The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

Du Mingxian felt it was absurd. This wasn't a marriage proposal; it was clearly a troublemaker. How could this be? But she was quite curious.

"For a family like this to come and propose marriage, it's like a joke. How could the parents still be willing to let them in? Shouldn't they have thrown them out? And what's with the villagers watching the spectacle at the door?"

Madam Zhou was speechless and rolled her eyes. "What else could it be? These people in the house must have brought them here. They brought the matchmaker with them when they came."

"That matchmaker is famous in the surrounding area, and she's also a big mouth. Our family doesn't have any suitable daughters to marry off right now, so naturally it'll be our little sister. Besides, she's followed by several men. Who would be curious?"

It's only lively at her own home; if it were someone else's house, she would definitely be the first to crane her neck to see.

"Why didn't your parents kick them out? They shouldn't have let them in."

Little Zhou pulled Du Mingxian aside and whispered, "Do you think your mother doesn't want to? Your mother just can't bring herself to do it. The people who came to propose marriage were once your close friends, and you even had a betrothal arranged between your childhood friends."

"They made a pact that they would get married if they had a girl or a boy. But the mother only had a son, and the other woman only had a son. It was a bachelor's den with no daughters. So how could they get married? In the end, they didn't get married."

Du Mingxian then realized a problem: when Ling Silang was born, Ling's mother was injured and could not have any more children. So what about Ling Xiaomei?

"And who is that little sister?"

"You didn't know?" Little Zhou was extremely surprised.

Du Mingxian shook her head, completely bewildered. "What should I know?"

"Our little sister was picked up by our parents; she's not their biological child."

"Ah, no one told me that." But that makes sense, why my mother's health was damaged after giving birth to Ling Silang, and why she ended up with Ling Xiaomei.

Little Zhou waved her hand, eager to share, "I thought Si Lang had already told you. Let me tell you, Little Sister was adopted. Her parents were out running errands and found her on the road. I heard she was so thin and small back then that they almost couldn't raise her."

"Our family has Silang. Silang has been in poor health since he was a child. His parents couldn't bear to see their child so thin and small. When they saw Xiaomei, they felt so sorry for her. And since Xiaomei is a girl, they ended up bringing her home."

"Does your younger sister know about this?" Du Mingxian thought she probably did.

"You know, I haven't dared to ask." After all, she's just a daughter-in-law who married into the family, and there are some things she doesn't know. Besides, how could she ask the person involved about something like this?

Du Mingxian listened to the matchmaker's flowery words inside the room, "This isn't a marriage proposal, it's clearly a sabotage party. How is my little sister supposed to choose? It's really going too far."

"That's for sure. Mother and this confidante have a very good relationship, so it's probably hard for her to refuse. Besides, Mother's confidante is quite difficult to deal with."

Du Mingxian glanced at the men standing to one side. "They're all boys. I think that one's pretty old. Still not married?"

"His eldest son got married, but his wife died in childbirth, leaving no children." Little Zhou looked closely and shook her head.

“That won’t do. He looks like a hothead. Although his status as a widower is somewhat compatible with my little sister, if I were her mother, I definitely wouldn’t be willing to let my daughter marry him.”

Du Mingxian glanced at them; she didn't know either, and none of the men present were pleasing to her.

The main room was filled with lively conversation when Ling's mother took the opportunity to go to the outhouse. She saw Du Mingxian return and immediately pulled Du Mingxian over, saying, "My stomach hurts. Come with me to the outhouse."

This wasn't a trip to the outhouse; it was clearly a conversation. Du Mingxian didn't refuse and followed them to the back.

As they rounded the corner, Ling's mother stopped, her face flushed with anxiety. "Mingxian, look at our family's current situation, what are we going to do?"

"Can't you just refuse outright?"

Ling's mother shook her head. "No, I talked to her about arranging a marriage between our children before. Although we haven't mentioned it again since, the matter still exists. Now that she's bringing it up, I can't refuse."

"Does Mother mean that my younger sister should choose one to marry?"

"No." Ling's mother pondered for a moment and said, "Your father and I had been thinking of building another small courtyard so that your father and I could live with your little sister."

Du Mingxian thought to herself, this method definitely won't work.

“It’s not that Silang disagrees, then the matter can only be put on hold. But your father and I think about your little sister. If she is willing, we will support her. If she is not willing, we will still support her. Even if she never marries, your father and I will protect her while we are alive. If your father and I get old and have to leave this world, we will definitely find a way to make arrangements for her.”

Du Mingxian understood. "Does Mother have any intention of becoming in-laws with this family?"

"No." Ling's mother felt exhausted. "When we were both girls, we were really close. We would go up the mountain together, cut pig feed together, and even share a bird egg with each other."

"But that was during our childhood. Later, we got married and had our own families. Then we had children. Although the two villages are not far apart, we saw each other more often before. But later, because of family matters, we didn't keep in touch much."

“People change.” Ling’s mother stared intently at Du Mingxian. “Nowadays, she has a bad reputation in the village, and her husband is lazy. How could I bear to let your little sister marry into such a family?”

"I was just about to express my reluctance to marry off my daughter today when she brought it all back to me in a couple of sentences. She talked about things from our childhood and the verbal agreement we made back then."

Du Mingxian was a little puzzled, "Since she cares about this verbal agreement and wants to become in-laws, why didn't she bring it up when my younger sister was here?"

"That's because Silang takes medicine all year round. Our family has some wealth, but not much. Your little sister wasn't very healthy when she was young, but she was raised with care and her health improved a lot."

"Your younger sister has the best relationship with Silang. She always leaves something good for Silang. Maybe she's afraid that after your younger sister marries into the family, she'll steal things from her husband's family to support her own family."

Hearing Ling's mother say this, Du Mingxian understood. Ling's mother never said anything suspicious. Since she could say this, the other party must have said it, otherwise Ling's mother would not have said it.

The fact that the other party is coming to our door now is definitely because they see that the Ling family is now prosperous and good to their daughter. Marrying her is one thing, but they really want to take advantage of us.

“Mother, it’s not a difficult thing.”

"What do you mean?" Ling's mother's eyes were frighteningly bright. She knew it. She knew that all the problems could be solved by asking Mingxian.

Du Mingxian pondered for a moment and said, "Either we refuse directly, or at worst she'll badmouth our family behind our backs, it's not a big deal."