Seeing this, Li Shuxian was both annoyed and amused.

"Let's go back."

Bai Shiqing picked up the bird eggs and turned to leave, leaving Li Shuxian no choice but to follow.

"You're really not greedy. What's wrong with catching a couple more nests? The snakes on our mountain aren't poisonous."

"Don't be so careless all the time. What will you do if you really encounter a poisonous snake?"

Li Shuxian took Bai Shiqing's concern as an excuse and happily took her home.

The couple set their wedding date for the end of October, after the wheat harvest.

Time flies. The Bai family is happily preparing for the wedding. The Li family has agreed to give the Bai family eighty yuan as a bride price. Bai Shihai gives the money to Deng Min and uses it to buy some new cloth and cotton to make a new quilt for Bai Shiqing as part of her dowry.

As the wedding date approached, Li Shiqing sent over another sewing machine, which the Bai family planned to have Bai Shiqing take back to the Li family after her marriage.

Seeing the Bai family's intensive preparations, Shen Heng felt uneasy.

Although he and his wife are living a good life now, when they got married, he was afraid that things would change if they waited too long, so he brought Bai Jiaojiao into the house too hastily. Not only were there no proper customs, but there wasn't even a banquet.

Bai Shiqing was getting married, and Bai Jiaojiao went home to help prepare the feast. She wasn't particularly envious, after all, being able to be reborn and live with Shen Heng was something that others wouldn't even dare to dream of.

These past two days, Li Shuxian has been forbidden from seeing Bai Shiqing, and he wanders around the yard aimlessly after work.

Li's mother laughed and scolded, "Do you have thorns on your butt? Can't you sit still?"

"My brother is in a hurry to get married!"

Li Shutao is the youngest son in the family. He is eight years younger than Li Shuxian and is only sixteen years old. He is still clueless about getting married, but that doesn't stop him from making a fuss.

"Get out of here! You're not even fully grown yet, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Li Shuxian waved his hand, but it was hard to deny that he was angry and anxious.

“The person will be here in two more days. You can keep them at home and look at them every day. What’s the rush?” said Li’s mother.

"Mom, I don't want to see Bai Shiqing." Li Shuxian stopped, stroking the stone wall in the yard, stubbornly insisting.

Yes, yes, yes.

Li's mother just smiled and remained silent.

Just as the family was enjoying a happy time together, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" With good news on the horizon, Li's mother greeted the guests with a beaming smile.

"Why is it you?"

Upon opening the door and recognizing who it was, Li's mother's face immediately fell.

"Auntie, I heard that Brother Shuxian is getting married to someone else, is that true?"

Huang Yingying's complexion looked worse than it did two months ago. Before, she only looked a little sallow, but now she looked pale.

Li's mother frowned: "So what if it is? What are you doing here?"

"Auntie, your family can't do this. The whole village knows about the last time you brought my brother to our house, and everyone thinks we're together. Now you're just abandoning us. How am I supposed to live like this...?"

"Don't cry in front of my door, you little brat. Who made this rule that just because someone comes to your house once, I have to take you?"

Li's mother spoke faster and in a shrill voice, and Huang Yingying cried even louder upon hearing this.

The neighbors gathered around and heard Huang Yingying sobbing, "But my brother has already taken my body. If he doesn't take responsibility, I'll just kill myself!"

"Huh?" The neighbors who came to watch the commotion gasped in surprise.

Is this even possible?

Li Shuxian had heard the commotion in the yard long ago. He rushed out of the house, his face flushed red, and shouted, "You'll get your mouth torn apart by those little devils if you lie! When did I touch you?"

Li Shuxian had a bad first impression of Huang Yingying, and now that he realized she was a man-eating flower, he was even more anxious and angry!

"Brother Shuxian, you can't deny it... Waaah, you said coming to my house meant you were making a commitment, that we would definitely get married, that's why I gave it to you. Now you're turning your back on me like this, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to prove something like this?"

Huang Yingying sobbed and gasped as she finished speaking. Her frail body swayed precariously, looking utterly pitiful. Everyone present couldn't help but think that if the young girl hadn't been serious enough to say such things, what good would it have done her?

Li Shiqing has four sons to support. If she marries into their family, at most she will have enough to eat and wear, but she will not become rich and powerful. In the future, this little bit of wealth will have to be divided among her four sons.

Huang Yingying was attracted to the Li family's kindness. She believed that once she married into the Li family, they would spend all their money to treat her illness.

Huang Yingying didn't want to let this opportunity slip by, so she devised a plan to offend Li Shuxian and put the entire Li family in her hands.

"How could a young girl falsely accuse you of something like this? Shuxian, you're not usually this kind of kid, how could you do such a despicable thing!"

"Exactly! How are you any different from Yu Wenli? You take a girl and then don't take responsibility. How could your father have given birth to a son like you!"

"Bullshit! Don't I know what kind of person my son is? Huang Yingying, you say my son touched you? Fine, I'll ask you, on what month, on what day, and at what time did you two have sex? My son hasn't taken a day off from work in the past two months, everyone has seen it clearly. You can't possibly say that Shuxian went to your house in the middle of the night and did it with you two in front of your parents, can you?"

Li's mother pulled Li Shuxian back into the yard, not wanting him to have any more contact with this terrifying woman.

As a mother, she knew very well that Li Shuxian was completely devoted to Bai Shiqing and would never be interested in Huang Yingying.

Li's mother's confident remarks also garnered support from many neighbors who were close to the family: "Shuxian's current partner is a hundred times better than Huang Yingying. Shuxian must be bored and has gotten himself into this lawsuit."

Bai Shiqing is physically strong and healthy, full of energy, cheerful and enthusiastic, not to mention beautiful. A girl like her would be a good wife for any family.

Looking at Huang Yingying, although her features are delicate, she is still far inferior to Bai Shiqing. Her body is like a shriveled peanut, her hair is dry and sparse, and she sheds tears with every word she speaks. She is like heaven and earth compared to Bai Shiqing.

There were other voices in the crowd: "What if he took a liking to someone first, then saw Shi Qinghao, and then dumped her?"

That made sense, and Huang Yingying continued, "Auntie, it was the day you brought my older brother to my house. Didn't you and Mom go out? It was just me and Brother Shuxian in the room..."

Huang Yingying didn't finish her sentence, but what she said was so convincing that no one could help but believe it.

Liu Ying had done this once before, and her words were indeed true after verification.

Her success also left people with a preconceived impression, with most people believing that Huang Yingying, like Liu Ying, was a pitiful girl who was deceived by a man.

Li Shuxian has a good reputation, but Yu Wenli wasn't exactly a bad guy in everyone's eyes back then either. You can know a person's face but not their heart; who knows what kind of person Li Shuxian really is inside?

The voices criticizing Li Shuxian grew louder and louder from the crowd, and Li's mother laughed in anger: "Your mother and I have only been in the yard for less than fifteen minutes, and you're telling me some ghost stories?"