“But Mom, that’s twenty taels! Do you know how many new clothes we could buy with that?”
Lu Qiniang sighed, “You’ll have your new clothes, but stop making a scene. What are you acting like?”
Her daughter needed to maintain a good reputation when she got married in the future.
“Sanya, go and bring the Li Zheng here,” Lu Qiniang ordered, her eyes scanning her third daughter, Sanya, who had been eyeing the situation.
“Got it,” Sanya replied and quickly darted out the door.
Soon, the Li Zheng arrived. After hearing the full story, he helped mediate the situation.
The final outcome was that the engagement was called off, and the Zhao family would return half of the dowry, which was ten taels of silver.
However, Zhao Shi played hardball. She agreed to return ten taels but refused to hand over a single word about when she would pay, claiming she had just married her second daughter-in-law and was deep in debt. She promised she would repay when she had the money.
Xiao Dashan, her husband, came from a family with five brothers and four sons. They were a large and influential household, not someone to be trifled with.
Though Lu Qiniang knew she had lost out in the deal, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and accept it. She made a mental note to ask for the silver again later.
For now, the most important thing was Daya.
No one’s child, especially a good one, could have their engagement called off and act like nothing had happened.
“It’s all his fault! It’s all his fault!” Erya shouted, pointing at Xiao Yan and stomping her feet. “It’s because of him that I didn’t get new clothes for New Year, and now Daya’s engagement is broken off! This year, we won’t even get any meat for the holiday!”
If the engagement hadn’t been broken off, the Xiao family would have definitely sent some wild game or something similar as New Year’s gifts.
Now, not only had they lost the engagement, but they had no silver, and no meat for the feast either.
Xiao Yan lowered his eyes, feeling the weight of the situation.