SLH | Chapter 4

Accepting the Marriage

Liu Cuie jumped up and down, “How dare you! You want to leave a perfectly good girl and choose a half-dead sickly person, are you out of your mind?”

This sickly person was just an unloved illegitimate child in the Song family. No one there cared about him. Marrying into the family would not only yield no benefits but might even require spending money to buy a coffin. Only a fool would make such a losing deal!

However, Liu Hu was as stubborn as a mule. No matter how much Liu Cuie cried and fussed, he stood rooted in front of Song Tingzhu, not moving an inch.

Liu Cuie was unhappy that her grandson was opposing her for a sickly person. She pointed at the person coughing behind and cursed louder and louder.

The Liu Dasheng family also didn’t escape her scolding.

The old woman slapped her thighs and wailed, saying the eldest family was unfilial. If she had known, she should have given the marriage to the second family, Xifu.

Xifu has been clever since childhood. The Song family would definitely be satisfied, and they might even give hundreds or thousands of taels of silver as a dowry for the Song family’s eldest daughter, sending her in with a grand celebration!

Matchmaker Jiang rolled her eyes higher than the sky.

Pah! Dreaming of eating swan meat, what a joke!

She had just seen Liu Xifu earlier, looking like a pumpkin. Compared to Liu Hu’s appearance, he couldn’t even come close. Even if the Song family had fallen, they would never choose him.

Everyone whispered among themselves:

“Hasn’t Liu Cuie gone mad, thinking her grandson is a treasure everyone desires?”

“As if Liu Lao’er’s son is the only treasure, while the eldest and third families aren’t.”

“True, Liu Cuie favors Liu Lao’er. When the family split, Liu Dasheng’s family didn’t even get a piece of land, just a broken mud house. The third one was young and didn’t even get a mud house, only fifty coins to send him off. How can a mother be so biased?”

“There were rumors in the village that Liu Dasheng and Liu Laosan weren’t even Liu Cuie’s own.”

The whole feast turned into chaos, making the Liu family’s faces look bad. Liu Hu was even more furious. Seeing Liu Cuie still cursing, he picked up a broom by the courtyard wall and said gruffly, “Leave! You’re not welcome here!”

Liu Cuie was startled and then cursed even more fiercely, “Rebellion, truly rebellion! A grandson hitting his grandmother, unfilial, should be struck by lightning! Eldest, eldest daughter-in-law, this is the good son you taught, unfilial to his grandparents, should be struck by lightning! Let lightning strike your whole family!”

“Mother…” Liu Dasheng’s face was full of disappointment.

Liu Dasheng originally had some hope for his mother, but now his heart was completely cold.

“We split the family twenty years ago, why should my son be filial to you?!” Ruan Xiulian’s chest heaved violently.

Usually, she would ignore a few scoldings from her in-laws, but today was her son’s wedding day. Although there was a substitution, it could have been quietly resolved. Now, the old woman had made it known to everyone, intending to make the family a laughingstock in the village!

Liu Cuie pointed at Ruan Xiulian and cursed, “Disrespectful to in-laws, the first to be struck by lightning!”

Even a clay figure has some temper. Ruan Xiulian had long wanted to retort after being scolded for so long, “I have a clear conscience, not afraid of being struck by lightning. Whoever is guilty should be struck first.”

Liu Cuie was trembling with anger, “You! Eldest, are you dead? Why don’t you teach this…”

Ruan Xiulian interrupted her, “Mengzi, your grandparents are old, take them back to rest. And second brother, we didn’t invite your family, Huzi, see the guests out.”

Liu Ersheng, relying on his parents’ support, didn’t take his elder brother and sister-in-law seriously. Just as he was about to cause trouble, he saw Liu Hu lift a half-person-tall water jar and smash it on the ground with a bang.

Liu Cuie, standing nearby, was almost hit by the shards and was so scared she shrank her neck and didn’t dare make a sound.

Liu Hu glared fiercely at Liu Lao’er’s family.

Liu Ersheng, intimidated by the glare, glanced at the shattered water jar on the ground, his legs trembling like a sieve. He swallowed hard and didn’t dare say another word, quickly dragging his family away.

After Liu Cuie left, the courtyard became quiet.

Here they come!

Everyone was excited, waiting to see how the Liu family would handle the substitution.

Ruan Xiulian didn’t drive people away. Since it was already known, leaving them might prevent future rumors in the village.

Tang Chunxing, Liu Meng’s wife, seeing her mother-in-law not speaking, assumed she had agreed to the marriage and urgently said, “Mother, you can’t be confused. The second young master of the Song family is frail, how can we afford to support him?”

With a strong herbal smell, he probably needs to drink medicinal soup every day. The family has already incurred a lot of debt to marry the second brother. Keeping a sickly person, and an unloved one at that, means there’s no hope for the future.

She rolled her eyes and lowered her voice, “Second brother is still young, we can’t let him waste his life on a sickly person. That little young master is so weak, who knows if he can even have children. If not, won’t the second brother be left childless?”

Afraid she couldn’t persuade her mother-in-law, she also brought up her younger brother-in-law.

The children were Ruan Xiulian’s soft spot. Hearing that the second brother might be childless, her face darkened even more.

She said to Matchmaker Jiang, “Break off the engagement. Our Liu family can’t afford to climb the Song family. Take the person back, and we’ll return the betrothal gifts in full. Song Xing’an also needs to give an explanation for the substitution. It wasn’t us who were eager to get married. If Song Xing’an doesn’t want it, he can call it off. Why resort to tricks?”

Matchmaker Jiang wiped her nails with a handkerchief, speaking nonchalantly, “I only deliver the person. Besides, the ceremony is done. Who knows what your son did to our second young master? Our perfectly good young man married into your Liu family, and the day after the wedding, you send him back. How can the second young master face anyone in the future?”

Liu Meng’s forehead bulged with veins, “Slander! My second brother didn’t even touch a sleeve of your young master!”

Matchmaker Jiang said, “You say he didn’t, but how about we go to the prefectural city and let the prefect decide?”

It was a blatant threat, making everyone gasp.

Ordinary village households had never even seen the county magistrate, let alone the prefect. Knowing that the Song family had connections with the prefect, they lost interest in watching the show. In no time, the crowd dispersed.

The Liu family was filled with resentment, with nowhere to vent, their faces turning ashen.

At this moment, Matchmaker Jiang changed her demeanor, patting Ruan Xiulian’s hand, her tone like speaking to a good sister.

“Sister, let me give you some heartfelt advice. The Song family is powerful, not something we small folks can provoke. If you want an explanation, given the Song family’s influence in the prefectural city, you probably can’t even enter the city gates. Besides, the marriage is done. Even if you don’t want it, you have to swallow it.”

Ruan Xiulian was trembling with anger, but she knew she couldn’t fight the Song family, so she had to swallow the loss as Matchmaker Jiang suggested.

After calming the Liu family, Matchmaker Jiang and her group left Yunxi Village briskly.

It was late, and the Liu family courtyard was pitch black, with only a faint glow from the kitchen.

Ruan Xiulian glanced at the prepared dishes, feeling worried. Just as she was about to ask her eldest daughter-in-law to pick out some perishable food to eat, she heard a thud—her newly married son-in-law had collapsed!

Amidst the noise, the sound seemed to come from a distant place, faint and unclear.

With a foggy mind and a sore throat, Song Tingzhu blinked hard but still couldn’t muster the strength to open his eyes, lying there helplessly as the sharp voice tortured his ears.

“He’s already like this, why call a doctor? Better to feed him something good, let the second brother-in-law have a few good days, and spare him more suffering. Besides, the family owes a lot from the second brother’s marriage, where’s the money for doctors and medicine now?”

Tang Chunxing wasn’t unwilling to treat the illness, but with him coughing blood, what’s the point? It’s just wasting money.

Liu Meng glared at his wife, “What are you saying! The second brother has accepted him, from now on he’s family, he’s our brother-in-law.”

Ruan Xiulian hesitated with the money pouch.

The eldest daughter-in-law’s words were harsh but true, the family really had no money left. But it was a life, and he had married her second son, how could they just watch him die? Besides, as long as he’s alive, there’s no reason not to treat him.

“Treat!” Ruan Xiulian gritted her teeth, counted out twenty copper coins from the pouch, and handed them to her second son.

Liu Hu took them and ran out of the courtyard like the wind. In less than a quarter of an hour, he brought back the barefoot doctor living at the village entrance.

The old doctor, being old and with bad legs, was carried on Liu Hu’s back. The man ran so fast that he almost shook the old man’s bones apart.

Doctor Liang was initially a bit annoyed, but seeing the person on the wedding bed barely breathing, he lost his temper and frowned as he examined him. Afterward, he stroked his beard and shook his head.

“Huzi’s husband has a congenital illness that can’t be cured. To survive, he’ll need to be sustained with medicine.”

Tang Chunxing’s heart sank, “You mean he’ll need medicine every day without interruption?”

Seeing Doctor Liang nod, Tang Chunxing burst into tears.

“This life is unbearable. Tomorrow, I’ll take Xia Ge’er back to my parents’ house. Though I’ll have to endure my siblings’ faces, at least I’ll have a hot meal.”

Ruan Xiulian was irritated by her daughter-in-law’s crying and said with a sour face, “Go back today, let Mengzi take you. No need to stay here to eat bran and swallow vegetables with us.”

Seeing her mother-in-law angry, Tang Chunxing retreated behind her husband, sniffling and not daring to speak again.

She was just venting, not daring to really leave. Women and young men don’t return to their parents’ house easily after marriage, except during festivals. She had just returned not long ago, and going back so soon would surely lead to gossip.

Meanwhile, Doctor Liang, packing up his medicine box, knew the Liu family was struggling and didn’t charge for the consultation.

Before leaving, he kindly reminded, “If it doesn’t work, you can go to the town clinic to see a resident doctor, maybe they can treat it.”

After sending off Doctor Liang, Tang Chunxing couldn’t help but complain again, “Mother, it’s not that I’m cold-hearted, unwilling to treat the second brother-in-law, but we have to consider the family’s situation. Doctor Liang is one thing, he’s a barefoot doctor, his medicine doesn’t cost much, but the town clinic is different. A prescription costs at least four or five coins, a month would be a hundred or so, almost as much as Mengzi earns from labor!”

Cough cough—

Song Tingzhu couldn’t resist the itch in his throat and coughed.

The room fell silent, and then Liu Hu, who hadn’t spoken, frowned and said, “I’ll pay for the medicine myself. Consider it a loan from mother, tomorrow I’ll go to town to find work.”