"Although she is a concubine, it is still considered a marriage for a daughter. I just don't know if her family is embarrassed to hold a banquet for their daughter who is a concubine."
"We're definitely going to have a banquet. How can we collect money if we don't? Everyone's counting on this income to help those two boys get married. Didn't we tell everyone in the village as soon as the date was set? What, we didn't tell your family?"
"What nonsense! When his parents passed away, his eldest daughter got married, and his second son got married, my family attended both funerals and weddings and gave them money. But what happened? When my mother-in-law passed away and my daughter got married, we told them, but they didn't come. They didn't even return a single penny of the gift money. Don't even expect them to help with anything. People who only know how to take advantage and make a profit, no matter how thick-skinned they are, would dare to come to my house."
“I used to think that their family was struggling financially, but it seems that's not the case. If you're not well-off, and you can't afford to help others financially, but you can still lend a hand, no one will really criticize you. Everyone in the village knows that things aren't easy. I estimate that this time, not many families in the village will go. It's not a matter of being generous or stingy; nobody's money grows on trees.”
“There’s not a single good person in that family. Da Yong was such a good kid. He worked hard during the busy farming season and chopped firewood for his family during the off-season. But what did he end up doing? He became a concubine for his uncle’s son. I knew about Da Yong’s situation a long time ago, but I didn’t agree to it and never said so. I’ve been using his free labor for several years. What a despicable bastard.”
The moment the topic was brought up, the atmosphere exploded. Hong Xiaoduo easily got the two pieces of information she wanted to know: first, the girl they were talking about who had a daughter who was to be taken as a concubine on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month was the girl that Pang Yong had liked before.
Another important piece of information is that the girl's family is indeed of poor character and has a terrible reputation in the village. Just listen to what they just said; it has aroused public outrage.
"Auntie, I've heard about this family in town, but not all of it. This family isn't very good. What about the girl herself? Was she forced to become a concubine because of pressure from her elders?" Hong Xiaoduo seized the opportunity to ask the key question.
If the girl is good, then she has a way to bring the two lovers together.
"Young lady, you've heard about this in town? See, bad news travels fast. You don't know, young lady, Tang Dong's second daughter isn't as weak and useless as her eldest sister. She's got a strong will. She's also quite pretty. As for her relationship with Pang Da Yong, if she insists on marrying him, her father can't do anything about it. At most, he'll just withhold a dowry and make things a little difficult for Da Yong with the bride price."
However, the second young lady was too headstrong. After two years of dating, she realized she wouldn't have a good life marrying that boy Dayong, which is why she agreed to become his uncle's son's concubine.
"Yes, everyone in the surrounding area has heard that the divorced woman from the Pang family was so lucky. She met a wealthy benefactor and started out as a wet nurse for his child. She took good care of him, and he even took her as a concubine."
Over the years, he has taken great care of her family. The Pang family's current good life is all thanks to that son-in-law.
Tang Dong's second daughter also has high standards. She was able to take a liking to Dayong back then, probably because of his mother's connections.
Even though they had heard that the Pang family treated Dayong badly, they didn't expect it to be this bad, refusing to even offer a dowry of 180 taels.
I heard from my nephew, who is a neighbor of the Pang family, that the Pang family told others that Tang Dong's second daughter was not good enough for Dayong, so they deliberately said they wouldn't give a dowry.
But not long after, they took her back to be their son's concubine, and the dowry was still 180 taels of silver! The Pang family is utterly immoral and heartless; they don't even think about how they got their good life!
The most pitiful one is that kid, Dayong! Sigh!
"If you ask me, the stupidest one is Dayong's mother. Doesn't she know what kind of life her own son has been living at his parents' house all these years?"
Hearing everyone's indignation, Hong Xiaoduo was both amused and exasperated, because based solely on the speculations and guesses of these aunties and grandmothers, she couldn't be certain that the second daughter of the Tang family had voluntarily become a concubine for Uncle Pang Yong's son.
Just then, a woman sitting to Hong Xiaoduo's left patted Hong Xiaoduo's arm, gesturing for her to look in the distance, and whispered, "Young lady, look quickly, that woman in the cloak is the second daughter of the Tang family."
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo looked over, while Tian Shu next to her frowned slightly, looking at the pastry crumbs on Hong Xiaoduo's sleeve that had been patted by the woman.
Looking at Hong Xiaoduo, she didn't care about any of this. Her attention was all on the second daughter of the Tang family. Well, compared to the gossip she loved, what did it matter if there were some pastry crumbs on her clothes?
"Aunties, please eat first. I'll go take a look." After saying that, Hong Xiaoduo suddenly stood up and walked towards the second daughter of the Tang family, who was not far away.
Huh? What's wrong with her?
The women and old women were a bit slow to react, looking at Tian Shu with bewildered and puzzled expressions.
"Ahem, don't worry, aunties and grandmothers. She's just very curious and likes to meddle in other people's business, but she would never say anything out of line," Tian Shu quickly emphasized.
Although Tian Shu was young, he understood what the women and old ladies in front of him were worried about. Therefore, he told them very frankly that no matter what Hong Xiaoduo did after going over there, she would never tell the second daughter of the Tang family that they had just been talking about her family and saying bad things about her family.
"Young master, is that young lady yours?" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and someone asked curiously.
Tian Shu glanced at Xiao Duo's back and whispered, "Auntie, she's my aunt." He dared not tell these people that he called her "mother."
However, you absolutely cannot say she is the older sister, because that would be a generational difference!
It's not uncommon for aunts to be close to or even younger than their nephews and nieces.
But it's different with mothers. Tian Shu is sure that if he told them that she was his mother, he would immediately become the focus of their gossip.
After saying that, Tian Shu quickly followed.
Tang Meixia, the second daughter of the Tang family, was about to go to her fifth aunt's house at the south end of the village to draw some patterns when she heard someone talking to her behind her after only a few steps.
"Second Madam, please wait." Tian Shu, who had caught up with her, stumbled upon hearing Hong Xiaoduo's voice, even though he was already used to her personality.
Was it because they weren't satisfied with the gossip from those women and old folks that they actually went to the person involved? Or was it because they couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to stand up for Pang Dayong and teach him a lesson?
Tian Shu also had a misconception that things had been peaceful all along the way, so she was bored and uncomfortable. Indeed, compared to the scenes of constantly encountering vicious bandits, robbers, and pirates, occasionally encountering a few petty thugs and teaching them a lesson was really boring...
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