As a result, with half of their money taken away, Zhang Tao and the others faced even greater financial hardship.

The table was set with only vegetables like cabbage and radishes, and not a single piece of meat.

Even so, it's still not enough to support such a large population.

In addition, there are two children in the family who are still in school.

Left with no other choice, Li Qiuju, like other women, took up the job of pasting paper boxes to earn money for her family.

As for Zhang Tao, he wasn't idle either; he was also pulled in by Li Qiuju to serve as a conscript.

Poverty-stricken couples face endless sorrows, and as they toiled day after day, their relationship deteriorated.

However, because of Han Shang's gratitude for Zhang Tao's life-saving act, everyone knew that he couldn't bring himself to mistreat Han Shang's two children.

Otherwise, you'll inevitably be the one being criticized behind your back.

After supporting the children until they graduated from junior high school, Zhang Tao stopped spending money on them and had them drop out of school.

At that time, Zhang Tao and Li Qiuju also disliked each other. As they spent more time together, they had come to know each other's character.

Li Qiuju is lazy and loves to eat, and only cares about her face. As for Zhang Tao, he is a chauvinist and doesn't want to do any housework.

After Li Qiuju's two children returned from school, the task of finding a wife for her son fell to her again.

However, because his family didn't have much savings, they were at a disadvantage when it came to the bride price, making it difficult for him to find a wife in the county town.

The main problem is that Li Qiuju's son doesn't have a proper job either, which makes things even more difficult for him.

So they searched downwards.

After much deliberation, they finally settled on a girl from the village.

Li Qiuju only agreed to the marriage after learning that the girl was hardworking, sensible, filial to her parents, and very capable.

As for why Li Qiuju's son was willing, it was because the girl had a rather handsome appearance.

Time quickly came to the day of Li Qiuju's son's wedding.

Li Qiuju's son arrived at the new house looking drunk after being forced to drink several bowls of wine by outsiders.

After entering the new house, he sat directly on the new bed, while the bride, with a veil over her head, sat quietly to the side.

However, under the veil, there were still some crumbs of pastry stuck to the corners of the bride's mouth.

"Wife, wife, you are my wife, I have a wife now," Li Qiuju's son said with a big smile.

After laughing to himself for a while, he realized that he hadn't lifted his wife's veil yet, so he patted his head and said regretfully.

"Look at me, I was so happy that I forgot to lift my wife's veil."

As he spoke, he reached out towards where the bride was.

Then, she suddenly lifted the veil.

Li Qiuju's son was still drunk, but when he saw that the person under the veil was not the same person he was looking for, he immediately sobered up.

His face showed a hint of surprise, and then he was about to shout loudly.

When the bride saw him about to scream, she quickly stepped forward and covered Li Qiuju's son's mouth.

They stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth.

Then, she picked up a rope that she had prepared beforehand and, ignoring his objections, tied up Li Qiuju's son.

"I was so suffocated! Now I can finally talk!" the bride said with a smile, looking at Li Qiuju's son, who was now obediently tied up and thrown on the bed.

Li Qiuju's son glared angrily at the new bride, his eyes filled with confusion, wondering why his wife had changed!

"Are you puzzled because I'm different from the person you went on a blind date with?" the bride, Xiao Hong, said with a smile.

Because of her smile, her already rather plain and somewhat unattractive face looked even more bleak.

"Don't you even realize that the bride price you offered was so small, yet you're still being so picky? How can you be so shameless?"

"You're the only one I'd be interested in."

“I’m the older sister of the person you were set up with on a blind date,” Xiao Hong said jokingly, patting Li Qiuju’s son’s face.

It turns out that when Li Qiuju asked someone to introduce her to potential partners, she met several girls, but rejected a number of them because they were not good-looking or not hardworking, among other reasons.

The matchmaker who was entrusted to introduce them had some kind of family relationship with Xiao Hong's family.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hong's mother kept it in mind and then carefully inquired about Li Qiuju's son's situation.

After that, he pondered it carefully in his mind, preparing to use a substitution.

The main reason was that Xiao Hong was still single even at her advanced age because of her appearance.

His only advantage is that he is slightly stronger than others.

Xiao Hong's mother thought of her other daughter, who was only two years younger than Xiao Hong, and began to ponder.

The two were of similar build, and with careful planning, it wasn't impossible.

So Xiao Hong's mother arranged for her other daughter to meet Li Qiuju's son for a blind date.

Later, when she got married, she didn't let her other daughter appear in front of her; instead, she had Xiao Hong marry in her place.

By then, once the deed is done, it will be too late for Li Qiuju's son to back out.

Xiao Hong's mother wasn't worried that Xiao Hong wouldn't be able to control her, since Li Qiuju's son looked weak and was no match for Xiao Hong.

Because of Xiao Hong's strong personality, there was no worry that she would suffer in her husband's family.

And so the scheme of a substitute bride was put into action.

"Don't look at me like that. We've already got our marriage certificate. It's too late to back out now," Xiao Hong said smugly.

Speaking of this, she admired her mother's foresight, who used her name, Xiao Hong, as her sister's name when they went on blind dates, and the marriage registration went very smoothly afterwards.

It was only after her own mother asked others that she learned about the marriage certificate. To ensure everything went smoothly, she obtained the certificate through insurance.

"I must say, you look rather handsome when you're angry." Xiao Hong touched Li Qiuju's son's face.

"Her face is quite fair and smooth."

Li Qiuju's son, whose mouth was gagged, looked very unwell after he couldn't break free of the ropes binding him.

His expression darkened even more after hearing Xiao Hong's words.

He tried his best to spit out the cloth strip from his mouth, but with Xiao Hong there, he wouldn't succeed.

"It's getting late, let's rest." Xiao Hong didn't want to waste any more time on meaningless conversations.

After all, it's safer to cook the rice as a fait accompli.

So, after turning off the lights in the room, Xiao Hong climbed into bed.

Afterwards, despite Li Qiuju's son's resistance, she forcibly slept with him.

After it was over, I went straight to bed.

Meanwhile, Li Qiuju's son looked furious and dejected!

I stayed awake until dawn.

The next day

Xiao Hong groggily opened her eyes when it was fully light.

Meanwhile, Li Qiuju, who was sitting in the main room, looked very unhappy. She was waiting for her new daughter-in-law to get up and make breakfast!

According to custom, a new bride is expected to cook breakfast for her husband's family on the first day of her marriage.

As a result, even at this hour, they still hadn't gotten up, which made Li Qiuju very angry.

She tried calling out to people, but no one responded!

Xiao Hong was too tired yesterday, and when she fell asleep, she automatically blocked out all noise, so she didn't hear it.

Li Qiuju's son, on the other hand, had his mouth gagged and could not make a sound.

Only after Xiao Hong had tidied herself up did she release Li Qiuju's son!