Chapter 21: Things Worse than Beasts

However, after Bai Xiuying had been ranting for so long, she hadn’t heard a single word of comfort, which made her feel rather bored. After all, a performance, no matter how spectacular, becomes meaningless without an audience. It was only then that Bai Xiuying finally remembered the real purpose of her visit. Suppressing her annoyance, she let out a long sigh and said, “The money in our house was all stolen by that little thief, so I came to your place to borrow some cash for the time being. After all, my distant relative and I already agreed that we couldn’t fail to keep our word. As for the money I borrow today, once Old Xu and I get back, we’ll return it immediately.”

Though she said this, if she actually managed to borrow the money, Bai Xiuying had no intention of paying it back. The Xu family was in trouble now, and Tang Wanning, as a daughter-in-law of the Xu family, naturally ought to help. Since they were all practically one family, what was the point of worrying about repayment?

Bai Xiuying looked at Su Meijuan with an expectant gaze, imagining how much she could borrow this time. Given the kinship between their families, it had to be at least 200 yuan—anything less would be embarrassing. As long as she could successfully see her son, she and Old Xu wouldn’t have to worry, since their son was still alive and must have saved up quite a bit over the past year.

Seeing Bai Xiuying’s scheming eyes, Su Meijuan almost burst out laughing. The audacity of this woman! Her son was about to marry a new bride, yet she still had the nerve to come to their house to borrow money—truly treating the Tang family like fools.

Looking at the few others who had accompanied Bai Xiuying, Su Meijuan rolled her eyes, then sighed and said, “Mother-in-law, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but our family simply can’t spare any money right now!”

Before Bai Xiuying could respond, Su Meijuan began explaining their hardships. “Mother-in-law, you know our family has three children, and Ningning is the eldest. But just after graduating high school, she married into your family to help Old Xu ‘boost his luck.’ Back then, besides giving Ningning six new quilts as a dowry, we bought all her living necessities ourselves. On top of that, we gave Ningning three hundred yuan in bridal money. As for the bride price your family sent, we didn’t keep a single cent—all of it went with Ningning. Over the years, Huaixu and Zaizao have been in school, and honestly, we earn less than we spend. I had even thought about borrowing some money from your family for emergencies, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. To be honest, we really don’t even have ten yuan to spare now.”

Hearing Su Meijuan’s words, the few women who came along immediately erupted in amazement. Zhang Chunhua widened her eyes: “My goodness! The Tang couple is really generous. Just for one daughter getting married, they gave her three hundred yuan in dowry! And they didn’t keep a single cent of the bride price—all went with Ningning to the Xu family. That’s truly magnanimous!”

Li Ailian added, “I only knew that the Xu family gave four hundred yuan in bride price, plus a TV, sewing machine, radio, and bicycle. I had no idea that the Tang family gave three hundred yuan in dowry and even let Ningning take all the bride price with her.”

“If it weren’t for the Tang family being so righteous, we would’ve all thought they married off their daughter just for the Xu family’s four hundred yuan. Who knew they didn’t care about the bride price and even gave such a generous dowry?”

“You think the Tang couple is foolish—just for one daughter, and they’re so generous. That three hundred yuan could have gone toward getting their son a wife!”

“You don’t understand. The Tang couple loves their daughter—they’re nothing like you. You call it marrying off a daughter, but it’s basically selling her.”

“What did you say?” The woman’s eyes widened like an enraged rooster. “Who do you dare say is selling their daughter? I’ll tear your mouth apart if you keep talking!”

Such matters were usually understood tacitly, so being called out publicly naturally made the woman furious. Seeing the two almost come to blows, the others quickly stepped in to prevent a full-blown fight.

Nearby, Su Meijuan couldn’t help but feel elated. She had always hoped for her daughter’s happiness, and as for the dowry, only their families needed to know. In their village, no girl got married with such a generous dowry—if it became public, it would surely spark endless gossip. Besides, the village was heavily male-preference, and in most families, marrying off a daughter was nearly equivalent to selling her. The bride price given by the groom was often minimal, the dowry meager, and even after marriage, daughters were still expected to help their natal families. In Tao Yuan village, most girls were essentially ATMs for their families.

Under such circumstances, there was no way Su Meijuan would volunteer this information. Doing so would only bring trouble to her daughter. She had heard of the saying, “Three people make a tiger,” after all.

But now the situation was different. With a falling-out with the Xu family imminent, mentioning these details could prevent Bai Xiuying from borrowing money and, after the family feud, allow them to reclaim Ningning’s dowry. Su Meijuan had no intention of letting her daughter’s dowry be taken by those unworthy Xu family people.

Bai Xiuying, standing across from Su Meijuan, however, did not react pleasantly to these remarks. Her face darkened, turning shades of green and purple—truly a sight to behold. Su Meijuan, that wretched woman, wouldn’t lend money and, on top of that, brought up the bride price and dowry, as well as the fact that Ningning married into the Xu family to help Old Xu’s luck. Wasn’t she deliberately sabotaging the Xu family?

The villagers had previously thought the Tang family had taken a huge bride price from the Xu family, and that their son had died as a result. Now, after Su Meijuan’s revelation, they would remember that Ningning’s marriage had helped cure Xu Dingbang’s illness. And since the Tang family hadn’t kept any of the Xu family’s bride price and even brought three hundred yuan along, the Tang family had no debt to the Xu family at all.

The more Bai Xiuying thought about it, the uglier her expression became. But now wasn’t the time for a scene—the rest of her life depended on Tang Wanning. If a fight broke out now, and the Tang family decided to remarry Ningning, what could they do? Even if they opposed it, it wouldn’t matter—the choice was entirely in Tang Wanning’s hands. No matter how deeply Ningning loved their son, she ultimately couldn’t go against the Tang family.

What bad luck! Had she known how things would turn out, she wouldn’t have come. But now that it had happened, all she could do was try to make amends.

“Mother-in-law, it’s my fault for not thinking this through,” Bai Xiuying said, her expression guilty. “With the house being robbed so suddenly, my mind’s still reeling. I panicked and lost my composure—I’m truly sorry.”