Chapter 87 (First published on Jinjiang Literature City)
Cheng Ying knew about the fight between Wan Shuhui, Cheng Xue, and their daughter with Lao Cheng's family.
Yesterday evening, Wan Shuhui took Cheng Xue to town to buy all the supplies for today's engagement banquet. She stopped by Cheng Xue's house and talked to her about it.
Cheng Ying wasn't angry; on the contrary, she was very happy because her mild-tempered and timid mother and sister had finally stood up and knew how to fight back.
This means that even if she is not at home in the future, they can become self-reliant and will no longer be bullied by others. She is happy for them.
As soon as Cheng Ying and Long Buxi entered the Cheng family courtyard, they attracted everyone's attention, and people came forward to talk to the two young people.
"Xiaoying, is this your boyfriend? He's really handsome!" A relative, an older woman, looked Long Buxi up and down curiously. "I'd heard Shuhui say before that her future son-in-law was handsome, and I was wondering how handsome he was. Turns out he really is!"
Another older woman said, "I knew it! Xiaoying hadn't wanted to date anyone we introduced her to all these years. Turns out she was waiting for this guy. This young man is even prettier than the most famous girl in the whole area. It's true what they say about the Miao people producing handsome men and beautiful women."
"That's right! I'd heard people say before that the girls and boys in Pucang Village are all incredibly beautiful, but I thought they were just bragging. But today, seeing Xiaoying's boyfriend, he looks like a fairy from a painting, a perfect match for our Xiaoying who's just as beautiful as a fairy! Oh my, they're such a match made in heaven!"
"But why is this young man in a cast? Did he fall, or did he get into a fight and get hurt like this?"
......
Some people are tactless and say some unpleasant things.
For example, a man in his sixties, smoking a pipe, said with a smacking mouth, "I heard that Xiao Ying had a boyfriend in the army, but she ran away without warning, and he even came to her door to ask why. Not long after, she got involved with this Miao guy surnamed Long, and they got engaged right away. It's really outrageous to be two-timing like that."
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but everyone present heard it and fell silent, all looking at him.
The old man realized everyone was staring at him and belatedly felt he shouldn't have said that, but he still stubbornly insisted, "I only heard it secondhand from others. Yesterday, my nephew was working as a waiter in town when he saw the guy who had previously contacted Xiaoying beating up this young man surnamed Long. I heard that the town police even arrested the guy and took him to the police station for questioning. Xiaoying's actions were really unethical. If you're not going to be with him anymore, you should have made things clear to him earlier. Why are you keeping him hanging on? He's a soldier, and from the capital at that. Sending him to the police station, what kind of behavior is that!"
"You seem to sympathize with that soldier." Before Cheng Ying could explode, Cheng Jiantong, who had been lying in the armchair, struggled to sit up and looked at the man with a gloomy expression. "She clearly broke up with that person and severed all ties, but he kept harassing her and did many outrageous things to her. Does that mean she's allowed to find someone else? Do you think that just because he's from the capital and wears a soldier's skin, he's necessarily a good person? My family's affairs are none of your business. My eldest daughter can date whomever she wants, and nobody can interfere!"
Wan Shuhui also said with a stern face: "Uncle Guan, today is the auspicious day of my daughter's engagement. People like you who don't know their place, who speak recklessly without distinguishing right from wrong, and who slander my daughter in public, are not welcome in the Cheng family! You should leave now and stop making a fool of yourself here! Don't associate with my family anymore. The Cheng family disdains to befriend someone like you."
After the couple said that, even Old Man Guan, whose skin was as thick as a city wall, blushed and turned red in turns.
Old Guan's wife usually had a good relationship with Wan Shuhui because the two families were neighbors and had worked together a lot in the past. Wan Shuhui thought that Old Guan's wife was quick and efficient and was a good person, so she asked her to come and help in the kitchen today.
Aunt Guan was also annoyed by her husband's thoughtless and tactless behavior.
Holding a spatula, she rushed to Grandpa Guan, grabbed his ear, and twisted it hard. As Grandpa Guan howled in pain, she yelled, "Is your brain filled with mush?! What are you doing here on their special day, spouting nonsense? You're a grown man, yet you believe everything you hear, you have no sense of propriety, you say whatever comes to mind! All the good relationships I've built up are going to be ruined by this old bastard! I really want to beat you to death, you son of a bitch! You're nothing but a piece of trash! Apologize to Xiaoying and the others right now! And get out of here! If I ever hear you talking about Xiaoying and the others again, I'll cut your tongue out!"
Old Man Guan's ear was almost broken by her twisting. He was a man who cared about his reputation. His wife was pulling his ear in front of so many people and demanding that he apologize, but he refused to say a word.
As Cheng Ying watched the two of them from the side, her anger gradually disappeared.
She knew that this old man Guan was no good. When he was young, he was lazy and idle, loitering around the village, doing nothing of substance, and often beating the old woman Guan whom his parents had arranged to marry him.
At that time, Aunt Guan was still a bullied young wife. She dared not utter a sound even when she was beaten. She could only silently shed tears, carrying her child on her back and working in the fields every day to support this useless old man.
Later, perhaps because she had suffered too much injustice and been beaten too many times, and her children had grown up, one day when Old Man Guan beat her again, she launched an unprecedented counterattack.
Having worked in the fields for many years, she had developed great strength. She beat up Grandpa Guan, who hadn't worked for years and was as weak as a scallion, leaving him bruised and battered, almost to the point of death. She even took out a knife, intending to slit Grandpa Guan's throat to vent her anger.
Seeing this, the neighbors, fearing she might kill someone, rushed forward to stop her, which prevented her from going too far.
From then on, she became more and more courageous. Whenever she was unhappy, she would beat Old Man Guan to a pulp. Old Man Guan could not beat her or argue with her. The children all sided with her and helped her. He still had to rely on her and the children for food, so he could only swallow his anger.
The Guan family then fell under the management of Aunt Guan, who became more assertive and did whatever she wanted. She made many friends among the women of her age in the village, chatting with them and helping with chores whenever she had free time. Life was so much better than when she was younger.
Knowing that Aunt Guan was a good person, Cheng Ying didn't lose his temper. Instead, he looked at Uncle Guan and reprimanded him, saying, "Uncle Guan, let's just let this matter go. Today is a special day for me, so I won't hold it against you. But if you talk nonsense and slander people like this again, don't blame me for turning my back on you! You know what kind of person I am. People who offend me never have a good ending!"
As for your accusation that I'm two-timing, I want to make this clear today in front of many friends and family.
I did have a boyfriend while I was in the military. He was an officer in the army, from a prominent family in the capital, and he was also quite good-looking. At first, I thought I had found a good boyfriend and happily started dating him.
But after spending time with him, I realized that beneath his witty and humorous facade lay a terrifying and chilling personality.
I won't say much else, but just the fact that I clearly broke up with him and resolutely retired from the army to return to my hometown to take over my father's job, and he kept harassing me, even threatening to use my family's lives to force me to get back together when I was determined not to. That alone is enough to show that he is a scumbag.
Although that person had a military background and a powerful family in the capital, who knows the hardships hidden beneath the glamorous facade of those powerful families in the capital?
It is said that every family has its own problems. Even in our rural homes, there are always troubles. Not to mention those wealthy and powerful families, the infighting and power struggles within them are something a country girl like me could never handle!
I am very self-aware. I am unwilling to try to climb up to others, nor am I willing to put myself through hardship, and I am even less willing to compromise with the safety of my loved ones. Is it wrong for me to want to live the life I want?
Furthermore, it was only after I returned home and heard from my father that I learned that when I was little, I had been betrothed to Long Buxi. It was only natural and perfectly innocent for me to date him. How did it become the accusation of two-timing by some people with ulterior motives?
Look at my boyfriend's cast! That's what happened when my ex-boyfriend, who's been bothering me, hit him! Not only was his hand dislocated, but it was also fractured. My boyfriend didn't say anything; he just went to the clinic and got a cast.
The day before yesterday, he went to the mountains to hunt a wild boar and brought it to my parents as an engagement gift. I ask you, which son-in-law would do this? Daring to go to the deep mountains and forests to hunt a wild boar and give it all to his mother-in-law's family without reservation?
Between him and that scumbag who'll beat people up at the slightest disagreement and even try to kill them, who do you think I should choose?
After listening to her explanation and understanding the cause and course of events, everyone finally realized the truth.
Aunt Wang, who was on good terms with Wan Shuhui, said, "I told you those rumors were unbelievable. Those gossipy women in the village, and those old hags from your Cheng family, spread them so convincingly that I couldn't stand it and argued with them a few times. They were still so smug!"
Another woman surnamed Zhao said, "That's right. People in our village are easily swayed by rumors. They just gossip without distinguishing between truth and falsehood. It's our village girls' freedom to choose what kind of partner they want. If they find that the other person isn't good, we're not married yet, so why can't we find someone else?"
"Exactly! Some people, after hearing that Xiaoying dated a guy from the capital and they broke up, think Xiaoying is ungrateful. Now that she's gotten engaged to a Miao guy, they have to say something sarcastic to feel better. Isn't that just plain annoying?"
"Xiao Ying can date whomever she wants. Some people treat the trashy men from the capital that others don't want like treasures. But those men don't even like them. That's why they're so anxious and impatient!"
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