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

"Erniu, you take Sanniu and the others to eat. Your sister-in-law isn't feeling well, I'll go in and take care of her."

After saying that, Wu Daniu left without giving his younger siblings a second glance.

Wu Xiaohua's tears fell instantly. She didn't cry out loud, but silently shed large tears, which was heartbreaking to see. Her voice choked with sobs, "Second brother, will eldest brother never love us again? It's only the first day, and eldest brother doesn't want to eat with us."

Wu Erniu, Wu Sanniu, and the older Wu Sihua exchanged silent glances, coaxed Wu Xiaohua, and then ate their meals in silence, each with their own thoughts.

Inside the house, Du Mingwei was already hungry. Although her grandmother wouldn't let them eat anything in the morning, her mother secretly gave her two eggs. She had only had two eggs since she opened her eyes early this morning.

We had a passionate encounter this afternoon, and now I'm starving.

When Wu Daniu brought the food into the house, Du Mingwei felt even hungrier. But when she saw Wu Daniu and thought about how he would become a high-ranking general in the future, she gave him a sweet smile.

The room was somewhat dark. Wu Daniu placed the bowl on the kang table, lit an oil lamp, and turned around to see Du Mingwei's smiling face, the kind that could make him lose his composure. His heart skipped a beat.

He lowered his head and kissed her lips hard before reaching for the bowl. "I'm in a rush, so I'll just make some porridge for now. I'll make something more delicious tomorrow."

"I like anything you make." Du Mingwei glanced at the bowl, which was a dark, mushy paste. There were vegetables in it, but because of the way the rice was cooked, it was impossible to tell what they were.

She felt a little disgusted, as she never ate these kinds of things at the Du family's house; they always ate thin noodles. However, seeing Wu Daniu and thinking about the glamorous life ahead, she felt that even this ordinary bowl of porridge was good.

Wu Daniu handed the bowl to Du Mingwei, saying, "Eat up."

Du Mingwei glared at him playfully, "I don't want to, I want you to feed me."

Wu Daniu reached out to feed him, and the two were very affectionate. Du Mingwei hooked her arm around Wu Daniu and fed him, which made Wu Daniu so happy that he didn't know which way was up. The two joked around for a while. Just as they were about to get down to business, there was a knock on the door, followed by voices coming from the yard.

Upon hearing that it was her mother, Du Mingwei pushed the person on top of her away, "My mother is here. It must be because the Ling family is against the marriage exchange. Husband, what should we do? I'm so scared."

At this moment, Wu Daniu felt that he would be willing to die for Du Mingwei. "Don't be afraid, I'm here for you."

Outside, Xu Shi knocked on the door, her face flushed. "Mingwei, Da Niu, you two come out for a moment." She had already overheard from the Wu family's younger members that her daughter and Da Niu had naturally gotten together.

Now the Ling family can't make a fuss anymore; as long as their daughter gets what she wants, that's all that matters.

When Du Youliang and Xu went to the Wu family, they walked very slowly, thinking that as long as their daughter consummated her marriage with Wu Daniu, everything would be settled, and no matter how much the Ling family made a fuss, it wouldn't matter.

Having achieved their goal, the two returned with light steps and smiles on their faces as they entered the courtyard. However, upon seeing the somber atmosphere in the main room, they both composed themselves.

When Xu entered the house, she looked as if her parents had died, and even looked at Old Madam Du with tearful eyes, "Mother, we're too late, Da Niu and Ming Wei... those two..."

The rest of the words were left unsaid, but everyone in the room knew what it meant.

Ling's mother merely frowned slightly and said nothing, letting Old Madam Du and Madam Xu talk on and on.

A moment later, Wu Daniu helped Du Mingwei in. Even though the room was dimly lit, Du Mingwei's charming demeanor was still evident, and even... her hair was unkempt.

Ling's mother spoke first, "Du Mingwei, are you willing to participate in this arranged marriage?"

Du Mingwei glanced around the room but didn't see Ling Silang. She sneered inwardly, thinking that Ling Silang must have fallen ill from heartbreak after finding out that the bride wasn't her. He was such a sickly man.

"Yes."

Ling's mother glanced at Wu Daniu, then looked away at Du Mingxian, who had been standing silently inside the door, and finally at Du Mingwei, having made up her mind.

"Since that's the case, I can't force you to do anything. However, we came here for the eldest daughter of the Du family. Now that someone else has taken her place, it has caused harm to my Ling family. You must return the fifty taels of silver we gave her privately back then, and you will also have to pay an additional twenty taels as compensation."

Grandma Du was stunned. "How could this be?" She was always the one extorting others; this was the first time she had been extorted, and it felt really bad.

Madam Ling sneered, "Why not? Does your second daughter have the good fortune of a lucky girl? My fourth son has been sickly since childhood, and we came here because of that lucky girl's good fortune. Now that she has no good fortune, she still wants to swallow our money?"

Grandma Du wanted to say something, but Grandpa Du looked to the side and Ling's father, who hadn't spoken until now, said, "Father Silang, things have already come to this. Although my Mingxian is not as lucky as Mingwei, she is still a good housekeeper."

"How about this? We'll return forty taels out of the fifty taels. In our village, it's not uncommon for people to give ten taels as a betrothal gift when they get married."

Mr. Ling turned to look at Mrs. Ling, who raised her eyes and said, "Just as I said, fifty taels will be returned, plus twenty taels in compensation. There's no room for negotiation."

Old Man Du looked at Ling's father, and Ling's father looked at Ling's mother. Ling's mother had a strong attitude, and Old Lady Du was about to start cursing, but Old Man Du stopped her with a look.

Seeing that Ling's father did not respond, Old Man Du looked down on him and said to Ling's mother, "Now that the two families are related by marriage, it's not right to stop visiting each other, is it?"

"Hmph, our family is the victim. Since you're unwilling to pay compensation, then switch the two children."

"No, Brother Da Niu and I have already consummated our marriage." Du Mingwei was the first to lose her composure.

Ling's mother glanced at her, somewhat disdainful, thinking to herself, "Thank goodness I didn't marry this one."

Madam Xu also stepped in to mediate, saying, "Fourth Brother's wife, Mingwei is no longer a virgin with Da Niu... Why don't we make this a small matter and then let it go? If you force the two children to switch, your Fourth Brother can't accept that Mingwei has had a past with another man, can he?"

Ling's mother sneered, "First of all, it wasn't me who forced the two to switch; it was your Du family who deceived my Ling family first."

"Secondly, I gave you a solution, but you're unwilling to spend the money and want our Ling family to suffer this injustice in silence?"

"In the end, we don't mind. She's just an unclean person. Anyway, she's a lucky woman. As long as she can bring good fortune to our fourth son, that's enough. There are plenty of women in the world. I'll just bring a few more beautiful concubines for the fourth son in the future. It won't make any difference."

These remarks stunned everyone present, and no one dared to utter a sound.

Du Mingwei's eyes turned red with anger. In her past life, she was already forced to live a life of widowhood. Now they wanted her to live a life of widowhood again in this life? Don't even think about it. "Grandpa, Grandma, I don't want to."