Chapter 10: Spreading one's reputation happened just as I was leaving home that morning...

It was morning when they left home, and the people of Sujiazhuang couldn't help but look at Qiu Yuruo as they saw the three sisters-in-law walking out hand in hand.

When they saw that Qiu Yuruo's face showed no trace of sorrow, they had to believe that Su Yunting's wife was truly willing to marry into the family!

An old woman in the village, who was a bully who preyed on the weak and loved to gossip, saw the three sisters-in-law walking ahead and ran over to Qiu Yuruo, asking directly, "Yunting's wife, I heard that you went on a hunger strike before you got married. Why are you happy to do it now?"

As soon as she asked the question, the second sister's eyes turned red with anger. However, she had never argued with anyone before, and for a moment she didn't know how to retort.

Instead, the younger sister stood up and shouted, "You're talking nonsense! My sister-in-law married into this family willingly!"

The old woman also shouted, "Who's talking nonsense? My cousin has relatives in Qianqiao Village. They say it's all over the village that Yunting's family doesn't want to marry into the family in place of her sister, and they've been on a hunger strike for three days!"

Her shout drew the attention of everyone who had been hiding and watching.

One of humanity's greatest hobbies is watching excitement.

Seeing so many people gathered around, the old woman became even more excited. She quickly concocted a topic to attract everyone's attention and was about to launch into a tirade when Qiu Yuruo responded.

Unlike Su Jingshu, Qiu Yuruo didn't get angry and argue with the old woman. Instead, she calmly asked her, "Don't you know how to address me?"

Old woman: I've already set up all the right moves, but you're not even getting angry and just asking me what my name is!

Qiu Yuruo's reaction left the old woman speechless for a moment.

The onlookers said, "Her husband is of the same generation as your father-in-law, so you should call her Second Aunt."

Qiu Yuruo first said "Thank you" to the person who answered her.

Then he calmly replied to the old woman, "Second Aunt, you heard it right, I did make a scene at home back then."

My grandfather said that as a person, he had to keep his word and uphold righteousness, because "without trust, one cannot stand." He said that since he had agreed to this marriage in the first place, he could not break his promise now that the other side was going to take a granddaughter in.

One misfortune after another befell my family. My uncle said that my cousin's fate was simply not strong enough to suppress it, so my grandfather chose to have me marry into the family.

Although I was young, I had tasted the bitterness of life. My bad fate is not a reason for me to jump into the fire pit. At that time, I really wanted to just die to avoid suffering for the rest of my life.

But considering that my father died young and I had not yet fulfilled my filial duty to my parents, if I were to easily end my own life, it would be unfilial to my deceased parents.

I'm not afraid of death. I married into this family to repay my parents' kindness. Even if my fate can't hold me back and I die young, it will still fulfill my grandfather's promise, my father's filial duty, and my own filial duty.

After Qiu Yuruo finished speaking, the old woman was speechless.

She came here with the intention of ruining Qiu Yuruo's reputation, but in the end, she gave Qiu Yuruo an opportunity to promote her good reputation!

The old woman was speechless, but the onlookers had plenty to talk about.

Some say that Old Qiu is indeed trustworthy and benevolent, while others say that Qiu Yuruo is filial.

Some people even whispered among themselves, wondering who would be the one to bring misfortune to whom, Su Yunting, who had supposedly caused the deaths of his siblings and parents, married Qiu Yuruo, who shared the same fate.

They were all talking in a seemingly low voice, but everyone around them could hear them, and Qiu Yuruo could naturally hear them.

But this is also the result she wanted.

When Qiu Yuruo agreed to marry into the Qiu family, she had expected to face this question today. Although she didn't expect it to happen so soon, she had already thought about how to deal with it.

Although the situation has changed somewhat, the initial response mainly emphasized her filial piety, but now she has added the importance of Old Man Qiu's integrity.

I will continue to promote him in the future, and I hope that Mr. Qiu, who cares a lot about his image, will not let my efforts go to waste.

The old woman was dragged away, and Qiu Yuruo met several people who showed kindness to her family through her second sister.

When others asked the two women what they were doing, Qiu Yu didn't mention checking out a location for their stall. She only said, "My third uncle is coming to call me back to my parents' home tomorrow so I can go to town to buy some things for my grandfather."

Everyone understood that they were going to prepare gifts for the bride's return visit.

Most of the land in the village is located on the west side of the village. People who leave the village from the east side are either going out to run errands or to the town to buy things.

Since everyone was leaving the village, they naturally decided to go together.

The main road leads out of the village. Today is not market day, so there aren't many people on the road. About a mile south is Shuangmiao Village, where only a tea stall is set up at the entrance.

Su Jingshu said to Qiu Yuruo, "There's no market today, so the other vendors didn't come."

Qiu Yu nodded to indicate that she understood.

Not far ahead, there's an intersection. To the east of the intersection is the road leading to the town, with a few stalls scattered along both sides.

Past the stalls are the shops facing the street.

Although the Qiu family's Qianqiao Village and Su Family Village are not far apart, they do not belong to the same town. This is Qiu Yuruo's first time visiting Qingshi Town.

Aunt Wang, who was traveling with Qiu Yuruo, asked, "Yuruo, what are you planning to buy for your homecoming tomorrow?"

When they first started walking together, they all referred to Qiu Yuruo as being from Yunting's family.

Qiu Yuruo felt a pang of pain from hearing this address, so she introduced herself by her name and told them that they could call her Yuruo from now on.

When Aunt Wang asked what she was buying, Qiu Yuruo replied, "I'm thinking of getting four gifts when I go back. First, I'll buy two jars of wine and two packets of tea. Before I leave, I'll also catch two live chickens."

As she continued, her tone became somewhat troubled: "I originally wanted to buy meat or fish for the last thing, but in this weather, they'll spoil by tomorrow. Yunting needs someone by his side in the morning, and I don't feel comfortable letting my second sister come to town so early."

It's simple: get up early to go to town to buy things. Other women are too busy to go out in the morning, so they can have their men buy things for them. Even if something happens to the man, there are elders and uncles in the family to help.

Unfortunately, things were different for Qiu Yuruo's family. Her husband was in a coma, her parents-in-law had passed away, and she had a grandfather and a second uncle who were eager to sever ties with the eldest branch of the family, fearing that they might be inconvenienced if anything happened to them. It was said that yesterday, as soon as Yuruo entered the family, Su Lao Er started making a scene, not wanting to be bothered by them if anything happened to them.

Another elderly woman, Aunt Zhang, said, "With a pair of live chickens, we don't necessarily need to buy meat and fish. We can buy two pounds of soft pastries, and the old man in the family can eat a couple of bites. They're better than meat that's too tough to chew!"

They were all from Sujiazhuang, and instinctively they wanted to save money for their own side. After Aunt Zhang finished speaking, the others all agreed.

Qiu Yuruo still seemed troubled: "Grandfather doesn't hold these things against me, but I have uncles and aunts in the family. My third uncle treats me very well. You all saw my dowry yesterday. It was all prepared by my third uncle and aunt."

But my uncle is a scholar, and he's very particular about these things. If we don't buy meat for the homecoming, he might have some complaints.

Upon hearing this, everyone realized that Qiu Yuruo's uncle was the one whose daughter was engaged to Su Yunting, and who had been placed in a coma by him when Su Yunting fell into a coma!

The men thought to themselves, "Scholars, huh? If all scholars liked to do such shameless things, who would dare to send their sons to school?"

Aunt Zhang said, "Yu Ruo, when you go back to your parents' home, you are going back to your grandfather's house. The person who came to pick you up is your third uncle. What your eldest uncle thinks is not really your business. For a married woman, we only associate with whoever is closest to us in her maternal family!"

Qiu Yuruo looked completely bewildered and asked, "Really?"

Although she is said to be fifteen years old, she is actually two months short. She hasn't been getting enough nutrition over the years, so she still looks like a little girl.

Looking at the bewildered girl, everyone couldn't help but feel a pang of pity, and they all agreed that Aunt Zhang was right.

Qiu Yuruo smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

These aunties and older women advised me not to associate with Qiu Laoda anymore, because when I went back they would tell everyone why they advised me that.

Boss Qiu, your era of internet traffic is coming soon. Are you ready to embrace it?

After everyone's persuasion, Qiu Yuruo happily decided not to buy meat.

Aunt Wang said, "Didn't you say you were going to catch live chickens? I raise quite a few at home. If you don't mind, Yu Ruo, I'll catch some and bring them to you first thing tomorrow morning."

Qiu Yuruo said with delight, "Auntie loves me. I'm not ungrateful. I'll send it over tomorrow morning. It'll save me from worrying about taking it back all night. You can weigh it at home tomorrow. We'll just charge you whatever the town charges per pound."

Setting up a stall in town requires paying for the stall, so Aunt Wang's prices are definitely reasonable according to the town's rates.

Those who are still willing to show kindness to the Su family in this situation are all soft-hearted and don't like to bully others. Aunt Wang said she would give Qiu Yuru a discount of one coin per pound.

Qiu Yu may not be willing.

The two sellers wanted to offer a low price, while the buyers wanted to offer a high price, each wanting the other to agree to the price they had set.

One of the straightforward women in the group said, "Yu Ruo, don't argue anymore. Just go with the price Aunt Wang said. That's how it's calculated for families in our village."

Everyone else said the same thing, so Qiu Yuruo could only agree.

People come to town either because they have guests coming to their homes at noon or because they are going out to visit relatives and buy gifts.

It was Qiu Yuruo's first time visiting Qingshi Town, and she followed them to visit other shops.

Upon seeing the town's clinic, Qiu Yuruo asked Su Jingshu, "Second sister, was your eldest brother treated by the doctor here?"

Su Jingshu had been enjoying her shopping, but upon hearing about her older brother's illness, her happiness waned, and she responded listlessly with a curt "Yes."

The usually chattering and lively younger sister became meek upon hearing about her older brother's illness.

If Qiu Yuruo really wasn't intentionally spoiling the mood, she bought three pieces of maltose candy, giving one to each of them, and keeping the other one in her basket to give to Yun Che when she got home.

The reason Qiu Yuruo didn't buy any for herself wasn't because she was reluctant to eat, but because she has a naturally weak stomach and had fasted for three days, and hasn't fully recovered yet. Eating sugar would easily cause stomach acid, so she didn't buy any for herself.

But what others didn't know was that although Su Jingshu was a bit naive, she wasn't heartless. She gave her candy to Qiu Yuruo and said, "Sister-in-law, I don't like candy. You can have it."