Chapter Seven: Xiaoxiao has brought us great honor!
Li Hongjuan glanced at her husband, Zhong Chengfa, and continued meaningfully, "Are you... afraid that if we take out this money, the eldest brother will bring up the matter of buying a job?"
"Bullshit!" Zhang Chunxue turned her head sharply and shouted, "Did you get your brain slammed in a door or kicked by a donkey? If I really took that hundred yuan from the Wang family, would I have put it in my pocket and not even warmed it before standing here saying I wouldn't get married? Do you think I'm living too comfortably and have to make myself miserable?"
Zhang Chunxue's barrage of insults completely stunned Li Hongjuan, causing her face to flush red and leaving her speechless for a long time.
Zhang Chunxue ignored her and turned to the matchmaker, Li, whose face was alternating between pale and flushed. "Didn't you say the Wang family gave you money? Then tell me, who did the Wang family give the money to? Did I, Zhang Chunxue, receive it? Or did one of my sons receive it? There has to be someone who received the money, right?"
The matchmaker, Li, was caught off guard by the question and stammered, "This...how would I know...the Wang family already promised to the Zhong family..."
"Don't know?" Zhang Chunxue scoffed. "You're just spouting nonsense here because you don't know? The Wang family just said they gave it to us? Did they produce a receipt? Who signed it? Who put their fingerprint on it? Without any evidence, they think they can just take a hundred yuan from our family based on their words?"
Zhang Chunxue pressed on, "I think you need to go back and ask the Wang family about this! Make them explain clearly who the money was given to! Who took their money, and let them go find them! Our family hasn't seen a single penny!"
In her past life, it seemed that the Wang family came to her house today to give her the betrothal money, which she accepted. But in this life, the Wang family didn't come today!
Seeing Zhang Chunxue's unyielding and determined attitude, the matchmaker knew that the marriage was completely off.
Not only did she fail to get things done today, but she was also rebuffed by Zhang Chunxue in front of everyone, leaving her feeling ashamed and utterly humiliated.
"Fine! Fine! Zhang Chunxue! You've got some nerve!" Matchmaker Li trembled with anger, pointing at Zhang Chunxue's nose. "I've made a mistake in choosing her! I'm not involved in this anymore! You can explain this to the Wang family yourself! That's a hundred yuan!"
From the moment Matchmaker Li arrived, villagers gathered to watch the spectacle, and upon hearing Zhang Chunxue's words, they erupted in a frenzy.
"What? You don't even want a hundred yuan dowry?"
"Has Zhang Chunxue suffered some kind of shock?"
"That's right, sending a girl to high school? There's no precedent for that in our village!"
"I think she's really gone mad! Just wait, she'll be crying soon!"
The discussion spread like wildfire throughout the village, and some people, always eager for a good show, even went to Liu Cuie's house.
"Oh dear, Aunt Cui'e, you really need to keep a close eye on your daughter-in-law!"
"They dare to refuse even a dowry of 100 yuan, and they still want to send a money-losing child to school!"
"Look at this mess!"
"Tsk tsk, your words carry less and less weight at home! You can't even control your own daughter-in-law anymore!"
Liu Cuie grew angrier the more she thought about it, and hurriedly ran over with her eldest daughter-in-law Huang Xiaolan and third daughter-in-law Gao Xiuli.
"Zhang Chunxue! The matchmaker has already come to our door, what are you still making a fuss about?" Liu Cuie said imperiously. "Let me tell you! Xiaoxiao's marriage must go through!"
Huang Xiaolan, hands on her hips, fanned the flames from the side: "That's right! Second sister-in-law! You really don't respect Mother at all!"
Gao Xiuli also shouted in a shrill voice, "Hurry back and tell the Wang family that the marriage is still on! Don't be so shameless!"
Hearing the arguing, Zhou Mingli, who was inside the house, quickly came out with her crying child who had just woken up.
Seeing this, she was a little scared, but she still mustered up her courage and whispered, "Grandma, Aunt, Third Aunt, let's talk this out... Mom is only doing this for Xiaoxiao's own good..."
Before she could finish speaking, Huang Xiaolan interrupted her sharply, "For Xiaoxiao's sake? Who are you to speak here? Your womb is useless, giving birth to a boy, and all you know how to do is flatter your mother-in-law! Stop trying to smooth things over! Go back to your room!"
Zhou Mingli's face turned red and white as she was scolded, and the child in her arms cried even louder with a "waa".
Her eyes reddened, and she hugged her child, retreating back into the house with a wronged expression.
Zhang Chunxue straightened her back. "She's my daughter! I said she has to go to school, and she has to go to school! Xiaoxiao has such good grades, such a promising student, why shouldn't she continue her studies? As long as she's willing to study, I'll sell everything I own to support her!"
Liu Cuie was so angry that her face turned purple. "You...you spendthrift woman! You've gone mad!"
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps and shouts came from the village entrance.
"What are you doing! What are you doing!" It was the voice of village chief Zhong Fugui. "Instead of going to work and earning work points, you're all gathered here watching this spectacle! What kind of behavior is this! You're making a fool of yourselves in front of the leaders!"
"lead?"
"What leader?"
Upon hearing this, the villagers scattered like cats whose tails had been stepped on, but their curiosity made them reluctant to leave. They simply made way for each other and craned their necks to look.
Village chief Zhong Fugui jogged over with several people, the leader of whom was a middle-aged man in a clean Zhongshan suit with a square face and a kind expression.
"Excuse me, is this Zhong Xiaoxiao's home?" the middle-aged man asked gently.
Village chief Zhong Fugui quickly stepped forward, his face plastered with a fawning smile, "Secretary! Mayor! Leaders! This is it! This is Zhong Xiaoxiao's house!"
He pointed to Zhang Chunxue, "This is Xiaoxiao's mother, Zhang Chunxue."
Then, he quickly introduced them to Zhang Chunxue, "Chunxue! Quick! Greet the leaders! This is Secretary Wang of our town's Party Committee! This is Mayor Li! This is Deputy Secretary Zhou, and this is Deputy Mayor Ma!"
The village chief rattled off a string of titles in one breath.
"This is Principal Chen from our town's middle school! This is Vice Principal Liu!"
Finally, the village chief pointed to a middle-aged female teacher who wore glasses and looked very refined, "This is Ms. Sun, Xiaoxiao's homeroom teacher in junior high school!"
Zhang Chunxue was completely dumbfounded.
Why would so many high-ranking officials from the town, as well as the middle school principal and teachers, suddenly come to her house?
But when she heard "Xiaoxiao's homeroom teacher," a thought struck her, and she vaguely realized that this matter was probably related to her daughter!
Sure enough, the village chief, all smiles, said to Zhang Chunxue, "Chunxue! Quick! Go and call Xiaoxiao out!"
"Great news! Fantastic news!" He was so excited his face turned red. "Our Xiaoxiao has really made something of herself! She got first place in the whole county in her junior high school graduation exam! Not only that! I heard she even ranked in the top three in the city! Out of the top fifty in the city, Xiaoxiao is the only one from our county! The county even gave special praise to our town and our town's middle school! That's why Secretary Wang and Mayor Li came to our house to commend Xiaoxiao! This has brought great honor to our whole town!"
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