The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 74 - Don’t Get any Silly Ideas

74: Chapter 74 Don’t Get any Silly Ideas

74 -74 Don’t Get any Silly Ideas

“What happened next?” Jinhua became interested.

“With her crying and making a scene, He Dawei also started causing trouble, grabbing Li Jinzhi and saying that if both families didn’t agree to their marriage, they would die together in some sort of lovers’ pact, and the three of them could reunite underground.

This scared the He Family into panic; they had already turned their backs on each other, but because of those two, they pinched their noses and sat down again to discuss the marriage.”

“I hid by the courtyard wall and listened: It seemed like they wouldn’t return the ten taels of silver anymore and just considered it the betrothal gift.

They’d pick a nearby date for the marriage and just do it.

My Uncle Da Gui wanted some kind of dowry, clothes or something, but he was scolded by the He Family and sent back.

They scolded him awfully, saying stuff like Uncle Da Gui’s family was selling their daughter off, that his family had bad customs, and that if it weren’t for their son, they would rather die than become relatives with Uncle Da Gui’s family.”

“Then what?” Wang Yongzhu had started off listening to Lady Jiang explain how to mend clothes, but soon her mind wasn’t on it at all, just uttering non-committal responses while her ears were already pricked up, listening to Li Zhuye talk about the clash between the He Family and the Li Family.

At the most exciting part, she couldn’t help but ask out loud.

Seeing that Wang Yongzhu was interested, and since she had just received a hair accessory from someone, Li Zhuye naturally spared no detail.

“After that, the He Family agreed to the marriage on one condition: everything must follow the He Family’s rules.

There was no betrothal gift, NONE of the bridal clothes and jewelry, and the Li Family had to provide a dowry.

Eventually, amidst the loud commotion, Li Jinlong returned from school and, on behalf of Uncle Da Gui, agreed to everything.

Both families decided on a date, picking the soonest auspicious day, the eighth day of the sixth month for the wedding,” Li Zhuye explained everything about the squabble between the two families in rapid succession. freewebnσvel.cøm

Wang Yongzhu calculated that it was less than a month away.

It seemed both families were in a hurry.

They had no choice but to hurry; otherwise, by the time of the wedding, the bride’s belly would be showing, and besides, even if it wasn’t visible now, what would they say when the child was born?

“So why is your mother so angry?” Jinhua asked casually.

“Don’t get me started.

The neighbor, Aunt Da Xiu, came running over, asking my mother to be the ‘full fortune lady’ for Li Jinzhi’s wedding, for my mother to go and do her hair and makeup.

My mother didn’t want to agree at first, but Aunt Da Xiu cried and pleaded at our house, saying everything was family and relatives, and that Li Jinzhi was like my mother’s own daughter.

Now that her ‘daughter’ was getting married, not even helping with such a small favor, she even brought up the relationship between the two families, pulling my grandmother and grandfather into it, forcing my mother to agree.

My mother found it unlucky and shameful; she’s been slamming doors and smashing bowls at home these past few days, looking at everyone with disapproval.

I can be scolded by her five times a day,” Li Zhuye said, feeling very wronged herself – it was all an undeserved disaster.

It was Wang Yongzhu who caught another key point in the conversation: “Li Jinlong?

The youngest son of the Li Family who’s studying in a private school?

Isn’t he the youngest at home?

How can he be in charge of Uncle Da Gui’s family?”

Li Zhuye pursed her lips: “Absolutely.

He’s Uncle Da Gui’s precious treasure, spoiled like an ancestor, sent to a private school with the hope that he will someday become a graduate and bring honor to his ancestors.

He’s the one with the most schemes, sweet-talking and good at flattering, but I hate him the most.

He’s such a hypocrite, acting one way in front of elders and another way towards us, acting as if talking to us is beneath him.

The slightest matter, he plays the good guy and pretends to be bullied to tattle to the elders, and for some reason, the adults seem to eat it up, always praising him for being sensible, which is so annoying!

Even a shrewd person like Uncle Da Gui gets completely charmed by him…”

The rest was a plethora of complaints.

Wang Yongzhu took it as mere jealousy between children and did not give it much thought, simply agreeing with the young girl’s sentiments as Li Zhuye vented.

The girl was naturally forgetful and, after her rant, her mood improved, and she took Jinhua to the village to show off her new hair accessory to the other kids.

Meanwhile, Wang Yongzhu struggled with needle and thread for most of the day and finally achieved some results, managing to sew the practice cloth onto her own skirt.

Wordlessly, Wang Yongzhu looked at her handiwork and then at Lady Jiang.

Lady Jiang lowered her head, not daring to show her face which was struggling to contain a laugh.

Truly, seeing her usually overbearing and tricky sister-in-law displaying such a bewildered, helpless expression, as if asking what on earth had happened, made even the normally composed Lady Jiang want to laugh.

Wang Yongzhu was indeed very confused!

But as a former academic overachiever, she still had some resilience against setbacks.

With a stoic face, Wang Yongzhu picked up the scissors and looked for the knot she had tied in her dress so she could cut it open and pull out the thread.

Before the scissors could even touch the hem, Wang Yongping walked into the courtyard.

Seeing this scene, his mind went blank.

He rushed over, snatched the scissors away, and threw them aside while shouting, “Little sister, what’s wrong with you?

Who has bullied you?

You mustn’t think of doing anything rash.

If you want to vent, stab Fourth Brother with the scissors instead.

You’re so delicate—don’t poke your own thigh with them——”

This outcry alerted Old Wang, Old Granny Zhang, and Lady Lin, who all rushed out of the house.

From outside the courtyard, three or four young men also burst in all at once.

As soon as Old Granny Zhang dashed out of the house, she threw herself at Wang Yongzhu, frantically calling her darling and frisking her over.

Only when she had made certain that her precious old girl was intact did she remember to ask, “My girl, what’s gotten into you?

If you don’t want to sew, we don’t have to—really, we don’t.

Just don’t play around by poking yourself with scissors or needles——”

Then she turned to berate Lady Jiang, “Are you dead or something?

If your sister-in-law doesn’t want to sew, then let it be.

Why are you forcing her——”

Suppressing her desire to strangle her older brother, Wang Yongzhu glared at Wang Yongping before stopping Old Granny Zhang to explain, “Mother, I wasn’t using scissors to stab myself.

I was using scissors to cut the thread.

Fourth Brother saw it wrong——”

Wang Yongping thought his little sister was just not admitting it because there were other people around.

If it had been a small matter, like playing at fasting, he would have let it go.

But this was self-harm!

If he didn’t set her straight now, what would happen if she got in a dark mood next time and actually gave herself a couple of holes?

Currently, Wang Yongping truly cherished his little sister, and that made him even more determined not to let any harm come her way, “Little sister, there’s no need to hide it from mother.

Just now, you were indeed aiming the scissors at your own leg——”

As he spoke, he picked up the scissors and imitated how Wang Yongzhu had held them, gesturing toward his leg.

His posture did indeed look almost like self-harm.

How could Wang Yongzhu explain that it looked that way because she was too fat, her arms and hands couldn’t rotate properly, and her posture was awkward, so it seemed to others like she was really about to stab herself?

Looking around the courtyard, aside from her family members, there were also the Li Zhugen brothers and Song Chongjin, who had followed because of Wang Yongping’s shout.

At this moment, their looks towards her were filled with shock and suspicion, probably wondering in their minds if Wang Yongzhu was really stabbing herself with scissors for no reason.

Had she gone mad?

Especially the gaze of the Li Zhugen brothers, which swiftly flickered towards Song Chongjin.

Song Chongjin, however, remained composed, though his expression was quite peculiar.