Wang Lan was furious. "You're talking nonsense! A biological child is a biological child, and a stepmother is a stepmother. How can they be the same? Look at Sister Hu in the village. She fled to Wangjia Village at the age of sixteen and married a man in the village, becoming his stepmother. As a result, after her husband died, the children she raised kicked her out. Now she's all alone in a thatched hut in the south of the village. She doesn't have a single good thing to her."

Sister Hu is now a 63-year-old woman. She used to be blind, and devoted herself to raising several ungrateful children. Every day she embroidered handkerchiefs to sell and buy rice and flour for her husband's three children from his previous marriage. She herself suffered from hunger and cold but could not bear to eat white rice and flour or wear an extra layer of clothing. Now she is blind, her eyes are really blind. Embroidery ruined her eyes. She can't distinguish between people and animals from a distance of 3 meters. Her children felt that she was no longer useful and kicked her out. Last winter, during a heavy snowfall, the thatched house where Sister Hu lived collapsed under the weight of the snow and she was almost killed. Fortunately, she survived. She was injured and lay in bed for ten days to half a month without anyone visiting her.

"Oh dear! Why are you so stubborn!" Li Fengxian also began to get impatient. "Sister Hu is only so because she's an outsider and doesn't have any family to back her up. Lu Yu is different. You three men in the Lu family, are you afraid she'll be bullied by her husband's family?"

Having many brothers and sisters in one's natal family is indeed important, but a married daughter is going to live in another family. If she doesn't choose a good husband's family, even if her natal family is very powerful and can control her husband's family, the woman will still suffer from her mother-in-law's torment. Married women must obey their husbands and be filial to their husbands. Even if the natal family is large and powerful, it won't make a difference, as they will always find ways to suppress the new bride.

Wang Lan broke free from Li Fengxian's hand, saying, "I do not agree to this marriage."

Li Fengxian stood silently to the side and said to Wang Gui, "Say something! That's your niece, and you're her elder too."

Wang Gui tapped his pipe on the corner of the table, saying, "My sister is someone else's mother. If her mother doesn't agree, what right do I, as her uncle, have to interfere? You should mind your own business."

"I'm going to take care of this." Li Fengxian chased after her out the door. She had already received twenty coins as a tip, and if the marriage went through, she could probably get another thirty or fifty coins. "Little sister-in-law, your Lu Yu isn't young anymore. If she doesn't get married soon, the government will arrange a marriage for her. If she ends up with a gambling bastard, he might bankrupt your Lu family. Besides, a girl of her age who isn't married, is there some hidden illness..."

Wang Lan was furious. She turned around and started hitting Li Fengxian. She was a hard worker and had a strong hand. She punched Li Fengxian several times. Li Fengxian yelled, "You hit me! Wang Lan, you crazy woman! I'm trying to find a husband for your daughter, and you hit me! Aren't you afraid that your Lu Yu will be unwanted?"

The commotion was all about how bad Lu Yu was. By now, people had gathered around, some trying to break up the fight, some just watching the excitement, and others asking who they were going to marry Lu Yu to.

Wang Lan's face flushed with anger. "It didn't say who it was for! I didn't agree."

If rumors spread, true or false, Lu Yu will ultimately be the one affected. What decent family would marry a girl with a bad reputation? Li Fengxian is so malicious!

Li Fengxian started shouting and making a scene, plopping down on the ground as if to throw a tantrum, yelling, "You heartless bastard! Your own daughter won't get married, so you come and beat me up..."

Wang Lan rushed forward again and slapped Li Fengxian across the face, yelling, "How dare you spout such nonsense!"

The two started fighting again.

The village chief arrived quickly and stopped the two, saying, "What's going on? Two old women fighting and pulling each other's hair at their age, aren't you ashamed? Tell me, what happened?"

Li Fengxian complained, "I kindly introduced Lu Yu to the marriage, but my sister-in-law is arrogant and thinks that her Lu Yu is a fairy and not good enough for the man I introduced to her. So, she beat me up."

They all grew up in the village, so who is any better than whom? How can she look down on the men in the village? Who will dare to marry her in the future!

Li Fengxian was slapped twice across the face, her headscarf was ripped off, and several strands of her hair were pulled out. She looked quite disheveled. "Your Lu Yu is really so noble. She's so old, yet she stays at home all day, doing nothing, and expects her nephew and niece-in-law to take care of her in her old age!"

The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment. They had indeed rarely seen Lu Yu working in the past two years. Some people even started gossiping that the Lu family had raised Lu Yu so well. They thought she was a precious and valuable person, but who knew if she was just lazy? What was the point of marrying a lazy woman? To treat her like an ancestor?

Wang Lan wasn't much better off; her eyes were bruised and swollen. Hearing Li Fengxian's complaint made her even angrier. If Lu Yu really ruined her reputation today, she would fight Li Fengxian to the death!

"You can't say anything nice from your dog's mouth. What kind of people are you talking about?" Wang Lan complained back. "A widower with three children from a previous marriage. You want my daughter to be someone's stepmother? What are you thinking!"

Li Fengxian, having her thoughts exposed, retorted, "So what if he's a widower? He's rich!"

"Pah! If he's so good, why don't you marry your eldest granddaughter off to him!" Wang Lan almost vomited blood. "His money is his own. What benefits did he give you that you have to ruin my daughter like this?"

The village chief also understood the whole story. "Wang Gui's family, that's enough. Marriages are decided by the parents. If the parents don't want the girl to marry, are you going to sell her off?"

Then he said to Wang Lan, "The child is of age, it's time to find him a good match. Aren't you busy in the fields? Everyone go to the fields. Wang Qing's family, why don't you hurry up and harvest the wheat on the south side of the mountain? Xi Lai, yours is almost done too, why don't you hurry up and clean up the threshing ground? Where do you put the harvested wheat?"

Wang Lan returned limping. Lu Yunxing was startled when he saw her. "Grandma, what happened to you? Did you fall?"

Wang Lan waved her hand, went back inside to change her clothes, wash her face and comb her hair, and tidied herself up. "It's okay. Have you cut the grass? You need to feed the rabbits well so they can eat meat often in the future. Take them to the county town for your mother and the others. Buy them everything you need."

Lu Yunxing agreed to everything and circled Wang Lan twice. "Grandma, are you really alright? Should we go see a doctor? A broken bone is no small matter."

"It's alright, hurry up and get busy." Wang Lan was extremely worried. Lu Yu really should have scolded her, but how could she find someone in such a short time? She could only sigh and take the cloth to find someone. She was looking for a widow in the village who had very good craftsmanship, named Li Zhen. Li Zhen was also a woman with a tragic life.

Li Zhen was a girl from the neighboring Lijiaba village. Her aunt had married into Wangjia Village and was living a good life. When she returned to her parents' home, she and her younger brother discussed it and decided to find a man from Wangjia Village to marry their niece. The man was a hardworking man with an elderly mother at home. He had a wife and a daughter, and their life was gradually getting better. Unfortunately, fate was unkind. The man was killed when he was working as a porter at the county dock. The boatman paid eight taels of silver in compensation.

With the husband gone, only three orphans and a widow remained. Their lives became increasingly difficult, and they couldn't help anyone in the village with their problems. Gradually, fewer and fewer people became close to them.