Chapter 18: Denounce the poacher
Who is this? Every word he says stinks like a fart. Can he even speak human language?
Fortunately, he was not the only one who was annoyed. Li Jinju in the room seemed to be very angry after hearing this and immediately retorted:
"Would you like to come into my kitchen and take a look? I cooked yellow croaker and prawns today. Oh, and I have a bag of dried dragonhead fish, enough to last for a month. He didn't come here to ask for melons at the right time. I wanted to eat seafood, so I asked him to bring it over. Don't think of it the other way around!"
"Great!" Liang Ziqiang didn't expect that his future mother-in-law would defend him like this.
But the woman did not give up after being scolded. She just snorted and said in a contemptuous tone: "You bought him off with a few small fish and shrimps? Let me ask you, they have been dating for more than a year, right? Why is their family dragging their feet and not paying the bride price until now? They are poor and can't afford the bride price. They plan to drag it out until my niece becomes a big girl who can't get married, and then she has to marry him for free!"
Outside the house, Liang Ziqiang's face darkened when he heard this. Not only was this unpleasant to hear, but it was also heartbreaking. Because he had no money for the bride price, this was indeed the truth...
This time, even Li Jinju seemed unable to find any excuse to refute her.
When Liang Ziqiang heard the words "niece Xiang Bei", he vaguely guessed who the woman was.
The woman took advantage of Li Jinju's silence and immediately started to clamor again: "Marry a man to have clothes to wear and food to eat. Marry the right man and your family will benefit! What are you trying to achieve by promising my niece Xiangbei to a family that even has to rent a house? This is not the first time I have mentioned the situation of my third sister's son to you. Their Longyue Village is a rich village, richer than any other village in the surrounding area, let alone the Pomwang Village!"
My third sister's family is considered the best in Longyue Village. Xiao Liang is afraid that he can't even compare with them! Every year, the number of people who come to my third sister's house to propose marriage to her son is so large that they can break the door frame!"
"With such a mouth of yours, it's a pity that you don't go and eat the matchmaker's food!" Li Jinju was at a loss for words and had to retort.
After hearing this, Liang Ziqiang had already determined who the woman was. The wife of Chen Dagang's second brother, Chen Xiangbei's second aunt, seemed to be called Liu Mei? After being confronted by Li Jinju, Liu Mei complained:
"You think I'm lying? That's really unfair to me. Longyue Village isn't that far away. You and Brother Dagang can go there one day to see if every family in the village has built a small red brick building. The largest two-story red brick building belongs to my third sister! If my nephew hadn't come to see me half a year ago and happened to see Xiang Bei, he would have married another beautiful girl long ago.
Anyway, Xiao Liang's family is not sincere now, so it's just a matter of talking about it. Marrying my nephew is a good thing for Xiang Bei and your family. You won't be dragged down by Xiao Liang for the rest of your life, and you will regret it when the time comes!"
After hearing this, Liang Ziqiang had already walked to the gate even at the slowest pace. He could no longer continue to watch.
He simply pushed open the half-open door, called out "Mom" loudly, and strode into the house.
Li Jinju and Liu Mei, who were standing in the main room, were suddenly embarrassed.
After all, it is not difficult to speculate that Liang Ziqiang heard at least part of their conversation before entering the door.
But the one who was really embarrassed was Li Jinju, and Liu Mei was embarrassed for only two seconds before she simply tore off her temper and said to Liang Ziqiang in a sarcastic tone: "How many melons do you plan to take back? Your family is poor, and if you can really marry Xiang Bei, you can save a year's worth of melon money!"
Liang Ziqiang put down the melon basket and really wanted to hit the woman on the mouth with the carrying pole in his hand.
In the past, this would not have been impossible.
But this is obviously not what Liang Ziqiang would do now.
No matter what, Liu Mei is Chen Xiangbei's second aunt. If he really knocked her out on impulse, he would be accused of being "rude and uneducated" in addition to being "poor".
By then, not only Liu Mei's family, but all other villagers in Huagu Village will inevitably make sarcastic remarks, making the Chen family the target of public criticism.
If it really comes to that, it’s hard to say whether my marriage with Chen Xiangbei will fall through.
Moreover, he was very clear about the crux of the matter. It was obviously not something that could be solved by beating people.
Chen Xiangbei and I have been together for quite some time, and her parents are somewhat troubled by this matter, so it would be a good idea to take advantage of today's opportunity to resolve some of the issues.
"It can be seen that Second Aunt is kind-hearted. She cares about Xiangbei and me. She cares about us so much." Liang Ziqiang put the carrying pole upright against the wall and said calmly:
"You've been concerned about me for most of the day, and I've heard a lot of it. But it's a pity that you said so much, but few of your words were correct."
Liu Mei had a sarcastic expression on her face: "What did I say that was wrong? Tell me! If you can't tell me, don't say I'm blunt. Leave Xiangbei as soon as possible and don't drag others down for the rest of their lives!"
Li Jinju saw that the situation was obviously not right, so she hurriedly grabbed Liu Mei and persuaded her to leave to avoid a real quarrel.
"Mom, let her sit down and listen carefully." Liang Ziqiang dissuaded Li Jinju from doing this, "otherwise she will come here every other day and won't give up until she achieves her goal!"
After saying that, Liang Ziqiang looked at Liu Mei:
"You keep slandering me for not being sincere, saying that I was deliberately dragging my feet in order to marry Xiang Bei for nothing. Then I'll tell you the truth, for more than a year, I have been preparing to marry her.
I not only prepared the betrothal gift, but also prepared for her to marry into our family in a respectable and decent manner. I couldn't bear to treat her carelessly.
The reason is very simple. In my eyes, she is the best person and she is worth my care and cherishment! "
Liu Mei opened her mouth to refute, but Liang Ziqiang raised his hand to stop her:
"Since you want me to talk about it, don't interrupt me. I've already expressed my sincerity, now let's talk about poverty. You're right about this. My family is poor. My father has many brothers, and we didn't get any ancestral property at all. The only ancestral house we got is not even habitable.
But if you go to Pomwang Village and ask, is my father a lazy person? Am I a lazy person? In the early years when we were still doing collective work, the fish I brought to the brigade exceeded that of many adults! Now the catch belongs to everyone. I have hands and feet, I can catch fish, but you think I will be poor all my life?
Let me tell you, I may not be able to make Xiang Bei rich, but I can at least make sure she has enough food and clothing, and that she lives a stable life without having to worry every day about whether her house will be ransacked when she wakes up!"
Hearing his last suggestive words, Li Jinju and Liu Mei couldn't help but open their eyes wide.
Sure enough, Liang Ziqiang continued:
"You just kept mentioning Longyue Village. Longyue Village has only suddenly become rich in the past two years. The reason is not a secret, right? The whole village was driving small boats late at night to do something. Your nephew didn't mention it to you, or did you deliberately conceal it? Just because there is no trouble for the time being doesn't mean there will be no trouble in the future. Which country can tolerate smuggling? Do you really think it is a golden rice bowl? Xiangbei and I are ordinary people. We just want to have three meals a day and fish and shrimp. Your nephew is different. As long as he doesn't stop, he can eat peanuts!"
Smuggling has only been prevalent in recent years, and in fact, many villages along the coast have people involved, including some villagers in Pomwang Village. But it is rare for every household in Longyue Village to participate.
Just as Liang Ziqiang said, many fishermen knew about the affairs of Longyue Village, but Chen Xiangbei's family did not live near the sea and did not fish, so they did not pay much attention to it.
After hearing Liang Ziqiang's words, Li Jinju's face turned pale with anger. She didn't bother to be polite anymore and directly picked up a broom from the corner of the room and pointed at Liu Mei:
"Get out! Get out now! How did our family offend you? Xiangbei is your niece. You just want to push her into trouble and praise a girl who is about to be shot to the sky! Xiaoliang was chosen by Lao Chen and me, and Xiangbei also liked him herself. If you continue to gossip about him, your family will no longer have to associate with us!"
Liu Mei quickly protected her head with her hands, jumped off the stool and ran out.
He wanted to argue a few more words, but he couldn't withstand the broom, which was like a storm and really hit him.
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving! You don't know what's good for you, you can regret it later!"
She yelled a few words unwillingly and fled from Old Chen's house in a panic.
(End of this chapter)
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