Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 115 - 115 116 Picking Sesame Seeds Losing the

?Chapter 115: Chapter 116: Picking Sesame Seeds, Losing the Watermelon_1 Chapter 115: Chapter 116: Picking Sesame Seeds, Losing the Watermelon_1 This person was none other than Xia Bing, the youngest daughter of the Xia Family. She and Qiao Lianhua had been close friends since childhood, but they also had their fair share of comparisons and competition along the way.

Recently, the matter of Qiao Lianhua’s marriage had been put on the schedule by Mrs. Ji, who had just finalized the arrangement with Tofu Zhang from the town.

In fact, it was just that Qiao Lianhua had high standards; the families Mrs. Ji had found for her were all quite well-off. It was only because her elder sister on her mother’s side had some connections that she could secure such a favorable match—a match that others could only dream of obtaining.

Naturally, Xia Bing was one of those who desired but could not have such a match.

Although Qiao Lianhua looked down upon Tofu Zhang, she did not hesitate to flaunt her mother’s arranged match in front of Xia Bing, boasting about it and then disdainfully expressing how she scorned it, making Xia Bing’s heart itch with irritation and anger.

This time, Xia Bing had deliberately followed Qiao Lianhua. They had grown up together since they were little, and lately, Qiao Lianhua had seemed rather off. Xia Bing, who was quite the gossip, noticed her heading towards the Wu Mansion today and couldn’t help but follow out of curiosity, never expecting to witness such a spectacle.

“Tsch, always pretending to be so above it all, when in reality, she’s just this shameless and lowly creature, brazenly seducing a noble young master in broad daylight,” Xia Bing spit out, a sly smile spreading across her face, “I want to see what you’ll have to be smug about in front of me in the future!”

Qiao Lianhua returned home weighed down by heavy thoughts. For one thing, she had been snubbed by Wu Haoli, which made her unhappy; secondly, she was worried that Muniang wouldn’t keep her promise. After all, a young lady’s reputation was of utmost importance; if this matter were to leak, she would be ruined. Upon returning home, she didn’t even hear Mrs. Ji’s questions and went straight to her room.

“This good-for-nothing child, always up to who knows what? She doesn’t even listen when you call her! She has no respect for her elders at all!” Mrs. Ji grumbled on and on.

Over there, Qiao Dalang was also losing his patience and spoke impatiently, “Mother, what’s going on with Lianhua? Hurry up and have her agree to the marriage with Tofu Zhang. If we keep dragging our feet, what are we supposed to do? If they really decide they don’t want this marriage, then we lose the twenty taels of betrothal silver!”

He had been planning to use that silver to get a wife for himself. It had already been agreed that as soon as the house was finished, he would get married. But then the incident with Qiao Yuanshan happened, and now, not only had the silver gone, but so had the prospective wife. Qiao Dalang was extremely annoyed. Now, with great difficulty, they had finally found a good family for Qiao Lianhua. Once she was married off and the betrothal money was received, he could get himself a wife.

Mrs. Ji, however, remembered what Qiao Lianhua had told her about Mr. Wu and said, “Your sister has her own plans. That Tofu Zhang might not even be worthy of our Lianhua. Just you wait and see.”

At these words, Qiao Dalang’s eyes lit up, “What plan? Could it be that there’s a better match?” If his sister married well, wouldn’t that help support the family? How difficult could their life possibly be then?

Mrs. Ji didn’t want to keep it a secret any longer and told Dalang about the situation. Dalang was somewhat skeptical, “Could Lianhua actually catch the eye of the Eldest Young Master?”

Mrs. Ji glared at him, “Don’t you see whose daughter she is? Why don’t you have any faith in your sister?”

Dalang didn’t dare to say much after that, only remarking, “Then hurry it up. If it doesn’t work, we should still finalize the marriage with Tofu Zhang. We don’t want to lose out on a great chance for the sake of something small.”

Though he spoke in such a manner, Dalang still harbored a glimmer of hope. If his sister truly married into a family as grand as the Wu Family, and he became Mr. Wu’s brother-in-law, wouldn’t he too enjoy a life akin to that of the Eldest Young Master?

However, just as the entire family was filled with anticipation, a bucket of cold water was poured over their heads from top to bottom.

The very next morning, as Mrs. Ji was heading out to the fields with her basket to pick some vegetables for cooking, she found herself the subject of whispers and stares, which left her utterly confounded.

It wasn’t until a big mouth leaned in, “Oh my, Mrs. Ji, how could you still show your face out here? Aren’t you ashamed? If I were you, I’d have nowhere to put my face.”

“What’s there to be ashamed of? Watch your mouth,” Mrs. Ji glared fiercely at the woman.

The woman shrank her neck back and then said, “Am I not just telling the truth? Why don’t you control your daughter’s behavior?”

Mrs. Ji was more confused the more she listened, “What on earth are you talking about? What about my daughter?”

“You really don’t know? The whole village is buzzing with it. Your daughter, to seduce Mr. Wu, the son of the wealthy family from the east of the village, deliberately ran into his carriage. And she got the cold shoulder from Mr. Wu himself—she came off with a bloody nose.”

At this point, the woman covered her mouth and chuckled as if she was watching a good show.

But Mrs. Ji was immediately furious, “The hell with that! Whose big mouth is spreading such nonsense? Would my daughter do such a thing? Her marriage arrangements are going well, Mr. Wu or not—who gives a damn?!”

Though she spoke thus, Mrs. Ji’s mind was much clearer. She remembered her daughter’s distracted look when she came home yesterday. Could it be that such an incident really did happen? With this thought, Mrs. Ji turned pale.

The woman was no easy pushover and naturally wouldn’t let Mrs. Ji curse her out like that. She glared back and said, “What nonsense are you talking about? People saw it with their own eyes. Everyone knows; what’s the point of getting mad at me?”

Mrs. Ji shot back at her, “Go away! Can’t stand to see my family do well, can you? Spreading rumors all day long, sooner or later your tongue will get cut out!”

Having said that, she ignored the woman’s expression and hurriedly scurried home. She had to have a serious talk with Qiao Lianhua—Mrs. Ji was terribly anxious.

Upon returning, Mrs. Ji burst into Qiao Lianhua’s room and dragged her out of bed. Qiao Lianhua, who hadn’t slept all night because of the incident, had just dozed off and was woken up by Mrs. Ji, in a bad temper.

“Mother, what are you doing? Why are you going crazy this early in the morning?”

“What am I crazy about? You tell me honestly, what did you do yesterday?” Mrs. Ji urged urgently.

Lianhua guiltily hung her head, “I, I, what could I do? Just took a walk, that’s all.”

Lianhua was born from Mrs. Ji’s own belly, and seeing her act this way told Mrs. Ji there had to be something wrong. She pinched her daughter’s arm fiercely, “You wretched girl, won’t you tell the truth? Your name is being dragged through the mud, they say you tried to seduce the Eldest Young Master of the Wu Family while he ignored you—do you even care about your reputation?”

Qiao Lianhua was stunned when she heard this, “How did they find out?”

When Mrs. Ji heard that, she was furious, realizing it was true, “Someone saw it with their very eyes, how do you think they found out?!”

Qiao Lianhua’s mind was thunderstruck, and she almost tore the quilt, she gritted her teeth and said, “Qiao Muniang, you really are black-hearted!”