"It's going to be chaos outside, but you three are hiding away."
The person who spoke was Aunt Zhao, who had sold them wheat bran a few days ago. It was lunchtime at this time, and Aunt Zhao pushed the door open and came in with a bowl in her hand.
Zhu Cuilan's yard is at the very edge of the village, so sometimes she is not very well informed about the news.
I was so busy working today that I didn't really pay attention to what was going on outside.
"His aunt is here, come and sit down. What's going on outside? Why is it so noisy?" Zhu Cuilan pulled Aunt Zhao to sit down with some gossip.
Yang Donghu had bought wheat bran before, so he was no stranger to Aunt Zhao. He greeted her warmly, "Aunt Zhao."
Aunt Zhao sat down and replied to Yang Donghu with a smile, "Donghu, have you finished the wheat bran you bought last time? If you don't have enough, come to my place and get more. We have plenty of it at home. I told you not to pay, but you are so sensible and never miss out."
The second half of the sentence was said to Zhu Cuilan, and was also a polite remark.
"Not yet. I'll ask Auntie for more after I finish eating. The chicks are grown up now and it's almost time for them to lay eggs. Auntie can pick up two to eat then."
"Oh, okay, okay, I won't be polite to you."
There was a lot of noise outside. Zhu Cuilan pushed Aunt Zhao's hand and urged, "Hurry up and tell me what's going on."
"Look how anxious you are." Aunt Zhao said with a smile, "Just remember the eldest daughter of the Ding family who got married a few days ago. You still remember her husband died within two days of her marriage."
Yang Donghu was shocked when he heard this. He had also attended Miss Ding's wedding, so how could it happen so suddenly?
There was a girl in the village who was about the same age as Zhao Fangchu. She got engaged at the beginning of the year. It was said that her husband's family was in poor health and had tuberculosis. The family was in a hurry and wanted to use the marriage to bring good luck. Since their son could not be saved, it would be good to keep a bloodline in the world.
But he should never have lied to the girl and told her during the wedding that his son had only a minor illness and would be fine after two days of rest. But on the wedding day he found out that he was so sick that he couldn't get out of bed. He even had to find someone to replace him during the wedding.
Miss Ding's family was penniless, and the four members of her family lived in poverty. However, as parents, no one was willing to push their child into trouble.
The old couple realized they had been cheated on the wedding day. They were reluctant to marry the girl off in such an unclear way, but they had already received the betrothal gifts and spent a small part of it. If the marriage did not take place, they would have to pay compensation. Where could they get the money at that time?
The husband's family said that the illness was only temporary and would heal soon. Out of desperation, the old couple had no choice but to let their daughter marry him.
When Zhao Fangchu was a child, he ran around the village. He had two older brothers to protect him, so no one could bully him. He was also very cute when he was a child, so all the children liked to play with him.
Miss Ding played with Zhao Fangchu for a while when she was a child. Later, when she was a little older and could help with housework, she went out less often. Children tend to forget themselves, so Zhao Fangchu found new friends and gradually forgot about her.
When doing things in the same village, you have to pay favors to people. When you do things in your own home, people will pay you back. With this back and forth, the relationship will become closer.
Zhao Fangchu went to see the bride. Unlike the lively atmosphere of Zhu Yicheng's wedding in his memory, the bride's face did not show much joy, but more helplessness about her own situation.
The groom was seriously ill, so the man's family had to send a man from the same family to pick him up. If the groom had come in person, sitting on a tall horse, he would have looked so majestic and dignified. But he was a man with a serious face, holding a rooster with a big red flower tied to his arms, which looked so incongruous no matter how you looked at it.
I thought that after getting married, the groom's health would improve, but I didn't expect that only ten days after the wedding, the wedding character on the window hadn't been taken down yet, and white flowers were already hanging on the eaves.
Life is hard for a widow, especially for a girl whose husband died right after she got married. However, her husband's family did not use this incident to bully Miss Ding. They just had one rule: if she became his daughter-in-law, she would have to remain a widow for the rest of her life and was not allowed to marry anyone else.
Miss Ding's life was ruined like this. She came back crying to complain to her parents. Miss Ding had a younger brother. Seeing that his sister was wronged, he took his anger out on the matchmaker and demanded an explanation. As a result, he was ridiculed for his sister's fate of being unlucky in marriage. He couldn't help but hurt the matchmaker. At that time, the matchmaker was making a fuss at Ding's house.
Zhu Cuilan also felt sorry for Miss Ding's experience. She didn't know which matchmaker was so wicked. The man had tuberculosis and it seemed that he would not survive. In order to earn a few taels of matchmaker fee, he ruined the life of a young girl.
"Who is the matchmaker?"
Aunt Zhao finished the rice in her bowl, put it down at her feet, wiped her mouth and whispered, "You know this person too, she's the one who introduced the girl to Fang Yu last time, Da Taohong."
"How can this person be so black-hearted, being a matchmaker for anything? Isn't he afraid of retribution?" Zhu Cuilan was furious when she heard the name Da Taohong. She almost dragged her own family into the pit in the past, and this time she brought disaster to the girl from the Ding family.
"That's right. I heard that the injury was not light. After this incident, I guess no one dares to ask her for matchmaking anymore. Her role as a matchmaker has come to an end."
"That kid from the Ding family hurt someone. Can Da Taohong let him go so easily?" Zhu Cuilan frowned.
"How could that be? There's chaos outside right now, all because of this."
It is said that Da Taohong is famous and has many successful marriages. Today one of them is sick and dying, and tomorrow another one is pretending to be weak to cheat people out of money. She makes all kinds of dirty money. Isn't that why she has many successful marriages?
Aunt Zhao chattered a lot to Zhu Cuilan, and Yang Donghu and Zhao Fangchu listened attentively until Aunt Zhao's daughter-in-law came looking for her outside the house, saying that the eldest grandson in the family was upset and refused to eat, and asked her to go back and take a look.
Aunt Zhao then hurried back.
Zhu Cuilan escorted the person out of the yard and then came back to lock the gate tightly.
They already had some grudges with Da Taohong, so they couldn't join in the fun. If they weren't careful, they would get into trouble. The men in the family were not at home, and there was no help. The orphans and widows were left to be bullied.
The noise outside didn't stop until the evening. Zhu Cuilan didn't rush out to inquire, waiting for Aunt Zhao to come and talk to her tomorrow.
Yang Donghu has recently been learning embroidery from Zhu Cuilan. From the initial strange-looking ones to now, she has seen initial results. After the first month of the year, on the day of the dragon raising its head on February 2, it is time for the Spring Outing Festival.
Yang Donghu wanted to make a purse for Zhao Luochuan. As the weather warmed up, the insects and ants on the mountain started to bite more severely. It would take several days for a bite to go away. During this period, the itching was unbearable and it was difficult to sleep.
After embroidering the purse, Zhao Luochuan was asked to take it to the mountain and stuff some insect repellent herbs into it so that he could sleep more peacefully at night.
Moreover, the Outing Festival is the only day in the year when unmarried men and women can freely exchange tokens of love if they are attracted to each other.
Although the two have been husband and wife for a long time, such days are rare, so it would be nice to give something to express your thoughts.
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