Even twelve or thirteen-year-old boys in the village have to work now. Seventeen or eighteen-year-olds are hiding at home. If the gate is broken down and bandits rush in, what good will it do to them?

Would those bandits care about their reputation and refuse to come in? Would they protect them and even find them good husbands? What kind of pipe dream is Zhang Chunhua having!

At this time, just like Sister Shuiqing said, you must protect yourself and rely on yourself!

One after another, the girls who echoed Xu Ting and Zhang Xiaocao stood up, their voices varying in volume: "I don't want to hide in the house. When I was little, I was really good at climbing trees and stealing bird nests. I was no worse than my brothers. They can scatter lime powder under the wall, and so can I!"

I don't know if poor people would look down on me, but I certainly don't!

Whoever wants to suffer can go, but she won't. She'd rather fight off the bandits, something she can be proud of later!

Why would she go to her husband's family and be talked about something she's so proud of? As Sister-in-law Shuiqing said, wouldn't that just make her unhappy?

The old village chief's usually stern face softened with a smile.

Originally, it was thought that only the men who went out to work would be affected. They often went out, saw more of the world, and earned money. Money gives people confidence, so naturally their vision and mindset are different from before.

Unexpectedly, the girls in the village have changed even more without anyone noticing!

Indeed, money is a person's confidence, not just for men, but for women as well.

They were all working in the herbal medicine shop, and they were able to earn money and believed they could make a better life. Their mindset and perspective were already different from Zhang Chunhua's.

Zhang Chunhua looked at them, bit her lip, and muttered, "I'm going to get married anyway, so don't try anything with me."

Zhang Xiaogou was furious, feeling that in the past it was her father who had embarrassed her, and now that her father had finally stood up for himself, her sister had embarrassed her again.

He tugged at his father beside him and urged, "Father, tell me about my sister."

Zhang the Bald was still holding chopsticks, picking up a strand of vermicelli stuck to the bottom of the bowl. Hearing this, he said nonchalantly, "What is Father saying about your sister?"

It would be better for her to get married, or take a husband? If she gets a land allocation after that, we'd have to help build even if it's just a thatched hut. I don't want that!

Once she's married off, where she lives and what she eats is her husband's family's business, not ours.

He wouldn't make things difficult for himself by leaving Chunhua in the village to find a husband; that would exhaust him to death.

His mother, who was standing nearby, pulled him back and said in a low voice, "Little dog, our family doesn't take in sons-in-law!"

Your sister will receive at least seven or eight taels of silver as a dowry when she gets married. What can she get by taking a husband in her place? It's the easiest thing for your sister to do if she wants to get married herself.

The money for the puppy's future marriage will depend on Chunhua. If she also tries to find a girl from the village, then the money for the marriage will be gone.

All that hard work raising her to adulthood would just be for nothing! She's not stupid, why would she do something that loses money?

Zhang Xiaogou looked at his sister, who was determined to get married, and his parents, who only wanted to receive a dowry, and sat down again, feeling utterly helpless.

Zhang Chunhua stood firm, refusing to budge. Her gaze inadvertently fell on Ding Jiajia, and she immediately pointed at her, questioning the old village chief: "Is Ding Jiajia also going to be at the forefront? If she's at the forefront, then I'll be at the forefront too, otherwise don't even think about it!"

The expressions on the other people's faces immediately changed.