Swapping marriage refers to the mutual exchange of daughters from two families as daughters-in-law.
This practice is common among families so poor that they can’t afford to eat or marry off their sons; it’s also known as "sister exchange".
However, Wen Wan, having grown up, had never seen anyone practice marriage swapping.
It had been nearly ten years since Dalang’s wife died, and only then did someone from the Wang family propose the swap, which seemed so suspicious no matter how you thought about it.
Wen Wan still remembered Song Wei telling her that after the eldest sister-in-law passed away, the Song family compensated the Wang family quite a lot, with just silver coins amounting to dozens of taels.
Several dozen taels ten years ago would be equivalent to several hundred taels today.
At that time, the Song family had no financial foundation; all that money was pieced together by Old Song and Granny Song, who even ended up with a considerable amount of debt because of it.
Although a life cannot be measured by money, once the Wang family accepted that sum back then, it was equivalent to agreeing not to bring up the death of Dalang’s wife against the Song family again.
Now, ten years later, without a word, Granny Wang suddenly came to the Song family demanding a marriage swap; what was her true intention?
"Sister-in-law, that little brat from the Wang family is nothing but a good-for-nothing who just eats, drinks, whores, gambles, and beats women. If I marry him, I’ll be tortured to death," Song Fang cried uncontrollably.
Wen Wan listened with a heavy heart, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
Through Song Fang’s intermittent speech, Wen Wan gained a general understanding of the Wang family.
Dalang’s wife, Mrs. Wang, had six siblings from her parents’ family; the first five were daughters, and it wasn’t until the sixth child that a son was finally born, who was the Wang family young master that Song Fang referred to.
From the moment Wang Xiaolang was born, he was the apple of the Wang family’s eye; the elder sisters all had to give way to him, and whatever treats or amusements there were had to be given to him first, resulting in the sisters being in rags and starving.
Dalang’s wife, Wang, ranked third and was particularly capable in her parental home, with never a moment’s rest for her hands. Yet, despite working herself to death every day, she still couldn’t fill her stomach. Her mother, Mrs. Wang He, poured all her attention into the son who could carry on the family line, frequently beating and scolding her daughters for no reason.
Once while Mrs. Wang was sitting by the field ridge crying, she met Song Dalang passing by.
Song Dalang, being soft-hearted, felt compassion for Mrs. Wang after asking a few questions. He wanted to rescue her, so he went home and told Granny Song that he wished to propose to the Wang family and marry their daughter.
Granny Song was initially against it, but Dalang insisted, and so they hastily prepared gifts to propose marriage.
Mrs. Wang He had raised several useless troublemakers and was troubled over where to offload them. Hearing that someone wanted to marry, without needing a dowry, and even offering a generous bride price, naturally, she was more than willing. She cut a red cloth dress for Wang and splashed her out the door like water without a second thought.
In the subsequent years, the Wang family never cared for Wang, not even uttering a word when she was in confinement after giving birth.
With so many daughters, losing one or two seemed insignificant.
When Mrs. Wang died, apart from coming to collect money, no one from the Wang family asked about how their daughter died or ever cared about Song Yuanbao, the grandson who was still nursing without his biological parents.
Their trouble-making that time was purely for money.
From the time Dalang’s wife died until now, nearly ten years had passed, and the Wang family hadn’t even shown any concern for their grandson, yet now they felt justified in coming to the Song family demanding to marry their daughter to their spoiled son?
Even if not for maintaining the in-laws, from an outsider’s perspective, Wen Wan felt that the Song family had acted with the utmost propriety regarding the eldest sister-in-law’s matter and owed nothing to the Wang family.
"Sister-in-law, what should I do?" Song Fang was completely panicked, crying until her eyes were swollen, "Eldest sister-in-law indeed died in our family; if mom and dad are forced to marry me off, my entire future will be ruined."