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Preparing for a wedding was no easy task. After finishing up her chores for the day, Madam Hu headed to the butcher’s at the village entrance to buy a pound of pork, planning to save it for dinner.
As soon as she arrived at the butcher’s, she ran into Madam Chen.
In the past, whenever the two met, it was all “dear in-law this” and “dear in-law that.”
But today was different—there was now bad blood between the Zhao and Li families.
Seeing Madam Chen, Madam Hu deliberately rolled up her sleeves a few times, revealing the jade bangle on her wrist.
Madam Chen noticed her too. Her gaze lingered on that bangle for a moment.
The jade was clear and radiant, clearly a high-quality piece.
Madam Chen felt a surge of jealousy.
Madam Hu’s family wasn’t well-off—when had they ever had the money to buy something this fine?
“Well, well, former in-law, looks like you’ve struck it rich? Sporting such a nice jade bangle now?”
Madam Chen’s tone was thick with sarcasm.
Madam Hu raised her hand, gently blew on the bangle, and smiled. “Oh, it’s not that I’ve struck it rich. It’s from my son-in-law. You wouldn’t know—he’s such a generous man. When he came to deliver the betrothal gifts, he brought not just silver, but all kinds of treasures too.”
“Good thing our Ruhua broke off the engagement with your son,” Madam Hu said with a smug smile. “Otherwise, we’d never have known that there are men in this village better than your son.”
“Sure, the man’s not much to look at, but he’s generous. When he came to deliver the betrothal gifts, he even gave me this beautiful jade bangle.”
“But the most important thing is, he treats our Ruhua well.”
“Our Ruhua really found herself a good family. Honestly, I’m quite grateful to your son. If he hadn’t refused to marry her, she wouldn’t have met such a wonderful man.”
Madam Hu was glowing with pride.
These past few days, she had finally had a chance to redeem her pride in front of Madam Chen.
Who told the Li family to look down on her daughter? Who told them to go back on their word, causing the Zhao family to become the laughingstock of the village, their good name ruined?
Madam Chen stared at the jade bangle on Madam Hu’s wrist, torn between envy and frustration.
Could that Yun Shiyue really afford such an expensive piece of jade?
He didn’t look like someone with money.
What kind of wealthy man would look like that? His face was covered in pockmarks—he looked downright terrifying.
She never would’ve imagined that man had such ability, to be able to give Zhao Ruhua and her family so many valuable things.
Even when Li Hongyun went to deliver betrothal gifts to the Shen family, he couldn’t afford anything of that quality.
Meanwhile, Madam Hu had already stepped into the butcher’s shop.
“Old Wu, hurry and slice me a pound of pork—make sure it’s fatty,” Madam Hu said.
“Oh no, wait, listen to me blabber—how could I say the wrong thing like that? Make it two pounds! Two! If it’s less, I’m not buying from you anymore.”
Madam Hu had originally intended to buy just one pound of pork, but seeing Madam Chen behind her, she raised her voice and asked for two instead.
The butcher responded with a cheerful “Alright!” and swiftly cut her two pounds of pork.
Madam Hu handed over the silver without batting an eye.
As she walked past Madam Chen with the meat in hand, she said with a beaming smile, “Our son-in-law is so generous—he gave us quite a bit of silver. You see, we used to feel pain even buying one pound of pork, but now, buying two doesn’t bother us at all.”
With that, Madam Hu lifted her chin slightly, smiling as she walked away with the pork.
Madam Chen’s face turned red with fury.
“Used to? Now?”
How could she not catch the meaning behind Madam Hu’s words?
She was clearly saying that back when Zhao Ruhua was still engaged to Li Hongyun, they lived a hard life—but ever since breaking off the engagement, things had turned around. Wasn’t that just a jab, saying their family had failed to give Zhao Ruhua a good life?
Madam Chen muttered and cursed under her breath, saying Madam Hu was shameless—taking the ten taels of silver in compensation, and now living well, she had the nerve to flaunt it in front of her.
“Sister Chen, how much pork would you like? Same as Sister Hu—two pounds?” the butcher asked, seeing Madam Chen standing in front of the stall in silence for some time.
Madam Chen couldn’t bear to spend that much on meat. She snapped impatiently, “I’ll take half a pound of pork offal.”
Pork offal was tasty too! Her family was indeed a little better off than most, but they weren’t wealthy. Spending silver on meat still made her heart ache.
“You’re not buying meat? Just pork offal?” the butcher asked again.
“I said no! Just hurry up!” Madam Chen barked, clearly annoyed.
Meanwhile, Madam Hu returned home in high spirits.
She handed the pork over to Sister-in-law Li, instructing her to cook half of it that evening and save the other half for tomorrow night.
Sister-in-law Li smiled and agreed, then asked curiously, “Mother, why are you so cheerful today? You bought this much pork and didn’t even flinch over the silver?”
Madam Hu grinned. “Today I managed to annoy Li Hongyun’s mother. That made me feel so good I bought an extra pound of meat.”
Sister-in-law Li laughed along with her.
That evening, Zhao Father returned home with a rosy complexion and told Madam Hu with a smile that he had spoken with the uncles and elder relatives, and they had agreed to prepare ten dishes for the wedding banquet.
Madam Hu frowned when she heard this. “Ten dishes? That many? Won’t we lose a lot of money doing that?”
Zhao Father chuckled and said, “Of course we have to make it grand. We need to show the Li family that even without marrying their son, our daughter can still marry a good man.”
Normally, the wedding banquet would be handled by the groom’s side. But seeing that Yun Shiyue had no relatives or friends here and would be overwhelmed managing it all on his own, Zhao Father decided to take charge.
He also felt sorry for Zhao Ruhua and wanted her to marry with dignity and honor. After discussing it with Yun Shiyue and getting his agreement, Zhao Father made the decision to prepare more dishes for the feast.
That way, the guests who came to attend would look upon Zhao Ruhua with admiration.
Meanwhile, Madam Chen returned home, seething with rage and resentment.
She had thought that once the engagement between the Li and Zhao families was broken off, the Zhaos would struggle to live a decent life. Who would’ve thought that a mere hunter from the village would turn out to be so capable, making such a grand show of things?
Wasn’t that a slap in the Li family’s face?
The more Madam Chen thought about it, the angrier she became. She told Li Hongyun about Yun Shiyue gifting a jade bangle to Madam Hu.
“That Yun Shiyue—he’s got some ability. Gave Madam Hu a jade bangle as part of the betrothal.”
“Not just the bangle—he gave them a lot of silver, too. Just earlier, I saw Madam Hu at the butcher’s. She bought two pounds of pork, handed over the silver without even blinking. Their hands must be pretty full right now.”
“If Zhao Ruhua ends up living a good life after marrying Yun Shiyue, our family’s reputation will be thoroughly ruined.”
Madam Chen absolutely did not want Zhao Ruhua to live well—and even more so, she couldn’t stand the thought of the Zhao family living better than her own.
As long as she could put the Zhao family beneath them, Madam Chen would feel truly satisfied.
“My son will definitely surpass that Yun Shiyue. One day, everyone will see that I, Li Hongyun, am a man with a future—no rugged mountain hunter could ever compare to me,” Li Hongyun declared with confidence.
“Mother, there’s no need to worry. Miss Shen is far superior to Zhao Ruhua. In a few days, once we marry her into the family, the Shen and Li families will be closely tied.”
“With the Shen family’s support, our business will only grow bigger and better.”
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