Chapter 22: Husband
"Just tell her that you"re here to propose marriage!"
At the side, Chen Feng spoke. If they continued chatting like this, they would not be able to get to the main topic even if the sky turned dark.
"To matchmake me?" Su Xiaoxiao was surprised.
Madam Huang smiled brightly and said, "That"s right. Yaya, you"re not young anymore, and your engagement with He Tongsheng has been called off. I"m afraid it will be difficult for you to find a husband in the future. Alas, who asked you to have the blood of our Chen family flowing in your bones? Your uncle and I can"t let you live alone for the rest of your life."
Su Xiaoxiao asked, "Then, which family are you planning to tell me about?"
Madam Huang said, "Of course, it"s our Chen family! Marry your cousin and we"ll be even closer!"
She had three cousins in the Chen family: her eldest cousin, her second cousin, and her youngest cousin. They were 19, 17, and 18 years old respectively. None of them were betrothed.
Su Xiaoxiao was deep in thought. "Eldest Cousin is indeed old enough to be married."
Madam Huang immediately said, "It"s your second cousin!"
Her second cousin was not her aunt"s biological son. He was an illegitimate son brought back by her uncle, Chen Feng.
Back then, Madam Huang had caused a lot of trouble because of this. However, she could not go against the entire family, so she reluctantly kept the child.
Su Xiaoxiao pouted in disdain. "So you"re trying to matchmake that illegitimate son. I thought you wanted me to marry my eldest cousin!"
"Your cousin is a scholar!" Madam Huang blurted out.
Su Xiaoxiao asked innocently, "Aunt, you mean… he"s out of my league!"
Madam Huang did not respond.
Of course, a notorious fat girl was not worthy of her son, but she would not say it out loud!
Madam Huang smiled awkwardly. "Your eldest cousin is a bookworm and doesn"t know how to dote on others. Your second cousin is about the same age as you. He has mentioned it to me a few times that he likes you very much. Besides, doesn"t your father want his son-in-law to marry into the family? Who would let their eldest son marry into the family?"
Su Xiaoxiao was enlightened. "Oh, so you want him married into the bride"s family."
Madam Huang smiled. "Don"t worry, we"re family. We won"t take the betrothal money and break the engagement!"
Here was the main point.
Su Xiaoxiao asked with a faint smile, "How much betrothal money do you want, Aunt?"
Madam Huang said earnestly, "Although you"ve been married once and are a married woman, the Chen family won"t despise you. Aunt won"t ask for too much betrothal money either. You can just give the Chen family whatever your father gave to the He family."
Listen, what kind of tone was this? It was as if she had suffered a lot as a living Bodhisattva.
Did Madam Huang really think that she could not tell what she was planning?
Not only could she get rid of an eyesore, but she could also get twenty taels of silver. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.
However, why did the Huang family only come at this time?
Su Xiaoxiao remembered that day when she and her brother sat on the ox cart going toward Willow Village and even threatened to ask He Tongsheng to return the silver.
The coachman must have mentioned this to the Chen family after returning to the village. Seeing that there was profit to be made, the Chen family quickly came to look for them.
Madam Huang continued, "Your marriage was publicly called off by He Tongsheng. I"m afraid no one in the surrounding villages would dare to marry you, let alone be your family"s live-in son-in-law. It was only because of your uncle"s relationship with your mother that he agreed to your marriage with your second cousin. Your grandfather originally didn"t agree, but your uncle and I persuaded him for two nights."
Two nights. The time matched.
Su Xiaoxiao couldn"t be bothered to feign civility with her anymore. She hit the nail on the head and said, "He Tongsheng is a scholar after all. Why does Second Cousin need twenty taels of betrothal money?""
It was not that she looked down on her second cousin, but since the Huang family wanted to sell their son, they had to allow others to bargain, right?
Madam Huang felt a little embarra.s.sed. "What are you talking about? That"s your second cousin!"
Su Xiaoxiao smiled faintly. "I"m your biological niece. Twenty taels of silver. Unless it"s Eldest Cousin, there"s no way!"
"You…"
Madam Huang was furious.
An ugly and fat stupid girl actually dared to covet her son!
A toad l.u.s.ting after swan meat!
Pfft!
Su Xiaoxiao said, "Can"t you bear to do it, Aunt? Ergou, send the guest out."
"Aye!"
Su Ergou, who was hiding in the backyard and eavesdropping, ran out without a word. Halfway through, he turned back to his sister and whispered, "Sister, how should I send them off?"
Su Xiaoxiao was speechless.
Women always turned hostile quickly, especially when Madam Huang looked down on the Su family. Seeing that Fatty Su was serious, she couldn"t be bothered to pretend to be good-tempered!
She stood up and pointed at Su Xiaoxiao"s nose. "I asked Erlang to marry you because I pity you! You"re fat and stupid! You"re lazy! Your reputation is bad! On the day of the wedding, the groom abandoned you and ran away! The villagers are all watching you make a fool of yourself! Do you really think anyone still wants you?!"
Chen Feng frowned.
Su Xiaoxiao looked at Chen Feng. "Uncle, do you think so too?"
Chen Feng frowned even more. "Daya, although your aunt"s words are unpleasant, it"s the truth. If your family can"t take out so many betrothal gifts, it"s fine if it"s less."
Madam Huang almost subconsciously screamed, "No less! What will we do about our eldest son!"
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. "So Aunt is already arranging a marriage for Eldest Cousin. Uncle, Aunt, are you planning to sell your illegitimate son and use the money you earned for your eldest son to take a wife? What a good plan. What a pity, I won"t be this fool!"
The commotion was too big, causing many villagers to watch from the door.
Liu Shan"s second daughter-in-law, Madam He, was the first to arrive and heard everything.
"The Chen family is here to arrange a marriage for their son."
She took on the role of the commentator. "It"s twenty taels of dowry."
"To be the lived-in son-in-law."
"Yes."
"It"s not the son who"s a scholar, it"s the second son! The son of a prost.i.tute outside! Yes! The one with a slight limp in his right eye!"
News of the Chen family"s rotten deeds had long spread throughout the countryside.
Logically speaking, Fatty Su"s net worth was so bad. Marrying a crippled illegitimate son was considered a match made in heaven.
However, the Chen family actually asked for twenty taels of silver. They were really shameless.
Sun Ergua shouted, "Fat La.s.s! My son will be your live-in son-in-law! You can just give him two taels!"
Madam He glared at him and said, "Go away! Where did your son come from!"
Everyone laughed.
Madam Huang"s expression turned ugly. How could she not know that an illegitimate son was not worth twenty taels of silver?
However, the Su family of three had always agreed to everything the Chen family asked for. No matter how unreasonable this girl was outside, she could only listen to her obediently.
It was as if she was a different person today!
It was her fault for not knowing that they had twenty taels of silver in their hands! If she had known, she would have come long ago to take the silver!
There were more and more villagers watching, so she couldn"t throw a tantrum anymore. She forced a smile and said, "Aunt is doing this for your own good. Only by marrying your second cousin will you have a good life in the future."
Su Xiaoxiao said, "Aunt, I have a husband."
Madam Huang chuckled. "I don"t believe you! Call him out if you dare!"