Chapter 22: My Husband
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“Just tell her outright that you’ve come to propose a match!”
Chen Feng, sitting nearby, finally spoke. If they kept circling around like this, it would be dark before they got to the point.
“Come to propose a match for me?” Shao Diandian asked, her face full of surprise.
Madam Huang smiled awkwardly. “That’s right, Eldest Girl. You’re not young anymore, and after the He family broke off your engagement, I’m afraid it’ll be difficult for you to find another husband. Ah, but what can we do? You have our Chen family’s blood in your veins too. Your uncle and I can’t just let you spend the rest of your life alone and miserable.”
Shao Diandian asked, “Then which family does Aunt intend to match me with?”
“Naturally, our Chen family!” Madam Huang replied. “You’ll marry your cousin—what could be closer than that?”
She had three male cousins from the Chen family: the eldest was nineteen, the second seventeen, and the youngest eight. None of them had yet been betrothed.
Shao Diandian considered this. “The eldest cousin is nineteen. He certainly is old enough to be matched with someone.”
Madam Huang immediately said, “It’s your second cousin!”
Her second cousin was not Madam Huang’s own son. He was the illegitimate son Chen Feng had brought home from outside.
Madam Huang had made quite a scene over the matter back then, but in the end she had been unable to prevail against the entire family and had reluctantly allowed the child to remain.
Shao Diandian curled her lip disdainfully. “So you’re trying to find a wife for that illegitimate son. I thought you meant for me to marry the eldest cousin!”
“Your eldest cousin is a scholar!” Madam Huang blurted out.
Shao Diandian asked innocently, “Do you mean I’m not good enough for him, Aunt?”
Madam Huang fell silent.
Of course a notoriously disreputable, fat girl was no match for her son—but did the girl really have to say it aloud?
Madam Huang forced a smile. “Your eldest cousin is a bookworm who doesn’t know how to show affection. Your second cousin is close to you in age, and he’s mentioned several times that he’s very fond of you. Besides, didn’t your father want to bring in a live-in son-in-law? What family would let its eldest son marry into another household?”
Shao Diandian suddenly understood. “Oh. So this is about a live-in son-in-law.”
Madam Huang beamed. “Don’t worry. We’re all relatives, after all. We would never take the betrothal money and then break off the engagement!”
There it was—the real point.
Shao Diandian asked with a half-smile, “How much betrothal money does Aunt want?”
Madam Huang spoke earnestly. “Although you’ve already been married once and would be a second-time bride, the Chen family won’t look down on you. And your aunt certainly isn’t asking for an unreasonable amount. Whatever your father gave the He family, he can give the Chen family the same.”
Just listen to that tone of charitable generosity.
She sounded as though she were some living Bodhisattva who had suffered a terrible loss.
Did Madam Huang really think Shao Diandian couldn’t see the scheme she was plotting?
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By getting rid of an eyesore of an illegitimate son while pocketing twenty taels of betrothal silver, she would be accomplishing two things at once. It was practically a perfect arrangement.
But Madam Huang had not come sooner or later—why had she chosen to come precisely now?
Shao Diandian remembered the day she and Shao Erdan had ridden the ox cart from Willow Village, loudly declaring that Liu Tongsheng must return the money.
The cart driver must have mentioned the matter to the Chen family after returning to the village. Seeing an opportunity for profit, the Chen family had hurried over.
Madam Huang continued, “Liu Tongsheng publicly broke off your engagement. I doubt anyone in the surrounding villages will dare marry you now, much less take you as a live-in bridegroom’s wife. It’s only because your uncle cherishes the bond between brother and sister that he agreed to this match between you and your second cousin. Your grandfather originally refused. Your uncle and I spent two whole nights persuading him.”
Two nights. The timing matched perfectly.
Shao Diandian had no patience left for this empty politeness. She went straight to the point.
“Liu Tongsheng may not amount to much, but at least he was a licentiate. What makes my second cousin worth twenty taels of betrothal money?”
It wasn’t that she looked down on the second son of the Chen family. If Madam Huang wanted to sell her son, she ought to allow others to bargain over the price, shouldn’t she?
Madam Huang’s expression stiffened. “How can you speak like that? He’s your second cousin!”
Shao Diandian smiled faintly. “I’m your own niece, yet you still want twenty taels. Unless you send the eldest cousin, there’s nothing more to discuss!”
“You—”
Madam Huang was furious.
An ugly, fat fool actually dared to set her sights on her scholarly son!
A toad dreaming of eating swan meat!
Disgusting!
Shao Diandian said, “Aunt can’t bear to pay it? Erdan, see our guests out.”
“All right!”
Shao Erdan, who had been hiding in the back courtyard and listening, immediately ran out. Halfway there, he turned back and came to his sister’s side, whispering, “Sis, how do I see them out?”
Shao Diandian was speechless.
Women always turned hostile with astonishing speed—especially Madam Huang, who had never thought highly of the Shao family in the first place. Now that she saw the fat girl was serious, she no longer bothered pretending to be amiable.
She rose to her feet and pointed at Shao Diandian’s nose.
“I’m letting Erlang marry you because I pity you! You’re fat and stupid, greedy and lazy, and your reputation is terrible! The groom ran away on your wedding day! The villagers from several villages are laughing at you! Do you really think anyone still wants you?”
Chen Feng frowned.
Shao Diandian looked toward him. “Uncle, do you think so too?”
Chen Feng’s brows drew together even more tightly. “Eldest Girl, your aunt’s words may be harsh, but they’re true. If your family can’t produce that much betrothal money, you can give a little less.”
Madam Huang almost screamed instinctively, “Not a single tael less! What will happen to Erlang’s wedding if you reduce it?”
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Shao Diandian smiled. “So Aunt has already found a match for the eldest cousin. Uncle and Aunt intend to sell off the illegitimate son and use the betrothal money to find a wife for your eldest son? What a fine scheme. Too bad I, Shao Eldest Girl, refuse to be the fool who pays for it!”
The commotion at the Shao residence had grown so loud that quite a few villagers gathered at the gate to watch.
The second daughter-in-law of the Liu family next door, Madam He, arrived first and heard the whole exchange.
“The Chen family came to arrange a marriage for their son,” she explained to the onlookers. “They want twenty taels of betrothal money.”
“He’s marrying into their household.”
“That’s right.”
“Not the scholarly son—the second one! The one born to his father’s mistress! Yes, the one with the slight limp in his right leg!”
The Chen family’s scandals had long since spread through the surrounding villages.
Judging by how poor the fat girl’s prospects were, marrying a lame illegitimate son would have been a case of a broken pot matched with a cracked stove. They were well suited to each other.
But for the Chen family to demand twenty taels of betrothal money was truly shameless.
Sun Ergua shouted, “Fat Girl! My son can marry into your household! Two taels will be enough!”
Madam He glared at him. “Go away! Since when do you have a son?”
Everyone burst out laughing.
Madam Huang’s expression turned ugly. Did she not know that an illegitimate son was not worth twenty taels?
It was simply that the three members of the Shao family had always complied with every demand the Chen family made. No matter how fierce the girl was outside, she had always obediently listened to Madam Huang.
But today she seemed like an entirely different person, refusing to yield an inch.
It was also Madam Huang’s own fault for not knowing that the Shao family had somehow saved twenty taels. If she had known, she would have come to take the money long ago.
More and more villagers gathered around. Madam Huang could no longer make a scene, so she forced a smile.
“Eldest Girl, your aunt is doing this for your own good. You’ll only have a good life in the future if you marry your second cousin.”
“Aunt,” Shao Diandian said, “I already have a husband.”
Madam Huang gave a scornful laugh. “I don’t believe you! If you have one, then bring him out!”
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