The group stood on the official road, but it did not dampen their enthusiasm for watching the spectacle.
After Old Lady Li finished speaking, everyone present fell silent. Who would give so much money as a betrothal gift for their daughter?
That's twenty taels of silver. An ordinary family could live on that for four or five years if they were frugal. It seems the Zhen family is quite wealthy. I wonder how much grain was loaded onto that donkey cart.
The Zhen family's donkey cart instantly attracted the attention of many strangers.
Realizing she had misspoke, Old Lady Li quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "That was eight years ago, the money my third son earned fighting in the war!"
Thinking of her youngest son, Old Mrs. Li was overcome with grief and covered her face, weeping bitterly. The others' attention also turned away from Zhen's family.
If a soldier could receive so much compensation for fighting, he would probably be dead by now. The Zhen family is really clueless; they used their son's life-saving money to buy a wife with such a temperament.
As soon as Zhen Lao Er returned to the donkey cart, he looked dejected and guilty. He knew that his wife had caused the trouble and made his mother cry. He was so angry that he took off his shoes and hit Li Zhenzhen with them.
"You heartless woman, how could I have fallen for your tricks? I truly regret marrying you, I might as well beat you to death."
Since Li Zhenzhen married into the Zhen family, Zhen Fuyou has always doted on her. She has never suffered such grievances.
Before she could wipe it properly, Zhen Lao Er hit her a few times with his shoe, making her scream in pain: "You, Zhen Lao Er, I bore your children and you dare to hit me!"
"Today I'm going to beat you to death, you wicked thing! You've always spoiled me by giving money to your family, and now you're even ganging up with your Li family to bully your husband's family. Who gave you the nerve?"
The onlookers, eager for a good show, started jeering: "You can't spoil this woman; she only listens after you beat her."
"That's right, that's right, I think it wasn't enough of a beating, my wife..."
Apart from some men fanning the flames, the other women all looked on with pity, but dared not speak up to stop it. Which of them hadn't been beaten by their husbands in private?
They had long been accustomed to these things and did nothing but offer charity and pity.
Zhen Wanwan was stunned by her second brother's behavior. He usually seemed to have a good personality, but how could he act like a madman when he started fighting?
Seeing Li Zhenzhen's painful screams, she began to realize how difficult the world was for women, and was also extremely grateful that she had not married.
Currently, there is no legal definition of domestic violence. There are even cases where parents-in-law beat their daughters-in-law to death and then secretly bury them in a hole. As long as the people don't report it to the authorities, the government won't pursue the matter, and ordinary people are afraid to report it to the authorities easily.
Moreover, the emperors of this dynasty valued filial piety, and a single word of disrespect from an elder in the family could land you in prison for life.
"Second brother, stop hitting her! Second sister-in-law is about to faint!"
Zhen Wanwan tried to stop Zhen Lao Er from making a move, but her second brother wouldn't listen to her at all.
Little did she know that this touched a raw nerve with her second brother; the third son of the Zhen family was a source of lifelong guilt for him.
Seeing the bruises and welts on Li Zhenzhen's skin, which were visible to the naked eye, she couldn't bear it. Li Wangshi, with tears streaming down her face, grabbed the hand of Zhen Lao Er who was hitting her.
"Waaaaah... Stop hitting me, stop hitting me."
"I'll kill you! I won't harm anyone else..."
Zhen Lao Er raised his shoe high, aiming it at Li Zhenzhen's head, ready to strike. If he really did strike, it might really kill her.
"Second brother, stop! You'll be responsible for someone's death."
Before Zhen Wanwan could finish speaking, she was already standing in front of Li Zhenzhen, and after waiting for a long time, she didn't feel the shoe sole hit her back.
"A real man shouldn't lay a hand on a woman! Put it down right now, or I'll kick your whole family out of the group if you dare lay another hand on her."
The rough voice of Lin, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), rang in her ears, and Zhen Wanwan's high-pitched breath eased by half.
It turned out that it was Chief Escort Lin who had grabbed her second brother's hand.
At this moment, Li Zhenzhen lay on the ground, disoriented and with her hair in a mess. It was unclear whether she was injured.
Sigh~
She realized she had become the sinner and was probably already resented by her second sister-in-law, Zhen Wanwan thought to herself.
The second son of the Zhen family finally came to his senses, realized he had done something stupid, and pulled Li Zhenzhen away.
Knowing that they just wanted to pack their things, Zhen Wanwan finally felt relieved.
Li Zhenzhen neither cried nor made a fuss, and readily accepted the situation. She knew the reason for the bride price and what taboos the Zhen family had.
She was also afraid that the second son of the Zhen family really wanted to beat her to death.
With tears still streaming down her face, Grandma Li bent down to pick up the straw hat and handed it to Zhen Wanwan.
"Mother, you..." Zhen Wanwan didn't know how to comfort her mother. Seeing her increasingly aged hair, she felt more and more guilty.
She will definitely take good care of Old Lady Li from now on, and treat her as her own mother from a past life.
Zhen Wanwan hesitated, afraid that she wouldn't be able to comfort Old Lady Li, and also afraid that she would be reminded of her third brother.
In the original owner's memories, her memory of her third brother was vague. She vaguely remembered that he was a gentle person, and although he had never been to school, he had a scholarly air about him.
Zhen Wanwan had some doubts. Logically speaking, her mother loved her third brother so much that she would definitely not want him to join the army and go to the battlefield.
Not to mention using the third brother's military pay to help the second brother get married, there's probably something fishy going on here!
However, the most important thing now is to escape the famine.
It was a dark and windy night. After walking all day, I could finally sit down and rest my feet.
Under the cover of night, Zhen Wanwan secretly finished her dinner. Now that she was pregnant, no one could tell whether she had eaten too much or not.
Because they had eaten a few meat pies at noon thanks to her, Zhen's family didn't cook porridge for dinner, and just ate a few bites of wild vegetable buns to get by.
The moon is exceptionally round tonight, and the sky is filled with stars; tomorrow will surely be another scorching hot day.
After everyone finished dinner, they each found a flat spot to use as a bed, but Zhen Wanwan was unable to fall asleep.
She tried to channel her consciousness into the space, but it remained unchanged. The prominent floor-to-ceiling display screen was still placed at the main entrance, and the outside of the supermarket was pitch black, with nothing visible.
She came in to look for medical supplies, because getting sick in ancient times was no laughing matter.
And since the baby is due in just two months, we need to prepare as early as possible.
Zhen Wanwan touched her belly. Although she could get painkillers during childbirth, she was still very scared.
She thought with a touch of regret, "If only I could travel directly to after I've given birth."
But she also understood that it was impossible at the moment.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that there were many more different kinds of things on the supermarket shelves.
Especially in the children's products area, there are some antique-style baby swaddles and cute little hats with tiger heads.
Is it possible that she hadn't noticed it before?
Oh well, what's done is done. The space won't just disappear on its own, will it?
After picking and choosing for a while, Zhen Wanwan placed the items she would need for the next few days at the cashier, so that it would be convenient to use them when needed.
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