Yang Ming went to town to buy some items and led a dairy cow back to the village. As soon as he entered, many people surrounded him, all curious about why the Scholar had bought a cow.
"Scholar Yang, did you buy this dairy cow?"
"What did you buy it for?"
Thinking he couldn’t hide the matter of adopting a child any longer, Yang Ming decided to just tell them outright to avoid misunderstandings, "My wife and I have adopted a child from a relative’s family, and we bought this cow to feed the child."
After he finished speaking, Yang Ming led the cow home, but rather than preventing gossip as he had hoped, his explanation only stirred more up.
"Why would Scholar Yang adopt a child out of the blue?"
"Hmph, it sounds nice, but it’s probably his own child from outside."
"That can’t be, the Scholar seems like a very honest man."
"No way, the Scholar’s wife is formidable. If he had a child outside, would the Scholar’s wife agree to adopt it?"
"Maybe the Scholar’s wife can’t have children, and she was afraid the Scholar might divorce her."
In the end, the conclusion everyone reached was that the Scholar’s wife, unable to have children after five or six months of marriage, feared the Scholar would divorce her, so they decided to adopt the Scholar’s child from outside. Soon, this news spread throughout Yang Village.
Xiaoxiao merely smiled when she heard it, letting everyone gossip as they wished. She was already overwhelmed with the difficult task of caring for the child. In fact, her family had become upset and quarreled a few times because Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming were being gossiped about unfairly.
Likewise, Xiaoxiao feared that the rumors about Yang Ming having an illegitimate child might affect his future prospects, so she specifically sought out the Village Chief to help clarify the matter, and for the sake of the village’s development, the Village Chief was naturally willing to help.
So, he gathered the villagers at the large square.
"Village Chief, why did you call us all here?" some villagers started to ask.
"Listen everyone, I’ve called you here specifically to discuss the matter of Scholar Yang adopting that child."
"Village Chief, is that child truly Scholar Yang’s?"
Helpless with the villagers’ incessant gossiping, the Village Chief responded, "That child is not Scholar Yang’s child. I know the child’s parents, who have passed away, and it was only out of kindness that the couple adopted the child."
"Stop spreading rumors and keep your mouths shut. If this affects Scholar Yang’s future prospects, think about it; what future would our village have?"
After the Village Chief’s reminder, everyone realized that if Scholar Yang prospered, the village could also prosper, which would benefit everyone. At least, it would make their village more appealing for women from other villages to marry into, so everyone agreed to stop the gossiping.
"The child is already unfortunate enough for having lost his parents. Now that Scholar Yang has adopted him, you should consider the child as Scholar Yang and his wife’s. Don’t talk nonsense as he grows up, and ensure the child does not hear such talks."
"If I hear any of you spreading rumors again, you will be excluded from any future benefits our village gains."
The Village Chief provided a strong warning, and the villagers took it seriously, promising not to spread any more rumors, and not to let their families do so either.
With the Village Chief’s help, the issue was resolved, and the Yang Family breathed a sigh of relief.
However, within a few days, Xiaoxiao’s family learned of the rumor from somewhere and could not bear to see Xiaoxiao endure such a great indignity.
Fueled by anger, the family headed straight for Yang Village. As soon as they entered the courtyard, Zhong Dalong bellowed, "Yang Ming, how dare you mistreat my sister!"