He, the matchmaker standing by, saw that she had agreed and smiled widely. She was about to speak in response when she heard her loud words.

"Five taels of silver?!" Matchmaker He stared and exclaimed in surprise.

Li remained silent, but sneered inwardly, "Five taels of silver, no negotiation."

Xie's face darkened for a moment, and she looked at the smug old woman and cursed in her heart.

Matchmaker He hurriedly advised, "Five taels of silver is too much. Who in the village wants to marry a girl for five taels of silver? One tael of silver is enough. It's not a lump of gold..."

Mrs. Li's attitude was extremely firm. No matter what the matchmaker He said, she refused to give in and kept a stern face.

Matchmaker He was about to say something, but Xie raised her hand to block her. She stopped trying to persuade him, but she couldn't help but mutter, "...This is selling your daughter, right?"

Although Mrs. Xie's face was not very good, she felt relieved when she saw the old woman eating.

She nodded and said, "Okay, five taels of silver, let's set the date for the second day of the Lunar New Year."

She made the final decision. Li, who was originally a little proud, looked distorted again after hearing this.

She had been looking at so many people watching, and no matter how ugly her expression was, she didn't turn away. But now when she heard that the person would be taken away on the second day of the New Year, her face became completely gloomy.

"no."

Li refused outright.

Just as matchmaker He was about to say something nice, she heard Li's calm refusal and muttered a few words in her heart.

She had been matchmaking for over a decade, but this was the first time she'd encountered someone so stubborn and indecisive that she could change her mind at any moment...

Li received Xie's warning look and frowned unhappily, but suppressed her anger. She calculated and said, "Let's wait until spring. We can pick a good date in spring. During the New Year, the roads are slippery due to snow, making it difficult to hold a wedding. It's better to wait until the weather warms up in the spring. By the way, give me two taels of silver as a deposit."

Seeing that the purpose of this trip had been achieved, Mrs. Xie stopped pestering him and nodded, agreeing.

Let spring come, there's no need to rush...

When Matchmaker He saw that both parties had reached a consensus, she clapped her hands and laughed happily.

…

After Xie and Matchmaker He left, the villagers outside the courtyard watched the excitement for a long time and finally left with satisfaction...

The atmosphere in the Hua family courtyard was eerily quiet.

Hua Shi stood there for the second half of the night, unable to get a word in, listening to the three women hastily decide on her marriage...

"Grandma, I don't want to get married."

After a while, Hua Shi spoke.

When Li heard her words, she was already furious. Now it was like a firecracker that exploded.

"I don't care whether you want to or not. If I tell you to marry me, you marry me. It's not up to you to decide!"

Li roared breathlessly.

Hua Shi didn't know what Li was thinking. Her subsequent words, half angry and half annoyed, were almost a death sentence for her.

This was a feudal ancient time, and the village placed great emphasis on the patriarchal structure of the clan surname. The younger generations had no say in front of their elders.

Especially for women, their marriage is determined by their parents and matchmakers, and they can't make their own decisions...

Hua Shi's mind was a little confused, and for a moment, her mood was also unusually chaotic.

At first, she was annoyed by Li's discipline and her frequent rage and mood swings. Although she wanted to escape, she knew that it would not be that easy.

Li is her elder. As long as she is still in this huge Shoushan Village, she will never be able to resist Li.

Although she had thought before that getting married was the best way to avoid it, she rejected the idea as soon as it came to her mind.

Not to mention that she didn't know who she was marrying, nor what the situation was like in her husband's family, she herself didn't want to entrust herself to someone just because of Li.

If she marries someone whose values ​​don't align with hers, she'll need her husband's approval to do anything she wants.

Taking the time to think about it makes me feel suffocated.

etc……

If Grandma Xie came to propose marriage, then the person she was going to marry would not be Xie Mingchi, right... ?

Thinking of the few times we met, Xie Mingchi had that look of impatience and undisguised disdain...

Hua Shi: “…”

After scolding Hua Shi, Li suddenly stood up, walked over, picked up the broom on the ground, and hit Hua Xiao and Hua Li who were sitting on the ground.

“Snap! Snap—”

The broom head hit Hua Xiao's back. Before the two siblings could react, Li picked up the broom and beat them.

"Woooo! Woohoo…"

The two people who had finally stopped crying were hit twice by Li and immediately burst into tragic tears.

“Wow! Wow wow wow… Stop hitting me! Milk! Stop hitting me… Wow wow wow… I was wrong!”

Hua Xiao knelt on the ground, pulling Li's broom head with both hands, crying and begging for mercy.

"Wrong? You know you're wrong? Don't you just love to talk nonsense everywhere? You spread rumors about everything! Huh? I told you not to talk too much! I told you not to talk too much!"

Li was so angry that his old face looked ferocious.

Pulling the broom out of her hand, Hua Xiao loosened her grip in pain. Li raised the broom and swung it at her...

"Grandma, what are you doing? Stop hitting me!"

Before Hua Shi could even blink, Mrs. Li took a broom and beat the twins until they cried. The twins curled up on the ground, sobbing loudly.

Hua Shi hurriedly went over and grabbed Li's hand to stop her from hitting anyone else.

It’s really bad…

Before she could react, she was sold out by Li for five taels of silver, and then Li started beating her again...

“Wuwuwu…”

“Wow…”

Hua Xiao and Hua Li hugged each other, and Hua Xiao almost subconsciously protected Hua Li, blocking his wrist that had not yet healed.

One of the exposed arms was bruised and blue from being beaten.

The swollen bloodstains, the thin little arms, were covered with scars, looking somewhat hideous...