Ugly girl only wants to farm

Li San Niang came over, took Xu Chaoyan's hand, and said softly, "Good child, I'm sorry to have wronged you. These things are not worth much. Please explain to your in-laws that Jiu and he are unable to accompany you back because of their heavy studies. They will definitely come to apologize another day."

When Grandmother Meng saw that her granddaughter-in-law was still standing there without saying a word, she became a little angry.

"Xu Chaoyan, didn't you see Peach Blossom Sister say your hairpin is pretty?"

Xu Chaoyan smiled smugly: "Yes, it's very beautiful. My father made it for me himself."

Grandmother Meng's punch was neither too light nor too heavy, as if it hit cotton.

Meng Taohua stomped her foot angrily: "Mother, I just like it, Grandmother."

Meng Jiuxia said with some disdain, "Meng family peach blossom, don't you know shame? You dare to covet what is worn on other people's heads. Besides, even if it were to be given, it would be to me, not you."

Although she didn't like the morning glory, it wasn't Meng Taohua's place to lecture her.

Xu Chaoyan reached out and touched the silver hairpin in her hair. It was put on by her mother earlier that morning, who said that a new bride should at least dress up a bit.

She casually picked out a simple-looking pendant and put it on.

Xu Chaoyan looked up, puzzled, and asked innocently, "Grandmother, this hairpin of mine is really quite pretty. How did it catch Peach Blossom Sister's eye? Otherwise, you could ask her father to buy it for you."

Grandmother Meng angrily pointed out a trembling finger: "As a sister-in-law, isn't it only right that you give your sister a gift when you marry in? Since your Peach Blossom sister likes it, you should take it down and give it to her. Look at your petty behavior."

Liu stared wide-eyed at the hairpin. Although the design was simple, it was clearly made of pure silver and could be exchanged for a lot of money. It could also be used to buy her daughter a beautiful piece of cloth for a dress.

A greedy smile appeared on her face. At this moment, Granny Xu came out of the house carrying a bundle. Seeing that everyone's eyes were not right and they were all staring at her young lady, she quickly stood in front and protected her behind her: "What do you want to do? My young lady just got married. Don't take advantage of her youth and lack of support. I, this old woman, will risk my life to get rid of you."

Xu Chaoyan felt a warmth in her heart. Although she was still getting used to being here, her mother, Xu, truly cared for her and protected her in everything.

Seeing this, Liu chuckled awkwardly, "We didn't say anything, just praised Jiuhe's wife's hairpin as pretty, and my Taohua was a little envious."

Mrs. Xu revealed a disdainful smile: "Even if my daughter's hairpin is pretty, what is your wife envious of? If you're so capable, go buy it yourself. Don't stare at my daughter like a dog staring at shit."

Liu was speechless, choked by the words.

Grandmother Meng rebuked her, saying, "As a junior, how can you speak like an elder? So what if your sister takes a liking to your hairpin? Just give it to her. Does your Xu family lack one more hairpin?"

Peach Blossom nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Grandmother is right, I love that hairpin, so please give me the morning glory."

Xu Chaoyan chuckled and reached out to take the hairpin. Liu Shi and Meng Taohua stared wide-eyed, unable to hide their smiles, and tried to take it from her.

Xu Chaoyan gently stroked the patterns on the hairpin and slowly said, "I also think this hairpin is quite pretty. You've been taking good care of me lately, so I'm giving it to you."

After saying that, he personally put the hairpin on her head.

Meng Taohua was furious that the duck she was about to catch had flown away. Her eyes reddened, she stomped her feet and spat at Xu Chaoyan a few times.

"You ugly freak with a face full of pustules, I'll never like you."

After saying that, she sat on the ground and burst into tears. Everyone was shocked by her actions, and Xu Chaoyan did not expect her to do this.

Even if Meng Jiuxia was naughty and mischievous, she wouldn't dare to be so presumptuous. Her grandmother was always biased, favoring her cousin from the second branch of the family and her sister Taohua. She would always save the best food for them. Today, she even blatantly tried to snatch the hairpin from the trumpet flower.

Grandmother Meng never expected that this ugly girl would be so stingy. Before, she would chase after Jiuhe and send people over from time to time to please the whole family. Today, she was so stingy that she was arguing with a child.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across her face, but she did so to maintain her family's dignity.

She pretended to scold, "Peach Blossom, get up quickly. What's so great about that broken thing? Grandma will buy it for you later."

Then he scolded Li San Niang: "Put all these things away. I need to arrange a marriage for you after Xiaoman. These will come in handy. Consider them a token of your appreciation as your aunt."

This second aunt usually likes to take advantage of others, and her mother always loses in verbal battles. Today, her brother is not here either.

Meng Jiuxia burst into tears, her voice trembling with sobs: "Grandmother, you're being unfair! These are clearly our family's things, why should they be used by my cousin for marriage? Even if they were to be kept for marriage, they should be reserved for my younger brother."

Grandmother Meng slammed her hand on the table with a loud "bang".

“This family is not your place to call the shots. You disobey your elders. This is how your mother has always taught you. What will you be like when you grow up? Go back to your room and learn needlework properly. Your needlework is crooked and messy. When you get married, you won’t even be able to embroider a handkerchief properly. You’ll be a disgrace to our family.”

Li San Niang pulled her daughter over and took out a handkerchief to wipe her face, saying, "Don't say anything now."

She was usually too soft-hearted, which caused her daughter to suffer: "It's probably not good for my mother-in-law to let Jiu and her daughter-in-law go back empty-handed. People will say that our Meng family has no manners. Besides, Xia'er is still young and can be taught slowly. These things were originally sent by the Xu family. It is only right to be filial to my mother. As for Xiaoman's wedding gift, we haven't been engaged yet. Aunt will definitely make it up to her later."

Liu never expected that her weak sister-in-law would dare to talk back to her mother-in-law this time. She said sarcastically, "Does having a wife make you look down on us?"

Li San Niang was speechless: "Mother-in-law, that's not what I meant."

Liu said, "No one's daughter-in-law can compare to my sister-in-law's beautiful daughter-in-law."

Grandmother Meng waved her hand: "Take them all to my room, I can use them myself!"

Li Sanniang: "Mother-in-law, we can't go home empty-handed and leave ourselves open to gossip!"

Feeling a little embarrassed, Meng's mother pointed to a pile of sweet potatoes in the corner: "Pack them all up, go to the field and pick some greens, cut off a piece of yesterday's meat, and since there are still quite a few wedding cakes left, pack them into another box, and we'll have everything we need. The bottom will be empty, and the top will be full, won't it look just right?"

Liu's mouth twitched. She wanted to say that there wasn't much meat left yesterday. She had secretly taken most of it, leaving only some bones and offal. She had also secretly hidden a lot of the cakes and sent some back to her parents' home.

People don't usually see much meat, but yesterday the Xu family generously sent over two pigs. Since Li San Niang doesn't usually manage the household, she wouldn't know how many were used.

She took her daughter's hand and stepped closer: "Mother, you must be tired too. Let me help you inside to rest for a while. I'll take Peach Blossom back to do her needlework."

Before leaving, Grandmother Meng pointed at Xu Mama with a look of disgust: "Send this wife back. Our family doesn't have extra food to feed, and we don't support idle people."

Mrs. Xu retorted with her hands on her hips, "I'm an old woman who eats my daughter's food. I have hands and feet, so why am I an idle person?"

Grandmother Meng was so angry that her nose was crooked. She held her head and cried out, "Oh, my head hurts so much!"

Liu glared fiercely at Xu Chaoyan, then helped her away.

After the group finally left, Li San Niang sighed helplessly, "Yan'er, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for letting you go back empty-handed."

After saying that, she took out a pair of small earrings from her pocket and handed them over.

“This is what your father bought for me when we got married. Take this to town and exchange it for some silver. It’s not worth much, but it’ll be enough to buy two boxes of cakes.”

Xu Chaoyan immediately pushed it back: "Mother, you keep it yourself."

She called out "Mother" somewhat awkwardly, and Li San Niang immediately beamed with joy.

"Good child, just take it and don't be polite with your mother. I'm sorry you had to go through this today."

Meng Jiuxia also looked on with envy. She had seen those earrings before and originally thought that her mother would keep them as part of her dowry when she got married. Who knew that she would give them to Trumpet Flower? She was angry.

But he didn't dare say it out loud, so he bumped into Xu Chaoyan hard: "You jinx, our family has never had a moment's peace since you married into the family."

The same oxcart as yesterday carried Xu's mother and Xu Chaoyan toward town.

Originally, Li San Niang sent Meng Jiu Xia to accompany her, but she sent her back. That girl was very gossipy and looked at her with disgust. She didn't want to be stared at the whole way.

Along the way, she inquired about the Xu family's situation, intentionally or unintentionally.

Fearing that she would give herself away when she got home, Xu's mother told her everything. She guessed that her daughter had bumped her head and had forgotten some things.

It turned out that this Xu was a wealthy merchant in town, who ran rice shops and cloth shops, and had doted on Xu Chaoyan since she was a child.

Xu Chaoyan was very puzzled as to why her father would agree to marry a man to bring good luck to the village.

Mrs. Xu sighed and explained, "My dear, you lost your mother when you were young. Your father pitied you and was afraid that you would be bullied by your stepmother, so he did not marry for many years. Until you were ten years old, he could not go against your grandmother's desire for a grandson and married his own cousin as his second wife."

"Your stepmother seems to treat you well on the surface, providing you with everything you need. But ever since she gave birth to your younger brother, she hasn't been as attentive to you. She must want to marry you off. Originally, the master planned for your family to have a son-in-law live with you, but your stepmother was afraid that you would take a share of her son's property in the future, so she came up with this absurd idea of ​​a marriage to bring good luck. Coincidentally, the Meng family was in trouble, and your stepmother did some tampering and added fuel to the fire, which led to this situation."

Madam Xu then paused for a moment: "But my husband really loves you, and he has prepared a very generous dowry for you. Didn't you see that the Meng family sent over two pigs at their wedding banquet yesterday? Your stepmother's face turned black. She originally planned to give you a dowry of twenty taels, along with clothes for all four seasons and some jewelry. But after my husband found out, he scolded her and gave you fifty taels of silver instead."

"I also bought some jewelry. Originally, Master wanted to buy you some more, but the family is facing some difficulties and is short of funds. Master plans to do business in a neighboring county with others to expand the family business. The funds needed will be more, so I only prepared some silver for you to keep safe. The jewelry was left to you by your birth mother."

Xu Chaoyan listened to the story and it seemed that her father treated his daughter quite well. He even believed in superstitions, which showed that he really loved his daughter dearly!

Madam Xu sighed again: "Originally, the master secretly ordered some jewelry for you at the silver shop, but somehow it reached your stepmother's ears. She secretly whispered in your grandfather's ear, and after a few crying and fussing, most of the jewelry was gone. It all went into the second young lady's dowry. Don't hate the master, my dear."

After understanding the situation, Xu Chaoyan nodded: "Yes, Mom Xu, I understand."

The Xu family was considered wealthy in town. Their three-courtyard house was located on the busiest street, a stark contrast to the houses next to it. The gatekeeper was waiting there early to greet her.

After the two returned to the Xu family courtyard, Master Xu was very happy that his daughter had returned. Then, not seeing Meng Jiu, he asked with some surprise, "That scholar didn't come back with you. Did he bully you?"

Mrs. Xu quickly stepped forward to explain, "Sir, our son-in-law has gone back to study. A man should prioritize his career. He will definitely come to apologize later."

Master Meng stroked his beard, somewhat displeased: "Big girl, I'll send someone to the school to find Meng Jiuhe and bring him back to talk to him."

Her stepmother stopped her, saying, "Master, this son-in-law is ambitious. Our girl is blessed. He's going to study and doing something respectable. Let her go."

Today, Xu Chaoyan returned home to visit her husband's family, but no man came back. Her smile stretched almost to the back of her ears.

This young woman, relying on her father's favor since childhood, caused her a lot of trouble. Fortunately, she was flexible and persevered. Now, she has finally been married off and will no longer have to share the family property with her son.

It was a bit painful to give away part of the dowry, but luckily she got some back, otherwise her daughter would definitely suffer in the future.

Master Xu instructed the kitchen to prepare many of his daughter's favorite dishes.

"Yan'er, it's only been three days and I already think you've lost a lot of weight. Here, these are all your favorite dishes. Eat more and gain some weight back. Your little face doesn't look round anymore."

Xu Chaoyan looked at the table full of braised pork, braised fish, roasted mutton, double pepper rabbit, braised pork knuckle, and pork shoulder and exclaimed in surprise, "My God, what exactly did the original owner eat?"

It's no wonder she got pimples from eating such greasy food. Her stepmother even tore off a big chicken leg and handed it to her, saying, "Eat more, girl. Look how thin you are."

This wicked stepmother clearly had ill intentions. So this is how she raised the original owner from childhood; no wonder her face was covered in acne and her body was rather plump, letting her eat and drink whatever she wanted without any care. Wasn't she just trying to ruin her?

Seeing that his daughter wasn't eating, Mr. Xu asked in confusion, "Girl, is it because these dishes don't suit your taste?"