Mo Qinghe moved his legs and feet. "No, I feel fine, don't worry!"
Grandma Mo was finally relieved.
She felt a surge of joy; her third son's leg was slowly healing, and his future was secure—what a wonderful thing! Things were gradually getting better at home too; everything was moving in a positive direction!
Seeing this, everyone joined in dreaming about the future. Whether you called it wishful thinking or looking forward to the future, the whole family spoke positively, making Grandma Mo beam with joy.
Mo Yunmei, listening from the side, was also very excited. If it were true, her family would become rich and have a new house, her status would rise a lot, and wouldn't she have more choices in marriage?
Her marriage is still unsettled. She's getting on in years, which is quite awkward. Girls her age in the village have already started looking for partners and are engaged long ago! Hers hasn't even begun!
If her family's financial situation improved, she could easily find a wealthy family, or at the very least, a prominent one. She didn't want to be a farm woman, with endless chores every day, exhausting herself and making her hands rough!
The rest of the Mo family had no idea that Mo Yunmei was acting irrationally again. If they had known, they probably would have given her a good beating.
The situation involving Chen Qiuxia eventually became very difficult to resolve.
As more and more gossipers joined in, many people were implicated, and the more they talked, the more chaotic it became. Chen Qiuxia instantly became famous, becoming the focus of attention in the village and the topic of conversation during leisure time after meals.
Liu Tianyang decisively broke off the engagement and retrieved the betrothal gifts, but Zhu refused to return them. How could he give back the money he had already received?
The two families negotiated in a tug-of-war, but Zhu refused to return the betrothal gifts, not giving them a single penny. She declared that she was ready to take over the family in a few days and there was no reason for her to back out. She told Liu Tianyang to take the gifts away early, since the money was gone anyway.
Zhu had essentially given up on Chen Qiuxia. She knew her eldest daughter was no longer of any use. Her affair had been exposed, and the whole village knew about it. No one would want her anymore, and even if someone did, they certainly wouldn't be able to afford the dowry. So she decided to just let someone take her away. She wouldn't return the dowry.
This infuriated Liu Tianyang. Ever since he learned about Chen Qiuxia and Zhao Ziqi's affair, Liu Tianyang had been suffering greatly. He couldn't accept the betrayal of his beloved and drowned his sorrows in alcohol every day, trying to escape for as long as possible.
When Chen Qiuxia was suddenly exposed for having affairs with so many men, Liu Tianyang was stunned for a long time before immediately calling his family to break off the engagement.
As he expected, the engagement wouldn't be so easy to cancel, and he wouldn't even be able to get the betrothal gifts back.
In order to break off the engagement, the Liu family made concessions, only asking to return half of the betrothal gifts. However, the Chen family remained firm and even told Liu Tianyang to prepare to bring Chen Qiuxia into their family, saying that Liu Tianyang might have already fallen in love with his daughter and that he wouldn't want to deny it after taking advantage of her.
Liu Tianyang said he was innocent and that he and Chen Qiuxia had at most held hands, but he had not done anything shady.
But the Chen family absolutely refused to believe it, not even a little bit. How could that be? Which man who had anything to do with their daughter was innocent? They were laughing their heads off at such nonsense. Liu Tianyang was just a bastard who took advantage of their daughter and then denied everything!
Whether you want to or not, you have to accept the marriage. You're all his now, and you can forget about getting your betrothal gifts back!
Liu Tianyang was disheartened and had come to terms with it. He didn't want to get entangled anymore. He just wanted to get the betrothal gifts back and cut ties cleanly. It would be a relief for him. It was painful to have anything to do with such a disgusting person!
But Liu Tianyang was furious that the Chen family would be so disgusting. He went straight to Chen Qiuxia's house and demanded an explanation from her.
When they arrived at Chen Qiuxia's house, no matter what Liu Tianyang said, Chen Qiuxia herself never showed up, leaving Liu Tianyang to perform a one-man show, which made him even more annoyed.
Zhu's words instantly ignited a bomb in Liu Tianyang's heart. He now understood that there was no possibility of getting the betrothal gifts back, but he didn't want to be disgusted by the name of the marriage.
In a fit of rage, Liu Tianyang disregarded Chen Qiuxia's feelings and, taking advantage of the large crowd watching, revealed a major secret.
“I haven’t even touched Chen Qiuxia’s body, yet you’re slandering me for having an affair with her! Whether it’s true or not, you can call Chen Qiuxia out and make her swear an oath in person, let’s see if she dares to swear such a solemn oath!”
"Although I, Liu Tianyang, am not a good person either, I take responsibility for my actions. I will absolutely admit to what I have done, but don't expect me to take the blame for what I didn't do!"
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of this. I just wanted to break off the engagement, get the betrothal gifts back, and settle things evenly. But I didn’t expect the Chen family to be so disgusting! They’re just trying to find someone to take the blame, but Chen Qiuxia is more interested in protecting someone else! You don’t know, do you? All the people you’ve dragged into this are secondary. There’s someone else who’s been kept hidden, someone Chen Qiuxia has kept quiet about, and you haven’t even dug them up!”
"Quiet down, I know you're all curious too. I gave them a chance, but they didn't appreciate it and insisted on bringing it out into the open instead of settling things privately. Well then, I won't be polite! Alright, alright, I won't waste any more words. You all know that person, and in your eyes, he's a gentleman who even passed the preliminary imperial examination and has a bright future! I think you should have guessed who it is, so I don't need to say anything more!"
"Chen Qiuxia won't say anything simply to protect his reputation and for the sake of the illegitimate child in her belly! Hey! Don't tell me yet, hey! It's true, absolutely true! It's already been three months! How do you know so clearly? I checked, the female doctor in town told me! If you don't believe me, you can go ask that woman who specializes in treating women's diseases!"
The area around the Chen family's residence erupted in chaos, with more and more people gathering around, chattering and making a great commotion.
The Chen family members were no match for the crowd. They couldn't win an argument, nor could they drown out the crowd's voices. They stood there with their hands on their hips and jumped up and down, looking like clowns in front of everyone.
Chen Qiuxia lay in the room, her eyes lifeless, staring blankly at the top of the tent, motionless for a long time, as if she were a living dead.
She could hear the sounds outside very clearly. After all, the Chen family's house was drafty and not soundproof at all, and the people outside were deliberately raising their voices. Unless she was deaf, she could hear everything. Besides, ears aren't like eyes; you can't close your eyes if you don't want to see, but you can't shut your ears whether you want to or not!
No matter how much Liu Tianyang cursed her outside, she didn't move an inch; she was completely numb.
Ever since her affair with Liu Hai was discovered, the insults have never stopped. At first, she was very upset and in great pain, but after a while, she became numb to it. She probably got used to it and could block out some of the noise.
Later, after hearing Liu Tianyang mention her pregnancy, she finally stirred.
"Liu Tianyang, is this what you meant by loving me and being willing to give everything for me?"
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