"Hey, isn't that Big Dog's wife? She's really pretty," a woman said with some envy.
"Oh, a dowry of ten taels of silver! How could it not be beautiful?"
The fact that the Liu family spent ten taels of silver as a bride price to marry a daughter-in-law was already well-known in Changfeng Village.
There are all sorts of opinions about what the Liu family did.
Some people say that the girl is pretty, and that ten taels of silver is a steal.
Some people said that Liu's actions were simply insane; ten taels of silver could have been used to get Er Gou a wife.
However, everyone only discussed this matter behind Liu's back; no one dared to say it to her face.
Erhua's mother and Widow Zhang happened to be off work at the mine today, and they were chatting in front of Zhao Yan's house.
Widow Zhang looked at Cheng Taotao with envy. She was wearing a light red jacket, and her jet-black hair was tied up with a silver hairpin at the back of her head.
Especially her fair and delicate face, which looked as if she had applied the finest rouge and powder.
Widow Zhang felt a pang of jealousy. If she were ten years younger, she could rival Cheng Taotao.
People are envious of things that are too beautiful, and they wish they could step on them.
Widow Zhang called out, "Big Dog's wife, come chat!"
Cheng Taotao was suddenly called out. She looked up and saw at least four or five women standing at the door.
Cheng Taotao stopped in her tracks, somewhat hesitant.
She didn't know any of these people, and it would be awkward to approach them.
Widow Zhang wasn't about to let her off so easily, and continued to urge, "Big Dog's wife, come quickly."
Cheng Taotao walked over hesitantly, forcing a smile onto her face.
"Hello, aunties and sisters-in-law," Cheng Taotao greeted them.
Widow Zhang seemed quite enthusiastic, coming up and taking Cheng Taotao's hand, looking her up and down.
"Oh my, she really is the most beautiful daughter-in-law in our village."
Cheng Taotao blushed.
Sister-in-law Wang smiled and said, "Big Dog's wife, I heard your family is from Chengjiazhuang, right?"
Cheng Taotao nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Hey, I've heard the girls in your Chengjiazhuang are really pretty. If you know anyone, could you find a girl for my son?"
"Alright, sister-in-law, it's rained now, so the drought should be over. After surviving the famine, which village girl would want to marry into our village?" Erhua's mother said, revealing the truth of the matter.
Their family was poor, and even during such a good opportunity as a year of famine, they did not arrange a marriage for their eldest son.
She has three sons, while this Sister-in-law Wang only has one son, what's the rush?
He Tiantian left home, intending to go to Zhao Yan's house to tell him about what Magistrate Liu had mentioned last time.
I wonder if that young master Cheng Fang is willing to come and apologize. If he is, Zhao Yan should be prepared.
From afar, five or six women could be seen standing in front of Zhao Yan's house.
These were all people she had met and knew before.
She also had some impression of Cheng Taotao; indeed, among these people, she was the most outstanding in appearance.
Erhua's mother had the sharpest eyes and spotted He Tiantian first.
It's been a long time since I've seen Wanzi's mother. I heard she went to the city to do business, and Erhua's mother is very interested in that.
She waved to He Tiantian and said with a smile, "Wanzi's mom, it's been a long time since I've seen you."
He Tiantian thought back to when she was in the mine, and in the end, she got along quite peacefully with Erhua's mother.
So he smiled and greeted him, saying, "I had some things to take care of in the city, which kept me from getting here."
The crowd's attention shifted from Cheng Taotao to He Tiantian.
He Tiantian rarely wore new clothes in the village because she didn't want to attract too much attention.
Unfortunately, her old clothes got soaked from the rain last night, so she had to take out her newly bought clothes.
She wore a light blue blouse adorned with a few small white flowers. Her lower body was also light blue, and her shoes were worn-out cloth shoes.
However, He Tiantian was a beauty in the surrounding villages when she was young.
Although she is now a mother of three, her skin is as fair as Cheng Taotao's.
The two people stood together, each seemingly possessing their own unique beauty, and no one could definitively say who was first or second.
Widow Zhang was already jealous enough seeing Cheng Taotao. Now that He Tiantian had arrived, her eyes darted back and forth between the two.
The more I look at it, the more heartbroken I feel.
Why isn't she as pretty as others? It must be because she ran out of face powder and didn't dress up today.
He Tiantian didn't want to get involved with people she wasn't very familiar with, so she declined, saying, "You guys chat, I need to go inside and talk to Zhao Yan about something."
With that, He Tiantian went into the courtyard.
Cheng Taotao actually wanted to leave as well. She wasn't familiar with these women and felt very awkward standing there.
I always feel like a monkey being watched by these people.
She spoke softly, "Aunties and sisters-in-law, I'm going back now."
"Hey, don't go. Look, you've married into our village now. We'll see each other all the time, so let's talk to each other." Widow Zhang clung to her.
He Tiantian closed the courtyard door, but even so, she could still hear the people at the door chattering inside.
She looked up and saw Zhao Yan sitting by the window reading, so she casually asked, "How can you concentrate on your studies with all this noise?"
Seeing Zhao Yan's calm expression, as if he were unaffected by worldly troubles, He Tiantian was very curious.
She felt that those women were speaking too loudly, which was really inconsiderate and disturbed the children's studies.
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