Chapter 23: We've already arranged a marriage between our children.

Not long after the crowd left, Jiang Wanqiu heard someone calling her from outside.

It was Zhao Wenchang's grandmother, Ma Jinhua.

The old lady had a loud voice and tapped the ground twice with a wooden stick she used as a cane.

Jiang Wanqiu responded and quickly went out.

At the entrance to the main room, Grandma Zhao Xiaohua was grabbing a woman's arm and practically dragging her over.

That woman was none other than Sun Lanhua, who had led the gossip this morning.

Sun Lanhua tried to break free but didn't dare, as her mother-in-law, Zhao Xiaohua, held her tightly. She muttered defiantly, "Why are you pulling me? It's not like I'm the only one who said this..."

"You're the one who shouted the loudest!" Zhao Xiaohua glared at her and added three more points of force to her hand.

The men in the Zhao family are forbidden from hitting women; that's the rule! But that doesn't mean the women in the Zhao family are pushovers!

As she spoke, she shoved the person in front of Jiang Wanqiu.

Sun Lanhua stumbled and almost fell. After regaining her balance, she looked at the aloof Jiang Wanqiu in front of her and felt extremely unhappy.

She pouted, her eyes darting away, and reluctantly squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "...Sister, I'm sorry."

The apology was flimsy and perfunctory to the extreme.

In her eyes, these women from the south were all delicate and easy to bully. The fact that she even said "I'm sorry" was already a huge favor.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wanqiu spoke gently, "There will be no next time."

Sun Lanhua was stunned for a moment and didn't react.

Jiang Wanqiu continued slowly and deliberately, "If I hear you distorting the truth and spreading rumors again, I will tear your mouth apart and sew it back up stitch by stitch."

These words are more frightening than hysterical curses.

The ruthlessness hidden in that calm tone sent a shiver down Sun Lanhua's spine.

In her past life, Jiang Wanqiu was driven to despair by endless rumors and malicious slander.

The Wang family insulted her, bullied her, humiliated her, and threw all the blame on her. Given a second chance at life, she would never suffer such injustice again!

If anyone dares to stab her in the back again, she'll return that knife with interest!

"Did you hear that!" Zhao Xiaohua snorted in satisfaction, then shoved Sun Lanhua. "Get lost! Watch your mouth from now on!"

As soon as Sun Lanhua left, Zhao Xiaohua turned around, grabbed Jiang Wanqiu's hand, and her tone immediately softened, filled with heartache: "Don't be afraid, daughter. Your Uncle Weimin will definitely give you justice! If he can't explain clearly or give a definite answer, your grandma and I will go and tear their roof off! Let's see where they put their faces then!"

Ma Jinhua tapped her cane beside her, nodding sternly, "That's right! We can't let people bully our family members like this for no reason!"

Just then, a young man from the village commune's mailroom rode up on his bicycle, its bell jingling all the way. Holding a piece of paper, he called out from afar, "Grandma Ma! Sister-in-law Zhao! There's a telegram! A telegram from the city!"

Jiang Wanqiu went out, retrieved the telegram, and unfolded it to examine it.

Zhao Xiaohua and Ma Jinhua also went over to take a look, and soon their faces lit up with joy.

"So it was Wanqiu's sister who sent the telegram!" Zhao Xiaohua said happily. "That's great news! She's getting married in a few days? We'd better hurry up and pack our things to go there; train tickets are hard to come by."

I tried to call Wanqiu's sister last time but failed. I was thinking of contacting her again, but I didn't expect her to contact me on her own initiative.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were happy, but at the same time they looked at Jiang Wanqiu's clothes.

The girl was in a hurry to go to the countryside and didn't bring many clothes with her.

“No,” Ma Jinhua said, “We have to buy Wanqiu a new outfit. We can’t let the city people look down on us, and we can’t let your sister lose face in front of her husband’s family!”

“Yes!” Zhao Xiaohua agreed immediately. “Besides, we can’t buy these clothes in town. The fabrics and styles there are all outdated. We have to go to the city! To that department store! To buy the most fashionable fabric!”

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law talked back and forth and settled the matter. The amount of money had increased from fifty yuan to five hundred yuan.

Jiang Wanqiu quickly interrupted, "I have plenty of clothes, it's alright. But... what about Wenchang? Does Wenchang have to go too?"

"Him?" Ma Jinhua waved her hand dismissively. "That brat is already lucky to be dressed like a dog! We just made him a new outfit last spring, and he's only been wearing it for a short time? He wants more? He's gone too far!"

Mother-in-law Zhao Xiaohua laughed along, "That's right, don't mind him. Why does a man need to dress so nicely?"

The new clothes he was referring to were the ones the man had changed out of last night.

Yesterday, I don't know why, but it looked like it had been torn open again.

She turned and went inside, intending to collect the clothes, wash them, and mend them.

As she lifted the clothes, Jiang Wanqiu caught a glimpse of an unusual bright color on the collar out of the corner of her eye.

She stopped what she was doing, turned her collar over, and leaned closer to take a closer look.

It was a small red mark, about the size of a fingernail, as if it had been rubbed on by something. The color had faded a bit, but it was still very noticeable on the white shirt.

She rubbed it between her fingertips, brought it to her nose and smelled it; a faint, slightly sweet fragrance entered her nasal cavity.

It's lipstick.

He came home very late last night, only saying that he had something to do, without telling me where he went.

The sun was about to set again when Jiang Wanqiu walked into the main room and asked, "Why hasn't Wenchang returned yet?"

Zhao Xiaohua didn't even look up, and while ordering her husband to cook, she replied with a smile, "Oh, isn't it because Zhao Hui is sick? She can't get out of bed because of the fever. So Sister Xiujuan kept Wenchang here, saying that the child has always been attached to Wenchang since he was little, and wanted him to keep her company and chat."

"Are they...very close?"

“Of course,” Zhao Xiaohua nodded. “Our two families have been comrades-in-arms since our grandfathers’ generation, and we’ve always been close. Wenchang and Xiaohui, on the other hand, grew up together like babies.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Ping'an suddenly looked up and chimed in crisply, "I also heard Sister Zhao Hui say that she and my dad were engaged when they were children!"

Zhao Xiaohua was taken aback upon hearing this, then slapped her youngest son on the head: "What nonsense are you talking about, you little brat! That's just what adults say when they're drunk, don't take it seriously! What era are we living in? Still having that outdated idea of ​​arranged marriages for children! It's better if the children like each other on their own!"

As she spoke, she smiled at Jiang Wanqiu, trying to reassure her not to take it to heart.

But how could Jiang Wanqiu not take it to heart?

She forced a smile, but couldn't utter a single word.

Just then, a warm greeting came from the courtyard gate.

"Sister-in-law! I'm here again!"

When everyone turned around, they saw Li Xiujuan, accompanied by an unfamiliar middle-aged woman.

Li Xiujuan, all smiles, walked up to her in a friendly manner.

"Late Autumn, look who your sister-in-law has brought you." She pointed to the woman beside her and said with a smile, "I've introduced you to a new lady. Let's go inside and talk."