Everyone in the courtyard looked outside…

and saw a woman in a red wedding dress, carrying a small bundle, trotting towards the Su family.

“Liu Caoya!”

Huh? What! Liu Caoya?

The Su family all crowded to the door. After taking a closer look, it turned out to be Liu Caoya. Why did she come here by herself?

Liu Caoya was out of breath from running and her hair was scattered. When she saw a large number of people surrounding her, she was a little scared. She buried her head and held the strap of her baggage, feeling a little at a loss.

“You, why did you come here by yourself?” Wang Shi squeezed over and asked.

Seeing her face turning red, Su Qingyu said: “Let her come in first and let her have a drink of water to calm down. Then someone will notify the wedding team.”

“That’s right, Youwu, hurry up and notify your brother. The bride is here!” Second Su looked confused at first, then quickly raised his hand to greet Su Youwu.

Su Youwu was also confused. He stared blankly at the bride who was running towards them in a wedding dress, with her mouth wide open without moving. After being slapped on the back by Second Su, he realized what he was doing and ran with two boys from relatives to report the news.

“I, I, my mother hid me in the mountains and asked my brother to guard me… She said yes, she said she would let me come down after you gave her money. I, I didn’t agree… Later, my sister and my jiěfū lured my brother away, and I ran over…”

Liu Caoya passed by as she spoke, not daring to raise her head, and nervously twirling the corners of her clothes with both hands.

Everyone sighed after hearing this.

This woman from the Liu family only cares about money. Perhaps she hasn’t even thought about her daughter’s life in her in-laws’ household? Any woman with a bit of spirit would be tormented by the insults her daughter received on her wedding day.

Tsk tsk. It seems like Liu Caoya was probably picked up from somewhere.

The people watching and listening to the truth were dumbfounded by this operation. They had never seen anyone so desperate for money. What an insightful experience.

Lu Bocheng sighed in Su Qingnyu’s ear: “She’s even more ruthless than my stepmother, not even bothering with appearances.”

Su Qingnyu rolled her eyes at him.

Seeing Liu Caoya standing there with a confused look on her face, her hands shaking nervously, she glanced at Xia He and Qiu Ju and said, “You two, help my sǎozi to your room and have her sit for a while. Wait for Wen Ge to come back before escorting her out for the ceremony. Keep her company and chat with her in the room.”

After hearing this, Xia He and Qiu Ju came to their senses, glanced at the elders, and went to help Liu Caoya.

After the three people left the main room, everyone in the room started talking to each other.

Second Aunt Su reacted even more strongly, saying that she had never seen an in-law like this before, who was obsessed with money. She also specifically told Feng Shi that she should watch out for Liu Caoya in the future and not let her move all her belongings to her parents’ house.

“She dares!” Wang Shi jumped up, her eyes bulging as she glared in Liu Caoya’s direction, full of displeasure. Her mind was already thinking of various ways to torment her.

Su Qingyu shook her head when she saw this, worried about Liu Caoya’s future life.

Su Qingyu appreciated her actions today. From the look on her face, it seemed that she had to do a lot of work at her parent’s house, and her mother just wanted to sell her for money, which would not be good for her. If she went to a better place to live with her husband, she might be able to find a different way of living.

Marrying anyone was still marriage. Su Yuwen seemed decent enough, with a good reputation, and there were no rumors of mistreatment from the Su family. Although life wasn’t great, it was better than the peace and quiet of the Liu family.

Being able to come here on her own indicates that she’s someone who knows her own mind. She seems resilient, so if Su Yuwen encounters any difficulties in the future, she should be capable of managing the household. As long as she behaves herself, the Su family should provide for her in the future.

After a while, the bride welcoming team came back.

Everyone squeezed out to take a look and found that no one from the Liu family had come back. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why didn’t that family come back?” Su Chunlan asked.

Su Yuwu grinned happily and said, “I whispered to my brother. That family probably thought we couldn’t afford the betrothal gifts, so they just watched us leave. They even shouted that if we came back, it would cost more than twenty taels. Hah, who would want to pay twenty taels? We certainly won’t!” 

Upon hearing this, Wang Shi slapped her thigh and exclaimed, “Quick, hurry to the ceremony! I’m afraid the Liu family will realize soon that the bride has run away.”

When they heard it, they felt it made sense.

He hurriedly helped Su Youwen and dragged him to the main room to prepare for worship. Liu Caoya was also helped out by the two sisters-in-law, and the nervousness and confusion on her face disappeared.

Su Youwen smiled at her, and she lowered her head again. Before she could see her expression clearly, Su Chunlan found a piece of red cloth to cover her head.

A newlywed couple was helped to worship. Soon the ceremony was completed.

The hired chef called out loudly, “The feast is served!” The serving women then began to carry dishes in bamboo trays to the table.

The onlookers had expressions of emotion on their faces, and they all found tables to sit down and prepare to eat.

Before the dishes could even be served, the Liu family indeed realized what had happened and came knocking at the door.

Liu Caoya’s mother and her brothers and sisters-in-law were very angry. Seeing that Liu Caoya was indeed there, she sat down and slapped her thighs, scolding the Su family for being treacherous. She was surrounded by Wang Shi and several women from relatives and scolded.

Liu Shi, unwilling to show weakness, lacked the joyous demeanor of a mother-in-law on her daughter’s wedding day. Instead, she stood with her hands on her hips, exchanging heated words with Wang Shi and the others.

They kept arguing back and forth, saying that their daughter’s dowry was insufficient, comparing it to what nearby families had given, mentioning land, and so on…

Su Qingyu was brought out by Liu Shi again, saying that she had received fifty taels of bride price. Her daughter was not bad at all and should not be given only fifteen taels.

But as soon as she spoke, she was criticized by several women from neighboring families, who said that in their village, someone only received five taels, and it was common for nearby families to give less. They accused her of being shameless and trying to sell her daughter for money, to prevent her own daughter from remaining unmarried!

Lu Bocheng, perhaps unfamiliar with rural women quarreling, watched with great interest as both sides seemed ready to grab each other’s hair and resort to physical violence. His eyes gleamed with excitement as he whispered to Su Qingyu, “I never thought that giving fifty taels would be considered too much in your family.”

Su Qingyu gave him a disdainful look and replied, “My family only has a dozen or so acres of land, and a big household to support. We don’t even have a shop. Yet my cousin gave the other side fifteen taels. Your family owns over a hundred acres of land, has shops and houses in town, and your stepmother and sister dress in gold and silver. Do you really think fifty taels is too much? Should I give it back to you, and we’ll call it quits?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Bocheng waved his hands frantically, “I was just speaking casually. It’s not like I meant it that way… What I meant was, how could it only be fifty taels! My stepmother made Lu Bozu go to the county office. How could the bride price be so low? If I had known earlier, I would have asked Lu Shengcai to give more money. All the money ended up in Wu Shi and those brats’ pockets.”

Su Qingyu listened to his excuses and ignored him. Continue to listen to Xiao Qingyang talking about how he was blocked by the Liu family when picking up the bride.

Xiao Qingyang and several brothers followed him to pick up the bride and met Lonely. The other party’s actions shattered the little thing’s outlook on life.

“Sister, you don’t know how bad the Liu family is. They didn’t let us in, and they didn’t even give us water to drink. They even took away the candies and snacks we brought to distribute.” Xiao Qingyang looked unhappy.

Xiao Qingxing nodded in agreement from the side, “Exactly, whether the Liu family is good or bad, this sǎozi is still from the Liu family.”

Su Qingyu smiled and touched her head: “The fact that this sǎozi can come here by herself means that she wants to follow Tangge ^[1]paternal cousin brother who is older, and live a good life. You should decide whether she is a good person or not. Don’t have any objections to her just because her surname is Liu.”

Xiao Qingyang nodded and said, “Yes, there are bad people in good people’s families. There are good people too.”

The two twins looked at each other and nodded.

Su Qingyu and Su Chunliu both laughed.

Lu Bocheng also sat at the same table with them. Seeing the cute looks of the two little things, he teased them: “Is this jiěfū a good person or a bad person?”

(End of Chapter)