??Chapter 335: Chapter 336: What Face Do You Have to Live_1
Chapter 335: Chapter 336: What Face Do You Have to Live_1
The man was the most foolish; now, flushed with anger and his neck bulging, he didn’t know how to retort. A village woman who couldn’t stand by watching jumped in to help him, “Wasn’t this token of engagent given a year ago? In this entire year, I haven’t seen Mr. Chen co to our village even once. It’s questionable whether he even rembers this engagent. If you really want to show off, you should wait until your Qingi is married off. What’s the use of talking about it now? It’s not even a settled matter!”
The others agreed, chiming in, “Exactly, if Mr. Chen’s family is really so prestigious, would he lack won by his side? He might have already forgotten there’s such a person as Qingi!”
Mrs. Liang screeched back at them, “Hey, why are you all so full of envy and resentnt? Just can’t stand seeing our family do well, is that it? As soon as you see Qingi about to get into a good marriage, you imdiately start throwing cold water on it. You all must really hope we don’t do well, right? We live in the sa village, and yet your hearts can be this dark!”
With that, she glared fiercely at the group of gossiping village won, then dragged Qingi away. She was clearly enraged.
So of the village won murmured grumpily, “What kind of person is she? High and mighty when she’s belittling others as if they owed her sothing, and now, she can’t take a few words against her? Even if her daughter becos a disgraceful concubine, or even if she marries into a rich family as the main wife, once a daughter is married off, she’s like water who’s been poured out—it’s none of her business! She sure loves to gold-plate her own face!”
Muniang was speechless; she had underestimated just how shaless Mrs. Liang could be. To actually go around boasting about her own daughter becoming soone’s concubine, did she really think this was sothing to be proud of? With her intelligence so low that she deserved to be despised, and yet she had also dealt Qingi such a big blow to her self-esteem—it could only be said that having such a mother was indeed Qingi’s tragedy.
After a bit of discussion, everyone dispersed. It was common for such quarrels to happen in the village, and generally, people would forget about it after a day and bear no grudges; otherwise, the village could not have remained harmonious until now.
But Mrs. Liang clearly didn’t view this quarrel as just any regular incident. Early the next morning, she dragged Qingi out of bed, “Get up, we’re going to the town. We’re going to Jinyang Town to get so clarity from Mr. Chen!”
Qingi’s face suddenly changed, “Mother, what are you doing? It would be so rude to just show up at their estate out of the blue, wouldn’t it?”
Mrs. Liang’s eyes bulged, “Rude? You are his concubine-to-be. Is it also rude to seek your own husband? I need a definite answer today, and then we’ll see who in the village dares to gossip!”
Qingi struggled, not wanting to go to town and lose face. What unmarried girl ever personally went to a man’s house to ask about such matters? Mrs. Liang might be shaless, but she still had her dignity!
“Mother, let’s just forget it. If Mr. Chen has already given the betrothal gift, he will surely keep his word. Why must we do this? Besides, what the villagers said was just out of anger, no one really doubted it. Everyone surely hasn’t taken it to heart. Please don’t—” Ah!
Mrs. Liang pinched Qingi hard, “I haven’t hit you in so long, you think your skin has grown thick, huh?! Now you even dare to talk back to ? I said we’re going, and if you say one more word, believe , I’ll beat you to death!”
Qingi, now too frightened to squirm, had eyes red like a rabbit’s, yet she dared not cry out. Her mother hated to see her cry; it irritated her. If Qingi wept now, it would only fuel Mrs. Liang’s anger more.
Mrs. Liang yanked on Qingi’s clothes and dragged her outside, then hauled her onto a donkey cart and drove towards the neighboring town. Terrified, Qingi didn’t dare to speak on the cart as Mrs. Liang lashed the donkey and cursed under her breath, “A bunch of ignorant village won, daring to question . I’ll go settle this marriage and then see who’s face gets slapped!”
But when they arrived in Jinyang Town, they found that the once-leading Chen family shop had already shuttered its doors!
Mrs. Liang was so shocked that her jaw nearly dropped; she quickly grabbed soone and asked, “What about Mr. Chen from this place?”
“I heard he went out of town, people with money always run off to the outside world, don’t they? Who can stay in a small place like this?”
“What!? When did he leave? How co I didn’t know!” Mrs. Liang shrieked.
The person gave Mrs. Liang a peculiar look before saying, “It happened just a few days ago.”
“Did he say when he would be back?”
“Chances are he won’t co back. He’s already transferred all his properties here, and Mr. Chen himself has disappeared; why would he return?”
At that mont, Mrs. Liang turned ashen, her last bit of hope extinguished. The person glanced at her as if she were a lunatic and muttered, “What kind of crazy person is this? Truly bizarre.” Then quickly walked away.
Coincidentally, a gossip from the village had just co to Jinyang Town to visit relatives today, and she happened to witness the scene. As soon as she returned to the village, she imdiately spread the news with schadenfreude, and the villagers lost no ti in ridiculing her.
When Mrs. Liang returned to the village, she was utterly dejected. It was Qingi who drove the donkey cart back.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Mrs. Liang. What were you up to early this morning? Were you asking for a proper title from your future son-in-law? Why do you look so down and dirty? If you ask , you should quickly show off the betrothal papers. Your daughter is finally marrying into a wealthy family; why the long face? Could it be you suddenly can’t bear to part with her?” the gossip leading the provocation said. She had long been annoyed by Mrs. Liang’s smug attitude. When Mr. Chen gave the Hetian jade, Mrs. Liang had shown it off countless tis, always ntioning her daughter’s future as a lady of high status, never considering others worth her ti and ridiculing them. Everyone had actually been holding a grudge against her.
At these words, Mrs. Liang’s face grew even more unsightly, and another village woman joined in.
“Don’t be so harsh. She’s all high and noble. The betrothal papers can’t just be shown off easily, can they? Maybe they were even written on gold paper, afraid soone might covet them.”
Then a burst of laughter followed. The man who argued with Mrs. Liang yesterday scoffed and revealed, “Gold paper? You can’t even get a piece of white paper for the docunts, can you? The Chen family shop has already gone under, and you still think your golden suitor is waiting for you! What a joke! I’ve always said if soone from our village had the good fortune to marry into a wealthy family, it certainly wouldn’t be soone like you. Otherwise, heaven really wouldn’t be seeing things clearly!”
Mrs. Liang was so furious she clenched her teeth. The disappointnt of the day was already enough, and now with everyone’s mocking stares, her anger worsened. She kicked Qingi hard and shouted, “You shaless, worthless wretch! I’ve truly wasted years feeding you. A good-for-nothing like you can’t even hold onto a man’s heart. What face do you have to live?!”
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