All the grievances she had held back for the past three days welled up inside her, and Zhang Xiaohua staggered forward, "Brother Dawei..."
Zhou Dawei smiled politely, "Xiaohua, are you going back to your parents' home? Why are you back alone?"
Zhang Xiaohua felt a sharp pain in her heart, and fighting back tears, she said, "Li Yu doesn't want to come back with me, Brother Dawei, I'm sorry, I regret saying those things to you that day, I..."
"It's too late to regret it now."
Xu Cuicui pulled the carriage over with a smile, "Xiaohua, now that we all have our own families, we should avoid suspicion. You shouldn't talk to my Dawei alone anymore. I won't misunderstand, but I'm afraid your Li family will misunderstand."
These words were like a knife stabbing into Zhang Xiaohua's heart. Even though she was unwilling, it was too late now.
Watching the two men pull the carriage and deliver large and small packages to the Xu family, Zhang Xiaohua's eyes were filled with despair.
The Zhang family, including Mrs. Zhang, were waiting at the door early in the morning.
Seeing her happy, he quickly took the things from her hands, but after looking at them, the smile on his face froze.
"You came back to your parents' home today, and all you brought was a piece of dried-up meat and a packet of brown sugar???"
She even made a fuss about walking through the village, which made the entire Zhang family lose face!
Zhang Xiaohua said bitterly, "That's all he has at home. Mother, the Li family are complete liars!"
After saying that, she burst into tears.
Seeing her crying so miserably, Zhang felt a pang of sympathy and asked, "What happened? What did they lie to you about?"
Zhang Xiaohua took off her clothes, revealing shocking wounds all over her body. Zhang's mother covered her mouth in astonishment.
"Mother, Li Yu is a scoundrel. He torments me endlessly and beats me. Not only that, he also wants me to go back to my parents' home to get my betrothal gifts back. Those betrothal gifts were borrowed by his family. They are all liars!"
Zhang Xiaohua missed Zhou Dawei more and more. Xu Cuicui's clothes and headdress were so much better than hers. How could she have been so blind as to marry into the Li family?
"Fine, fine! That Li woman dared to lie to me, I'll settle the score with her!" Zhang went to the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and stormed out.
At the Zhou family home, Qin made two sets of clothes for Zhou Erqian and also gave him some loose silver coins.
"Once you're in the city, just work hard under Xu Zhenzhen and stop thinking about anything else, understand?"
After returning from Wuzhou, Zhou Erqian became exceptionally obedient, as if he had grown up overnight.
"I know, Mom. I will work hard to achieve good results. Mom, I will make sure you all enjoy a good life. Then our whole family will move to Wuzhou City."
Qin pinched him, "What nonsense are you talking about? Your father is still here. If I die, I'll have to go and join your father. I won't run around. As long as you're successful, that's all that matters."
Zhou Erqian nodded, then turned his gaze to the little guy. He took something out of his pocket, his expression unnatural.
"You brat, this is for you."
Sisi glanced at it and saw it was a wooden comb. She was completely confused. "Second Brother, why did you give me a comb?"
"Didn't you ask me to make this for you last time? Here, take it and comb your hair properly; it looks like a bird's nest."
He looked disgusted, but his eyes quietly reddened.
Sisi touched her head, puzzled. She wasn't a chicken, so why would she have a chicken coop on her head?
"Mom, I'm leaving." Zhou Erqian carried the package and walked away quickly, afraid that if he was too slow, he would miss her.
Qin wiped away her tears, "This child, it feels like something is missing from the house now that he's suddenly gone, I feel uneasy."
The old lady laughed, "Isn't there Sisi and Lao Wu? Besides, the eldest son and his new wife are here too. Maybe you'll be holding your grandson soon."
Qin then stopped crying and smiled.
When Zhang arrived at the Li family's house, she cleaved their table in two with a single stroke, and Li's usually kind face instantly changed.
"You crazy woman, what do you want to do?"
"Pah! A bunch of heartless bastards! They even tricked me into marriage! They said such nice things before, like they wanted to keep my little Hua from suffering in the Zhou family. I was blind to listen to them!"
Zhang pulled Xiaohua's arm away. "Look at how your son beat my daughter! And he wants my daughter to come back and ask for a dowry, saying that everything was borrowed. You old fool, how dare you lie to us?"
"I was just saying that, what does it have to do with me if you fall for it?" Li rolled her eyes. "So what if it was borrowed? You didn't even ask if it was borrowed. My son is such a good man, it's your daughter's good fortune to marry him!"
Zhang spat in her face and lunged at him, baring her teeth and claws. "You wretched woman, you tricked my daughter into coming to your house to suffer! I'll fight you to the death!"
Li was no pushover either; the two started arguing, and Li Yu, hearing the commotion, angrily grabbed Xiao Hua and started hitting her.
"You bitch, I told you to go back and get the betrothal gifts, and you dare bring your mother here to beat my mother? I'll beat you to death!"
Zhang Xiaohua curled up on the ground calling for her mother. Upon seeing this, Zhang Shi suddenly pushed Li Shi down and pounced on Li Yu, grabbing him and slapping him repeatedly.
"I'll teach you to hit my daughter!"
"Stop right now!!!" Li stood behind the two men, holding a kitchen knife, her face flushed.
Zhang Xiaohua trembled in fright, "Mom, she's going to kill someone, she's going to kill someone!"
"What do you want to do?" Zhang didn't let go. "Let me tell you, if you dare to cut us, I'll strangle your son!"
"What's the use of you making a scene now? Zhang Xiaohua is already my son's woman. Do you still want a divorce?" Li said confidently.
Even if her son gets divorced, outsiders will at most say he's a charming womanizer with a bad temper.
Her daughter is different; she's like a used piece of junk, destined to never get married!
Zhang's face paled. "You mean you just want me to let this go? What right do you have to bully our family?"
"I didn't bully your family. Did I say anything? You were the one who went back on your word and wanted to marry your daughter to Li Yu. I never said this wasn't a loan. You were the one who was stupid, greedy, and didn't ask clearly. Who's to blame?"
Li snorted, "Let me tell you, either you apologize to me, or I'll have my son divorce your daughter! Ha! Then your daughter will never be able to get married in this lifetime!"
Zhang Xiaohua's face turned ashen.
Zhang sat on the ground and cried bitterly, "What a tragedy!"
If only she hadn't been greedy for those ten taels of silver, she would have been so much better off marrying into the Zhou family!
In the end, the matter ended with Zhang apologizing. Once a woman is divorced, she is despised by everyone, and she could not let her daughter be scorned by others.
The village chief was preoccupied with selling the new grain, so he rushed to the Zhou family's house after lunch.
“Grandma Zhou, I happen to know a grain buyer in the city. He can guarantee a higher price than others. Once he buys your land, the yield will be at least several thousand catties, which will be worth at least ten thousand taels of silver.”
The old lady remained calm and asked, "Why would you tell our family about such a good thing?"
The village chief was a little embarrassed. "It's not just your family that's being told; everyone in the village will be talking about it. It's just that your family has a good harvest, which accounts for the majority of the profits. Besides, your family now has a horse-drawn cart, and we're thinking of borrowing your cart when the harvest comes."
He wasn't selfish; he just felt guilty about things he had done in the past and always wanted to make amends.
"Is the boss reliable?" Qin asked.
"That's reliable, that's reliable. Last year's old grain is long gone. People in the city are tightening their belts and waiting for this year's new grain. Our grain is growing so fast that we'll harvest it before the other villages and we're sure to get a good price!"
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