Chapter 78 Who would dare to propose marriage now?
Some people chuckled in the corner, while others spoke sarcastically to their faces, calling them "a family of vixens who seduce men."
The villagers secretly called Zhou Wenjuan "Big Fox".
They were also referred to as "little vixens".
Even when their children go to school, they are pointed at and gossiped about by other villagers.
The day before yesterday, the two of them couldn't hold back any longer and went to Zhou Wenjuan's house to find out the truth.
As a result, Zhou Wenjuan scolded him harshly.
Zhou Wenjuan raised her hand and slapped them twice across the face, making their ears ring.
"Are you all just bored and have nothing better to do than meddle in everything? Who I associate with is none of your business! I'm beyond your control!"
They ran back, covering their faces, filled with shame and resentment, tears streaming down their faces.
He hated Lu Weidong to the core.
If he hadn't sneaked into the Zhou family's house in the middle of the night and been caught, how could the whole village have known about it?
If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been treated coldly by my neighbors when I went out, and I would have had to keep my head down even when buying salt.
So, how could he possibly have a pleasant expression when he saw Li Fangfang?
This is clearly a family, and they are the ones who brought this trouble upon themselves!
“Xiaohua,” Li Fangfang wiped the sweat from her forehead and forced a smile, trying to soften her tone, “Is your uncle at your house now? He hasn’t come back all day, and everyone at home is worried sick.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Cao Xiaohua's expression changed immediately.
She flung open the door abruptly, her voice rising sharply.
"My uncle lives in my house? Are you out of your mind, old lady?!"
After saying that, he kicked the door shut with a loud bang.
She was already upset and confused by the whole thing, her mind a complete mess.
Unexpectedly, Li Fangfang actually came to our door in person, shouting incessantly.
Not to mention Lu Weidong, even Zhou Wenjuan hasn't been seen since dawn.
There was no one to be found inside or outside the house, and even the stove was cold.
Li Fangfang was blocked outside the door, her face flushed with anger, and she stomped her feet and cursed a few unpleasant words.
Before leaving, he spat a mouthful of phlegm toward Zhou Wenjuan's door, muttering "shameless thing."
Then he turned his head and walked away angrily with short, clumsy steps.
Cao Xiaohua was so angry that her chest felt tight and she couldn't breathe. She felt like a deflated balloon and staggered back to the main room. She sat down in a chair and felt uncomfortable.
Who is it?
Cao Xiaoli had just returned from the outhouse, her trousers still rolled up to her knees. As she brushed the mud off her shoes, she casually asked...
While panting heavily, Cao Xiaohua recounted in broken sentences what Li Fangfang had done to cause trouble earlier.
"broken!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Xiaoli's face turned pale instantly.
But as soon as I stood up, my legs went weak and I cried out in pain.
He squatted back down, wincing in pain.
Cao Xiaohua quickly reached out to support her, her brows furrowed: "Xiaoli, what happened? Did you fall?"
"Sis, I'm fine! My legs are just numb... But Mom... could she really have eloped with Lu Weidong?"
Last night, just as it got dark, she seemed to vaguely hear a man's voice coming from her mother's room, low and intermittent.
She didn't pay much attention at the time, assuming she had misheard.
But this morning, I haven't seen a trace of Mom.
No breakfast was made, and the yard was unusually quiet.
In addition, Li Fangfang searched everywhere for Lu Weidong, even causing a scene at his doorstep.
Putting all these clues together, there's only one explanation.
The two must have arranged it in private and fled overnight!
The two sisters exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with surprise and unease. Without saying a word, they immediately turned away.
He practically stumbled and rushed into Zhou Wenjuan's room.
When I opened the door, the room was not messy at all; the clothes were neatly folded and placed on the bed.
The cabinet doors were all closed properly, and even the bed sheets were laid out neatly.
"Xiaoli, are we overthinking this?"
Cao Xiaohua looked around, and everything in the room was still in its original place.
Even the pillows on the kang (a heated brick bed) hadn't been touched, and nothing was missing; it didn't seem like they had fled overnight at all.
But Cao Xiaoli had sharp eyes and immediately noticed a large bowl on the bedside table.
It's made of rough porcelain, with a small chip on the edge, and the style is old-fashioned; it's clearly not the kind you'd use at home.
"Sis, whose bowl is this?"
She pointed to the bowl, her voice trembling slightly.
The moment the words left my mouth, I already understood seven or eight parts of it.
That bowl looks unfamiliar; it definitely can't be from my own family.
It was most likely brought by the man who came last night; perhaps he drank some water and left it behind.
Thinking of this, her eyes suddenly turned cold.
"It's good that she really ran off with someone!"
Cao Xiaoli said through gritted teeth, her voice low.
"To avoid embarrassing ourselves in the village every day, and making us all the subject of gossip and pointing fingers!"
These past two days, they've been the subject of gossip wherever they go.
But Zhou Wenjuan never thought about them when she did things; she only cared about her own happiness.
He didn't care at all how embarrassing it was for his two daughters in public.
Unfortunately, my grandparents passed away early, leaving no adult in the family who could make decisions.
The two sisters had to shoulder everything on their own.
Zhou Wenjuan always complained that the two girls were girls, saying they couldn't be raised properly and would be useless if they got married.
He also often said, "Girls will belong to someone else's family sooner or later, so it's no use raising them well."
Once my two daughters leave, I know I won't be able to keep this house.
Sooner or later, it will be completely divided up by Cao's greedy uncles, leaving not a single tile behind.
Cao Xiaohua gritted her teeth, nodded emphatically, and her eyes showed stubbornness.
“I think so too! At worst, we can both find sons-in-law to live with us! We’re surnamed Cao, why should we let outsiders take away the house that Dad worked so hard to leave us!”
She became more and more agitated as she spoke.
"That Zhou Wenjuan, doing such a shameless thing, washing another man's underwear in broad daylight! Anyone who gets involved with her will be ashamed to face others! It's better that she's gone, saving us from having to see her face every day and getting annoyed!"
The two are twins who grew up together and are very close. They can understand each other's thoughts with just a glance.
"With Zhou Wenjuan making such a scene, I doubt any decent man will even give us a second glance anymore!"
Cao Xiaoli was in low spirits, and her voice trembled slightly.
"Our reputation was already bad, and now this has happened again. Who would dare to propose marriage to us?"
Cao Xiaohua also sighed softly, gazing at the setting sun on the horizon with a somewhat dazed look: "Sigh, who can say otherwise... But what can we do? This world is inherently unfair."
"Don't worry, we don't have to rely on men to make a living. We have hands and feet, how can we starve? At worst, we can farm, raise chickens, and do odd jobs. We can live with dignity and be more respectable than anyone else!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Xiaoli's eyes reddened, and she immediately threw herself into Cao Xiaohua's arms, bursting into tears.
"Sister... if only Dad were still here..."
She sobbed, her voice broken and intermittent.
“From childhood to adulthood, they always made fun of us for not having a father, pointing fingers and making sarcastic remarks behind our backs. We finally grew up, and everyone forgot about it and no one mentioned it anymore... But now... Now Zhou Wenjuan has done something shameful again, and we have become the laughing stock of the whole town again!”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
