Yang Guangzong knew that his wife's elder brother's family was dirt poor, so he deliberately rushed to give a gift first, just to embarrass Ye Caiping's family.
Grandma Ye didn't take him seriously and stepped forward, saying, "It's just a small token of our appreciation. Please accept it, Second Brother and Sister-in-law."
As he spoke, he actually took out six strings of coins and gave one hundred and twenty coins as a gift.
Now that the whole village knows they're doing well, Old Lady Ye sees no need to hide it anymore. After all, the other party is her own brother, so there's no reason for her to be stingy. She was generous this time.
Yang Guangzong's smug smile froze on his face. He was a little angry and was about to mock Old Lady Ye for putting on a brave face.
Madam Du stepped forward and said, "Second Aunt, this is ours."
As he spoke, he actually took out five strings of coins and gave a hundred coins as a gift.
Mr. Wei also contributed the same amount of money.
"What are you doing? Why are you giving it back after already giving it to me?" Aunt Ye said reproachfully.
Grandma Ye laughed: "We've divided the family property, so of course we'll give it to each family individually."
Ye Caiping also stepped forward: "Yes, this is mine."
Not wanting to outdo Old Lady Ye, Ye Caiping also contributed one hundred coins.
“I heard that Cai Ping made a lot of money by setting up stalls in the town and county a while ago,” a relative said.
Ye Caiping smiled and said, "It's all thanks to everyone's kindness that I earned a little bit."
The crowd then bombarded her with questions about what she was selling and how much it cost, to which Ye Caiping answered with a smile.
Yang Guangzong was furious, feeling that his limelight had been stolen.
What he found even more unacceptable was that his uncle's family, who used to be penniless, had suddenly become wealthy! They were able to come up with a gift of one hundred coins at once.
Yang Guangzong felt a pang of jealousy and resentment when someone who was clearly worse off than him suddenly became rich.
Soon, Ye Wuquan returned to welcome his bride.
Ye Caiping pulled Jin'er and Huan'er to stand at the door to watch the excitement.
A bullock cart slowly approached, with a large red flower tied to the bull's head. The bride and groom were sitting on the cart behind it.
Ye Wuquan was handsome, dressed in a red groom's suit, and was smiling as he bowed to people.
The bride's face was covered by a veil, so her features were not visible.
Farmers typically don't use sedan chairs for weddings; they usually rent an oxcart to fetch the bride, and have someone carry a gong and beat it along the way—it's already quite festive and lively.
After the wedding ceremony, Ye Wuquan and his bride went into the bridal chamber.
Amidst the festive atmosphere, the banquet finally began, with men and women seated at separate tables.
Ye Caiping, Old Lady Ye, Madam Du and Madam Wei, Jin Hua, Yin Hua, Jin'er, and Huan'er sat at one table, but two more people were missing.
At this moment, Ye Hufen walked over with a boy who looked to be about ten years old: "Auntie, can we sit here?"
"Quickly, sit down," Grandma Ye urged her.
As soon as Ye Hufen sat down, he said to Yang Duobao beside him, "Quickly greet them. This is your second maternal grandmother, your eldest aunt, your second aunt, and your youngest aunt."
Yang Duobao rolled his dead fish eyes and said, "I want to eat chicken legs."
Ye Hufen gave Old Lady Ye an awkward smile, and Old Lady Ye laughed and said, "Alright, alright, eat up!"
One by one, everyone removed the bowls covering the dishes.
There were eight dishes in total, five meat and three vegetable. The three main dishes were scallion oil chicken, braised fish, and braised pork with preserved mustard greens. Then came stir-fried pork slices with tofu, stir-fried eggs with chives, and three vegetable dishes, which made up the meal.
Such a feast is considered extremely lavish in the surrounding area.
For this wedding, Uncle Ye even borrowed five taels of silver from Old Man Ye, putting on a great show of respect.
Ye Hufen quickly put a chicken leg on Yang Duobao's plate.
Ye Caiping also picked up her chopsticks. Today, the people cooking the big pot of dishes were none other than her father and her older brother.
Grandma Ye smiled and asked, "How's your father's cooking?"
"fine."
"Nothing tastes as good as Mom's cooking," Ye Huan'er chuckled.
Ye Caiping glared at her with a smile.
While the others were chatting, Yang Duobao was showing off his meat like crazy, having already devoured two large chicken legs: "Meat, big fatty meat!"
Ye Hufen had no choice but to put a piece of braised pork on his plate.
Yang Duobao finished his food in two bites: "I want more, I want more!"
Ye Hufen looked embarrassed when she saw that Ye Caiping's family were all very polite and refined.
Ye Caiping gave her a reassuring look, and Grandma Ye also smiled and said, "Eat more, the child is growing."
It's not surprising that Yang Duobao eats like a reincarnated starving ghost; other villagers do the same.
Ye Caiping's family has been eating meat every day for the past two or three months, so they don't crave it.
If it were in the past, he would have starved to death.
Ye Hufen had no choice but to put two more large pieces of braised pork belly on Yang Duobao's plate. With just a few bites, most of the pork belly was gone.
As Ye Huan'er was picking up a piece of fish, Yang Duobao immediately forked it away with his chopsticks, taking away the belly part of the fish that Ye Huan'er was trying to pick up.
Ye Huan'er frowned, and Ye Caiping quickly put a chicken wing on her plate: "Eat quickly."
Just as Ye Huan'er was about to eat, Yang Duobao yelled, "That chicken wing is mine!"
Ye Caiping and the others' faces darkened.
Ye Hufeng's face flushed red, and she frowned: "Duobao, anyone can eat this meat, you've already eaten a lot..."
"Who do you think you are, daring to lecture me!" Yang Duobao said, rolling his dead fish eyes.
Ye Caiping and her daughter were stunned. This child was too unruly!
Ye Hufeng's face paled slightly: "Mother wasn't just scolding you... she was just..."
"Aren't you going to scold me?" With that, Yang Duobao suddenly burst into a loud cry: "My wicked stepmother is abusing me... Waaaaah... Ahhh!!!"
While crying, she suddenly flipped over, falling to the ground along with her chair, and then rolled around on the floor. The sharp, loud crash drew the attention of everyone at the banquet.
Uncle Ye and Aunt Ye, who were sitting nearby, changed their expressions upon hearing the noise and came over.
"What are you doing!" Yang Guangzong walked over, somewhat drunk, and started yelling at Ye Hufen: "Didn't I tell you to take good care of the child?"
Ye Hufeng lowered her head in fear and stammered, "I...I took good care of her..."
"Waaaaah... Dad, she bullied me..." Yang Duobao wailed even louder and more aggrieved when he saw Yang Guangzong.
"Alright, alright, it's alright, Dad's here." Yang Guangzong comforted Yang Duobao affectionately, then glared at Ye Hufen and said, "What, just because the child isn't your own, does that give you the right to mistreat him like this?"
"No wonder everyone says stepmothers are vicious; they're absolutely right!"
Upon hearing this, the villagers looked at Ye Hufen with a mixture of sympathy and mockery.
Ye Caiping was completely bewildered.
So, this Yang Duobao isn't Ye Hufen's biological son? Is he her stepmother?
That's even more wrong.
Ye Hufen's daughter, Yang Xiaoyan, is already fourteen years old. If she were a stepmother, Yang Duobao would be at least fifteen or sixteen years old, so why is he only about ten?
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