The next day, at 10:30 a.m., Chen Xihua brought Xiao Liu home after practicing Falun Gong.
The eldest sister, Chen Chunhua, was packing her things; she had to catch the bus back to Jiangshi Middle School after lunch!
Just then, a few steps behind Chen Xiaoliu as he entered the house, before he could even close the door, Aunt Zhao from the Lü family in the residential area walked in!
"Chunhua, are you home? Haven't your parents returned yet?"
Aunt Zhao was in her forties or fifties. She had triangular eyes, yellow and dull skin, and yellow teeth when she spoke.
She was very enthusiastic as soon as she entered the door and tried to grab Chen Chunhua's hand, but Chen Xihua, who reacted quickly, pulled her a few steps away.
Chen Chunhua looked up and saw the person who came. She greeted him with a slight smile, and then her expression returned to normal.
It wasn't that she didn't want to be warm and polite to the guests, but this Aunt Zhao from the Lü family was a shrew and a gossip who used to point fingers at the sisters.
Moreover, what was circulating in the family quarters yesterday was that her son, Lü Weijie, beat his wife!
I wondered what business Aunt Zhao had at our house at this hour? But I still asked politely.
"Aunt Zhao! Do you need to see my parents? Please wait a moment, they should be back soon!"
"It's nothing, I was just looking for you! Chunhua, didn't your mother arrange a marriage for you with the Zhao family? Don't you want it?" After Aunt Zhao finished speaking, she realized that none of the Chen sisters were listening to her seriously.
She felt a little embarrassed because he didn't seem interested in the Zhao family's marriage proposal.
Do these Chen family members have any manners? If it weren't for her nephew from her maternal family, she wouldn't even bother going to Li Yumei's house. A bunch of worthless maids with no manners!
It turns out that the Zhao family, whom Li Yumei had previously arranged to marry Chen Chunhua, and the manager of the Nanqu Farmers Market in the county, was none other than Aunt Zhao's younger brother.
The man who wanted to marry Chen Chunhua was Zhao Zhigang, Aunt Zhao's eldest nephew, who said he had just returned from military service after a leg injury!
Last night, my brother, Manager Zhao, went to Aunt Zhao's house and said that Li Yumei had refused his marriage proposal to his son yesterday afternoon.
At the time, Li Yumei refused to say why, only saying that it was inappropriate.
Since the two families hadn't officially finalized the deal, Manager Zhao didn't want to press for a reason. That's why he went to the Lü family to ask his eldest sister, Aunt Zhao!
Manager Zhao wanted to find his older sister, Aunt Zhao, to help his son persuade the Chen family to facilitate the marriage.
His son, Zhao Zhigang, had met Chen Chunhua once before and thought she was gentle, kind, and good-tempered. He only wanted to marry her!
As for why they were in such a hurry and why the bride price was five thousand yuan, it was because Zhao Zhigang had been discharged from the army.
Zhao Zhigang served in the army for over a year, but was discharged after being disciplined for serious mistakes. In reality, his leg was not injured; it was merely an excuse used by the Zhao family.
There were others who went to join the army with him. New recruits are not allowed to go home to visit their families for two years, and no one knows this yet!
The Zhao family was afraid that their fellow villagers who had gone to serve in the army would talk about what Zhao Zhigang had done in the army, making it difficult for him to get married. That's why they were in a hurry to arrange a marriage and offered a high dowry of five thousand yuan.
They thought that as long as the bride price was high enough, they could get engaged or even married soon!
Moreover, Manager Zhao heard from the eldest sister who married into the Lü family that the Chen family had many daughters, and Li Yumei disliked them and was very greedy.
That's why the Zhao family took the initiative to approach Li Yumei, saying they wanted to get married, and even swore they would have a dowry of five thousand yuan, and no dowry was required!
But Manager Zhao didn't expect that Li Yumei would go back on her word and come to the farmers' market yesterday to tell him that the marriage was off because her daughter needed to go to school!
Aunt Zhao was also puzzled after hearing this, and said she would help ask the Chen family. She knew Li Yumei's family quite well; why wouldn't they agree to such a high bride price?
She also knew about her nephew's situation and was worried that he wouldn't be able to find a wife in the future.
Moreover, Aunt Zhao knew better than anyone that her two nephews had bad tempers. She wanted to get married before many people knew, so even if it got out later, would the wives back out? They were all family, had been slept with, and had children, so they would just silently endure it.
Just like her own son, he also has a bad temper, but outsiders don't know that, otherwise this daughter-in-law wouldn't be willing to marry into the Lü family now.
Once a woman gets married, she has to accept it obediently; it's not so easy for her to back out!
My eldest nephew, Zhao Zhigang, joined the army a few years after graduating from junior high school, when he was almost twenty years old. This was because he and my younger nephew, Zhao Zhiyong, often fought and argued.
Aunt Zhao's brother could no longer control his eldest son, so he sent him to join the army. Unexpectedly, he returned in less than two years.
Now, neither of my two nephews goes to school anymore. They spend their days loitering around the farmers' market, doing nothing, and each of them is accompanied by a few thugs who walk around the stalls trying to collect protection money.
Thankfully, her younger brother found out and stopped her, otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep his job as manager! Those two unruly nephews, can't they just shut up?! Aunt Zhao couldn't help but want to give them a good beating!
"It's true, your mother has already arranged a marriage for you. It's my eldest nephew!" Aunt Zhao said again.
"A marriage proposal? Me? No way! Who is the Zhao family? Impossible! Neither my parents have ever mentioned it!" Chen Chunhua became even more anxious upon hearing this. How could her mother have arranged a marriage for her? Just yesterday, her fifth sister told their parents not to make decisions on their own!
"Big sister, don't worry! It must have been a failed attempt, and my mother went to refuse! That's why Aunt Zhao came to our house; she's trying to trick you!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xihua immediately understood what was going on. It must have been that Li Yumei had spoken with someone yesterday and decided not to consider marriage, so now that the other party had come knocking on their door!
As expected, this is no good marriage; Li Yumei is always causing trouble!
"Aunt Zhao, what is your relationship with the Zhao family? Where is your home? My parents definitely have no intention of arranging a marriage. They have never mentioned it to my eldest sister. In fact, my mother said that they will wait until my eldest sister graduates from university before considering marriage!"
Chen Xihua listened and felt that the Zhao family sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place them. However, she quickly spoke up to state the Chen family's position to avoid being gossiped about by those with ulterior motives in the future.
"Yes, Sister Zhao, I already made it clear to your brother yesterday that our two families are not suitable!" At this moment, Li Yumei's somewhat shrill voice came into the room.
When Chen Lao Er and his wife returned, Li Yumei, who hadn't even entered the house yet, heard Aunt Zhao's words in the corridor. She immediately shouted out in alarm, afraid that if she was a step too slow, Xiao Wu would hit Xiao Bao!
At this moment, several women in the residential area who usually loved to gossip and ask questions, as well as Li Juan from the Wang family next door, all gathered at the Chen family's door after hearing the commotion!
“Yu Mei, it’s good that you’re back! Why is it inappropriate? My nephew, Zhi Gang, is handsome and his family is wealthy. They can offer five thousand yuan as a bride price! He can stay with your family!”
When Aunt Zhao saw Li Yumei, she became even more insistent, and kept praising how wonderful her family was!
"Zhao Zhigang? Zhao Zhiyong's older brother?" Chen Jinhua, the second sister, suddenly asked!
That Zhao Zhiyong, I fought with him when I was in elementary school, and he was a coward who got beaten down by Xiao Wu's sister!
"Yes! Jinhua also knows my nephew Zhao Zhiyong from my maternal family? Then our two families are truly destined to meet!"
Aunt Zhao looked at Chen Jinhua with a smile and said enthusiastically, "Look, Yu Mei, your second son knows my nephew from my mother's side. They're destined to become in-laws!"
"Heh, we know each other, but we're always fighting, how could we not know each other!" Chen Jinhua said to Aunt Zhao with a disdainful and blunt look.
"What nonsense are you talking about? You girl, you're always fighting, and you dare to talk about my nephew!" Aunt Zhao was immediately displeased.
"Sister Zhao, if there's nothing else, we're about to have lunch. My eldest daughter, Chunhua, isn't getting engaged yet; she still needs to prepare for university entrance exams!"
Chen Lao Er made his stance clear: he would kick them out. As the man of the family, he still had to step in and make things clear about his daughter's marriage!
"Zhao Zhigang? He served in the army for less than two years and just got discharged?" Chen Xihua suddenly asked.
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