When Li Jin returned home that night, he told his wife about the broken engagement between Li Song and Shi Fengfeng. Zhao Sufang was overjoyed and kept saying that God had blessed them. When Li Zhen found out, she also silently shed tears of joy.
Ironically, the next day, Shi's mother brought Shi Longlong, who looked neither human nor ghost and limped along, to the door. She put a few wilted fried dough sticks wrapped in straw paper on the Li family's table and then affectionately called Zhao Sufang her in-laws, telling her to pull Shi Longlong and make him call her "mother."
Zhao Sufang frowned in disgust. "Auntie, what do you mean by in-laws? I don't know you! And I don't think I'll just answer to anyone who calls me 'Mom'."
"Young lady, don't play dumb! We agreed to get married on the eighth day of next month!" Mother Shi put on what she thought was a friendly smile.
"Go find whoever made the order with you!" Zhao Sufang put the two fried dough sticks into Shi's mother's arms and saw the guest out, "Goodbye, no need to see me off!"
Seeing Zhao Sufang's attitude, Shi Longlong became furious and was about to resort to violence when he saw Li Xiangdong behind Zhao Sufang holding a sharp kitchen knife, swinging it around and around.
"Let's go, Mother, let's see what kind of man her girl will marry!" Shi Longlong pulled his mother out, still swearing.
"I'd rather marry anyone than a piece of trash like you!" Li Xiangdong charged at them, brandishing a kitchen knife, scaring the Shi family mother and son into fleeing in panic.
Aunt Chunhua and the man in front of her were both from out of town. They settled in Lijiapo later. According to Aunt Chunhua herself, their hometowns were both in Chuncheng, more than 1,500 miles away from Lijiapo Village. They had never had any contact with their hometown families over the years.
After her husband passed away, Aunt Chunhua lived alone ever since.
Some busybodies asked her why she didn't go back to her hometown. Living with her parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law would be better than being all alone now!
Aunt Chunhua said that her parents had both passed away, and she only had one older brother who joined the army many years ago and whose whereabouts were still unknown; she didn't even know if he was alive or dead.
Li Song and Aunt Chunhua quickly obtained their marriage certificate, and neither of them seemed to have any intention of holding a big ceremony.
No matter how dissatisfied Li Wanshi was, there was nothing she could do. These three days were enough time for her eldest and third sons to explain things to her in detail.
If I don't marry Chunhua, it will become known that the Li Song dynasty was immoral and forced women into prostitution. Not only will I lose the job I worked so hard for, but I might also go to jail.
The villagers were stunned by Li Song and Chunhua's swift marriage.
Those who didn't get along with Li Wanshi would secretly mock her, saying, "Isn't her precious old lady a government employee who doesn't work in agriculture? She always said that even a celestial being wasn't good enough for her youngest son, but look what happened, she married a widow!"
"You should never talk about people with your mouth, or you'll get slapped for it!"
Some analysts have also pointed out the underlying reasons: "Didn't Li Song have a girlfriend? She's very handsome, and they're getting married next month. Why was it changed to Chunhua?"
"Yes, I heard that the little girl even arranged for the brigade leader's fourth son to marry his eldest brother."
"Oh dear, isn't that a marriage exchange?"
"That's right, the generations are all messed up!"
"Let's not talk about that. Now that Chunhua and Li Song are married, Li Zhen definitely won't marry into that family. Do you think Chunhua is pregnant with Li Song's child and is deliberately ruining the marriage?"
Family members of the joint defense team who patrolled that night also came forward to give their accounts. Among them, Aunt Niu was the most authoritative, as her youngest son happened to see Shi Fengfeng and her brother that day.
“Let me tell you, it must be that Li Song’s ex-girlfriend found out that Li Song and Chunhua were having an affair, so she specially brought her brother from her family to our village late at night to catch them in the act. Guo Daming went with her, so they must have caught them. Li Song was afraid of making a big fuss and losing his job, so he reluctantly married Chunhua.”
"That's right, ask Guo Daming, he knows more!"
The rumors circulating everywhere in Lijiapo Brigade have made Li Wanshi so angry that she has kept her door bolted and hasn't dared to leave the house for several days. Even so, Aunt Niu took advantage of the old man's work to sneak into the yard and insisted on asking what was going on.
That long-mouthed, long-tongued shrew!
Aren't you afraid of going to the hell of having your tongue pulled out after you die?
Of course Aunt Niu wasn't afraid. Her husband's cousin's brother-in-law was a high-ranking official in the province. She didn't even care about Li Jin, a mere brigade leader, let alone the brigade leader's mother.
Li Wanshi gave Li Song two rooms in the west wing, while the elderly couple lived in two rooms in the east wing. Li Wanshi and Aunt Chunhua, who now Li Xiangdong had to call "Auntie," lived together. As for the undercurrents of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law struggles between Li Wanshi and Auntie Chunhua, that was not Li Xiangdong's concern.
Through the conversation between Li Guoqing and his mother, Li Xiangdong confirmed that when his aunt had feelings for his uncle Li Song, he had tried to persuade her to intervene and ruin Li Song's marriage to Shi Fengfeng. However, he later thought that his grandmother would definitely not agree to her beloved youngest son marrying a widow from the same village. Although doing so could solve his fourth sister's predicament, it would also push his aunt into a fire pit.
How can a widow who doesn't uphold traditional virtues gain a foothold in the village?
She could be drowned by a single spit from anyone.
This is not the future; society today is still conservative, and the demands placed on women are far greater than those placed on men.
As for the later idea of using Feng Zhiqing to carry out a "handsome man scheme," it was based entirely on Li Xiangdong's understanding of Shi Fengfeng.
Shi Fengfeng is clever and pragmatic, prioritizing interests over emotions. However, she also has a short-sighted flaw.
If Feng Zhiqing were to play a wealthy, handsome intellectual who has a strong liking for her, Shi Fengfeng would immediately fall into the habitual mindset of climbing the social ladder.
Li Song was proud and arrogant. Although he had won the heart of a beautiful woman, as a cadre, he was not necessarily satisfied with marrying a village girl. Otherwise, he would not have made the absurd statement about marrying the bureau chief's daughter while drunk.
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