This person often walked near the river; how could they not get their shoes wet?
Luo Cuihua thought that if she gave them a bit of sweetness, she could coax those men into being utterly devoted to her.
But who in the world is truly a fool? As time went by, those men naturally became unsatisfied with just a bit of sweetness and started climbing over walls and knocking on doors late at night.
What could Luo Cuihua do? She had two daughters and a blind elderly mother at home, so she could only swallow her anger and endure it.
Since then, Luo Cuihua simply gave up trying to maintain appearances. As long as they gave her money, helped with chores, bought clothes and jewelry, and took care of her daughters, what did she have to lose?
Over time, everyone knew that the widow Luo Cuihua’s house was not decent.
Her blind mother died from anger, and her two young daughters, influenced by Luo Cuihua’s behavior, had now reached the age to find suitors, but they had learned some unseemly and coquettish mannerisms. Apart from men with ulterior motives, no decent family would propose marriage.
Why was Old Lady Luo so anxious? She discovered that Luo Cuihua’s two daughters had been flirting with her grandson, who started losing his mind over them.
Old Lady Luo was about to go mad with anger! The neighborhood already knew about Luo Cuihua’s improper behavior, which cast doubt on her daughters’ reputations.
Her eldest grandson actually wanted to marry one of those women?
She fretted at home every day. Upon hearing that Wang Yongfu had divorced Lady Lin, she immediately came up with a plan.
Not to mention, Luo Cuihua did have some beauty, or else she wouldn’t attract the widowers nearby to crawl into her house every day.
Her two daughters inherited her looks and were somewhat pretty. Moreover, they knew how to dress up, rarely did any farm work, and maintained fair skin.
The elders in the village disapproved of them, but the young men who were ignorant of the world were quite tempted.
So, Old Lady Luo thought, if Luo Cuihua, this hot potato, was given to Wang Yongfu, the two daughters would follow. With her understanding of those daughters, once they entered the Wang Family, could they leave Jindou, the family’s eldest grandson, alone?
By then, her family’s reputation scandal could be resolved.
It’s a pity that Old Lady Luo’s wishful thinking was too optimistic.
Who’s an idiot? Why would anyone want the scraps that her house didn’t want?
After driving Old Lady Luo away, Old Granny Zhang glared fiercely at Wang Yongfu, then started to disperse the crowd watching the spectacle: "What are you looking at? What’s there to see?"
Someone quick with their words responded from the crowd: "Auntie, the drama in your family is non-stop—"
Old Granny Zhang’s face turned stern, she stood firm and started cursing: "Bullshit! Whose family doesn’t have troubles? Do you all need to wedge in your heads to watch the show? Look at yourself, a grown man, doing nothing good, but squatting at the doorstep to watch others’ jokes all day?"
"Song Laowu, you dare to laugh at my Wang Family? Don’t force me to reveal the scandals of your Song Family. By then, we’ll see if people laugh at us or your family?"
"No matter what, we openly divorced a wife. Unlike your Song Family, filthy and stinking, even mentioning it dirties my mouth!"
Old Granny Zhang rolled her eyes and started cursing at the crowd’s most leer-eyed and loudest person.
The people nearby got more interested: "Aunt Zhang, what’s the matter with Song Laowu’s family? Tell us about it!"
In the crowd, a wife’s face changed, she dragged Song Laowu and started walking out: "Your son’s father, what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be working in the fields?"
Song Laowu took the opportunity and quickly followed her.
Some were still persistent in questioning, then a voice was heard: "It’s early morning, why are you all gathered at the Wang Family? Selling mountain products? If not, go home, standing in front of their door like that, blocking their business!"
Lizheng had a lot of authority in Qilidun.
Those timid ones slunk back home.
Some with thicker faces and bolder spirits joked with Lizheng: "Third Uncle, why are you here? Have you heard too?"
Lizheng sighed, looking at the foolish ones in front of him. Didn’t they realize the current situation? The Wang Family is not to be trifled with.
Especially after Scholar Song came to his home and said those words, Lizheng was also excited. If it worked out, he might get a minor mention in the county’s records.
If they really anger the Wang Family, the consequences would be regrettable.
Thus, he put on an authoritative stance and dispersed the crowd watching the show.
After exchanging a few polite words with the Wang Family, he began discussing the main topic: "Scholar Song, do you want to handle it today in town, or?"
Song Chongjin pondered for a moment and then said: "No time like the present, why not today! Please, Uncle Li, wait a moment, I’ll go inside to change my clothes."
Wang Yongzhu accompanied Song Chongjin back to the house, watched him change into a blue straight suit, and then took out a box: "There are two thousand silver notes inside, is it enough?"
Song Chongjin smiled: "It’s just some barren hills in a remote area, even accounting for the bribe money. It should only be a few hundred taels, why use so much?"
He picked out five hundred silver notes from the box, put them in his pouch, and was ready to leave.
Wang Yongzhu thought for a moment, then gave him another five hundred: "Better to have more silver."
Song Chongjin didn’t refuse, packed his things, and drove the carriage to the front yard, taking Lizheng along, and headed to town.
The Wang Family didn’t know why Song Chongjin and Lizheng were heading to town together, but for Lizheng to accompany him meant they had significant face.
Wang Yonggui envied Song Chongjin’s back, looked at his own child, gritted his teeth, and decided to make sure his child studied for future glory.
Because of Wang Yongfu’s issue, apart from him, others were somewhat distracted.
Thankfully, today there weren’t many people selling mountain products, so everything could proceed smoothly.
Seeing there was no need for her help in the front, and everyone had their tasks with no one idle, Wang Yongzhu felt she had nothing to do.
So, she went back to the courtyard to research dyes.
At the Wang Family Ancestral Home.
Lady Lin was frightened by Wang Yongfu and swiftly moved to the ancestral home.
The ancestral home now housed Wang Yongzhen and Mutou’s family.
Since Wang Laozhu died, Wang Yongzhen was very depressed, rarely stepped out of the courtyard, and everyone gradually stopped mentioning her.
Mutou handled everything, and she stayed in her room daily, nobody knew what she was tinkering with.
Mutou was satisfied as long as Wang Yongzhen didn’t cause trouble.
Besides, when Lady Lin moved to the ancestral home, Mutou didn’t dare have any objections since they were already staying there temporarily.
So when Jindou and Lady Lin came, though Mutou was surprised, he promptly helped prepare a room for Lady Lin.
He arranged the bedding and other things.