She looked at Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan with a blank expression. Her parents had arranged a marriage for her?

But Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan were also completely bewildered.

"You mean... I'm going to marry into your family?"

Guo Dazhuang nodded across from him.

“Your family said they’d give me three catties of grain in exchange for you as their wife,” Guo Dazhuang said, then smiled shyly.

"You're talking nonsense!" Before anyone could even speak, Aunt Zhao came over.

“Young man Guo, you can’t just say things like that. We never said anything like that,” Song Dahai quickly added.

"I'm telling you, you're afraid you won't be able to find a wife in the future, so you're trying to extort money from Er Ya, aren't you?" Aunt Zhao glared at Guo Dazhuang, even angrier than Song Ning.

“Brother Guo, we definitely didn’t say anything like that. Are you misunderstanding something?” Song Ning asked.

When Guo Dazhuang was asked this question, he immediately felt ashamed and angrily said, "Are you denying it? You wait, I'm going to find my grandma."

After saying that, he stormed off in a huff.

Aunt Zhao cursed, "There are all kinds of people these days. They want to get a wife for free. They're shameless."

As soon as the person left, Song Ning suddenly remembered the old lady from the Guo family last night. Were the two of them related?

They hadn't even had breakfast when people arrived.

It really was that old lady from last night.

As soon as Granny Guo arrived, she scrutinized Song Ning from head to toe with her shrewd eyes.

"Hey Er Ya, you just took our grain, and now you're turning your back on us?"

"When did we start taking your grain?"

Her space is already overflowing with grain, why would she need to collect grain from others?

"Didn't you collect the grain yesterday? They said, for every three catties of grain, you'll be my Dazhuang's wife!" Granny Guo said matter-of-factly, since she had already given away the grain, and Song Erya was now her granddaughter-in-law.

Song Ning finally understood: the middleman was making a profit from the price difference.

"What's going on?" Village Chief Luo came over when he heard the noise.

When Granny Guo saw the village chief arrive, she finally felt she had found someone to take charge.

"Village chief, you be the judge! The Song family took three jin of our grain and offered Song Erya to be my son Dazhuang's wife. Now that they've taken the grain, they're turning their backs on us! Village chief, you have to stand up for us!"

Village Chief Luo didn't believe it when he heard this. The Song family could still lend grain to other families, so how could they sell their daughter for just three catties of grain?

“Village Chief Luo, we have never said such a thing. How could we possibly sell our daughter?” Liu Yuelan said anxiously.

Song Ning asked calmly, "Did the Liu family tell you this?"

Granny Guo said with a stern face, "So what if it is? The Liu family said they are your maternal grandparents' family, and their word is law in this matter."

Song Ning laughed: "My parents didn't say anything, so how can my maternal grandparents' family be in charge of my family? Is it a tradition in your Dongyuan Village for your maternal family to be in charge?" Otherwise, why would you believe such a thing?

“We don’t have that saying in our village!” someone shouted from a short distance away.

Song Ning said coldly, "Go find whoever asked you for the grain. The Liu family took your grain, so naturally the granddaughter-in-law should come from the Liu family. Going to our Song family won't do you any good."

Village Chief Luo probably understood what was going on, and said to Granny Guo, "A grandfather with such a despicable mind dares to sell his granddaughter. If this happened in the village, I'd teach him a lesson!"

Song Erya is their precious darling now. If anyone wants to make a move on her, they'd better ask the two village chiefs first.

When Granny Guo saw that the village chief wouldn't stand up for her, she immediately sat down on the ground and started crying.

Who in the village doesn't know the Liu family? The only women in the family are Old Lady Liu and her two daughters-in-law; the rest of the children are all boys, so they don't have any daughters.

"Why is my life so miserable? All the food I painstakingly saved up was just stolen..."

Song Ning was speechless: "Instead of wailing like this, you should check if the Liu family has finished eating all that grain. You might be able to get some back."

Granny Guo didn't want to give up. She had gotten a granddaughter-in-law in exchange for three catties of grain; she knew she wouldn't have such a good thing again.

With a stern look, she said, "Go and get it back for me. If you can't get it back, you'll have to become my Dazhuang's wife!"

Song Ning had initially thought the Guo family were also victims, but after hearing this, all her sympathy vanished.

"Since that's the case, I have nothing more to say. Let's all call it a day."

"What?" Village Chief Luo's expression changed, and he was the first to disagree: "Er Ya, this is unacceptable."

The village chief also ran over: "Er Ya, don't be impulsive."

Song Ning said calmly, "Since everyone is eyeing my family and doesn't want them to have an easy time, I can't stay any longer. Let's just break up and save ourselves from all this trouble."

Aunt Zhao immediately said, "Let's go with Er Ya."

“We are too,” Granny Jiang called out.

Now everyone was worried. A young woman in the crowd pointed at Granny Guo and said, "It's all because of the Guo family causing trouble. Now look what's happened! If this breaks up, none of us will survive!"

Grandma Guo was dumbfounded. She just wanted a granddaughter-in-law and never thought about breaking up the relationship!

Village Chief Luo glared at her, annoyed. Nobody in the village even looked up to Guo's grandson, let alone Song Erya.

They now unanimously believe that following Song Erya will ensure their survival, and many have begun to curry favor with Aunt Zhao and the Jiang family.

Song Ning already gets up early, and her morning grumpiness is no joke. At other times, she might be able to talk properly, but now she's anything but.

The two village chiefs exchanged a glance, then secretly looked at Song Ning. Village Chief Luo spoke up: "What are you still sitting there for? What, do you really want to extort money from the Song family?"

Then he looked at the people around him and roared, "You're about to die and you're still thinking about getting married? How can you be so capable? If anyone dares to do such a despicable thing in the future, get out of here!"

They've managed to hold on this long because of their numbers. If they were separated from the main group, would they even have a chance to survive?

Village Chief Luo glanced at everyone, then looked at Song Ning and said, "Er Ya, calm down. Don't worry, I will definitely give you an explanation for this."

When the people around saw that the village chief had also spoken, they quickly said, "Er Ya, we've been very obedient. There are always those bad apples trying to cause trouble. Don't worry, we're all on your side."

"Yes, Er Ya, it hasn't been easy for us to get here. Just like you said last time, we need to stick together."

Granny Guo, who was on the ground, dared not sit any longer and quickly got up and stood obediently to the side.

"Er Ya, we don't distinguish between Nanshan Village and Dongyuan Village anymore. Those who survived are all from the same village. We can't break up."

“We are different from the Guo family and the Liu family. Putting aside everything else, our family will definitely not hold us back or cause trouble.”

Song Ning glanced at the people who had gathered around him and said, "We're fleeing a disaster, not seeking a life of luxury. Is there anything more important than survival right now? There's no water for hundreds of miles around, and I'm already worried about how to find water for everyone. Now someone's plotting against me. What's the point of me looking for water now?"