Chapter 119 This troublemaker, why is she everywhere!
Xu Cuilian was still unconscious, and Zhang the butcher and his sons were not at home. At noon, Sheng An prepared three dishes and a soup to entertain Zhang Zhaodi and her parents.
When Mr. and Mrs. Zhang tasted Sheng An's cooking for the first time, the delicious flavors made them briefly forget their in-laws' misfortunes and they praised Sheng An's culinary skills highly.
After the meal, seeing that Butcher Zhang and the others had not yet returned, Zhang's mother couldn't help but worry: "Could something have happened?"
Sheng An comforted him, "Xujiaba is quite far away. It takes one or two hours to travel there and back by car. They're probably already on their way by now."
Zhang's mother breathed a slight sigh of relief and went to the room to visit Xu Cuilian.
Seeing that she was still asleep, he didn't disturb her and went to the main room to speak quietly with Zhang's father.
Sheng An and Zhang Zhaodi were busy in the kitchen.
Seeing that her best friend's brows were still furrowed, Sheng An knew that she was worried about Zhang Da Kui: "With Jin Nian around, Da Kui won't act impulsively."
Zhang Zhaodi sighed, a hint of resentment on her face:
"I never expected that my aunt, such a kind person, would have her brothers come to bully her. I was just not there this morning, otherwise I would have definitely fought back on the spot!"
At yesterday's engagement banquet, the betrothal gifts sent by the Zhang family made her and her parents very proud.
Suddenly, the village's opinion changed; everyone said she was lucky to have found a husband's family that valued her.
She was deeply grateful to her future in-laws and told herself that she would treat them as her own parents after she married into the family.
Before she could even show her filial piety, her aunt suffered so much, and it was her own relatives who caused her this suffering. How heartbroken she must be.
“Every family has its own troubles. This time, my aunt’s husband and his family went to Xujiaba to seek justice for my aunt. There’s a high chance they will completely sever ties with those three families and this kind of thing will never happen again.”
Sheng An briefly explained the grudges and entanglements between the Zhang family and the three Xu brothers, so that her good friend would be aware of the situation and avoid being tricked by those shameless people without knowing the truth.
"By the way, the family that Liu Huazhi is engaged to is Xu Laosi's son, Xu Huaining. Those people must have been told by Liu Huazhi that your aunt's family gave your family thirty taels of betrothal money so quickly."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhaodi's face grew even uglier: "That troublemaker, she's everywhere!"
The thought that her future in-laws wouldn't sever ties with those people, and that she and Liu Huazhi would end up as cousins-in-law and cousins-in-law, made her want to vomit.
“Even without her, those people would have found out about this sooner or later. The fact that it came to light today has given my uncle a reason to sever ties with his wife, but my aunt is the one who is suffering.”
Sheng An quickened her pace washing the dishes, reminding her best friend:
"Liu Huazhi is no good, and her fiancé is also scheming. He probably won't be willing to sever ties with her. If they want to use you to ease the tension with your aunt, don't fall for it."
Zhang Zhaodi nodded: "I wish there were fewer of these weird relatives. I definitely won't fall for it."
She also had a troublesome relative who, seeing that her family had been unable to produce a son for a long time, begged and pleaded to adopt his eighteen-year-old grandson.
He shamelessly demanded twenty taels of silver from her grandparents under the pretext of helping her family continue their lineage, claiming it was payment for raising her grandson for eighteen years.
Later, when her mother gave birth to the first boy in the Zhang family, the family cursed the baby at the full moon celebration, saying that her family was destined to be childless and that even if they gave birth to a boy, he would not survive.
The grandparents were so angry that they immediately severed ties with that family.
For the past ten years or so, her family has had a smooth and prosperous life, with her younger brothers being born one after another, and their lives becoming more and more successful.
It's clear that having one less eccentric relative is entirely beneficial to one's family.
As the two were talking, they heard Zhang's mother calling from the main room. It turned out that Xu Cuilian had woken up.
Sheng An and Zhang Zhaodi quickly wiped their hands and hurried into the room, where they saw Xu Cuilian sitting up, covering her head and gagging.
"Auntie, don't move!"
Sheng An immediately recognized these as symptoms of a concussion. He quickly helped Xu Cuilian lie down again, checked the bandages on her wound, and breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that there was no fresh blood seeping out.
After Xu Cuilian lay down, her dizziness, nausea, and vomiting symptoms subsided somewhat. She turned her head and stared blankly at her in-laws: "It's just a bump on my head, how did it bother you?"
Zhang's mother exclaimed in distress, grasped her hand, and said, "Such a big cut, and the person still hasn't woken up, how could we not come and see?"
After saying that, he briefly mentioned how they learned the news.
Xu Cuilian said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have troubled you, my in-laws."
Zhang's mother waved her hand: "We're family, no need for such polite words."
Zhang Zhaodi stepped forward and asked with concern, "Auntie, how are you feeling now? Is anything bothering you?"
Xu Cuilian's eyes cleared up a bit, and she looked at her future daughter-in-law with a kind gaze: "Auntie is fine, she'll be alright after a couple of days of rest."
Sheng An instructed, "Just lie down this afternoon and wait until your dizziness and nausea subside before getting out of bed and moving around."
Xu Cuilian was still a little weak, but she was very defiant: "I'm so strong that I can even hold down a fat pig, how can I be as weak as you say?"
Sheng An was both amused and exasperated: "Then why don't you give us one to try now?"
Xu Cuilian immediately fell silent.
While Sheng An was cooking, she had put a pot of meat porridge on the stove. Now that Xu Cuilian has woken up, she has brought the pot and all to the room.
Zhang Zhaodi served Xu Cuilian porridge, and Xu Cuilian did not refuse, watching her with a smile the whole time.
After finishing a large bowl of delicious meat porridge, Xu Cuilian started to feel sleepy again, so the others didn't disturb her rest and left the room together.
Not long after, Sheng An heard the sound of wheels rolling over the road outside, followed by a familiar voice.
Realizing that the people who had gone to Xujiaba had returned, Sheng An quickly went forward to open the courtyard gate, and the Zhang family of three followed them out.
Sure enough, there were five or six oxcarts and donkey carts parked at the entrance. Xu Jinnian and his son, Zhang and his son, as well as Aunt Zhang and others got off the carts one after another.
Each person carried several chickens and ducks, and an unpleasant smell wafted through the air.
Sheng An looked everyone up and down. Seeing that their clothes were relatively neat and they didn't seem to have been involved in any fighting, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to Xu Jinnian, asking, "Have you all eaten?"
Xu Jinnian held her hand: "I've already eaten."
I passed a pancake stall as I entered the city, and a group of people bought out the entire stall, making the stall owner grin from ear to ear with delight.
The Zhang father and son stepped forward to greet the Zhang family of three, and then introduced themselves to Zhang's aunt and others. The two sides exchanged pleasantries for a while.
The group tiptoed into the room to visit Xu Cuilian. Seeing that her complexion was much better than in the morning, they all breathed a sigh of relief, closed the door, and went to the main room to chat.
Sheng An poured a bowl of hot water for everyone, put the kettle on the table, and sat down next to Xu Jinnian. He quietly asked about their experience of going to Xujiaba to seek justice for their aunt.
Upon learning that the Xu family, the culprits, had their house ransacked and smeared with excrement by the three Zhang brothers, and that Ma Dahua had knocked out two of her front teeth and severed ties with the three families, and had recovered the twenty-six taels of silver owed to her, Sheng An felt refreshed.
"Well done!"
The three Xu brothers are shameless; they took advantage of the situation and dared to boss their creditors around. It's already a sign of the Zhang family's magnanimity that they didn't beat them all up and collect the interest.
Sheng An asked curiously, "Xu Huaining didn't step in to plead for them, did he?"
Xu Jinnian shook his head: "He's not home."
Sheng An scratched his face: "That scheming dog didn't stop them from coming to my aunt's house. He probably didn't expect them to do something so stupid as to injure my aunt. The villagers of Xujiaba will have something new to watch tonight."
Xu Huaining's education costs a lot, and relying on the Xu family's money is simply not enough.
Without his aunt's help all these years, he would have gone back home to farm long ago.
Now that my uncle has repaid the debt, the three families' savings have been completely depleted. Next year, when Xu Huaining takes the county exam, he probably won't even have the money to vouch for the old scholar.
Yes, that's good.
Sheng An thought gleefully, a sly smile spreading across his face.
Xu Jinnian patted his wife's head, liking her lively appearance: "Xu Huaining is very good at maintaining a good image and won't let outsiders see her excitement."
Sheng An said nonchalantly, "Anyway, he's not here today, so we've already lost face pretty much."
He is the biological son of Xu Laosi and his wife. Xu Laosi and his wife are being ridiculed by the villagers. How can he, their own son, stay out of it?
I'm probably feeling really upset tonight.
Scream, scream. What good can someone be who gets involved with Liu Huazhi?
Sheng An dislikes Xu Huaining for no reason, and she is happy to be overwhelmed by the person she dislikes.
With the matter resolved satisfactorily, and it getting late, Sheng An and his son Xu Jinnian got up to take their leave.
Butcher Zhang wouldn't let them go back empty-handed. He hung three or four chickens and ducks on the donkey cart so they could take them home to add a dish for the New Year.
The same applies to Zhang Zhaodi's family and the four families including Zhang Dagu's family, each with a configuration of three chickens and one duck.
After this distribution, only a few chickens and ducks were left, which Zhang Xiao Kui put into the chicken coop in the backyard.
As soon as Sheng An returned to the small building, the drowsiness that had been suppressed surged over her.
She quickly washed her face, hands, and feet, then crawled into bed to catch up on sleep, telling Xu Jinnian not to wake her for dinner.
As a result, Xu Jinnian also lifted the covers and got into bed, holding her in his arms to sleep together.
Sheng An was really sleepy, so she closed her eyes and took his hand and placed it on her waist: "Massage for a while longer. I was worn out last night and it hurts a lot now."
The warm, large hand on her waist paused for a moment, then began to massage her gently, making Sheng An groan with pleasure.
Xu Jinnian did his best to relieve his wife's discomfort until Sheng An fell into a deep sleep and began to breathe softly. Only then did he stop and gaze at her sleeping face.
After a long while, Xu Jinnian smiled, kissed Sheng An's full forehead, hugged her tightly, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
As Sheng An had predicted, Xu Huaining returned to Xujiaba in the evening. Before he even reached his own home, he learned from busybodies about the "good deeds" his parents and uncles and aunts had done.
Xu Huaining suppressed his anger and returned home. Looking at the quiet yard where not a single chicken or duck could be seen, he clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and slowly walked into the dark main room.
Having lost everything, Xu Laosi and Feng Lianhua were heartbroken beyond measure.
They were in no mood to do anything else, lying in bed constantly cursing the Zhang family father and son and Xu Cuilian, even ignoring that their own son was coming home at this hour.
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