Beautiful Peasant Girl: The Young Marquis's Beloved

The next morning, Liu Dahai went to the town and helped the two families get the land deeds and house deeds. When he delivered them to the two families, a villager happened to see it.

Liujia Village was so small that the villagers soon learned that the two families were going to build houses. It was like water dripping into a hot oil pan, and the pan exploded immediately.

In the evening, a group of villagers gathered under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village to take a rest. Everyone was chatting and it was very lively.

The nosy old lady Zhou narrowed her eyes and asked curiously, "How big a house do you think they are going to build?" Someone who knew the inside story whispered back, "I heard that each family has one acre of land!"

"My God, how many houses do we need to build? Didn't Brother Shunzi and his family just buy a cow the year before last? Do they have extra money to build houses? And Sister Xu, didn't their family just split up? Where did they, an orphan and a widow, get the money?" The young wife from an unknown family spoke up.

"I've seen Shunzi going into the city frequently recently. Could it be that he has some lucrative business?" Mrs. Zhou looked as if she wanted to know immediately.

"Didn't Miss Xu go deep into the Beilin Mountains before? Maybe she picked up something valuable that time she went into the mountains." Someone said impartially.

As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Zhou immediately retorted: "Humph, how can a little girl like her have such ability? Who knows if they secretly saved money before they split up the family."

"What are you talking about? If they had the money before, would they have been so hungry? Don't talk nonsense!"

When Widow Liu heard these discussions, she rolled her eyes, twisted her hips, and slipped away to Liu Dashan's house.

In the Liu family's yard, Liu Dashan had disappeared, Zhang was eating melon seeds to enjoy the cool air, and Chen Shuman and her daughter were sewing clothes nearby.

"Oh, Aunt Zhang, Aunt Chen, how come you have the leisure to sit here!" Widow Liu yelled in a shrill voice as she entered the yard.

"What's wrong? Is the sky falling?" Zhang raised her eyelids and said to her. Don't think she doesn't know that this woman has always been eyeing her son Donglai. No matter how confused or biased she is, she can't find such a slut for her son.

"Oh, I don't know whether the sky will fall or not. I only heard that your girl Xu and her family are going to build a new house!" Widow Liu said sarcastically.

Zhang frowned when she heard this, but then she relaxed her brows when she thought about the girl who had killed a python in the mountains and probably sold it for some money.

"We have already separated, and they had some income before, so they can build it if they want!" Mrs. Zhang didn't want to pay attention to this woman. Seeing her mother-in-law like this, Chen Shuman didn't know how to talk to her.

Seeing that she was not interested, Widow Liu rolled her eyes and continued:

"Oh, you don't know how big the house is. I heard it's a full acre of land. Where do you think they got the money to build it? Could it be... some ill-gotten money?"

Zhang couldn't help but stand up when she heard this. She was about to get angry, but then she thought of her old man and sat down again, pretending to be indifferent:

"That's our family's business, so you better not worry about it!"

Seeing that the old woman was not interested, Widow Liu curled her lips and said:

"I was worried that you were being cheated. Ha, you don't know how to appreciate a good person." After saying that, she twisted her slender waist and walked away.

Seeing that Widow Liu had left, Chen Shuman lowered her head, her eyes rolling around, a strange smile on her lips, and when she looked up again, she looked worried: "Mom, one acre of land, do you think they really want to build such a big house? How much silver will it cost? Even if Xu girl killed the snake, she can't sell it for so much, right?" Seeing that her mother-in-law frowned again, she knew that she was worried, and continued:

"Could it be... that this is really some ill-gotten money? This child and his mother are an orphan, and my second brother is not at home. I heard that several men from the village went to help them. What do you think... could it be..."

Zhang stood up suddenly, her face turned pale, and she gritted her teeth and said:

"How dare she! Donglai is not dead yet! Even if... the old woman and your father are still alive!"

"Mom, mom, don't be anxious. I just heard it from others. Don't take it seriously!" Chen Shuman advised in a hypocritical manner.

Zhang was so angry that she could not hear anything and rushed out like a whirlwind.

Chen Shuman and Liu Juan smiled at each other, slowly got up, followed Zhang's footsteps, and went to Liu Xu's house.

After leaving the house, he still pretended to shout: "Oh, mother, mother, don't worry, my sister-in-law is not that kind of person."

Here, Zhang quickly rushed to the door of Liu Xu's house. She put her hands on her hips and shouted at the top of her voice: "Xu Ruolan, come out!"

Seeing this, people in the village slowly gathered around.

When Xu Ruolan heard Zhang's shouting, she slowly walked out of the house holding the two children. She looked calm, but there was a hint of helplessness in her eyes.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Xu Ruolan said softly.

Seeing her calm demeanor, Zhang was even more furious. "How dare you ask? I ask you, where did you get the money to build the house? Did you do anything shameful?"

Xu Ruolan frowned slightly, "Mother, what you said is harsh. The silver was earned by Xu'er from selling snakes. It's innocent."

"Huh, can a snake be sold for so much? Do you think I'm a three-year-old kid who can be fooled?" Zhang didn't believe it at all.

At this time, Chen Shuman and Liu Juan also rushed over. Chen Shuman said hypocritically: "Sister-in-law, we are all family. If you really have any difficulties, tell mother directly, don't hide it."

Liu Juan also echoed: "That's right, don't do what you shouldn't do, it will bring shame to our Liu family." Seeing that the mother and daughter sang the same tune, Xu Ruolan knew that they were instigating behind the scenes again. The anger that had been suppressed for a long time could no longer be suppressed:

"Sister-in-law, we have no grudges against each other. Why do you and your family bully us again and again?" Xu Ruolan's voice was filled with grief and indignation.

The surrounding villagers began to whisper and talk.

"This Donglai daughter-in-law is usually very well behaved, and doesn't seem like she would do something like that."

"Who knows? They were penniless when they split up. It hasn't been long since then, and they're already building a big house. Maybe there's something fishy going on."

Zhang Shi became even more angry when she saw Xu Ruolan refused to admit it, and she rushed forward to attack. At this moment, Liu Xu came back. She had just gone to Xing'er's house to discuss with Liu Changshun about going to the town to find a craftsman tomorrow.

It was Liuzhuang who saw Zhang running towards Liuxu's house in a rage and felt something was wrong and came to tell her, so she hurried back. But when she got closer, she saw that her grandmother wanted to beat her mother again.

"Stop!" Liu Xu shouted, "Grandma, what are you doing?"

Zhang's momentum weakened a little when she saw Liu Xu, but when she thought of what Chen Shuman and Widow Liu had said, she could no longer suppress her anger and asked loudly, "Xu girl, tell me the truth, where did you get the money to build the house? Did you do something shameful?"

Liu Xu took a few steps to block Xu Ruolan and said angrily to Zhang: "Grandma, why are you always so confused about right and wrong? This money was earned by killing snakes, how come it has become something shameful?"

Zhang was even more angry when she heard Liu Xu say that to her, "You stupid girl, how can you talk to your elders like that?"

Liu Xu's eyes widened. "I wanted to talk nicely, but did you give me a chance? When someone provoked you, you came here and made a scene. Do you want to force us to death now because you didn't succeed in killing us before?"

At this time, the crowd slowly made way for a path, and the village chief Liu Dahai came out angrily:

"Shut up, everyone."

Everyone immediately fell silent.

"Xu girl, tell me, what's going on?" The village chief glared at Zhang fiercely. He really didn't know what to say to his cousin's wife.

Liu Xu knelt straight down in front of Liu Dahai and said angrily:

"Grandpa, I don't know what happened either. When I came back from Xing'er's house, I saw my grandma trying to beat my mom. She also scolded us for not getting the money to build the house properly and for doing something shameful. Xu'er doesn't understand. How can the money that Xu'er has worked so hard to earn be considered not getting it properly and shameful?"

Xu Ruolan also knelt down holding the two children, with a sad face:

"Uncle, Ruolan wants to ask my sister-in-law while you are here, why can't you tolerate our family? Although Ruolan is an orphan, she is also upright. In order to prevent Xu and Hao from freezing in winter, my son risked his life to go into the mountains to earn money to build a house. Why did you stir up trouble in front of mother-in-law and say that our money came from an illegal source?"

The powerful words of the two people immediately caused a lot of discussion around them.

"Hiss, so it was her eldest daughter-in-law Chen who instigated Old Lady Zhang to cause trouble?"

"Tsk tsk, why didn't I see before that she had such a vicious heart!"

"You are blind. Weren't you there when their family split up last time? I heard that the whole family of the eldest branch bullied Xu Yatou and her daughter, and twice people were almost killed!"

“This is too bad.”

The villagers' pointing and talking made Chen Shuman and her daughter blush with embarrassment, and Zhang also frowned and glared at Chen Shuman.

Chen Shuman saw it from the corner of his eye, and refuted with obvious lack of confidence:

"You, you are talking nonsense. When did I instigate anything? It was Widow Liu who said that! Mother came here in a rage, and I couldn't stop her."

She had been stuttering a bit before, but once she thought of Widow Liu, she spoke more fluently. Yes, it was Widow Liu who said that.

People all around started to talk quietly again.

"Enough! Someone go get Liu Dashan for me." Liu Dahai shouted again, and then said to Liu Xu and her daughter in a gentle voice:

"Xu girl, help your mother up quickly. Grandpa will definitely take care of it for you. Ah, get up quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Lan, who had run back with Liu Xu, hurried forward to help her lift Xu Ruolan up.

Soon, a path was cleared in the crowd, and Liu Dashan hurried over. He had just gone to look after the fields, and before he got home he was called over. The person who called him on the road told him roughly what happened, and he was angry and angry, his face flushed. Behind him were some villagers who had not known what was happening here before.

"Dashan, you should take good care of your family! See what's going on!" Liu Dahai looked at his cousin with disappointment.

"They say you should marry a virtuous wife. Look at your wife, and then look at your eldest daughter-in-law! Don't you all want to know where Xu girl got the money to build the house? Let me tell you!"

"Everyone should know about this girl going deep into Beilinpo alone. Yes, a snake can't be sold for much money, but this girl also dug up an old ginseng, and Changshun accompanied her to sell it! Changshun, tell us where you sold it. If anyone has any questions, you can go ask them yourself!"

Liu Dahai glanced seriously at the villagers around him, then glared fiercely at Liu Dashan's family.

"Yes, uncle." Liu Changshun stepped forward upon hearing this:

"When Xu came back from Beilinpo that day, many people saw her carrying a backpack and dragging a python."

Many people around nodded in agreement.

"It was only later that I discovered that in addition to the grass, there was also a bag of moss in her backpack. After Sister Ruolan and the others opened it, they found that the girl had also dug up an old ginseng. We were afraid that the snake would go bad if left for too long, so the next day, the girl asked me to take her to the town with her injuries, and sold the old ginseng and the snake to Zuiyunxuan. We got a total of 150 taels of silver."

Liu Changshun deliberately said 40 taels less.

"Hiss, one hundred and fifty taels! This girl is so lucky!"

"Why didn't you go if you were lucky? You almost lost your life in there!"

When the villagers heard that it was sold for 150 taels, they were all envious and jealous.

"I don't know if anyone heard when girl Xu came back that day. When I caught her, she said, 'Uncle San, I can build a house now' and then she fainted." Liu Changshun said with red eyes.

Many elderly women in the village, including some men, had tears in their eyes when they heard this. What a good child!

"Dashan, Zhang, did you hear and understand clearly now?" Liu Dahai shouted, suppressing the pain in his chest.

Zhang looked embarrassed, her mouth moved, and she lowered her head. Liu Dashan slowly walked to Liu Xu, squatted down, and looked at Liu Xu with red eyes:

"Xu girl, grandpa will apologize to you and your mother on behalf of your grandma. Can you forgive us?"

Liu Xu looked at her grandfather steadily. Although the old man was a little biased, to be honest, he was not a bad person. As for Zhang, although she was vicious and treated them harshly, it was because she was too stupid and easily provoked. So the culprit was still the eldest wife's family.

She took a deep breath and looked at Liu Dashan calmly and seriously:

"Grandpa, Xu'er doesn't ask you to treat everyone equally, but I hope you can persuade grandma not to listen to the words of my aunt and others in the future! Do you think you, grandma, and their family will have face if we are given a bad name? In the eyes of outsiders, we are a family! If brother Cheng Ming had an aunt or cousin with a bad reputation, wouldn't he be laughed at? In fact, if such a scandal really happened, would anyone be willing to marry the boys and girls in our village?"

Liu Xu's voice was very soft, but it hit everyone's heart hard. After Liu Xu finished speaking, she and Xu Ruolan went into the yard, each holding a child.

Chen Lan and Xing'er wanted to chase after him, but Liu Changshun pulled them together, shook his head, and went back home.

The village chief took a deep look at Liu Dashan's family, then looked at the villagers who were in deep thought, said, "Go away!", shook his head and left.

I don’t know when the crowd outside the yard dispersed, but that night, Liujia Village was surprisingly quiet and harmonious!