She got pregnant after the swap marriage, and the scumbag's family regretted it so much they cr

Gao Yan pushed open the door of the woodshed and pulled out a wooden plank and a set of slightly worn bedding from behind the woodpile.

He lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the bright red wedding robe.

I never imagined that I would one day wear a wedding robe in my life.

He had imagined countless times that if one day he saved enough money, he would definitely buy himself a red dress.

I never expected this day to come so soon!

This red dress is so beautiful! Once I put it on, I didn't want to take it off. So what if Gao Zhongbao wore it before? The most important thing is that this dress will always belong to him.

The hand under the wedding robe clenched tightly for a moment, then quickly released, afraid that the roughness of her palm would scratch the robe.

"My God! I knew the Gao family mistreated their adopted son, but I never imagined it would be this bad!"

"That's right! How dare they treat Zhao Zi's benefactor like this? Aren't they afraid of retribution and that the child will never come again!"

"Look at Zhou, after Gao Zhongbao, she only gave birth to a girl. Maybe that's retribution!"

“You know nothing, don’t talk nonsense!” Surprisingly, it was Gao Shangzhi who spoke up first to refute.

Lu Huan looked at her father-in-law with some confusion.

Zhou usually makes the decisions in the Gao family, and Gao Shangzhi has never taken the initiative to express his opinion before. Why is he so agitated this time?

Could it be that the villagers' earlier gossip had provoked him?

Lu Huan kept this in mind, but didn't show it on her face. She broke the silence in the courtyard by saying, "Ayan, why don't you change your clothes first!"

With the woodshed door completely shut out any prying eyes from the outside, Gao Zhongbao recovered from his previous setback.

He had already changed into the student robes of Yanzhou Academy, with a red silk ribbon tied around his waist as a substitute for wedding attire.

The anger that had been suppressed had subsided, and Gao Zhongbao had returned to the humble and gentlemanly demeanor that Lu Huan had shown when he first arrived at the Gao family.

Although Zhou was angry when she heard the villagers' previous gossip, she was only slightly annoyed because it did not involve Gao Zhongbao.

Therefore, Gao Zhong'an didn't expend much effort in appeasing the Zhou family. On the contrary, the one who had more of a headache was himself.

Just like in the previous life, the head of the Eastern Depot used this handle to suppress Gao Zhongbao, preventing him from being granted an official position for a long time.

Now that Lu Huan has made a scene, the villagers don't seem to care much.

But if word gets out and the education commissioner finds out, that would be a disaster—they might lose their official rank and their future path to the imperial examinations would be cut off.

He stood in the middle of the courtyard, cupped his hands and bowed, explaining to everyone: "My adopted brother has never been engaged, and my mother is worried about my studies, so she has inevitably neglected my adopted brother."

Actually, a room had always been prepared for my adoptive brother, but my mother was always busy and never had time to tidy it up.

That might fool others, but Lu Huan wouldn't fall for it.

"Which room is it? I'd like to ask the aunties to clean it. We can't possibly spend the night outside with Ayan!"

Seeing Lu Huan address him so affectionately, Gao Zhongbao's hands, hidden under his sleeves, clenched tightly, and he could even feel his back teeth chattering.

He looked at Zhou Shi beside him and asked, "Mother, which room did you prepare for my adopted brother?"

Zhou cursed Lu Huan in her heart for being so aggressive, while simultaneously going through all the rooms in the Gao family's house in her mind.

They definitely can't live in the backyard.

Gao Manting will be of marriageable age in a few years, and Gao Yan is an outsider, so they definitely need to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

They had used this excuse to have Gao Yan live in the front yard, intending for him to guard the gate.

However, in the front yard, the east wing room had already been used as Gao Zhongbao's study, so the only room available was the west wing room.

Zhou quickly composed herself and replied in coordination with Gao Zhongbao, "I originally planned to clean up the west wing for Xiao... Gao Yan to live in, but I've been too busy and there's no one in the family who can help me out, haha."

Lu Huan knew that the west wing Zhou mentioned was the place where miscellaneous items were stored in the previous life. It was never cleaned up for Gao Yan to live in until they went out to escape famine.

Nobody's cleaning up? What's the big deal! That's just a lie that might fool the villagers.

Lu Huan didn't expose Zhou Shi, but instead asked the clan chief directly, "Uncle Clan Chief, I'm new here and not very familiar with the uncles and aunts in the village. Could you please find five or six capable women to help me clean these two side rooms? I'll pay each of them one qian of silver."

"How much?" Chief Gao was clearly taken aback by Lu Huan's wealth and generosity.

You should know that even the strongest laborers in the village, carrying heavy loads in Yanjing City, could only earn a maximum of fifty copper coins a day. Yet Lu Huan offered a full qian of silver—that's more than a hundred copper coins!

"Girl, that's too much. Just give each person thirty coins!"

Lu Huan explained with a smile, "Clan leader, please don't refuse. This includes money for cleaning the new house! How can we give less than the amount we need!"

"Yes, yes, yes! You're such a thoughtful girl!"

With two more generous young ladies appearing in the village, the Gao clan will likely reap considerable benefits – this is a good thing!

Chief Gao had already thought of several names, including his wife. They needed someone to keep things in check and supervise their work!

The smile on her face grew brighter and brighter, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes extended all the way to her forehead.

They reached an agreement, but Zhou was the one who was unhappy.

She had long regarded Lu Huan's dowry as her own private property, so how could she tolerate Lu Huan spending it at will?

She rushed to the clan chief and spread her arms to stop him: "I disagree! We don't need outsiders. She can handle things herself in a bit!"

His gaze then fell on Lu Huan behind the clan leader: "Since you are going to marry into the Gao family, you should act according to the Gao family's rules! How can a young wife promise so much money before she has even taken charge of the household!"

You really don't know the value of money! I think from now on you should hand over all your money to me, and I'll manage it for you!

She had clearly included Lu Ruyi and Lu Huan's dowry money in her calculations.

I'm afraid Zhou will say something next and tell them to move all their dowry into her room.

Lu Huan didn't hold back either, feigning curiosity as she asked, "Is it a tradition in the Gao family to use the daughter-in-law's dowry?"

On the second day of their marriage in their previous life, Zhou used the same excuse to move all of Lu Huan's dowry away.

When she asked about it again before fleeing, Zhou scolded her, saying that apart from the money in her dowry and the furniture in the new house, everything else was junk.

When she asked a few more questions, she was met with a cold threat from Zhou—if she asked again, she would be sent home immediately!

Looking back now, it's clear that in her previous life, Li had tampered with her dowry quite a bit!

Should she thank Lu Ruyi? If Lu Ruyi hadn't used the trick of exchanging wives, Li Shi would likely have continued to use the rubbish from her previous life to fool herself.

The reason why we did not doubt that Zhou was lying was because of his daily service to her, day and night, for twenty years.

Lu Huan knew Zhou Shi too well; she could almost guess what kind of tormenting scheme Zhou Shi had come up with to deal with her the moment Zhou Shi raised an eyebrow.