"Ning family's eldest son, you're dreaming. There's no such thing as a free lunch."
"This is my business, and I have my own ideas."
"Tsk tsk, your good intentions have been wasted. I'll see what kind of good girl you can find."
"That's better than marrying an unfaithful woman who eloped with a peddler and was abandoned, or an unclean woman who had an affair with her cousin! It's better to stay single than marry such a troublemaker."
Seeing the old women get so angry that they left in a rage, Ning Hong finally closed the door with satisfaction. When he turned around, he saw his mother and Ning Qingfeng looking at him with teary eyes.
"Son, I want a daughter-in-law."
"Brother, I want to get married too." If his older brother says this, it won't be long before the whole village is talking about it, and then he really won't be able to get married.
Ning Qingfeng sighed inwardly. Just because his brother didn't want to get married didn't mean he didn't want to either.
"What's the rush? Once you pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, what kind of woman won't you have?"
“There was a poor, uneducated scholar in the east of the village who had no wife.”
"Everyone knows what they're thinking. How can you compare to them?"
The scholar's family consisted of only a widowed mother. They were so poor that half of their house had collapsed. He was just waiting to marry a rich woman who could work for them, support the family, and of course, support his continued studies.
He'd seen plenty of men like that.
This is what Chen Shimei looked like.
Once he passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, then it's time to replace this capable wife.
And that widow wasn't someone he judged by appearance; she genuinely seemed rather mean and ungrateful.
They are not a good match.
I just wonder if any poor girls will end up marrying into this hellhole.
Ning Hong thought to herself silently.
"Father, what did you just say? You want to marry me off to that scholar from Weihe Village? Are you kidding me?" Jiang Cha said incredulously. What kind of person is that? He actually wants to marry her off to someone like that?
“Your father is only doing this for your own good! Think about it, you’re already twenty-two this year, so old, no one is willing to marry you anymore. Well, I happen to know this Xiu’s mother, and she said she will definitely treat you as her own daughter and be good to you.” Jiang Cha’s stepmother, Madam Wang, said with a smile.
"You believe it? I don't believe it. I've called her 'Auntie' for so many years and she's never treated me well, let alone a stranger."
“Acha, your mother means well.” Father Jiang frowned. “Besides, you are indeed too old. If you don’t get married soon, it will affect your younger siblings.”
“Then separate me out and establish a female household.”
"Nonsense! Your parents are both alive, why are you establishing a female household? What will outsiders think of us?"
“My mother died a long time ago, driven to her death by the people she treated as sisters,” Jiang Cha said bluntly. “If you dare to force me, don’t blame me for harming your children.”
"It's ginger tea," Jiang Cha said coldly.
She was incredibly grateful; her mother
He taught her so much before he died, enabling her to stand on her own two feet. He also left her with so many reliable people.
"you……"
Wang's expression changed slightly.
Unlike Jiang Cha's biological mother, she was just a country girl. She was able to enter and leave the Jiang family because she was valued by Jiang Cha's mother, and eventually seduced Jiang's father.
Jiang's mother was also selfish. Despite having so much property, she gave it all to her daughter who was about to get married, instead of letting her husband use it.
Little did she know that if she used it for her own daughter, at least her daughter was her own flesh and blood, but if she kept it for her husband, who knew who would benefit from it?
"You should also know that I, Jiang Cha, keep my word."
"Jiang Cha, aren't you afraid I'll lock you up?"
“What am I afraid of? I’ve already told them that if I don’t show up for two days, they should report me to the authorities.”
"You? Where do you place the Jiang family?"
If word gets out, the Jiang family will lose all face.
"And where do you place me?"
"Acha, you've changed."
Jiang's father said with great sorrow, his eyes filled with deep grief.
“You’ve changed too.” Jiang Cha said, her expression unchanged. “I changed when I was eating only spoiled food every day and strange men were constantly barging into my yard. If I hadn’t changed, hell would have awaited me.”
Jiang Cha spoke calmly, but her words caused Wang Shi and Jiang's father to change their expressions drastically.
"What spoiled food? What strange man?"
"You don't know?" Jiang Cha raised an eyebrow.
This matter has caused such a big stir, yet her father claims to know nothing about it.
Her mother left her a lot of wealth and trained many reliable people, including several maids who were highly skilled and loyal. This maid broke the legs of the intruder.
Those people were still making a ruckus in her yard at the time.
It wasn't until she went all out and said she would hand them over to the authorities that they became afraid. Her stepmother then hurriedly arrived, took the people away, and said they were her relatives who had wandered here because they didn't know the way.
What could she say?
She wanted to disregard her reputation and hand the person over to the authorities. But her father said that harmony in the family brings prosperity and told her not to make a scene.
Now her father says he doesn't know anything about this? That's a joke.
"Do I really not know?"
Father Jiang's face was extremely grim.
He remembered that at the time, it was Wang who said that her nephew had accidentally bumped into Jiang Cha. Because Jiang Cha disliked her, she not only broke his leg but also wanted to send him to the authorities. That's why he sent his steward to plead for him. If he knew that it was Wang's nephew who had trespassed into Jiang Cha's courtyard, he would have his other leg broken.
"Wang Shi?"
“Master, master, please listen to me. My nephew really didn’t do it on purpose. He just got lost.”
"What about your cousin? Doesn't he know the way either?"
"Our Jiang family is so big, it's normal for us to get lost sometimes," Wang said guiltily.
"That's true. The Jiang family is too big. So when one of your distant relatives came, I had the servants point to Jiang Lin's courtyard and say it was my courtyard. Sure enough, this person got lost again and ran into Jiang Lin's courtyard. I heard that you were going to break both of his legs."
"How...how could you be so heartless? Jiang Lin is your own sister, how could you treat her like this? What kind of person is she that you would frame her like this?"
"So, what is that thing that you're trying to sell him ginger tea?"
Father Jiang looked at Madam Wang with a gloomy expression. "Alright, from now on, you don't need to worry about Jiang Cha's affairs. Just take care of Jiang Lin. If you value that scholar, then marry your own daughter to him."
"That won't do."
"If it doesn't work out, don't bring it up again," Father Jiang decided directly.
"master?"
"At least you did what a father should do," Jiang Cha said with a sneer.
She didn't know what her father was thinking, whether he genuinely didn't understand her situation or was pretending, but she had to admit that she was in a good mood at the moment.
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