The Qiu family.

"Aunt Qiu, why didn't Chunmei marry the Fan family's son? What happened?" Chen Erlan asked Qiu.

“That bastard Fan Baowen got Xia Xiumei and another girl from the county pregnant. They even kidnapped Yaomei and were planning to sell her. How could such a heartless scoundrel be worthy of Chunmei?”

Upon hearing this news, Chen Erlan was shocked. Fan Baowen seemed like a gentleman, but he turned out to be such a person. It was truly unbelievable.

"Today is Chunmei's special day, so don't go and upset her. Just stay here quietly."

Qiu locked Chen Erlan and his wife in the house and instructed Li Xiaohua to keep an eye on them and prevent them from going out and ruining Xia Chunmei's plans.

"Erlan, if only you hadn't left Chunmei and her sisters, Chunmei would be giving all the money she earns to you, her mother, right now," Li Xiaohua said with a hint of schadenfreude.

Chen Erlan's expression turned sour upon hearing this.

Geng Dewang laughed and said, "From what you're saying, Chunmei has made a lot of money."

"That's right, we spend most of each month hosting banquets outside."

She earns at least one or two taels of silver a month. My sister-in-law told me that the distinguished guest who visited her last time gave her quite a bit of gold and silver jewelry. Chunmei is rolling in money now.

Li Xiaohua seemed to have opened a floodgate, telling Chen Erlan everything about Xia Chunmei's recent situation and future plans.

Chen Erlan and Geng Dewang were both thrilled by what they heard.

When Chen Jinlian returned from her parents' home, she heard that Xia Chunmei had a fiancé.

Then I heard about Chen Erlan.

Why would Chen Erlan come back out of the blue?

Chen Jinlian and Chen Erlan were from the same village and grew up together. I wouldn't say I knew her like the back of my hand, but I was pretty close.

Her first reaction was that Xia Chunmei had become rich, and she wanted to cause trouble, take advantage of her, and get the money Xia Chunmei earned into her own pocket.

Otherwise, why would the person who abandoned their child and ran away with their belongings come back now?

"Do you know who my Chunmei's current fiancé is?" Chen Erlan asked Li Xiaohua.

Chen Erlan wanted to get information out of Li Xiaohua. She had seen it clearly just now: a whole cart of fabric, and other things. How much would all that stuff cost?

If she were still Xia Chunmei's mother, this thing would be hers.

“We don’t know who it is, and we haven’t heard anything about Chunmei getting married before,” Chen Jinlian said as she walked in. She then glared at Li Xiaohua, who had overheard Li Xiaohua talking to Chen Erlan about Xia Chunmei when she came in.

Chen Erlan clearly had ill intentions; how dare she reveal Chunmei's situation!

Li Xiaohua smiled somewhat guiltily: "Sister-in-law is back. You two sisters can chat, hehe."

Chen Jinlian said, "Chen Erlan, you married so far away, yet you still know that Chunmei has made a fortune. You're quite well-informed."

Upon seeing Chen Jinlian, Chen Erlan's expression changed, and she said with a forced smile, "I didn't expect Chunmei to be so capable. Although she's not my biological daughter, she's called me 'Mother' for several years. I'm back this time to take them to live with the Geng family."

Chen Jinlian sized up Geng Dewang and said bluntly, "What kind of business do you do? How many acres of land do you own? What's your family's situation? If you're dirt poor, don't even think about bringing Chunmei to live with you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Erlan and Geng Dewang's expressions turned extremely grim.

Chen Jinlian sneered, "You've been married for so long, and now that Chunmei has become successful, you say you want to bring them to live with you? Chen Erlan, even the accountant isn't as shrewd as you."

“Chen Jinlian, what you’re saying is too harsh. Chunmei is all grown up now and will be getting married soon. We can’t keep her here. We only plan to take the three younger ones with us.”

"And then use them to blackmail Chunmei? To force Chunmei to give you money and food?"

Chen Jinlian figured out their wicked intentions perfectly.

“It must have been the Chen family who came up with this idea,” Chen Jinlian continued. “I advise you to give up on that idea. The people of Yijia Village will not agree to it. Don’t make trouble for yourself.”

“I am Yaomei and Dongmei’s biological mother. She has no father anymore…”

"Don't try to use the 'biological' argument. We all know what kind of person you are. You want to take the children away? The children's surname is Xia, not Chen, and certainly not Geng! If you dare to lay a finger on the two children, you will never leave Yijia Village!"

Xia Chunmei has brought real benefits to so many families in the village this time, so the villagers will definitely side with her.

Chen Erlan wanted to say something more, but Geng Dewang stopped her.

Geng Dewang said with a smile, "Big sister is right. As long as the children are doing well, that's all that matters. We didn't know today was the day the South would come to propose to Chunmei. Otherwise, we definitely wouldn't have chosen to come back today. Actually, we wanted to come back a long time ago, but Erlan's health has been poor, so it was delayed."

Hearing this, Chen Erlan could only echo him, saying, "If I could come back, I would have come back long ago. It's not that I didn't want to come back."

“You know exactly what you’re thinking. You’ve seen the person today, so hurry back. We won’t be providing you with lunch.”

If it were a good person, Chen Jinlian would treat them to the best food without hesitation, but she knew Chen Erlan's nature well, so she didn't want to entertain her and didn't want to waste food.

“We’re not hungry. Let’s wait until Chunmei’s guests leave, then I’ll go over and talk to her.”

Having come all this way, Chen Erlan and Geng Dewang couldn't possibly give up so easily.

Seeing that Chen Erlan and her husband were completely unresponsive to her pleas, Chen Jinlian couldn't help but worry.

Xia Chunmei was young, but very shrewd. Chen Jinlian wasn't worried about her; what she was worried about was that Qiumei and Dongmei would be bewitched by Chen Erlan.

Chen Jinlian quickly went to inform Xia Chunmei, and also took the opportunity to meet Xia Chunmei's fiancé.

She needed to see who this amazing person was who had married the golden boy from Yijia Village.

Upon meeting Xia Chunmei, Chen Jinlian truthfully told her about her worries and speculations.

"Auntie's concerns are not without merit, but Chen Erlan's wishful thinking is likely to fall through."

Xia Chunmei plans to leave the village for about a year after getting married. At that time, she will take Yaomei with her, and send Qiumei and Dongmei to her aunt's house.

Chen Erlan could not possibly benefit from them, but we still had to be wary of her doing anything malicious.