Chapter 322

There, Ding Jiajia heard her father talk about the injuries of the villagers when he returned home, looking worried. When he mentioned that Hu Wenhua was also injured, she stood up in shock, paused for a while, and asked, “Dad, is he… serious?”

Ding Heli understood his daughter’s concern well. He wasn’t a rigid or conservative person, and since both children had behaved well, it was normal for her to care. As Jiajia hadn’t come out yet, it was understandable.

As a father, his priority was to help Jiajia recover emotionally, so that life could gradually become better in the future.

“It’s nothing serious, pain is unavoidable, but that child is strong-willed, didn’t even make a sound; his parents are by his side, and Shuiqing is taking care of him, so there’s nothing for us to worry about. But if you’re concerned, you can go and visit them. Don’t we have excellent healing ointment at home? Take it with you, it might come in handy.”

Addressing concerns directly is better than avoiding them. Once you see how he’s doing, you won’t be as worried.

Jiajia hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind to go and take a look.

She turned and went into the innermost room of the house, found the healing ointment, and as she walked into the hall, she saw a man walking towards her.

“Jiajia.”

Ding Heli stood up abruptly. All the worries and concerns from earlier vanished instantly!

Kidding aside, compared to the person in front of her, Fan Erzhu, Hu Wenhua’s worries were merely fleeting. Fan Erzhu was truly annoying and exasperating!

This was a man without responsibility or integrity. If any girl were to marry into that family, she’d have to deal with an undisciplined father-in-law, a nitpicky mother-in-law, a money-obsessed grandmother, and conniving uncles and younger brothers.

Goodness, was this some kind of punishment from heaven? Marrying into that would mean suffering.

Nervously standing up, Ding Heli looked at the man outside the house and asked coldly, “What are you here for?”

He hadn’t forgotten the ugly face and cowardly behavior of this man on the way back. If he married Jiajia, when trouble came, he wouldn’t protect her; he might just push her out to face danger!

Fan Erzhu remembered feeling embarrassed on the road, but quickly adjusted. Since Ding Heli had only one daughter and loved her dearly, if he could win Jiajia over, what could Ding Heli do? If he wanted his daughter to live well, he had no choice but to curry favor with him.

“Ding Heli, I’ve come to see Jiajia, I have something to give her.”

Ding Heli felt wary, and directly refused, “No need, Jiajia has plenty of things. Whatever she needs, we as her parents will provide. There’s no need for you to give her anything.”

Fan Erzhu frowned, ignoring Ding Heli and looking directly at Jiajia behind him, his eyes eager and his tone urgent, “Jiajia, I specially picked this head flower from the capital for you to see. It’s made of silk.”

“People in the village only buy cloth flowers, and some only buy red headbands. I’m the only one who bought silk flowers, which cost me a full sixteen wen! Look, do you like it?”

“I noticed you only have one blue one, and it looks worn out! Besides, girls should wear pink, it’s much prettier than blue!”

“Try wearing this silk flower, I guarantee it’ll look much better than the cheap cloth flowers you usually wear.”

With each sentence Fan Erzhu spoke, Ding Heli’s face darkened.

In his eyes, whatever Jiajia wore was beautiful, but in Fan Erzhu’s view, only what he gave her was beautiful. Moreover, he kept belittling what Jiajia had.

Did he think silk flowers were much nobler than cloth ones?

Then why didn’t he buy velvet flowers!

Ding Jiajia shook her head. “I have it, and I think fabric flowers are also very nice.”

Her parents could afford velvet flowers, but she felt it was unnecessary. In the village, they just managed to meet basic needs. Other girls didn’t even have headbands; they used wooden hairpins or strips of cloth made from old clothes to tie up their hair. For her, having fabric flowers was already good enough.

But what she considered good seemed plain and poor in Fan Erzhu’s eyes, who only saw elegance in the silk flowers he bought.

Wearing something not out of preference but out of plainness, it ended up looking worn-out.

Fan Erzhu grew anxious. If Ding Jiajia refused the silk flower he bought for sixteen copper coins, wouldn’t that be a waste? His parents and grandmother were waiting for him to return with good news. If Ding Jiajia accepted it, she would become part of the Fan family—what decent girl easily accepts gifts from another family’s men? Accepting it meant agreeing! Especially such a valuable item.

“Jiajia, I risked my life going to the capital to buy this. It’s very expensive. For this hairpin, my whole family saved and scrimped. My mother and grandmother went hungry several times. Can’t you see how much my family values you? How could you disregard their and my sincere intentions!”

Ding Heli laughed, “Risked your life for a hairpin? That was your decision, nothing to do with our Jiajia. And spending so much on a hairpin that costs just a few copper coins, shouldn’t you be thinking of earning more money to buy food instead? Whether your mother and grandmother go hungry is your responsibility as their son and grandson. They are valued because of you, and you should be touched, not our Jiajia! “

Fan Erzhu had not expected that all the arguments and ideas carefully crafted by his family would be completely refuted by Ding Heli. Even his anger at them was completely irrelevant.

He stood still, feeling that this prospective father-in-law was indeed difficult!

Wouldn’t other prospective fathers-in-law be delighted to see such a situation? After all, willing to spend sixteen copper coins on a silk flower that couldn’t be eaten, it was so important to his daughter that the result was nothing in the eyes of the world!

He said in annoyance, “Uncle Ding, don’t always be the one to speak. Jiajia is grown up, and should listen to her own opinion, maybe she just wants to.”

What girl’s family can not like jewelry? Especially the silk flower that can compare the village girl’s home!

Ding Heli looked at the villagers who were watching, their faces darker than the bottom of the pot.

Fan Erzhu walked from the village to the village with the silk flowers in his hand, could people not see? And the villagers who saw it were puzzled, and more people came to watch.

The Han men who traveled together knew his attitude toward Fan’s family, but they didn’t necessarily know Jiajia, and when they heard Fan Erzhu’s ambiguous words, how could they not guess?

This Fan Erzhu was determined to destroy Jiajia’s reputation!

“I don’t want it,” Ding Jiajia looked at Fan Erzhu and replied firmly.

Fan Erzhu smiled on his face, and continued: “Don’t be embarrassed, little girl, I understand your face is thin, but I have a unique silk flower in the village.”

“Just silk flowers, worth mentioning? Then what about my velvet flowers?”