Chapter 60: I am her fiancé
"I am her fiancé."
Although Zhao Yunjing's face flushed as he uttered those words, his heart was at ease.
Sensing Zhou Mujiao's surprise, Zhao Yunjing took her hand in return and squeezed it gently. When Zhou Mujiao tried to pull away, he held on tighter and gave her a reassuring look. After thinking for a moment, Zhou Mujiao stopped and let him hold her hand.
Young Master Lin stared at their tightly clasped fingers, so angry that he rambled on and on, and finally declared: "Miss Zhou, I don't care who you've liked in the past. As long as you agree to my proposal now, you will still be the woman I, Lin Xiandong, will cherish for the rest of my life!"
Uncle Lin was even more direct: "Without parental consent or a matchmaker's words, this is a clandestine affair, and you deserve to be drowned in a pig cage!"
Yes, even if the villagers don't have the same strict rules as those wealthy and powerful families, and the separation between men and women isn't as rigid, it's still considered shameful for a couple to skip the steps of their parents and matchmakers and get engaged privately. To put it nicely, it's called a secret affair; to put it bluntly, it's called an unconventional relationship without a matchmaker, and the person in question will be drowned in a pig cage!
A firm female voice came from outside the crowd: "That's right! I didn't agree to the marriage between Liu Ya and the Zhao family boy! Zhao family boy, my Liu Ya is a pure and innocent girl who will get married in the future. If you ruin her reputation again, I'll fight you to the death!"
“I am Liuya’s aunt! She is Liuya’s grandmother, and we are all her elders! Her marriage is up to us to decide!”
It was Aunt Zhou and Zhou Mujiao's aunt. One of them was leaning on a cane, and the other had her arm in a sling. Their faces were full of sorrow.
Zhou Mujiao smiled, looking at the state of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Her previous 'blessings' to the Zhou family had indeed taken effect.
Speaking of Zhou Mujiao's blessings, Aunt Zhou got angry.
That day, after they took Zhou Mujiao's silver notes, one after another, misfortunes befell the Zhou family members. Some fell ill, some were injured, and the most serious was Zhou Mujiao's uncle, who fell flat on his face and became paralyzed. All he could do every day was drool and shout "Aba Aba".
The least serious injury was caused by Zhou Mujiao's youngest cousin, Zhou Fa, who was nine years old and only broke his wrist. He would recover in half a month. But it was heartbreaking for the elders to see such a young child suffer such pain for no reason.
What's even more heartbreaking is that every single copper coin they received from Zhou Mujiao was spent on medicine!
Last night, she had used up her last copper coin. Looking at the paralyzed and crippled people in her family, Aunt Zhou didn't sleep all night. In the morning, she was thinking of simply ending her life and going to Zhou Mujiao to hang herself with a rope. After hesitating for a long time, she had just made up her mind to die when she heard that someone wanted to marry Zhou Mujiao, and that he was a young master from the city. Aunt Zhou didn't care about anything else and called her eldest daughter-in-law to come.
"Liu Ya, come here! You're a member of the Zhou family, don't stay at other people's houses all day long! Even if you want to get married, it has to be someone we choose for you!" Aunt Zhou said, looking at Aunt Lin, "So it's your son who wants to marry my granddaughter?"
Young Master Lin interrupted, "Yes, yes, yes! It is I who want to marry Miss Zhou! You are Miss Zhou's grandmother, so you will be my grandmother too! Greetings, Grandmother! Your grandson-in-law greets you! Grandmother, your grandson-in-law is deeply in love with Miss Zhou, please grant me your wish!"
Two sentences were enough to make Aunt Zhou feel quite flattered. She was about to nod when she noticed her eldest daughter-in-law giving her a wink. Aunt Zhou immediately came back to her senses and straightened up, saying, "I'm not some old-fashioned person. As long as the child is happy, I'm fine with anything. However, although my Liuya comes from a farming family, you can't skip the wedding procedures. All the formalities, such as the three letters and six rites, must be observed..."
“Of course, of course!” Uncle Lin said happily. “Where is the Zhou family? We’ll discuss it when we get back; after all, it’s someone else’s home.”
"Liu Ya! Come here quickly! Don't force me to take action!"
Zhou Mujiao's fiery temper was about to erupt, and Xiao Wu beside her clenched his fists, ready to fight at any moment. Zhao Yunjing pressed one of them down with each hand, calming them down, and said coldly, "Aunt Zhou, Liuya won't go back with you. I'd better leave now, or I won't be polite."
"You! I haven't even blamed you for kidnapping my granddaughter, and you dare to be so rude to me?" Aunt Zhou shouted. "Do you believe I'll report you to the authorities and have you arrested?!"
"Then go ahead. It'll be good for the official to explain to us in detail what crime it is to bury one's own grandson and sell one's own granddaughter, and how long one should be imprisoned." Zhao Yunjing's face was indifferent.
"I sold my own granddaughter; that's my family matter, and the government has no right to interfere!"
"Alright, then we'll report this to the authorities and see if it's any of their business!"
Young Master Lin sneered: "Grandmother, don't panic. I am classmates with the magistrate's son. The magistrate has always been very kind to me. Just have that Zhao fellow report to the authorities and see if anyone from the government will come!"
Just then, Young Master Chen arrived, and Young Master Lin pointed at him and said, "This is the county magistrate—"
Before the word "young master" could be uttered, a rough male voice interrupted: "I beg the magistrate to uphold justice for this humble subject and make that Zhao fellow return my wife! Liu Ya! You are the wife I paid money for, so come back right now!"
It was Zhang the Butcher!
The Zhou family, Young Master Lin, Young Master Chen, and even Butcher Zhang—so many people gathered together, it was quite a lively scene.
Young Master Chen was somewhat bewildered, pointing at Butcher Zhang: "What did you say? Who's your wife?"
"Liu Ya is my wife."
Zhang the butcher pointed at Zhou Mujiao and began to wail, "I bought her for two taels of silver. Aunt Zhou brought her to my house, and she was already inside when this Zhao fellow snatched her away! You, sir, you must do me justice! She's my wife, my wife!"
Zhao Yunjing and Young Master Chen went up to beat the man up at the same time. After they finished, Young Master Chen asked Butcher Zhang, "You said you bought Miss Zhou, do you have any proof? You must have a contract of indenture, right?"
Butcher Zhang stammered, saying that he trusted the Zhou family and believed that he cherished Liu Ya, so Liu Ya would definitely not run away. Therefore, he did not ask for her indenture and kept giving Aunt Zhou meaningful glances.
Aunt Zhou understood: "Right, right! I offered Butcher Zhang a deed of indenture, but he refused, saying that husband and wife shouldn't talk about such things! But even if Butcher Zhang didn't have Liu Ya's deed of indenture, Liu Ya is still his wife! Liu Ya, you are a married woman, don't—"
"Nonsense!"
Aunt Zhao couldn't hold back any longer: "Butcher Zhang didn't have Ajiao's indenture because he later asked Yun Jing for three hundred taels! Now Ajiao's indenture is in Yun Jing's hands! According to Aunt Zhou, Ajiao has long been a member of the Zhao family! As for whether she is my Zhao family's daughter-in-law or my Zhao family's daughter, what does it have to do with any of you?"
Zhao Yunjing was actually willing to spend three hundred taels to buy that girl!
Aunt Zhou was filled with regret. If she had known Zhao Yunjing was so generous, she would have sold the girl to him directly instead of giving away hundreds of taels of silver to Butcher Zhang!
Aunt Zhou pointed at Xiao Wu: "Liu Ya is from your Zhao family, but Xiao Wu is from my Zhou family! Xiao Wu, you're coming back with me!"
Upon hearing this, her eldest daughter-in-law shrank back, and Aunt Zhou grabbed her, saying, "Li, what have you done behind my back?!"
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