Farmhouse life after traveling back to ancient times

"Hehe, I didn't expect that. Maybe it was that Lu who took the blame for Lu. She caused so much trouble in the village, and no one said a word for her."

A deliberately suppressed but meaningful laughter came to her ears. Qiao'er stood there in a daze, her face pale.

Not knowing how she got home, Qiao'er locked herself in the main room and refused to come out. Du Wenxiu was worried and came to check on her, only to hear suppressed crying coming from inside.

"Qiao'er, what's wrong? Why are you like this after coming back from going out?" Du Wenxiu had some guesses in his mind, but still wanted to ask clearly.

When Fang came back from outside the courtyard, she saw Du Wenxiu knocking on the door of the main hall and walked over.

"What are you doing? You don't want to work but you want to be lazy."

"Mom, Qiao'er just came back from outside. I don't know who offended her. She is crying inside." Du Wenxiu said a little anxiously.

Fang thought about the dirty words she had just heard. Even though she had fought back against them and was not at the disadvantage, she felt a little scared when she thought about it carefully. Could it be that Qiao'er had heard the words she and others had said?

"Oh, Xiuniang, Sister Fang, what are you doing?" The door of the Lu family was pushed open, and Mrs. Jiao walked in waving a fan.

Seeing her coming, Fang hurriedly dropped her present position to greet her.

There have been some bad rumors in the village recently, and her family didn't dare let Qiao'er go out, for fear that she would not be able to bear it if she heard them.

It’s just that Brother Liu from the big mountain village, who had originally said he would come to make the decision, has been delayed in coming. The two villages are not far from each other, and he was afraid that he might hear something and ruin things.

So, Mrs. Jiao came here today to talk about this matter.

"To be honest, Sister Fang, no one wants Qiao'er to encounter such a thing. Little Brother Liu also said that since the government has arrested the person, it must be that Lu wanted to harm people and frightened Qiao'er. But the Liu family has put all their efforts into supporting such a talented scholar, and they really don't want to make any mistakes in this matter."

"What's the matter? My Qiao'er was nearly drowned. Just because of this, marrying into his family will affect his future, right?" Fang was a little anxious.

Mrs. Jiao hurriedly comforted her, "No, no, that's not what I meant. Don't worry, Sister Fang. Sit down and talk."

Du Wenxiu served tea, and Mrs. Jiao took a sip before continuing, "Little Liu's family is from the countryside, and if they want to be an official, they dare not delay or make a mistake. Now they are just discussing marriage with Qiao'er, and after matching the horoscopes, they say they are not suitable, so let's just forget about it. We are well-off, and we can find anyone we want. In the future, I will worry about Qiao'er, and we will find a better one."

Fang's face was gloomy, and she wanted to fight for it again. "Sister Jiao, you know, this matter is not our Qiao'er's fault. If it wasn't for that damn Lu who pushed her into the river, how could a strange man get close to her? This..."

Mrs. Jiao gently placed the teacup on the table, pondered for a moment, and then spoke slowly: "The current trend is to attach great importance to etiquette, Sister Fang, you also know that. Their family is aiming to become an official, regardless of whether it will affect little brother Liu's examination, they will naturally follow the most prudent way, and it's not that they dislike Qiao'er..."

"Aunt Jiao." Du Wenxiu interrupted Mrs. Jiao, her lips curled up, but there was no smile in her eyes. "Let's just forget about this marriage. A blessed girl won't marry an unfortunate man. Our Qiao'er has a bright future ahead of her. She won't hang out with this snobbish family. They are not worthy of her."

Fang was so anxious that she turned around and tried to pull her clothes, but she was coldly pushed away.

"Sister Qiaoer will be taken care of by us, her brother and sister-in-law. We will never let her go to a family that only cares about gains and losses and has no human touch. Our family is fine now. If we force a marriage, and one day their family is better off than ours, I'm afraid our sister won't have a good life like her."

"Please ask Aunt Jiao to help our Qiaoer refuse the offer. Aunt Jiao has troubled you to make so many trips for this matter. It's just a small amount of money. Please don't think it's too little." As he said this, he stuffed a few large coins into the hands of Aunt Jiao.

Mrs. Jiao originally thought that the matchmaking had not gone through and she was afraid that she would not get a penny, so in the end she had lost money.

But I didn't expect that the Lu family here are such good people. Even though they don't have much money, they are kind-hearted.

It’s a pity that Lu Fangqiao’s daughter has a bad reputation, otherwise, considering her family’s ability to handle things, they would have found a good matchmaker for her.

Pity......

Mrs. Jiao shook her head and left. Du Wenxiu saw her off and closed the door. When he turned around, Fang came towards him with a broom in her hand, cursing, "You've ruined my daughter's good marriage, I'll deserve it if I beat you to death."

Du Wenxiu hid while shouting, "Mom, you are really old and confused. You think this is a good place. If Qiao'er insists on marrying her, I'm afraid she won't have a good life."

"Then keep her at home and raise her into an old maid! When will it be your turn to be the boss of this family? You don't have any rules at all." Fang was furious, and her men drove Lu Wenxiu from the gate to the chicken coop without stopping.

"Just keep her. As long as Fang Hai and I are alive, she'll always have something to eat. What are you afraid of?" Du Wenxiu was chased away in a miserable state, but she didn't suffer any loss.

The door of the main room opened with a creaky sound, and Qiao'er, with her eyes swollen from crying, stood in front of the room.

When Fang saw her, she paused for a moment, and Du Wenxiu swiftly jumped over from the side.

"Mom, let's just forget about the Liu family's matter. I'll listen to my sister-in-law." Qiao'er said to Fang.

Fang was about to say more but was interrupted by Qiao'er.

"I didn't do anything, but all these rumors have spread. Do I have to lose my life to clear my name? No matter what the Liu family thinks, there is already a grudge. As long as my brother and sister-in-law don't despise me and are willing to keep me at home, I will stay at home forever. If this family can't accommodate me, I will find a nunnery to live in."

As the conversation reached this point, Qiao'er's nose felt sore and tears started to flow again.

Why did they target me when I was clearly the victim? Was it only by dying in the river that day that they would shut up?

No, even if they died in the river, they would just say the same thing.

If the whip doesn't hit your own body, who will know what pain is?

It is easy to open your mouth and talk without thinking about how much harm it may cause to others.

Perhaps, even if they know that they have caused harm to others, they don't care.

Du Wenxiu went forward and hugged her, letting her tears wet his clothes.

In the evening, Lu Fanghai, who had gone to the town to deliver goods, returned home. Du Wenxiu told him about this matter. He was silent for a long while and then said, "I know."

"The village woman was ignorant and didn't know that gossip could kill people. She made up many stories based on her own speculations and took every precaution to prevent Qiao'er from going out. But she still made a mistake and let her hear these nonsense."

Du Wenxiu sighed. She had heard a lot of it in bits and pieces these days, so she came back to discuss with Fang about not letting Qiao'er hear it.

He is just a living person, how can he be locked up at home and not allowed to go out? What's more, the Liu family has cancelled the marriage proposal, which cannot be covered up.