As soon as Cheng Yue and the others arrived at the village head's house, they heard Feng's dissatisfied scolding voice, "Xiao Yan's aunt, this marriage was agreed upon before, what are you doing here to cause trouble now!"
"If you have something to say, come inside and say it. What kind of behavior is this, shouting and yelling like this!"
Marriage? Cheng Yue and Chen An exchanged a glance, both looking completely bewildered.
The village headman got off the oxcart with a gloomy face, squeezed through the crowd into the courtyard, and his eyebrows twitched.
"What? I came here today just to clarify this matter, and I'm expected to give you face? Let's talk things out here. Are you afraid of being seen?"
"What is it all about?" The village headman walked into the courtyard and frowned deeply when he saw the person who had come.
As the village head, he mediated many conflicts in the village, thinking that his own family was harmonious, but he never expected that he would become a laughing stock for others.
Upon seeing the village head return, Madam Feng, Zhang Dashan, and Zhang Dajiang and his wife felt reassured and quickly gave each other meaningful glances.
"Oh, Uncle Village Head, you're finally back! Perfect timing, Shaowen's here too, let's talk about this marriage."
The woman who spoke had a thin face with two deep nasolabial folds, and looked to be about the same age as Qian Yulan.
Cheng Yue glanced at her and saw a thin, dark-skinned, timid little girl standing next to her.
It turns out they were talking about Zhang Shaowen's marriage. This must be Xiaoyan, right? This woman is also an aunt. Why is an aunt coming to the door to arrange a marriage?
Qian Yulan said angrily, "Sister Liang, don't push your luck! What you just said is impossible! Even if my father comes back, you won't be able to say anything!"
If it weren't for her father-in-law owing Zhou Xiaoyan's grandfather a favor, and the fact that Shaowen and Xiaoyan had feelings for each other, she would never have agreed to this marriage, just because of this pair of eccentric uncle and aunt.
Liang Damei was already furious because she had just failed to reach an agreement with Feng and the others. Now, Qian Yulan said in front of everyone that she was pushing her luck, which made her even more furious.
“I’m pushing my luck? Don’t you have any conscience? Village head, you tell me yourself, when you went to Bear Ridge and got bitten by a snake, if it weren’t for my father-in-law saving you, would you still be alive?”
When my father-in-law died, he entrusted Xiaoyan to you. You agreed to that yourself, didn't you? Your whole family approved of this marriage.
Now that your family has prospered and Shaowen has a good job, what's wrong with raising the betrothal gifts a bit?
Xiao Yan's parents died young. If it weren't for me and her uncle, she might not even be alive. We worked so hard to raise your daughter-in-law, and what? You can't even afford a fifteen tael dowry?"
As he spoke, he pushed Zhou Xiaoyan in front of everyone, "Come, come, look at her, is she missing a piece of flesh? You've raised her so well, she's worth at least fifteen taels of silver."
Zhou Xiaoyan's face flushed red, tears welled in her eyes, and she resisted Liang Damei, whispering, "Third Aunt, please stop..."
My aunt heard some nonsense from somewhere, saying that Zhang Shaowen got a good job and insisted on taking her to his door to raise the price.
She didn't want to come, but her third aunt pinched her relentlessly, and her third uncle complained that she was being ungrateful, cursing and swearing for a long time, calling her an ingrate.
Even if the Zhang family becomes successful, what does it have to do with them? The marriage was agreed upon long ago, and the dowry was also agreed upon. How can they raise the price just because the other party has made money?
But she couldn't resist. At this moment, Liang Damei dragged her out like a piece of merchandise. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Wang Chunmei couldn't stand it anymore and angrily said, "Isn't this your niece? What do you mean by 'raised for us'? What do you take Xiaoyan for? Are you selling your niece?!"
"She's definitely not her biological mother. How good can an aunt be? She's just taking advantage of the fact that her parents are gone!"
"That's not how it works. We're all aunties, who would go to such lengths? So it's just that the person is bad, what does it have to do with whether we're aunties or not?"
"Exactly! How could people be so wicked! If it weren't for the engagement with the village head's family, it's hard to say whether this girl would have been sold off!"
Hearing everyone say that she was wicked, Liang Damei glared at her fiercely, "Me, being unreasonable? I, as her aunt, don't owe her anything. I've raised her to adulthood with good food and drink, which is more than enough!"
Food and clothing, what doesn't cost money? It's only right that they exchange some money for a dowry to repay our kindness in raising us!
"How much money does it cost to raise a child? You have the nerve to say you're raising him so well? Look how skinny he is!"
"Of course! And don't even mention how much money it cost you. Didn't the kid help you with any chores? The fact that he ate a meal from you already makes up for it!"
“I say, young lady, marriage is a joyous occasion, but you can’t make a scene like this. It’s really going too far. We’re just ordinary farmers, who can afford fifteen taels?”
The woman outside the courtyard grew increasingly disdainful of Liang Damei. She wasn't some rich young lady, nor was she particularly beautiful, yet she asked for fifteen taels of silver without batting an eye.
Fifteen taels? What does that even mean? They'd be lucky to scrape together two taels a year.
Zhang Shaowen did go to Cheng Yue's shop, but the wages would certainly not be high. The village head's family was also struggling financially, so where would they get fifteen taels of silver?
Liang Damei turned her head and glanced at everyone sideways, then sneered:
"Ha! Just because you can't afford it doesn't mean others can't. Shaowen has made something of himself. Look how well he's dressed. What's fifteen taels of silver?"
"Uncle Village Head, given your status, wouldn't asking for fifteen taels be giving you face?"
The village head glanced at Liang Damei and said indifferently, "We can't afford it, we can't give you that face, and we don't want that face."
Don't try to threaten me with gratitude. Brother Zhou did save my life back then, but he was sick for so many years before he died, and my family paid for all his medicine.
We've helped plow your land quite a bit; we've already repaid the debt of gratitude we owed you!
"We only agreed to the marriage because we felt sorry for Xiaoyan, and we were also instructed by Brother Zhou. Otherwise, we wouldn't have agreed to it at all!"
In previous years, they would go to Xiongling to help out during the busy farming season. Over time, Zhang Shaowen and Zhou Xiaoyan developed feelings for each other.
If it weren't for this, even if Brother Zhou had instructed him, he would never have risked his grandson's life.
Of course, this couldn't be said to Liang Damei, lest she take advantage of it.
Zhou Xiaoyan clenched her fists, tears streaming down her face. She felt utterly humiliated. Even if the marriage went through, how could she possibly have the face to marry into the Zhang family?
Liang Damei had hoped to gain some benefits, but the village head's family was unyielding and she was humiliated instead, which made her furious.
If she hadn't already given the engagement certificate and the money, she really wanted to sell Zhou Xiaoyan to a city person as a maid; that would have earned her more than marrying her off.
Given the current situation, she can't sell it anymore; she doesn't have the guts to do anything illegal. But going back empty-handed is absolutely unacceptable.
Liang Damei suppressed her anger, and then her mind raced. "Yes, there's an even better way!"
Isn't Zhang Shaowen working at Cheng Yue's shop? If she could get her youngest son in there too, wouldn't her family have a steady stream of income?
This is the only way to achieve long-term success!
This way, not only will you have income, but you'll also have face to show, and it can even help you improve your marriage prospects.
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