Liu’er’s mother found her words grating. After a long mont, she sneered, "She turned down a widower for being too old, and now she’d turn down Changliang, too? She really doesn’t know what’s good for her. With your Changliang’s looks, couldn’t he easily marry a pretty young girl? Even izi married Changming, so what makes their Juhua so special? Does she really think her daughter is so kind of phoenix? If word of this gets out, people will laugh their heads off."
Granny Hua said hurriedly, "Juhua is very capable. Being a little ugly isn’t really a big deal."
Liu’er’s mother gave her a strange look. ’This old hag has gone crazy for money,’ she thought.
In truth, she was wronging Granny Hua. While she was green with envy over the Zheng Family’s wealth, her interest in Juhua was genuine. She was convinced that helping her younger son marry such a capable wife couldn’t be a mistake. This could be considered a result of the discipline Li Laoda had instilled in her for over a year.
Liu’er’s mother looked at the woman with amusent and asked, puzzled, "If you’re so fond of her, why don’t you send a matchmaker to their door?"
’If there was any hope of that, would I need you to tell ?’ Granny Hua thought.
She hemd and hawed for a long mont before muttering, "I... I ntioned it to Changming. He said it wasn’t suitable and that the Zheng Family would never agree. I also think Zheng Changhe probably wouldn’t agree."
Liu’er’s mother felt a sour pang of jealousy. ’She’s just a pockmarked girl, and she gets to be so picky? So what if her family’s rich now? She’s still a pockmarked girl. Otherwise, why wouldn’t she dare take off that face covering?’
But the word "picky" made her think of Liu’er. When she was finding a husband for her daughter, hadn’t she been just as picky? And what about now?
Liu’er lived a life of luxury with the Tang family, but she was far from happy. She’d had a mysterious miscarriage after six months of pregnancy, leaving her bedridden for a whole month until she was nothing but skin and bones.
It had broken her heart to see her daughter like that, and she didn’t know if what she felt was regret or resentnt. To top it all off, Zheng Qingmu, the very man Liu’er had once been so desperate to marry—even at the risk of her reputation—had now struck it rich.
When the Zheng Family started their pig offal business, she hadn’t paid it much mind. It was just a matter of earning a few taels of Silver. But this year, they had managed to cause a huge stir. She had no idea they had used the Chen Family’s deposit to buy up all the village’s pork; she assud it was their own money.
Of course, she would never admit her own lack of judgnt, but the jealousy and regret had been tearing her apart for days. The most infuriating part was that the Zheng Family had actually put aside past grievances to arrange a marriage with Liu Fugui’s daughter. This inevitably made her wonder, ’If I hadn’t married Liu’er off to the Tang family, would the Zheng Family have also set aside their grievances and asked for her hand?’
But the more she thought about it, the more tornted she beca.
Seeing Granny Hua’s distressed expression of wanting sothing she couldn’t have, Liu’er’s mother thought for a mont and said, "It’s not that there isn’t a way. It just depends on whether you can figure it out."
Granny Hua was overjoyed and asked hurriedly, "You have a good idea? Tell ! If my family’s fortunes improve because of this, I definitely won’t forget you."
Liu’er’s mother shot a contemptuous glance at the overjoyed Granny Hua. ’Not even the first step has been taken, and she’s already scheming about getting rich,’ she thought.
But her mind was much sharper than Granny Hua’s, so she certainly wouldn’t give her so reckless idea. If things went wrong, wouldn’t she just be bringing trouble upon herself? Was she supposed to get into a fight with the Yang Family over it?
So, she gave Granny Hua a casual, sidelong glance and said, "Tell , why do you think Gou Dan’s mother married izi to your Changming?"
Granny Hua asked with a silly laugh, "Why did she marry him? Isn’t it because my Changming saved izi?"
Of course, she was too embarrassed to admit that she actually had no idea why her son had suddenly wanted to marry izi—Li Laoda and Li Changming had never told her a thing.
Liu’er’s mother sneered. "Saving her life is one thing, but you don’t have to marry your daughter off for it, do you? You know the real reason perfectly well. It’s because Changming sucked the snake venom out for izi. Her mother had no choice but to marry her to him."
Understanding dawned on Granny Hua. She had wanted to use that very point to urge Li Changming to propose marriage, but he had scolded her. The Qin Family had also remained silent, so she had assud Gou Dan’s mother didn’t care. Now, hearing Liu’er’s mother’s words, she realized that of course she cared. After a man had put his mouth on her daughter’s leg, how could she dare marry her off to anyone else?
So she nodded and said, "That makes sense. But what does this have to do with marrying Juhua? We can’t just wait for Juhua to get bitten by a snake so my Changliang can go save her, can we?"
Liu’er’s mother saw that the old woman was being dense and just wasn’t getting it. She was afraid of saying too much and bringing trouble upon herself, but if she kept quiet, there was no way Granny Hua would ever connect the dots.
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