"Cousin, no matter what, Brother Xuan went on his adventure in the deep mountains for your sake. How can you be so cold-hearted and say such things about him!" Lin Shuyan said with red eyes, seemingly indignant on Zhou Yingxuan's behalf.
"Oh? For me?" Jiang Hua raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
"Because Brother Xuan knows you don't like Brother Jiang and are unwilling to be his stepmother, so he worked hard to earn money and bring you back," Lin Shuyan shouted.
"Brother Xuan, please don't take any more risks. My cousin is treating you like this, it's really not worth it." Lin Shuyan cried, and everyone present felt sorry for her.
“Zhou Yingxuan, when did I say I didn’t like Jiang Xingzhou? He’s better looking than you and more capable than you. What do I have to be resentful about?” Jiang Hua said, and Jiang Xingzhou put his arm around her shoulder at the opportune moment.
"Jiang Hua, stop being stubborn. I'll raise fifty taels of silver as soon as possible." Zhou Yingxuan said with a stern face, his eyes fixed on the hand that was around Jiang Hua's shoulder.
"But before that, please stop bullying Yan Yan. I still like your kind nature."
"Zhou Yingxuan, how can you be so shameless? Do I need you to flatter me?" Jiang Hua said unhappily. This person was like a fool, unable to understand human language.
"I'm living a perfectly good life, why do you have to interfere?"
"Alright, let's leave it at that for today. Yingxuan, your injuries haven't healed yet, go back and rest first." Xu Wanli interrupted Zhou Yingxuan, who was about to continue speaking.
"Yan Yan, I know you feel sorry for Ying Xuan. Next time, please don't go deep into the mountains." Xu Wanli then looked at Lin Shuyan and gently advised her.
"Jiang Hua, since this is all a misunderstanding, let's leave it at that. Go back and live a good life with Xiao Jiang."
Then he looked at the crowd behind him and said, "Alright, alright, everyone disperse, there's nothing more to it."
After Jiang Hua and the others went to Aunt Liu's yard, Xu Wanli stepped forward and whispered a warning to Xu Dagui and the others.
“Xu Dagui, your daughter is no pushover either, and so is your eldest daughter, Xu Shi. If you do something like this again, you should think about your family’s future career.”
After leaving behind these words, Xu Wanli turned and left.
"ah--!"
"You slut, look at the jinx you gave birth to, you worthless brat!"
No sooner had Xu Wanli left than Madam Xu, who had changed her timid demeanor, grabbed a handful of Xu's hair with a gloomy expression. Before Xu could react, she felt a sharp pain on her scalp.
"Husband!" Madam Xu could only look at Xu Dagui, but Xu Dagui didn't even glance at her and walked into the house on his own. He then looked at Lin Shuyan for help.
"Grandma, don't hit your aunt like that," Lin Shuyan said, stepping forward.
"Yan Yan, listen to me, go back to the inner room first." Madam Xu said to Lin Shu Yan with a gentle expression.
Inside the inner room, Xu Dagui was also calling Lin Shuyan to come in, so Lin Shuyan had no choice but to go in, looking back every few steps.
After everyone in the courtyard had left, only the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Xu Shi, remained. Xu Shi was trembling with fear.
Madam Xu had already grabbed a stick from the corner and was hitting Madam Xu hard. While hitting her, she was cursing what kind of thing Madam Xu had given birth to, which had caused her to lose four taels of silver.
"You dare to dodge? You really do dodge! Like mother, like daughter!" Madam Xu swung the stick in her hand even harder.
The more Xu tried to dodge, the more fiercely Da Xu beat her. Her screams could be heard clearly by several nearby households. However, everyone was already used to Da Xu beating her daughter-in-law.
As long as no one dies, the village chief turns a blind eye. Besides, everyone has seen what kind of person Da Xu is, and nobody wants to get involved in this mess.
In their view, every daughter-in-law goes through this process; if she doesn't listen to discipline, just beat her.
When Jiang Hua and the others came out of Aunt Liu's house, Xu's screams had not yet stopped. The three of them pretended not to hear them and strolled home.
"Look at you, you've given birth to a real ingrate! Your own mother was beaten half to death, and you, as her daughter, didn't even glance at her!" Madam Xu spat, and after the last blow, Madam Xu was knocked unconscious.
"What a weak and pathetic woman!" Madam Xu threw down the stick in her hand, glanced disdainfully at her unconscious daughter-in-law on the ground, and went into the inner room cursing.
"Mom, calm down." Xu Dagui ignored his wife's silence outside and poured a glass of water for his mother.
"Four taels of silver! That could buy so much meat for Yaozu. Look at him, he's lost so much weight since he went to school," said Madam Xu, looking at her grandson who was reading with a pained expression.
"Grandma, Father, what's going on with Xu Erya? Why did she suddenly marry that hunter surnamed Jiang and change her name?" Xu Yaozu asked, putting down the book in his hand.
After listening to Xu's words, Xu Yaozu's eyes were full of contempt: "Grandma, Father, it's good to sever ties. Doing such a shameless thing is a disgrace to our Xu family. If I have such a sister when I pass the imperial examination, it will be a laughing stock."
"Anyway, I only recognize Yan Yan as my older sister."
“Yaozu is right, Mother. You shouldn’t provoke that wretched girl anymore. Village Chief Xu has already made it clear to us,” Xu Dagui said.
“When Yaozu passes the imperial examination and achieves official rank, it will be their turn to fawn over us. At that time, we will treat them with the same disdain as we do today.”
"Yaozu, you must study hard. Our family is counting on you," said Madam Xu.
"Father, Grandma, Sister Yan Yan, don't worry, I will definitely pass the imperial examination and bring you a better life." Xu Yaozu said, looking at Lin Shuyan.
Lin Shuyan naturally noticed Xu Yaozu's gaze and lowered her head shyly.
Seeing Lin Shuyan like this, Xu Yaozu suddenly felt a surge of joy deep inside...
...
After Jiang Hua and the others returned to the courtyard, the bathing room that had been built was completed. Jiang Xingzhou went up to check it out and settled the remaining silver.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Xingzhou turned around and saw Jiang Hua, whose face didn't look good.
"It's nothing," Jiang Hua said, shaking her head.
The reason she didn't look well was entirely because of that annoying dog system in her mind, which had been chattering on and on ever since Aunt Liu started talking.
"If I had known you would be so disobedient, I wouldn't have bound myself to you. I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to have run into you." The system spoke one sentence after another without repeating itself.
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