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Aunt Li and Zhao Xiaohua stood outside the door, watching as it slammed shut with a loud bang in front of them. The sudden noise startled them, causing both to take a step back. They stared at the tightly closed door, their faces turning extremely unpleasant. When had they ever been treated like this by Liu Siniang?
In their hearts, Liu Siniang was nothing more than a servant. Even though the master had granted her freedom, she should still bow and scrape in their presence. For them to treat her as an equal was already a courtesy. But now, being shut out with such arrogance made them both simmer with anger.
“Liu Siniang, open the door! This matter isn’t settled yet. Why are you closing the door? Open it, don’t think you can just hide and it’s all over,” Aunt Li shouted loudly, pounding on the door with force.
Liu Siniang spoke from behind the door, “We are not selling our land to you. Don’t even think about it. You’d better leave now. If you don’t go, I’ll have my husband come over and settle this with you when he returns.”
Su Zhi, who was standing by her side, added, “Aunt Li, if you want to buy land, go find Brother Shitou. He’s at my house right now. You can talk to him directly. If you keep causing a ruckus here, Brother Shitou will come after you. Remember, Siniang is his wife now.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaohua quickly grabbed Aunt Li’s hand, stopping her from banging on the door again. She knew that Li Shi was not someone to be trifled with. Even if they wanted to buy land from Liu Siniang, it wasn’t going to happen, and there was no point in offending Li Shi over it. Her brother and sister-in-law had warned her not to make enemies unnecessarily, especially with people who had money and influence, and Li Shi was known for his strength and temper.
Aunt Li, pulled by Zhao Xiaohua, stopped banging on the door. She knew that with Su Zhi there, Liu Siniang would be too bold to open the door, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to buy the land from a mere woman like Liu Siniang; she’d have to deal with Li Shi.
“Fine, we’ll take this up with Li Shi,” Aunt Li said angrily, shaking off Zhao Xiaohua’s hand. The two of them hurried back home, as she still needed to discuss this matter with her son and daughter-in-law. Just thinking about it made her seethe with anger.
Inside, Liu Siniang stood by the door, listening until she heard the two women leave. Feeling relieved, she turned to Su Zhi and said, “Su Zhi, it was the right decision when you suggested we buy that land. The Zhao family really does want to expand their garden, but now they won’t be able to.”
Su Zhi smiled and asked, “So, do you feel satisfied now?”
Liu Siniang smiled. She did feel a great sense of satisfaction. Her days with the Zhao family were something she didn’t want to recall. Earlier, when Aunt Li had come and reopened her wounds, she couldn’t help but get angry despite her usually good temper. She was determined not to sell the land to the Zhao family. If they wanted to expand their garden, they could keep dreaming.
When Aunt Li returned home, she saw that Zhao Daliang had come back. She immediately stormed over and told him the whole story. Zhang Qingniang was also listening nearby. Both were shocked to hear that the land had been bought by Li Shi.
“We must buy that land back. If we don’t, Li Shi’s family will build a big garden, and we’ll be left with just a few rooms, looking so shabby. How can our family be inferior to theirs?” Aunt Li said loudly, sitting in a chair and panting heavily.
Zhao Xiaohua, meanwhile, was fanning the flames, claiming that Li Shi had long planned to prevent their Zhao family from expanding the garden. She twisted the story of how Liu Siniang had shut them out, making it seem like Liu Siniang harbored deep resentment towards the Zhao family and wanted to retaliate. She portrayed Li Shi and Liu Siniang as highly scheming individuals.
“Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, they just want to suppress us with the size of their garden, trying to outdo us. Such malicious intent!” Zhao Xiaohua said. She felt extremely uncomfortable whenever she thought about how much Li Shi valued Liu Siniang and the good life Liu Siniang was living. Although she didn’t dare to say such things in front of outsiders, she had no qualms about speaking nonsense in front of her family. She had initially not chosen Li Shi, thinking he wouldn’t be wealthy and wouldn’t provide her with a good life. Now, seeing him giving such a good life to someone else, especially to Liu Siniang, who had once suffered under her, she wanted to ruin their happiness. If she couldn’t have that life, then Liu Siniang, who had once had it worse than her, shouldn’t have it either.
Zhao Daliang’s face darkened as he listened to these words. He sat there expressionless, deep in thought.
Zhang Qingniang also felt uneasy. Initially, she hadn’t fully supported Aunt Li’s idea of expanding the garden, thinking it was just for show. But now, seeing that Li Shi had beaten them to it, she felt uncomfortable. Living in the countryside with Zhao Daliang, unable to enjoy the better life of the city, she still wanted to be respected. Now, being overshadowed by others made her feel even worse.
“Daliang, what do you think about this matter?” Zhang Qingniang asked Zhao Daliang, knowing that, no matter what, this issue involved Liu Siniang.
Zhao Daliang replied, “I think that land won’t be sold to us.”
“Even if we can’t get it back, we’ll offer them more silver. I can’t believe they wouldn’t be tempted by extra money,” Aunt Li said loudly. “They spent twelve taels of silver to buy that land. We’ll offer a few more taels. I don’t believe they won’t give it up. If they refuse such a deal, they’d be fools.”
Zhang Qingniang rolled her eyes internally, feeling deep disdain for her mother-in-law. She thought, *What a foolish country woman. If they spent twelve taels to buy the land, why would they care about a few more taels? To someone who can spend so much silver on land, it shows they aren’t short of money. Li Shi clearly bought this land to make things difficult for the Zhao family. Trying to buy it back isn’t just hard; it’s impossible.*
Zhao Daliang also smiled wryly and said, “Mother, Li Shi spent so much silver on that land because he’s not short of money. He won’t care if we offer him more. Especially after marrying Liu Siniang, he definitely won’t sell the land to us. Besides, I think he bought those houses and land specifically to stop us from expanding our garden. Look, if he wanted to expand his own garden, would he have bought the house right in front of ours? He’s not leaving us any room at all.”
In fact, Zhao Daliang guessed half of it right. The other half of the reason was that the house was close to the riverside. If they could acquire that land, it would be convenient for them to access water from the river.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Li said, “If that’s the case, we won’t be able to get the land back, and there’s no way to expand the garden.”
Zhao Daliang also felt somewhat unwilling to accept this outcome. However, it was too late to say anything now. He knew that even if he went to talk to Li Shi, it would be futile, and he’d likely be mocked.
Zhao Xiaohua blinked and said, “Brother, if we can’t buy it, let it go. If we have the money, we could buy a courtyard in the town or county. That would be much more prestigious than having a big garden here.”
In reality, Zhao Xiaohua was very dissatisfied with living in this riverside village. Even if she dressed in the finest silk and adorned herself with jewels, she would still be looked down upon by others. Even if she had the chance to meet the young masters and ladies from the town, once they knew she lived in the countryside, no matter how well she dressed, she would still be scorned. Zhao Xiaohua had long wanted to leave this small village and move to the town or county.
Zhao Xiaohua thought that if she lived in the town, she could often see Qian Guang, and she would definitely find a way to make him fall for her.
Seeing Zhao Xiaohua’s expression, Zhang Qingniang guessed what she was thinking. However, she didn’t interrupt her thoughts because she herself was considering buying property in the town or county. While the countryside had good Feng Shui, she didn’t feel like it was the right place to stay all the time. For her, instead of spending money to expand the garden here, it would be better to invest in some real estate in the town. That would be something firmly in her hands, unlike here, where the house on the Zhao family’s land always felt like it belonged to them.
“Xiaohua is right. Your brother plans to buy a shop in the town, and it would be perfect to buy a house there too. When things get busy, it will be a good place to relax,” Zhang Qingniang agreed.
Aunt Li agreed to buying property in the town but also thought it necessary to resolve the garden matter satisfactorily. Having lived in the village her whole life, she had never tolerated any injustice, despite enduring poverty and hardship. Anyone who dared to provoke her would face her wrath. Now that her son had succeeded and they had money, she couldn’t tolerate this injustice.
“Son, daughter-in-law, we can’t just let this matter go. We don’t care about other families, but the one in front of us. You need to make them change their minds and sell us the land. That way, we can still expand the garden. Even if it’s not as big as we hoped, it will show them that the Zhao family isn’t easy to bully,” Aunt Li declared.
Zhao Daliang and Zhang Qingniang exchanged a glance. Zhao Daliang thought it wasn’t worth spending more money just for the sake of pride, while Zhang Qingniang believed they had already invested enough in building the large house and expanding the garden further wouldn’t be very beneficial. It would be better to invest in more useful property in the town.
“If you don’t help me regain this pride, I might as well not live anymore!” Aunt Li cried out, pounding her thighs as she sat there.
Zhang Qingniang frowned, feeling disgusted by her mother-in-law’s behavior. However, her frown quickly turned into a worried expression as she looked at Zhao Daliang.
Zhao Daliang also felt a headache coming on because of his mother’s outburst.
“Who made our mother cry like this? Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, why aren’t you saying anything? I know you’re not disrespectful, but you should still try to comfort her and let her vent.”