"Second Brother, why are you back?"
Daya, with her big pancake face, felt a bit guilty. She had just been talking about Second Brother, and from his angry appearance as he walked in, he must have heard their conversation.
"Second Brother, your timing is perfect. Dad and Mom have found a match for you, a really good marriage proposal."
Second Sister, with her big pancake face, either had thicker skin than her elder sister or was more scheming. Despite Second Brother’s angry face, she was still beaming, as if the venomous words just now hadn’t come from her.
"A good match my ass. So, all of you have been scheming against me. Just you wait until I get back at the both of you!"
Ye Zhengxiong cursed angrily at his two sisters.
"Your sisters do have a point. We’re thinking of your best interest. You never stay at home and only know how to spend money. If you married a wife who can manage the household and earn money,
then you would have more wealth than you could ever use. Besides, Hongji now owns several manors. By the time Daya gets married, she might have one of those manors as her dowry."
Despite being a legitimate wife married to a rich man, the rich woman had always had so many people around her who knew how to spend money.
Her own dowry had dwindled, the husband doted on his concubine, the son was out playing, and kept demanding pocket money from her.
She looked at Hongji’s house with envy, her desire growing.
From the shabby clothes of a poor peasant household, Mrs. Li had transformed into the aristocratic figure she was now, and her skin had improved so much, surely because she had money to buy better nutrition and skincare products.
Compared to herself, a rich man’s wife, she was only fleshier, and she knew it every time she looked in the mirror.
The reason her husband spent more time in the concubine’s room was that she had become a yellow-faced woman.
Normally, she despised the fact that her husband doted on his concubine, but she dared not cause trouble. Even with a child that age, she feared her husband might send her back to her parents’ home.
Now that her son was grown, she schemed for his future, not only for a better future for him but also for a more stable life for him later.
Some of these thoughts included private revenge. Seeing her son disagreeing, she continuously pointed out the pros and cons.
Ye Zhengxiong had just heard similar words from his father, and now from his mother’s mouth, he felt like his ears were clogged with the repeats.
He had always lived the life of a rich man’s son, asking for money from his mother whenever he wanted, enjoying a carefree life. He had never thought about worrying over financial matters.
Even if his elder brother was to inherit the family business like their father, he couldn’t just ignore his brothers.
The family’s expenses still came from the public account, and he had his monthly salary. He just spent it quickly while hanging out with friends in the county and other places.
"I don’t want to hear it. I won’t be getting married these few years, and even if I were to get engaged, you can’t fix me up with a child bride. I’ll be the laughingstock of my brothers.
Mother, you’re too biased. You marry off Elder Brother to a girl from the Tang Family, and you want me to marry a rich man’s daughter? The disparity is just too great!"
His mother then said to him, "It’s just a girl from a branch family of the Tangs, and she’s only a concubine daughter. The daughter of Hongji is a legitimate daughter."
"Right, Second Brother, Mother is right. This is all for your own good!"
Ye Zhengxiong, who seemed to be well-liked, angrily said to the two sisters who had been continuously persuading him:
"You two troublemakers, with you at home, there’s never peace. You should be married off quickly.
How can we afford to waste food on you? Marrying you off could bring in some gift money, and then I’d have money to spend."
"Wuu wuu, Second Brother, that’s mean of you."
"Second Brother, you want to marry us off so young."
Ye Zhengxiong watched as his two sisters, who had just been smirking with schemes, suddenly burst into tears or pretended to cry, wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs.
"Alright, alright, stop pestering your sister. This matter is settled. I’ll send another matchmaker to propose in a couple of days."
Ye Zhengxiong heard his mother’s final decision:
"I disagree. If not, then arrange for me to marry that girl from the Tang Family. At the very least, she’s part of the Tangs, a camel thin as it may be is still bigger than a horse. Don’t project your vengeful desires onto me; I’m not your object of revenge."
"No way, that girl is already betrothed, to your elder brother, and he has agreed. If you want pocket money, just behave yourself and obey."
Ye Zhengxiong, feeling threatened by his mother, wanted to smash something. He grabbed a teacup from the table and hurled it to the ground.
"Phooey! If I don’t get my pocket money, there’s no way I’d marry the girl you’ve arranged for me. If you dare to do such a thing, I’ll run away from home."
Ye Zhengxiong wanted to say that he wouldn’t support them when they were old, but that was too harsh, too extreme, so instead, he threatened to run away from home.