Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 48 - 48 049 Splitting Up_1

?Chapter 48: Chapter 049 Splitting Up_1 Chapter 48: Chapter 049 Splitting Up_1 The room fell silent for a while until Old Lady Qiao was the first to break the quietness. Sitting on the kang bed, she burst into howls of crying, “What kind of situation is this? What kind of sin did the Qiao family commit? Not to mention the constant troubles, but now even my son’s marriage is jeopardized! Oh my, I can’t take this!”

Qiao Dazhi was also furious. He was completely unwilling to marry off to a “money-losing” daughter-in-law, but seeing Qiao Yuanzhen’s attitude today, it seemed that he had no other choice but to marry her.

He understood Qiao Yuanzhen’s character. His sudden insistence on marrying Li Qinghe today must have an unspeakable reason. As for what it was, Qiao Dazhi naturally would not disclose it, but everything was considered for Qiao Yuanzhen’s sake. Even if Qiao Dazhi was reluctant, there was nothing he could do but to comply. In a few days, it would be the imperial examination, which he absolutely must not take lightly.

“Enough, enough, if he says as much, he must have his reasons. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the Li family to propose the marriage!” Qiao Dazhi said with a dark face.

Old Lady Qiao stared at Qiao Dazhi in disbelief and burst out scolding, “What? Propose marriage? Have you gone mad? How could such a woman be his match? Our Yuanzhen is supposed to marry a lady of high standing!”

Qiao Dazhi was extremely annoyed and slapped her, roaring, “Yuanzhen has his reasons, what’s it to you? Do you think Yuanzhen is a fool? Match or not, he must marry her now! Go prepare the betrothal gifts immediately!”

Old Lady Qiao feared nothing on earth except Qiao Dazhi. After being slapped, she immediately fell into line, meekly nodding her head.

Madam Liu watched with a cold eye and saw the crux of the matter: Qiao Yuanzhen clearly didn’t sincerely want to marry Li Qinghe. Looking at his expression, he seemed to have no choice but to marry. Could it be that he had done something shameful? But she dared not voice this speculation; she wasn’t as brainless as Qiao Yuanming, who, right or wrong, would first have her skin stripped off by their parents.

In the end, the Qiao family agreed. In the household, Qiao Yuanzhen’s status was that of an emperor. Once he decided on something, who would dare to oppose it?

Early the next morning, the Qiao family sent Qiao Yuanming with ten silver taels to the Li family to provide the betrothal gifts. Old Lady Qiao initially thought ten taels was too much; why spend so much for such a “money-losing” daughter-in-law? But Qiao Dazhi directly scolded her for being short-sighted, stating that if the betrothal gifts were too small, it would be Qiao Yuanzhen who would lose face in the end!

Old Lady Qiao was left speechless, muttering that if Li Qinghe’s dowry turned out to be too small, she would make sure Li Qinghe paid for it!

The main house’s couple watched as Qiao Yuanming departed with the ten silver taels, their eyes green with envy.

“Some days ago, when I brought up Dalang’s marriage to her, she kept saying there was no money and that we should wait till next year! She even cast covetous eyes on our Lianhua’s betrothal money. Now what? The moment the fourth brother says he wants to marry, without a word, they hand over ten taels of silver for the betrothal! Ten taels! Hmph, you must truly be blood brothers, even though some fingers are longer than others, this bias is just too much!”

Mrs. Ji simply couldn’t take it anymore, getting so angry her face turned red and her neck thick as she cursed continuously in the room.

Qiao Yuanshan was also seething with resentment. It was as if his parents didn’t regard him as their son at all. Why was it that the moment his fourth brother wanted to marry, they immediately offered a dowry, but when his own son wanted to marry, they weren’t willing to give a penny? His son was still the eldest grandson! What did this amount to?

Qiao Yuanshan sneered coldly, “If they are heartless, don’t blame us for being ungrateful. I’ll remember this!”

“Hmph, those two old undying, they only have eyes for their youngest son. Luckily, I am shrewd. All these years, that old lady would have drained all our money if she could. Fortunately, we were smart enough to save some, unlike the blockhead from the third family, who doesn’t keep a penny and sends it all to the old lady,” Mrs. Ji scoffed.

“If you ask me, should we consider proposing a division of the family?” Qiao Yuanshan suddenly said.

Mrs. Ji’s eyes lit up, “Exactly, it’s high time we split! Now that my youngest brother is striving for fame and success, who knows how much money that will take? Soon the family’s funds might be completely depleted. If we don’t split now, then when? Even if we do split, after my brother achieves his success, won’t we still be his elder brother and sister-in-law, rising with him? And if my brother doesn’t make it, at least we won’t be the ones dealing with the expenditure!”

“That makes sense! It’s time for a split! I’ll find an opportunity to discuss it with dad.”

As the couple was getting ready to discuss this matter of dividing the family, Dalang barged into the room, fuming with anger.

“How come my uncle is getting married? And to Miss Li, no less — the one I had my eye on! How did she end up becoming my uncle’s wife?”

Qiao Yuanshan, scared out of his wits, immediately covered his mouth, slapping him on the head, “You reckless little bastard, do you want to get me killed? If dad hears you talking such outrageous nonsense, he’ll skin you alive!”

Dalang was resentful. Li Qinghe was famously beautiful in Tupo Village, coveted by countless young men, and Dalang was certainly no exception. But who would’ve thought that Qiao Yuanzhen would get there first? The thought of Qiao Yuanzhen taking his betrothal gifts, and his woman too, made Dalang’s blood boil.

“She was the one I had set my sights on, and I was supposed to be the one getting married. How did it turn into my uncle’s wedding? Now, even my bride-to-be is going to be his!” Dalang shamelessly made a scene.

“Hey you little brat!” Qiao Yuanshan was about to slap him again but was stopped by Mrs. Ji.

Mrs. Ji glared at Qiao Yuanshan, “Did Dalang say anything wrong? The money for my youngest brother’s betrothal gifts was robbed from our Dalang!”

Mrs. Ji’s heart ached for her son and so she consoled him, “Don’t worry, mom will find you an even better girl. Who knows who Li Qinghe has slept with? A little vixen like her, why bother about her? Such dirty stuff, I don’t even want her!”

Mrs. Ji actually had some private savings of her own, enough to pay for her son’s wedding, but she couldn’t just bring it out openly now, could she? That would only tell Old Lady Qiao that she had money. It had to wait until after the division of the family!

Having made up her mind, she resolved that the family must be divided!

Lately, Mrs. Liang had been making excuses to visit Muniang, ostensibly on the pretense of social visits. In reality, she was trying to curry favor. Her own husband worked at the fish pond and made a good sum of money each day. She was both excited and envious; Muniang’s generosity must come from having plenty of money to spare. Knowing she couldn’t outdo Muniang in shrewdness, Mrs. Liang tried to cozy up to her instead, hoping to get a share of any future benefits.

“Oh, Erliang is chopping wood? You really are something. With all this money in the family, why bother doing such rough work yourself? Wouldn’t it be better to hire some servants to do your bidding? With your current fortune, you could easily afford to take a few concubines!” Mrs. Liang said with a flattering smile as she entered the courtyard and saw Erliang.

Erliang, however, ignored her. For someone who spewed such nonsense, he couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words.

Mrs. Liang felt some embarrassment. The fool wasn’t mute, so why wouldn’t he even acknowledge a greeting?