Cuilan helped Xiaojiu carry three catties of millet, and the two sisters chatted and laughed as they walked home.
After explaining her own situation, Cuilan also told Xiaojiu some gossip.
Do you know Huang Xin from the Huang family?
Xiao Jiu's eyes lit up. "That's right, their mourning period is over, shouldn't they get married?"
Upon hearing this, even Cuilan, who is usually not good with words, couldn't help but laugh.
"It's true that karma is reaping what it sows. The woman who was swapped with Huang Xin is now his sister-in-law. Even his sister, Huang Hua, who was supposed to marry his comrade-in-arms, ended up marrying a crippled uncle from his clan instead because his comrade-in-arms' family concealed some information."
"Huh? Isn't this a marriage scam? This virgin is essentially sacrificing herself to get a new marriage for her second brother? Is her second sister-in-law normal?"
Cuilan looked at Xiaojiu in surprise: "How do you know he's not normal? If he were normal, would they have arranged a marriage? I heard he has epilepsy and wets his pants whenever he gets a shock. Even so, no one wanted Huang Xin and insisted on marrying Huang Jin. In the end, Huang Xin lost everything and was ridiculed by the villagers."
Xiao Jiu pouted, "I thought so too, but his comrade is really cunning. He seemed to be helping him, but who knew he'd end up sabotaging him instead."
Cuilan scoffed. "I've seen his comrade-in-arms. He was such a hypocrite. He even came to my house crying and apologizing, kneeling down in front of everyone in the village, saying he didn't know anything about it. But I could tell from his behavior that he was very fake. Huang Xin probably saw through him too, and waved him away indifferently. But instead, he became even more unreasonable, insisting that I forgive him. Huang Xin directly told everyone that we should split up the family property. He struggled to get into the house by himself, and once inside, he wouldn't come out. He didn't say a word of forgiveness. It's clear that he was truly heartbroken."
"Then... what about the gold?"
"They took their wives and moved to a place in the village where no one had been married yet, saying they would save money to build a house later. On the third day after their wedding, their sister Huang Hua returned to her parents' home, smashing things and cursing the two brothers. She then severed all ties with them and vowed never to see them again."
To be honest, Xiao Jiu doesn't sympathize with the Huang family at all, because she doesn't know who to sympathize with.
It seems that each of these three siblings has their own hardships, and each of them deserves their fate.
"The funniest thing is that after this incident, Huang Xin asked someone to come and find the older sister, but the older sister scolded him and drove him away, saying that she doesn't collect trash."
"Now Huang Xin is having trouble even eating, and he's so slovenly that it's unbearable to look at. Huang Jin felt guilty and went to see him, but he was beaten up and kicked out. It seems the two brothers have completely fallen out."
Recently, some people in the village have been trying to set him up with marriage proposals, but they've all been unsuitable, with some kind of problem. He's given up on them all and has stopped seeing them, saying he'll remain a bachelor to the end.
Xiao Jiu scoffed, "Who cares what happens in the future? Anyway, our eldest sister has turned misfortune into blessing. Things are getting better and better for her after the engagement was called off. I heard from Dad that quite a few people at the health center are trying to find her a match."
Cuilan shook her head helplessly, "My eldest sister is too stubborn. She insisted on only taking in sons-in-law who would live with her family and not marry into the family. She set such good conditions, but everyone backed out as soon as they heard that."
Some families with many sons wanted to marry into the family, but when the eldest sister inquired and learned that the families had many burdens and that she would have to pay them a dowry, she found it laughable and refused outright. She said that even if she were to marry into the family, she wouldn't want those with complicated families, many burdens, and who were all only thinking about taking advantage.
Xiao Jiu disagreed, saying, "My sister is only 24 years old this year, not seventy or eighty. She has such a good job. She can take her time and find a suitable one sooner or later. Let's not rush her or urge her. She has her own plans."
At this point, Cuilan asked curiously, "How's Second Sister doing? Does she have a boyfriend?"
After seeing Xiao Jiu shake her head, she suddenly whispered something mysteriously into Xiao Jiu's ear.
“I heard that someone from my third sister’s factory introduced her to a guy who’s two years younger than her. He’s an apprentice at a state-run restaurant, very tall, and good-looking. His father works at a slaughterhouse, and his mother works at a flour mill. He has two older brothers, both of whom have stable jobs. He’s the youngest, and he bought his job, so he’ll be able to get a permanent position sooner or later. The guy is very satisfied with my sister, but she says that there are many brothers in her family, which leads to many conflicts, so she’s still considering it!”
In families with many brothers, the biggest taboo is not treating everyone equally. This matter does need to be carefully considered. She believes that with her mother around, her third sister's partner should be able to be properly investigated, so the family doesn't need to worry too much.
"How's Fourth Sister? How are Fourth Sister and Niu Feng doing?"
At the mention of this, Cuilan wanted to laugh. "Brother Niu writes a lot of letters, but you know our fourth sister's temper. She doesn't seem to be interested in anything. People write her three or four letters, and she might only reply with one after we urge her."
But she was also quite practical, and she would always send Brother Niu a lot of dried fish. Brother Niu knew she loved to eat delicious food, so he would send her a lot of snacks that he had found everywhere.
Their relationship is very stable, without any ups and downs, but we're all worried that if Fourth Sister is too cold to him, they might break up.
Xiao Jiu smiled and said, "He already knew about my sister's temper, so this situation is unlikely to happen."
As soon as the two entered the village, they saw a group of people shouting and yelling in front of the Zhang family's house. In the courtyard, a little girl of about ten years old was hugging her parents' legs, crying with snot and tears streaming down her face, muttering, "I won't leave, I won't marry." They asked the onlookers around and learned that the family had no food during a famine, so they had given the little girl to a family with many sons to be their wife.
She married a soldier, so her circumstances shouldn't be bad. But this family looks fierce and menacing, like they're not good people.
"Sigh, if she had married the soldier, that would be one thing. The problem is that she was supposed to marry the soldier, but somehow things went wrong and she became his nephew's wife. They're going to send her to his cousin's house to marry a fool. How could the Zhang family agree to that? They resolutely refused and even returned the grain they had borrowed. But the Zhao family wasn't happy about it, so they came to make trouble."
What could possibly go wrong? They probably couldn't find a wife over there, and it would be difficult to even deceive them, so they came up with this underhanded scheme.
As for why the news was leaked, it can only be said that people in this era are not so inhumane as to be beyond redemption. How could a perfectly healthy young woman marry a fool and ruin her future for nothing?
Every village has its own channels for inquiring, and once enough people know, they'll eventually let it slip.
Turning around, he saw Huang Jin and his wife standing at the entrance of their new home watching the commotion. As Xiao Jiu passed by them, she deliberately snorted coldly. It was this snort that made the onlookers seem to realize something, and they all looked at Huang Jin and his wife at the same time.
Only then did his wife belatedly realize that she was, in a sense, the one who had tricked him into marriage. Her face immediately turned red, and she turned around and went back to her own home. Huang Jin's face also darkened. He closed the rickety gate and went home with a gloomy expression.
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