201 Different Second Miss
Liu Yan found a single chance to escape, so without hesitation, she hurried back to Second Miss's home.
She would have soon died if she did not escape.
Ms. Niu and her whole family were monsters!
Liu Yan begged as she cried heavily, expressing how miserable her life had been. She looked so pitiful.
There was no change on Qiao Xuan's face and she stood there motionlessly.
"Okay, okay." Qiao Xuan interrupted her, after hearing that what Liu Yan said were just repetitions. She sneered. "It seems that Second Aunt-in-law has taught you a good lesson. Now you are more prudent than before."
Liu Yan stiffened as she felt a streak of coldness flashing across her heart. She started to shiver.
She gasped, and uttered no words.
Qiao Xuan sneered. "I will bring you back to the Qiao Family on the 15th day of August, but what are you going to tell Madame Qiao and Qiao Wei?"
Liu Yan was both happy and scared inwardly.
It was not yet June and the 15th day of August was already so far away. But Liu Yan did not dare to counter her any more. Instead, she said politely, "I will not say anything bad about you, never!"
"Oh, really?" Qiao Xuan sneered and said calmly, "But you will be out of my reach by that point. How can I trust you?"
"Or, what can you give me so that I can trust you?"
Liu Yan was startled. "I won't, really won't! Second Miss, please believe me!"
"Those are just bags of wind!" Qiao Xuan said coldly, "You think I am soft-hearted and will answer to your request just because you beg me? You think that I am like before?"
Liu Yan's heart skipped a beat.
She did not dare to look up when her thoughts were seen through.
What on earth had her Elder Miss entrusted her to do?
What made the Second Miss change so much?
She had thought that just because she was given by Madame Qiao and Elder Miss, Second Miss would not do anything to her, and would even hail her to the sky. But now… it seemed that her dream of dominating the Shao Family had already broken, and one single farmer's wife had nearly driven her to death!
She had told Ms. Niu and her family that she was given by Madame Qiao to the Second Miss, but Ms. Niu snapped. "So, you are working for my niece-daughter-in-law? Well then, she allows me to order you around, and so I shall!"
That made her totally speechless and helpless!
She did not dare to say that she was the spy, otherwise she would have been killed!
Qiao Xuan snorted. "I have to get a bargaining chip from you, right?"
Liu Yan suddenly felt that something bad was going to happen. She said in a shivering voice, "Second Miss, just… tell me what you need…"
"Listen carefully, I want you to curse Madame Qiao and Qiao Wei, and I will write every word on the paper, and you need to make an imprint, sealing it. If you dare to say anything bad about me in the future, I will present the note to Qiao Wei."
Even if she revealed some secrets to Qiao Wei, she would not forgive her when she heard something bad about her.
"Secondly, I want to hear three terrible things that Qiao Wei has done in secret, and I will write them down for you to put a thumbprint on as well."
"Thirdly, I want you to swear on your life and future that you will never reveal anything about me, after you leave this village."
202 Bad Luck
"Fourthly, get one handkerchief of yours and give it to me. You should have a few in your luggage, right?"
Qiao Xuan said as she rolled up her sleeve and checked her arm. After a moment, she put it down and checked the other. She smiled. "You have one black mole close to your left shoulder. I will bear that in mind."
"If you dare to set me up, I will hand over your handkerchief and tell the position of the mole to the hooligans in the town, who may use this information to get you to become their wife. Do you think that they will refuse such an opportunity?"
"As long as someone holds the evidence and says that you and he are in a relationship, do you think that Madame Qiao will defend you or hand you out to the hooligans?"
The more she said, the paler Liu Yan became. When she was done, Liu Yan let out a cry and collapsed on the ground. Her heart was throbbing and she was in such a fright that she could not even get up.
She leveled a frightened look at Qiao Xuan, feeling shocked.
She had lost the last hope.
This was not the obedient Second Miss she knew of… this Second Miss was evil!
Qiao Xuan smiled as she looked at her calmly. "You can either say yes or no to me. Accordingly, I will know if I should either send you back to my Second Aunt-in-law's home. So, choose well."
Qiao Xuan had no choice but to utter such harsh conditions.
Liu Yan's contract was not in her hands. The moment she returned to the Qiao Family, she would tell all kinds of stories about her. Hence, Qiao Xuan could not just believe her vows, she needed to gather all kinds of proofs to prevent this girl from harming her.
Otherwise the moment Qiao Wei learned about the real side of hers, she would never leave her alone.
She was not in a position to fight against Qiao Wei.
It would not work even if she found an excuse to keep Liu Yan for the Mid-Autumn Day.
That would make Qiao Wei feel that something was wrong and she would refuse to stop spying on her.
Liu Yan collapsed totally.
She sobbed, shivering. "I will do whatever you say, please… Second Miss!"
She had no other choice!
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Good, you are teachable. Don't worry, I have no interest in your Madame Qiao, Elder Miss Qiao and you. As long as we live separate lives like in the past, then all would be fine. Qiao Wei doesn't necessarily need to know what I am like, and I can always lie to her, right? Don't be so nervous!"
"Yes…"
She was very nervous, but there was nothing else she could do.
Qiao Xuan did not think that Liu Yan would dare do anything bad after all of this.
This was a good guarantee for her and the Shao Family to live a leisurely, free life.
"Tidy up, boil the water in the kitchen and take a bath. Get changed and then, we will sign the deal!"
Qiao Xuan left after saying this.
Liu Yan collapsed with her hands over her chest, struggling to get up from the floor.
She was having such a miserable time!
Qiao Xuan came to Shao Yunduan and narrated the whole thing to him. She needed Shao Yunduan to write the agreement, since she was not so good at it.
Moreover, Shao Yunduan was the only person that had the right skills.
"Qiao Wei has Liu Yan's contract, so this is the only thing I can do to keep down Liu Yan. You won't think that I am too ruthless, right?"
203 Ms. Fang Alone
Qiao Xuan felt a bit anxious. She did not want Shao Yunduan and the Shao Family to consider her as evil.
She was an innocent person, and expected to live a peaceful, leisurely life.
Evil and ruthless?
Shao Yunduan did not know what to say.
His wife must have gotten a wrong idea of what ruthlessness meant.
"You are gentle enough, but she is already frightened, right?"
Qiao Xuan was surprised, but soon she replied with a smile. "Yes! She is so timid and dumb, what I said was enough to frighten her!"
Shao Yunduan smiled. "Then that is good!"
Liu Yan was just boiling water in the kitchen, when Ms. Niu came to the door.
"Are you at home, Fifth Niece-in-law?"
Liu Yan, who was already so good at boiling water in the kitchen, almost collapsed on her knees hearing the voice. She was really scared!
Qiao Xuan knew exactly what Ms. Niu was doing here.
But Liu Yan already received enough lessons and she was not going to allow Ms. Niu to take her away again.
She was her maid, and Ms. Niu had just borrowed her for a couple of days.
Ms. Niu was very displeased right now when Qiao Xuan wanted to take her back, but there was nothing she could do.
Most importantly, there was nothing she dared to do.
Ms. Fang could drive her away to start with.
Ms. Niu made some complaints about how lazy and greedy Liu Yan was whilst working for her, before she left the place with an unconvinced heart.
Liu Yan let out a sigh of relief in the kitchen, feeling alive again.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan soon got the agreement ready. Liu Yan shivered badly but she had to cooperate.
Qiao Xuan was satisfied when she had the bargaining chip ready in her hand.
"Alright, just stay here and work for me! If you dare betray me… I will bring you down with me!"
Scared, Liu Yan shook her head and her hands trembled. "No, no, I won't, I won't!"
Liu Yan soon became very diligent! She chopped wood, swept the floor and started the fire without even being asked. She wanted to take over all kinds of work.
She was suddenly so proactive!
Qiao Xuan watched the whole thing calmly, but Ms. Fang pursed her lips, not feeling so good towards that maid. This maid was a bitch, who had yielded after being disciplined by Ms. Niu!
The following day was Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni's wedding.
At lunchtime, Shao Xiaoqi came from outside cheerfully, telling everyone that he had set three traps in the place a couple of days ago where wild boars might appear. When he went into the mountains and took a look around, he saw a large-sized wild boar in the trap. It was too heavy for him to carry. So he came home to fetch some helpers…
"Mom, the wild boar is really big! It weighs at least 100 kgs! There will be one more kind of dish served at the wedding tomorrow!"
Shao Xiaoqi was so happy about it.
So was the whole family.
Shao Sanlang was so thrilled that he returned an excited greeting. "Brother, thank you so much! It is going to be great!"
"You are welcome, Third Brother!"
Everyone would like to have a flourishing wedding. Shao Sanlang had a lot of savings and knew that his mother had some too, but the money was earned without letting their father know, so they could not spend it in front of everyone.
Fifth Brother had just held his wedding, and the cost was very high. So, if they spent too much on another wedding, the situation would look obviously suspicious.
That would not be good.
They had the savings, and they could use it slowly for their own pleasure, which was beneficial, and full of pleasure.
But a wild boar was another issue.
That wild boar weighed more than 100 kgs. It should be a big thing!
204 Good Luck
Hence, he fetched some villagers to carry the wild boar home.
The second and the third section of the family also went to help. If they refused to offer some assistance, they might not be given any share in the meat later.
Shao Erlang and Shao Silang both went to help, as did Second Uncle and Third Uncle who wanted to check what was going on.
The two families got so jealous!
Why was a wild boar caught at this time?
They would not be given much meat when the wild boar was caught at this moment.
They would have received dozens of kilos at any other time of the year.
Ms. Ma pursed her lips. "Qi must have done this on purpose, right?"
In the afternoon, the wild boar was carried home, and many villagers came to the house to watch it, saying that the first section of the Shao Family was so lucky to have gotten a wild boar on this occasion. It was perfect for the wedding to take place the next day.
They became even more cheerful, when they thought that they could have a taste of the meat here!
With the help from the villagers, the wild boar was quickly disemboweled, chopped and broken down into pieces.
It was very cold in the mountains, and the meat was so fresh. Even after one night, the meat would still remain good.
Ms. Fang was very generous. She gave one kilo of meat to every helper.
She gave 1.5 kgs to the second and the third section of the family, as well as a pig foot for each family.
Ofcourse, they wanted to have it all. Ms. Niu even tried to sneak one into her bag but she was spotted by Shao Taotao, who screamed. "What are you doing, Second Aunt?"
Shao Taotao's scream drew everyone's attention. Ms. Fang sneered inwardly and asked Ms. Xu and Shao Taotao to put away the meat on the board, saying with a smile, "Second Sister-in-law, thank you for trying to help, but we can put everything away ourselves. Just go home and rest, so you can come and help us with the wedding on the following day."
They had to help with the wedding, otherwise they would be blamed.
The first section of the family did not care about their help, but she still asked for it.
Ms. Niu said timidly, "Okay, okay, I know…"
She sneaked a look at Shao Taotao, and turned around.
Ms. Niu mumbled inwardly, cursing the girl for being so bold nowadays. She never dared to counter her in the past.
She was so angry!
It was never easy to deal with the inner organs, which required a lot of seasonings, so the other families were not interested in the task. But Qiao Xuan's cooking skills in dealing with inner organs were all approved by the family.
Qiao Xuan did not disappoint them either. She made a table full of good dishes in the evening.
The pork liver was cut into small pieces, and marinated with various seasonings. Then, the slices were wrapped in net oil into egg-sized pieces, and slowly fried in the oil pan.
This kind of dish required a lot of effort, but the end result was very tasty. When it was fried, the smell was so good that Qiao Xuan asked Shao Xiaoqi, Shao Taotao and her niece and nephew to fry and eat at the same time.
The dinner was warm and fresh, salty and fragrant.
The pork loin was stir-fried with garlic sprouts and green peppers, and the large intestine was still stir-fried with pickles such as peppers such as sour, spicy and crispy radish and beans. The pig's trotters were stewed first, and then put in the pot to make a sweet and sour dish.
205 Shameless
This soup was used to cook processed pig heart, pig blood, small intestine, pig stomach, and pig liver. Chopped garlic sprouts, shallots, and ginger pieces were added to cook a large bowl of delicious and rich hodgepodge.
Qiao Xuan processed every piece very carefully and even washed them with flour. She put in a lot of rice wine, star anises, gingers, pepper so there was no strange smell in the end.
The wild boar was so large, and the inner organs could not be finished in just one dinner. So, Qiao Xuan asked Ms. Xu to cut them into slices, deep-fry them and stew with chilis so that a jar of chili sauce could be preserved for eight or ten days.
There was one big pig head that was roasted over fire, and dried in the shadow for future braising.
Early the next morning, the first section of the Shao Family got very busy.
Ms. Fang had everything arranged neatly, so things went on smoothly.
Qiao Xuan's job was to help Ms. Fang in receiving relatives and getting to know them, whilst checking and urging those helpers from the second and third section of the family to work harder in case they mess things up.
Qiao Xuan was pleased with the task and nodded happily.
Qiao Xuan did not allow Liu Yan to show up on wedding day. She was ordered to stay in the wing-room.
A lot of helpers were asked to give a helping hand at the wedding, so they had plenty of labor forces. Liu Yan was a ticking bomb that should not show up in public.
Liu Yan was very interested in watching the wedding of a village, but Qiao Xuan did not allow her to do so, and she did not dare to counter the order.
She had already understood what Second Miss could do, so she did not object.
Second Miss did not even need to do anything about her personally. All she would do was to throw her to the second section of the family, and she would be engulfed in endless misery.
Dressed in a red robe, Shao Sanlang the groom, smiled stupidly. He went to the Yang Family to fetch his bride. He was riding on the donkey, surrounded by the reception team.
Shao Dalang, Shao Yunduan, Shao Xiaoqi as well as the sons from the second section of the family and young men from the village all tagged along.
Shao Liulang did not show up. According to Third Uncle, he was working very hard in college and should not be distracted. After all, he had made plenty of progress and did not want to be disturbed.
Eldest Uncle understood it completely. Being able to read was very important, because it was related to what the future would look like for them.
Ms. Fang snorted and rolled her eyes.
It was just an excuse. It did not take much effort to attend a wedding. Even the Emperor was not as busy as he was.
He must feel humiliated to come over.
Yunduan was already a Cultivated Talent, yet he was nothing more than a disciple. He was afraid of being compared.
He would have still come over, if Yunduan's wife was not the daughter of the County Magistrate.
Ms. Fang thought that her husband was so stupid that believed what Third Uncle said.
Yang Xiaoni's wedding gown was delivered by a messenger from Ms. Fang's side. It was delivered directly to Third Grandma Yang's home, so she could help Yang Xiaoni get dressed on the wedding day.
When Third Grandma Yang, together with some relatives, brought the gown to her home, Ms. Tian's face sank.
Ms. Tian knew clearly that she was the one that they were trying to hide from.
Yang Xiaoni was finally moving out of home as a bride, with the help of Third Grandma Yang and the other relatives.
But Ms. Tian kept crying loudly.
She kept saying that she and her husband had spent so much effort in raising Yang Xiaoni and helped her get married by finding a good family. Her point was that Yang Xiaoni should come home often enough to visit her brother and sister-in-law.
206 Not An Easy Deal
Hearing those words, Yang Liang did feel a bit moved and could not help but rub his eyes.
The couple's behavior disgusted the whole audience.
Despite the disgusted feelings, the members from the Yang Family could not help but tell her to stay assured.
However, Shao Sanlang did not restrain himself and embarrassed Ms. Tian and Yang Liang, seeing that his wife was already in the litter.
"Brother, Sister-in-law!" Shao Sanlang said with a smile, "I feel so moved that you treat Xiaoni well. KIndly show us the dowry, so we can go to do the ceremony. We can't miss the right hour, can we?"
Suddenly silence dominated the whole place.
Ms. Tian, who was shedding tears, burst out. "There is no dowry! You told us that we did not have to offer any dowry, you are breaking the promise!"
Shao Sanlang rolled his eyes in an exaggerated way and said mockingly, "We did say so, but we thought that you care about Xiaoni so much that you are crying so hard and are willing to push the dowry into her hands!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Ahahaha!"
The villagers who were watching the show could not help but chuckle, so did the reception team, who laughed along.
Both Yang Liang and Ms. Tian were thoroughly embarrassed.
Ms. Tian glared at Shao Sanlang and showed no expression of 'unwillingness to let her sister-in-law go'.
Shao Sanlang felt much better seeing her showing the real look. He added. "So, are you giving us the dowry or not? You love Xiaoni, don't you? You can show some sincerity after all!"
Annoyed, Yang Liang snapped. "You… you… we are too poor to offer you any dowry!"
Shao Sanlang laughed. "Well, it depends on whether you have the intention. You can give us the money if you have it. If you are too poor to give us any money, you can offer a wardrobe, a table, a basin or a bucket made from the trees in the mountains. We won't turn any of it down. Seeing how you are dressed, you don't look that poor either!"
Yang Liang was stuck with words. He glared at Shao Sanlang, just as Ms. Tian did.
Any poor family would at least offer some garments or furniture to the married daughter, if they really loved her. Ms. Tian and Yang Liang were a rarely-seen set of family.
The Shao Family did not care about the dowry, as they already said that they did not need any.
But it was annoying when the family offered nothing whilst pretending to play the drama that they loved the bride.
It was disgusting!
How could they get away with a cheap deal of wanting to keep both reputation and stuff as well.
Shao Sanlang was a down-to-earth person, but he could not stand being disgusted to this level.
Seeing that the purpose was almost achieved, Shao Yunduan said, "Third Brother, let's leave, we should not miss the right hour."
Shao Sanlang chuckled. "Okay, let's go!"
Without even looking at Yang Liang and Ms. Tian, the team took off.
The villagers from the Yang Family exchanged a look between themselves and also left.
The couple was thoroughly humiliated! But it served them right, since they were the ones who tried to take advantage of others first.
207 Grudge
Yang Liang and his wife became so annoyed that they slapped the door shut!
"I am so annoyed, so annoyed! The Shao Family are behaving over the top! I am definitely going to take revenge!"
Ms. Tian was so irritated that she kept crying loudly.
Some nosy villagers understood that Ms. Tian would hold a grudge over the matter. So they leaned against the door of Yang Liang's home and listened.
Ms. Tian, who was irritated beyond measure, kept cursing.
After a while, the listeners rolled their eyes, snapped disdainfully and shared the gossip with the fellow villagers.
It was a bustling scene at the first section of the Shao Family at this moment. They were not affected by the Yang Family at all.
Ms. Fang was a very cautious, economic person. She added some money so that the wedding looked really good.
The melon seeds, peanuts and tea were constantly served. The dried fruits were a little expensive, but Ms. Fang did not want the dried fruits to stand out so she refilled the box every third hour.
Four kinds of dried fruits were bought, namely preserved apricots, candied dates, hawthorn cake, green and red fruit slices. All of them were so popular that they were eaten up the moment they were served.
Qiao Xuan followed Ms. Fang to greet relatives and friends.
Everyone knew about her identity, and many had attended her wedding. But she was a prestigious presence in front of the villagers, who could not help but glance at her again and again.
She was very friendly, and no one could find a fault in her. Instead, they found her different from many ladies in the village. They whispered to each other, saying that she was polite, friendly and behaved well, and also that she looked so pretty and had a special air around her.
In the end, they could not help but conclude that the daughter of Officer Qiao was indeed outstanding.
There was even a sense of faint jealousy. The first section of the Shao Family was really lucky and was definitely going to get richer.
Shao Yunduan was already the Cultivated Talent. Moreover, he was the son-in-law of Officer Qiao, so his future was definitely going to be promising with such a father-in-law behind his back.
The guests, who heard those words, felt sour, and emotional. They were all friends and relatives and kept giving compliments to the Shao Family on this happy day.
Only Ms. Ma felt aggrieved inside her heart.
Shao Yunduan was just lucky, that was all! Soon her son was going to be more skilled and knowledgeable than Shao Yunduan. It was just that he got sick during the examination so that Shao Yunduan took his place.
But for Shao Yunduan's success of becoming Cultivated Talent and saving Officer Qiao's daughter, he would not have gotten a wife like this.
If her own son became the Cultivated Talent, then Shao Yunduan would be nothing. So even if Shao Yunduan saved Qiao Xuan, Officer Qiao would not have married his daughter to him! She even imagined the scene of accepting her, for the sake of Officer Qiao, and she would have taught her to behave well!
If only such a thing had happened!
If they could get related to the Qiao Family, her son would definitely get promoted and she would be in full charge of Qiao Xuan's generous dowry.
Moreover, she would even be invited as a guest at the County Magistrate's home during all kinds of festivals, and maybe, would have shared a meal with her daughter-in-law's family…
She would have gotten to know many noble families, who would always come handy as useful connections for them in the future!
208 Out Of Dream
In this way, her own family would have flourished as well!
Ms. Ma found her dream getting more and more realistic.
The more realistic it seemed, the more annoyed she felt about the truth she had to face, when she realized where she was at the moment.
Seeing that Ms. Fang was not within sight, Ms. Ma suddenly thought of an idea.
Ms. Ma went to those relatives and friends who did not seem to get on well with Ms. Fang, and started to reveal some 'secrets' about Ms. Fang.
She did not dare to say anything about Qiao Xuan, since she was in a high position. No one from the village had any idea of how Qiao Xuan was actually treated at home.
But she dared to say something about Ms. Fang.
"…She just favors this daughter-in-law of hers! Look at Ms. Xu, who has to work so hard from early morning. She has to do laundry, sweeping the floor, chopping, carrying water, starting a fire, and cooking. After she makes breakfast, she has to go into the fields for heavy labor. She is so busy every single day. But look at Ms. Qiao, she needs to do nothing!"
"It is only because Ms. Qiao has money! She is definitely going to take hold of the dowry of Ms. Qiao. This Ms. Qiao is so stupid as to still defend her and respect her as if she were her own mother!"
"You know how much they offered to Sanlang for him to get the wife? 20 liang! Since when did they get so generous? They have just hosted Wang's wedding and now they are able to give 20 liang to the Yang Family! Everyone knows where the money is coming from! But they don't want to loan any money to us, even though they are living a luxurious life! They are so hard-hearted!"
"Just wait and see, when Sanlang's wife moves in, the new daughter-in-law will definitely be very unhappy about her mother-in-law's blatant preference towards Ms. Qiao. Dalang is very honest, and doesn't dare to utter a word when his wife is bullied, but Sanlang is different."
"…"
Those aunts' biggest pastime was to gossip about the family relationships of different families. They were most fascinated by how those family disputes were conducted.
Since they felt a bit jealous about the first section of the Shao Family, and did not like Ms. Fang much, they were all excited to hear what Ms. Ma told them.
So the whole group got together and gossiped vigorously, with their eyes sparkling.
But Qiao Xuan caught every word spoken even though she was standing far away.
Disgusted, Qiao Xuan told herself inwardly that this Third Aunt-in-law of hers had again lost her control of her tongue, despite being disciplined by her mother-in-law just a while ago.
Did she think that her words would separate her and her mother-in-law or that her Elder Brother and her Elder Sister-in-law would be dissatisfied with her?
Did she think that she could break down her family?
Well, she was dreaming!
Elder Brother was an obedient and honest person, and she could easily buy Elder Sister-in-law. Third Brother was a broad-minded person and she had met his wife, Yang Xiaoni, who seemed to be generous as well. Her family would get increasingly better, and she did not think that anything bad would happen.
"Third Aunt-in-law!" Qiao Xuan smiled and stepped forward. "What are you talking about? I am interested in listening to it too!"
"What… are you doing here?"
Ms. Ma got startled seeing Qiao Xuan coming over all of a sudden.
People who gossiped behind people's backs always felt guilty.
Qiao Xuan blinked and smiled. "I seem to hear that you are talking about me and Mom. So, I also want to hear your story in detail."
209 One Meal Or Two
"Mom also likes listening to your talks, Third Aunt-in-law. What about getting her here to listen to your story too?"
Ms. Ma had no idea how much Qiao Xuan had heard, and her face changed.
But she did not admit that she had talked badly about them, so she forced a smile. "Your mom is busy today, there is no need to fetch her here!"
"It is fine!" Qiao Xuan smiled. "Mom can arrange everything well, neatly and properly. My Elder Sister-in-law is capable too, and she helps our mother relieve a lot of burden. Mom is not at all busy!"
The relatives were very afraid of Ms. Fang, but they did not seem to be scared about the young Qiao Xuan.
Someone said half-jokingly, "It seems that your Elder Sister-in-law is very tired with a lot of work, why not help her? Wouldn't she protest against you for not being able to help her?"
Everyone laughed.
"True, wouldn't she feel annoyed?"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Elder Sister-in-law is very capable, of course she won't say any such thing. I have just bought dozens of mu of land, and planted many things. But I don't have any knowledge about how to plant those things, so I hired Elder Brother, Elder Sister-in-law, and Third Brother to help me, paying them 30 yen a day! We will be planting some more mushrooms soon, and they will have to help me again…"
"What?"
"30 wen? That is too much!"
The relatives' eyes widened. They suddenly realized why Ms. Xu had no opinion against Qiao Xuan's behavior.
The couple could earn 60 yen a day, which even though did not come every single day, but Qiao Xuan's land needed to be taken care of on a regular basis, and every time she required help, she paid them.
Moreover, they were not living separately yet, so what she harvested from the land would also be shared.
Oh man, she was so rich! With so much money coming to them, they would definitely ignore small things like dish washing or floor sweeping.
All the relatives became so jealous and motivated that they started to treat Qiao Xuan nicely.
Qiao Xuan smiled as she talked about how excellent Ms. Fang and Ms. Xu were…
Ms. Ma's face turned pale while she stood next to them.
Qiao Xuan sneered inwardly. But for Third Brother's wedding that took place today, she was definitely going to pass on this message to her mother-in-law who would again teach Ms. Ma a lesson.
She needed to be disciplined many times until she finally understood what she ought to do and what not.
She would eventually understand, after she was taught the lesson enough times.
Soon the reception team arrived, and the atmosphere became lively. They cheered, laughed and played around. It was a cheerful scene.
The couple went through the process and the kitchen got busy again.
The scent that came from the dishes caused people to drool.
Everyone got very excited and looked forward to the wild boar meat at the banquet.
There were eight dishes being served at the wedding banquet. Normally, only two meat dishes were served due to the poverty.
But today, the dishes were more than good.
The dishes included roasted chicken with mushrooms, stewed meat with dried beans, fried wild boar with green pepper and garlic sprouts, roasted tofu, yam fungus, fried bean and eggplant with minced meat, tofu and cabbage soup, which was boiled with wild boar bones and trotters for a long time, so a large pot of broth was produced. There was a bowl of eight-treasure rice too.
Qiao Xuan had thought about serving a dish of braised fish, but Ms. Fang did not think that the chief cook would be able to do the dish. Moreover, the dish required too much oil and a bone might get stuck in some child's throat, making it troublesome. Therefore, they gave up the idea.
210 Greedy Shao Yunduan
Qiao Xuan complimented Ms. Fang for being considerate and dropped the idea of making the dish.
When the banquet was served, everyone gobbled down the dishes and emptied everything, Qiao Xuan realized that Ms. Fang had been totally right.
The villagers barely had a chance to eat meat, and those with some money would at most eat meat once or twice a month, never over three times.
So when the banquet was served in the village, they never stopped themselves from eating as much as they could.
When the meat dishes were served, the guests went up and kept putting the dishes into their bowls, and started to relish them slowly.
Some did not even want to finish them totally, but took some home.
The wedding was held really successfully. The three bowls of meat dishes contained plenty of meat and only a small amount of side vegetable dishes. Meat was seen in other dishes too, apart from tofu and yam dishes.
The guests were really satisfied by the food and the bowls were all emptied, leaving nothing behind, not even the soup.
When the last batch of guests was seen off, the things borrowed for the wedding were returned, the whole family ate along with the helpers, who left after dinner. The day did not come to an end, until they tidied up everything.
It was already quite late.
Qiao Xuan did not do much labor work, but she felt quite tired, let alone Ms. Fang and Ms. Qiao.
After she washed herself up, she felt relaxed and started to yawn. She felt so sleepy.
"I am so sleepy… I need to go to bed now…"
She yawned widely. With her eyes half-opened, she greeted Shao Yunduan and pulled the blanket over her, before falling asleep immediately.
Standing by the bedside, Shao Yunduan looked at her face and felt a bit dizzy in his head.
It was like a dream…
It had been just two months since his own wedding was held, and at that time, he was not feeling so relaxed, nor was she.
Moreover, he remembered how the suicide took place on their wedding night.
But he had not expected that he and she lived such a good life since that point.
He had also not expected that her arrival brought tremendous changes to the family.
It was just two months, but for him, it seemed like a lifetime. It felt that he was used to having her at home and in his room, next to him when he laid down.
Shao Yunduan suddenly felt a bit greedy, as the emotions hit him hard.
He believed that if they could live on like this, life would not be that bad either.
Early the next morning, Yang Xiaoni served the tea to the family and addressed each member of the family with a new title. From that moment on, the whole family accepted her formally.
Yang Xiaoni was very diligent and did not need to be told to do the work properly.
Ms. Fang smiled brightly.
She would have definitely thrown a fit, if she paid so much and was still humiliated by a daughter-in-law who was lazy and greedy.
She was the mother-in-law and she could discipline any daughter-in-law who annoyed her.
At this time, the taro, corn, soybeans, peanuts in the fields needed to be weeded, and the bamboo forests needed to be taken care of a little, so Shao Dalang and Ms. Xu went into the field for work.
Yang Xiaoni was used to doing labor work, so even if she had just gotten married, she was not used to idling around at home. She fetched Shao Sanlang and took him to the field for work as well.
211 Two Dumb People
Ms. Fang said, "It is fine, take a break at home for now and start work in a couple of days."
She was not a strict mother-in-law who kept tormenting her daughter-in-law. She had just gotten married and Ms. Fang did not need her at the moment.
Ms. Xu feared that with Yang Xiaoni being at home, Qiao Xuan would not ask her to join them for work.
So she said with a smile, "Mom, what about asking Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law to do work in the field along with us, so we can finish our work soon enough to go work for Fifth Sister-in-law! She has a lot for us to deal with!"
Ms. Fang was startled. "Oh well…"
Qiao Xuan did have a lot of work which needed to be done. She had told Ms. Fang everything, but not everyone present was aware about it.
Qiao Xuan did not want other villagers to know about this money-earning thing, so she always hired her own family members to do the work, which Ms. Fang approved of.
Qiao Xuan did not expect that Ms. Xu would say something like this. She smiled. "Mom, Elder Sister-in-law, I am fine. We don't have to hurry up!"
She was not in a frenzy because the business with lipsticks was a long-term thing, and she had just made the amount that was needed.
Mushroom planting could also wait for now because she needed to find some more kinds of mushrooms in the mountains.
Mushrooms and wooden-ears were easy to find because she had the superpower, which could help her see every tiny thing in that broad, wide place.
But snow fungus was rarely seen and needed to be searched with some effort.
Moreover, sometimes, luck was required as well.
As long as she found the seed, she could simply urge them to grow by the virtue of her super power.
Shao Sanlang's eyes sparkled, and he smiled. "Mom, Elder Sister-in-law is right. Let's get our work done as soon as possible, Xiaomi is not that weak!"
Then he turned to Yang Xiaoni and whispered. "Fifth Sister-in-law is very generous. She pays each worker 30 wen a day! We can save money to buy something good in the town!"
Yang Xiaoni's eyes sparkled too. "Really? That's great!"
These two dumb people thought that they were whispering, but Ms. Qiao and Ms. Fang caught their conversation clearly.
Qiao Xuan laughed but pretended not to have heard anything.
Ms. Fang ignored them furiously and glared at Shao Sanlang. "Okay, just do whatever you want!"
She was not going to force her daughter-in-law to take a break and not to work.
Shao Sanlang nodded and he left for work with his wife cheerfully.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Mom, just let Liu Yan do the work, you should take a break too, you have worked too hard these days!"
Ms. Fang stopped being annoyed and smiled. "Okay, okay, you are so considerate! Just go and take the break! I owe you big for your Third Brother's wedding!"
Qiao Xuan felt warm in heart and smiled. "Mom, we are a family, don't mention it! Let me make lunch and dinner. I will create something delicious!"
Ms. Fang sneered. "No need! You can make it tomorrow. Just let Ms. Xu and Ms. Yang cook tonight! Your Second Uncle and Third Uncle's families will be here for dinner, and they don't deserve to eat your food!"
She did not want them to start visiting them often for dinner, after they tasted her dishes.
Ms. Fang had already planned what dishes to serve tonight.
Qiao Xuan nodded in understanding.
True, as long as the two families were far away from them!
212 Rest
Hence, she could skip making food tonight with ease.
Feeling tired, Qiao Xuan returned to her own room.
Shao Yunduan was writing articles, which were going to be presented to the teachers at the school and fellow classmates for communication.
Qiao Xuan did not hurry onto the bed when she walked in. Instead, she came to his side and helped him grind the ink.
She was just thinking how she could tell him that she needed to take a break, when Shao Yunduan looked up at her and said, "You worked so hard yesterday, you must be feeling very tired, go and take a break."
Qiao Xuan had not expected this sentence to come so easily, so she felt very happy. But she replied in a friendly way. "That is not good…"
Shao Yunduan thought that she was worried about being scolded by the family, so he said, "Don't worry, I will not tell mom about this, just go and sleep."
Qiao Xuan. "…"
What straightforward words. Well, it made people feel assured.
Qiao Xuan laughed and accepted the offer. "…Ah, yes, I am feeling very tired. Let me take a break, you can inform me when you step out."
Shao Yunduan nodded. "I will tell you when it is time for lunch."
Feeling assured, Qiao Xuan thanked her husband and threw herself onto bed.
She rolled over in the blanket, relaxed with four limbs open, and soon fell asleep.
Her breath was steady and she had fallen into deep sleep.
Shao Yunduan turned around subconsciously and saw the long, smooth raven hair on the pillow. He could not help but feel his heart soften. He showed a gentle look.
He felt comfortable and happy, especially when they spent the time together in the room, even while doing nothing.
Ms. Fang hid the leftovers from the banquet before someone could steal it.
One bowl of chicken, one bowl of tofu and one slice of meat were enough for dinner tonight.
They had made steamed buns for lunch.
The steamed buns were simple but very tasty, and when eaten with the chili sauce made by Qiao Xuan with pig liver, heart and belly. It would be delicious when eaten with porridge.
When Ms. Xu returned at lunch time, they started to eat and Yang Xiaoni felt moved to be able to eat so much food.
Yang Xiaoni was bowled over by what Qiao Xuan had made. She said that she could do any kind of work as long as she could eat the chili sauce made by the Fifth Sister-in-law!
The whole family laughed.
Shao Taotao smiled proudly. "Third Sister-in-law, Fifth Sister-in-law makes great food. You wait and see the dishes she makes!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "I will take a break tonight but will make some more tomorrow!"
Shao Sanlang, Shao Xiaoqi and Shao Taotao cheered her on.
Eldest Uncle could not help but look up. "We are hosting a family dinner tonight, Ms. Qiao. You can make some dishes then."
Eldest Uncle had to admit that Qiao Xuan cooked great food though he was not very satisfied with her. She could make some good dishes for the family dinner to bring up the reputation.
In this way, the second section of the family and third section of the family could have a taste of what she was capable of.
Ms. Fang rolled her eyes and said coldly, "Ms. Qiao has been working very hard these days and she is too tired to do any more work. She is taking a break tonight."
213 Good
Shao Yunduan added immediately. "True. Dad, she can make food in the future. I am sure that Second Aunt as well as Third Aun would very much like to taste food made by the Third Sister-in-law."
It was a custom that new brides made a table of dishes for the seniors in the family.
Yang Xiaoni got nervous suddenly. "Dad, Mom, I will definitely try my best…"
She was not very good at cooking, but she could make palatable food.
Ms. Fang smiled. "Don't worry, just do as you did back home."
Eldest Uncle was stuck in words too. It was true that his new daughter-in-law should make food for tonight, and he had nothing against that.
Ms. Xu and Yang Xiaoni returned home from the field very early because they had to prepare for dinner.
Ms. Fang told Yang Xiaoni and Ms. Xu what they should do, so they followed the instructions.
Yang Xiaoni was used to bitter days, so when she saw how Ms. Xu filtered the rice, she felt very satisfied seeing a pot full of rice. She asked her voluntarily. "Do we make rice in this way? Don't we add any kidney beans or mung beans?"
Yang Xiaoni drooled, seeing pure rice in the pot. Back at home, she barely got to eat any rice.
Either she ate porridge or rice with beans.
Ms. Xu sounded proud as she grinned. "No need, we don't lack rice or flour, and we eat such rice every single day. Soon, you will know why!"
"Really?" Yang Xiaoni's eyes widened. She could not believe what she had heard.
Ms. Xu laughed. "Of course! Fifth Sister-in-law knows how to make money, and she will help us make a lot of money too! Soon, you will know!"
The Fifth Sister-in-law was not very good at doing heavy labor, and when their Fifth Brother became an officer in the future, she would never go down into the field again.
She had dozens of fields for lipsticks, herbs and mushrooms, and she would need laborers. So Ms. Xu was well aware that they would have a lot of money to earn soon!
Everytime Fifth Sister-in-law made money, she gave some for the shared savings as well.
So they did not lack money at home. They had plenty of rice, flour and meat which they ate often.
It seemed that they had taken advantage of Fifth Sister-in-law and the shared savings.
Ms. Xu did not want to share too many details with Yang Xiaoni yet. She had her own ideas and was not as easy going as Taotao. As of now, she definitely trusted the Fifth Sister-in-law more than Yang Xiaoni!
If she told Yang Xiaoni everything, she would have no advantage at all.
As far as she could tell, Yang Xiaoniw as an honest person, who was easily satisfied by food, just like their Third Brother.
That was wonderful…
The meat dishes for dinner included a bowl of chicken, pork tofu and one slice of wild boar. Some mushrooms, bamboos, pickles, eggplants and green peppers were added as the vegetable dishes. That would be enough.
Ms. Fang did not kill any chicken. She just added one dish of scallions with fried egg, and a bowl of wolfberry sprout soup with eggs.
When Yang Xiaoni and Ms. Xu were busy cooking in the kitchen, the second and third section of the family arrived.
Yang Xiaoni's family were horrible, and the second and third sections of the family were laughing at Ms. Fang behind her back, thinking that she had indulged Shao Sanlang too much, because of which such a horrible marriage had been established.
Yang Xiaoni had seduced Shao Sanlang because she thought she was pretty. For her, marrying Shao Sanlang was a fortunate thing.
But Ms. Fang approved of the marriage despite her family background!
214 Message
They were waiting to see what life was going to be like for the first section of the family henceforth.
Therefore, both sections of the family seemed to be in a good mood. They were waiting to see a ridiculous show, rather than feel jealous and annoyed.
Ever since Ms. Ma was caught red-handed by Qiao Xuan when she bad-mouthed them at the wedding, she was very worried that Qiao Xuan would point this out to her in front of Ms. Fang, and be disciplined by her.
Therefore, Ms. Ma did not dare to say anything.
Since Ms. Niu was alone, she could not hold a conversation on her own.
So the dinner went on peacefully, and no big fuss was made.
The following day, Ms. Xu and Yang Xiaoni went into the field for work.
After breakfast, Qiao Xuan took a walk in the yard and checked out the melons, fruits and herbs which she had planted.
The seeds of tomatoes could be put down too. She softened the earth and spread down the seeds, poured some superpower of hers into the field so that the sprout could start to grow on the empty, broad land.
The seeds were ripe, and they should grow well!
Qiao Xuan let out a sigh of relief and cheered inwardly.
She did not dare to make them grow too fast, so she stopped her superpower as the sprout reached a height of a finger.
The door of the yard was often locked, and that was why she dared to use her superpower at this time.
When she walked out of the yard, it was time to make lunch.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Taotao helped Ms. Fang in making porridge, steamed rolls. They were going to eat them with the chili sauce.
Shao Taotao also put some mushrooms into water, washed some garlic sprouts and beans, so that Ms. Xu and the others could fry them when they returned home if they felt like having another.
Qiao Xuan, Shao Taotao and Shao Xiaoqi finished the food first before going into the floral field to continue with lipstick making.
They needed to take advantage of the blooming fresh flowers, otherwise it would be a total waste.
This was all money!
May had just passed, and the ordinary roses could grow for no longer than ten more days.
Qiao Xuan could extend the lifespan, but that was too risky for her. Her actions might cause suspicion.
Fortunately, the pomegranate flowers were preparing to bloom soon, and there were several colors of roses that bloomed all year round, so there was no need to worry about raw materials.
In the afternoon, Qiao Xuan let Shao Taotao make the lipstick right from the beginning to the end, hoping that she could make a complete lipstick alone.
Nervous and excited, Shao Taotao was shivering throughout the whole process.
Fifth Sister-in-law had passed on her special skill to her, and she was very excited by that!
It was a skill that could guarantee her survival for a lifetime! Fifth Sister-in-law must know that when she was able to master the skill, she could earn money on her own, but she still did not keep the skill as a secret!
After three attempts, and under Qiao Xuan's instructions, Shao Taotao finally managed to make one lipstick. The girl was so happy that she blushed, expressing her gratitude to Qiao Xuan.
"Fifth Sister-in-law, don't worry, I promise never to make money with this separately. Also, I will never pass this secret onto anyone else!"
Qiao Xuan grinned. "You can work as my assistant today, but we will see what happens in the future. It is a large business and you can be part of it!"
Shao Taotao smiled, and made up her mind.
215 Displeased
Shao Taotao had just learned the skill and felt very motivated, so Qiao Xuan entrusted the work to her whilst she idled around in the floral field.
The roses were blooming in such a flourishing way that the petals looked radiant. Due to the help of her superpower, the flowers looked rather beautiful.
The pink and rose colored flowers were pure-looking and together, it seemed as if a waterfall of flowers was created. It was a much larger amount compared to the other kind of roses, because when the blooming period passed, the amount would be reduced drastically.
Motivated, Qiao Xuan tried to move the flowers into her space.
If her space could preserve them, then everything would become so much easier.
She could find some time when no one was around so as to urge them to bloom with her superpower, and all those flowers could remain stored in space.
But the arrogant space gave no response. It did not accept the flowers.
Qiao Xuan found it such a pity!
When her mind and space were related, she could more or less sense several issues related to space, not necessarily in a specific way but always in the right direction.
The space did have the function of saving objects, except that the function had not yet been activated.
She could sense that the function must be related to the cabin that emerged every now and then in the mist. Maybe by the time she caught a clear sight of the cabin, she would reach a high degree of magic and initiate the function of storage.
It seemed that everything including upgradation was related to the precious plants inside the space.
She still needed to find some more!
But she was running out of a solution. She needed to find precious goods which the critical space could accept.
Qiao Xuan had to give up the idea of storing roses and instead focussed on making some more lipsticks when the flowers were still blooming.
Qiao Xuan was going to make a big dinner in the evening so she returned home earlier than usual.
She was going to make a dish of pig head, which would take time.
The pig meat was enough for many dishes.
Qiao Xuan decided to divide it into different parts. She stewed some in the pot, whilst the ears and some small parts could be served as cold dishes or fried with chilis and braised.
From the large water tank, she took out a few three-finger-wide yellow, small crucian carp, small carp, and two yellow eels. She stewed a pot of pickled cabbage with a small amount of sauerkraut and dried peppers.
This was what dinner was going to include.
Ms. Xu and the others returned home late, and the moment they arrived, they washed their hands and got ready for dinner.
Shao Taotao and Liu Yan were helping out at home, and the dinner was ready.
When Ms. Xu heard during lunch time that Qiao Xuan had asked Shao Taotao to work in the floral field, she hoped to finish her own field work as soon as possible, so that she could start to make money from Qiao Xuan.
The Shao Family were used to Qiao Xuan's food and were glad to see the table full of dishes.
"Is that pig head? It smells so nice!"
"We have fish with pickles again!"
It was the first time for Yang Xiaoni to have a taste of dishes made by Qiao Xuan, so after dinner, her eyes were sparkling as she looked at Qiao Xuan.
Her Fifth Sister-in-law was so good at cooking, and the pig meat dish as well as the fish were so tasty that she almost lost her tongue while eating.
Fish could be so delicious that it was beyond her knowledge!
They all had a good time eating, and kept speaking highly of Qiao Xuan's cooking skills. They all thought that the banquet served at the wedding was not as delicious.
Only the Eldest Uncle felt a bit annoyed.
He realized that Qiao Xuan refused to cook the previous day only because she did not want to, not because she was too tired to do so.
216 Ideas
However, if Qiao Xuan had been the only person who got this idea, he would have definitely disciplined her.
He would have told her that she should not have such thoughts when the whole family was together!
However, his wife and sons were all helping her out and he was totally left alone, so there was no chance for him to say anything, nor was there any use in saying anything.
Eldest Uncle felt really heavy-hearted. He felt that the family was slowly scattering…
Ms. Fang knew exactly what he was thinking, when he was silent. She sneered inwardly and pretended as if she had seen nothing.
She had thought that her husband would change himself, but it seemed that moving his heart might not be so easy. He believed firmly that the whole family should be together, and that his two brothers needed to be taken good care of. Hence, she decided not to say anything more.
Her words would not be as important as those said by his own brothers. So, she was going to wait to see what his brothers would do to him. Let him also realize what they were really like!
Just look at what they had done to him when he helped them with seedlings. He only got to eat one dinner at the third section of the family on his first day, and then he came home for three meals in the following days.
His brothers never let him stay for meals!
What was the need to help them!
But it was good that the two sections of the family did such a thing. Even an honest man like Dalang wasn't so happy about how they behaved. Otherwise Dalang might have offered help to his father, since he was a very soft-hearted person.
Soon it was time for Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni to visit her natal family after the wedding.
Although they disliked Yang Liang and Ms. Tian, and refused to hang out with the couple, yet Ms. Fang would not cut down the return-day gifts and ceremony.
Ms. Fang, according to the rules, prepared the return gifts which included two chickens, two jars of wine, one kg of honey and two mid-sized pieces of meat. All this put together was above the intermediate level of gifting.
But as Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang left the village, she pursed her lips. "I don't want to return to my home. Those are such precious gifts and I don't want to give them to my brother and his wife!"
Shao Sanlang patted his legs and laughed. "We have the same idea! I would rather feed the food to the dog!"
His wife had not had a comfortable life before she married him. She was never fed well and was always beaten and punished. She was forced to do a lot of work. He really did not want to give the couple any presents!
Yang Xiaoni thought for a while and grinned. "I think we can keep the honey, which must taste very sweet. It can stay for a long time!"
"Good idea!" Shao Sanlang laughed and added in agreement. "This rice wine seems nice too. What about keeping it as well? We can taste it every now and then. It won't go bad for quite some time."
"Good!" Yang Xiaoni nodded. "And… we can kill one chicken and roast it! It will taste great!"
Speaking of roasting food, Yang Xiaoni often stole some taro, corn and beans from home to roast them in the field.
Sometimes she would dig some yams and roast them to feed herself in the wild field.
She had even roasted fish, but she could not process it well enough, so she gave up after one attempt.
That was how she and Shao Sanlang met in the first place.
217 Not Her Home
There was one time when she was roasting yams in the wild field when Shao Sanlang followed the scent.
After a few exchanges, the two of them got to know each other and developed feelings.
Shao Sanlang could not help but feel motivated after hearing Yang Xiaoni's opinions. He knew pretty well that roasted chicken could be tasty.
"That is good, but we don't have any salt with us…"
The taste would be hampered greatly without seasoning.
Yang Xiaoni agreed. Moreover, it was never easy to deal with a chicken which was alive.
They could hide meat, but living chickens could not be hidden anyway. They would make noise! What if they were heard and stolen away?
But Yang Xiaoni felt really unhappy at the thought that she had to give the meat to Yang Liang and Ms. Tian!
She moved out of the Yang Family without getting anything and even cut off her relationship with her brother and his wife.
She never owed them anything. Infact, she got nothing after working for them for so many years.
Rather, they got 20 liang as wedding gifts since she got married. That was already a big bonus for them!
She really did not want to get involved with them any more!
"Oh yes!" Yang Xiaoni cried, as she said to Shao Sanlang. "Let's go into the mountains and visit my parents!"
Her parents were already deceased, and were buried in the Yang Family's graveyard. When her parents were alive, they loved her and gave her a lot of food and clothes in winter. When she was sick, her mother took care of her and made her steamed eggs.
But everything ceased to exist after her parents passed away.
Her brother and sister-in-law were not her family. She did not want to return there!
It would be great if they could visit her parents. She would kowtow to them and tell them that she had married into a very nice family, so they could be assured.
Shao Sanlang, who did not like Yang Liang and his wife, agreed heartily with what Yang Xiaoni said. "This is a good idea. I will kowtow to my in-laws and it is like a return-day too!"
"Yes!" Yang Xiaoni nodded with force.
So the easy-going couple forgot about Yang Liang and Ms. Tian and headed towards the Yang Family's graveyard.
The couple kowtowed in front of Yang Xiaoni's parents' graves, removed the weed and cleaned a little bit of the surroundings. Then they put the chicken and meat in front of the graves, poured wine three times, and talked a little before leaving together.
They did not avoid running into people, so they were seen by passers-by.
They even explained why they were here.
People were dumbfounded when they heard that.
They could not help but gossip about it, and soon some nosy ones narrated the whole thing at Yang Liang's home.
They just loved gossip.
Yang Liang and Ms. Tian were shocked.
Then, they got really furious.
"What are they thinking? What do they mean?"
"That is how the Shao Family teaches their son? Yang Xiaoni learnt nothing from them! What are they trying to do?!"
"…"
Honestly, the couple had been waiting for Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni to visit them since morning.
They expected the couple to bring some gifts. Ms. Tian had even prepared a speech to threaten Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni, so that she could control them in the future.
218 Embarrassed
She had intended to warn Yang Xiaoni, telling her that even if she was married, she should never forget about her own family. She was going to remind her that a girl without her own home's support would be bullied by her mother-in-law's family until she passed away.
However, she made the full plan and believed that she would be able to take control of Yang Xiaoni, but Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang did not even show up!
"What kind of family are they, when they do not even know that they should have presents prepared on the return-day!"
"Shame on them!"
Ms. Tian was so annoyed, yet the villagers were all laughing at her.
Some people even mocked her.
"Well, your words are not entirely true! They went to their parents' graves to pay tribute. That can be counted as a return-day ceremony too, right?"
"Yeah, when Xiaoni's parents were alive, they loved her deeply, and Xiaoni is a good-hearted girl who knows that she should take her husband to visit them."
"It should be counted as a return-day, right? Xiaoni does have some unique ideas, hahahaha…"
Hearing those words, Ms. Tian got angry beyond words.
She rushed back to the house and slammed the door shut.
"Did you hear that?" Ms. Tian sneered at Yang Liang. "That damned girl refuses to be under us and you were dreaming about continuing to be her brother!"
Yang Liang felt very embarrassed too!
Any married girl should come back to their home on return-day, otherwise her natal family would be so embarrassed!
"Then what should we do?"
Ms. Tian sneered. "Of course we should go to the door to demand an explanation! They are bullying us! We should teach them a lesson!"
Ms. Tian was going to cause such a fuss that the damned girl would never have an easy time at her mother-in-law's family.
Thinking of how Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang went to her deceased inlaws' graves with chicken, meat and wine instead of bringing those things home, Ms. Tian felt even more irritated.
This goddamned girl looked honest on the surface, but she knew that Yang Xiaoni hated her deeply inside her heart.
But she had not expected that the girl would have done something like this!
In this way, she should not be blamed for taking the revenge.
Yang Liang hesitated. "Is this a good idea?"
He was a coward, and wanted to have a good reputation. He could lecture Yang Xiaoni when they were at home, but he could not demean himself by making a fuss at someone else's door.
Ms. Tian pointed at his forehead and said, "You coward! They have bullied you to your bones, and you don't even dare to stand up for yourself! Are you a man or not?"
Lectured by Ms. Tian and thinking of what Yang Xiaoni did, causing him to become a joke, Yang Liang suddenly felt really furious. He said through clenched teeth, "Okay, okay! I will make sure she suffers!"
"Now you said it right!"
Ms. Tian sneered. Along with her two sons, she and Yang Liang headed to Shaoding Village in anger.
Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni had already returned by lunchtime. They hid the two living chickens in their own room and put the two pieces of meat in the kitchen, saying that those were the presents from home.
Ms. Fang did not think that it was possible, but seeing that the couple did not even stay for lunch, Ms. Fang found that it might have happened.
The couple might have tried to steal meat from Yang Liang and his wife's hands, so maybe the couple got annoyed and drove them out before serving them lunch.
But it was okay, they could have better food at home.
It seemed that it was right for them to have brought back the meat. The couple was so unkind and she would support whatever her son wanted to do.
219 Not Ms. Fang
After lunchtime, Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang headed into the field to work with Shao Dalang and Ms. Xu. They wanted to finish their own labor work during the afternoon, so that they could start to earn money the following day. Naturally, all of them were highly motivated.
However, Ms. Tian, together with her two sons and Yang Liang, rushed in at the moment.
Ms. Tian had the intention of causing a big fuss, so the moment she walked into the village, she started to shout loudly and attracted numerous villagers' attention.
There was not much entertainment in the village, so when such a show was on, everyone quickly gathered around.
The fight between two women would be a juicy piece of gossip that could last for two months at least.
Seeing many villagers attracted by her, Ms. Tian became increasingly confident and she started to shout loudly.
"You don't even do the return-day? That behavior is way over the top!"
"Yes, it sounds unreasonable!"
"Is it true? I don't think the Shao Family would do something like this!"
"Well, Ms. Fang has a bad personality and she definitely takes revenge, yet she always sticks to the rules. Moreover, she treats Ms. Xu and Ms. Qiao equally."
"But I don't think that Yang Liang and Ms. Tian are lying! They can't be lying because something like this can not be kept as a secret."
"Well, let's watch and see what happens!"
"Yes, let's see!"
"…"
So, the whole gang rushed to the Shao Family's home with Yang Liang and Ms. Tian.
Ms. Niu and Ms. Ma were also among the crowd. They were laughing with their eyes sparkling.
The two of them were not saying anything, fearing that their words would again reach Ms. Fang's ears, which would not be a good thing for them.
Ms. Fang was not in a good mood these days. She even hit people.
Ms. Fang was so shocked when Ms. Tian came to the door.
"What do you mean? Not allowing them to return home? Ms. Tian, do you think that I am so easily bullied! I prepared chicken, meat, and wine for Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang so that they can go to your home for the ceremony! How dare you accuse me!"
The villagers nodded in agreement.
That was true. Ms. Fang would never have allowed such a thing to happen!
Ms. Tian sneered. "How dare you claim this! Xiaoni never came to my home, someone must have told her not to! Instead, they went to my in-laws' graves and left straight from there! This behavior is so unreasonable!"
"What?"
"What did she say?"
Everyone was startled.
People had heard about Ms. Tian's complaint, but when the matter was explained like this, they were all shocked.
It was indeed a special move which they had never seen before.
Shocked, Ms. Fang shouted furiously into the room and said, "Why are you hiding? Get out here and explain!"
Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang were both shocked!
They had never expected that Yang Liang and Ms. Tian would come to the door because of this! Anxious, they subconsciously hid into the room.
But the couple had no choice and came out after Ms. Fang shouted at them.
Seeing Yang Xiaoni, Ms. Tian got so furious that she stepped forward to slap her face. "You bitch, how dare you… aahhhh!"
Shao Sanlang defended Yang Xiaoni and pushed Ms. Tian away, glaring at her. "What are you doing? You better not touch my wife!"
220 Weirdos
"You…"
Standing there furiously, Ms. Tian just could not vent her anger and was frustrated.
For one moment, she almost felt dizzy.
She could not touch this damned girl any more.
That was such a loss she felt that she got even more furious.
She regretted badly to have approved of this marriage. She should have cut it off at the beginning!
Moved, Yang Xiaoni started to sob and looked at Shao Sanlang passionately. "Third Brother, you treat me so nicely! No one treated me so well like you do after my parents passed away! I will definitely treat your parents well too."
The villagers found it both funny and pitiful. Standing next to Ms. Fang, Qiao Xuan tried to hold her laughter.
Her Third Sister-in-law was such a funny person.
The Yang Village and the Shaoding Village were not very far apart, and the famous families were famous across the villages.
For example, weird couples like Yang Liang and his wife who treated their sister badly was a fact known to almost everyone.
They should have realized what Ms. Tian and Yang Liang were like, when they saw how Ms. Tian, without hesitation, went up to slap Yang Xiaoni right on the face. She must be very used to doing this, so people immediately started to look at her differently.
They were such a weird couple!
Ms. Tian regretted a little to have been so impulsive. So, she threw herself to the ground with her two sons. "They are bullying us!"
The whole Shao Family were here, including the brothers, and daughter-in-laws, surrounding Yang Liang and his wife as well as the two children. It did seem like a mob bullying the weak.
Ms. Fang's veins popped on her forehead. She glared at her son and frowned. "Ms. Tian, stop being a bitch, I won't be fooled by this act! Just stick to the matter!"
"You should never dream about trying to get any sort of justice through this bitchy move! I will not allow you to throw your temper here at my home!"
Qiao Xuan said to Liu Yan with a smile, "Go and fetch a chair for Madame Shao and serve her some tea too!"
"Okay, Second Miss."
Liu Yan politely and quickly went to fetch the chair from the inner room.
Qiao Xuan helped Ms. Fang sit down. "Mom, please take a seat."
Then Qiao Xuan took over the tea and served Ms. Fang politely. "Mom, drink some tea and make sure your throat is moist. This is going to be a long conversation."
"Okay, okay!" Ms. Fang picked up the cup and took a sip, then she grinned happily.
She would let this bitch do whatever she wanted for now. She was simply going to watch a show.
Ms. Fang felt even more happy, when she saw the villagers looking at her with jealousy.
Ms. Tian was dumbfounded.
Yang Liang looked even more furious.
"You are such a bully!"
Ms. Ma felt itchy so she said, "Eldest Sister-in-law, how can you drink tea at a time like this? Why not solve it quickly?"
Ms. Fang threw a cold look at her and said calmly, "I can't do anything when she refuses to talk. Ms. Tian, are you ready to speak now?"
Ms. Tian got so annoyed that she almost spilled blood.
She wished that Ms. Fang could start a fight with her, so that she could charge her for medical compensation.
Also, if her two children were shocked, they would have asked for compensation for that as well.
However, she started to act as the high status Madame Shao. She sat down, surrounded by her children, making Ms. Tian not daring to go forward.