Farming for Three Meals a Day [Farming Life] 57

Chapter 57

Just as she finished speaking, a woman’s loud and clear voice came from outside. “Mrs. Liu, are you home?”

The three women inside exchanged glances, and Li Ran smiled, “See, I told you she would come, and here she is.”

Liu Xiufeng quickly wiped her hands and went out to greet her. “Yes, we’re inside, Mrs. Yun, you’re back from the feast?”

Mrs. Yun stood in the courtyard and chatted with Liu Xiufeng for a few words, and Liu Xiufeng invited her in.

Seeing Ye Xi and Li Ran inside, she greeted them with a smile, “Ye Shan’s wife is also here, and Xi-ge’er is back too.”

Ye Xi stood up, greeted her, and poured her a bowl of tea.

Mrs. Yun took the tea, drank half a bowl, and cleared her throat. “It’s good that you stayed home and didn’t go to that heartless Lin family’s feast.”

Liu Xiufeng sat down beside her, stuffing meat into pig intestines, and asked, “What’s wrong? You went to the feast, why are you back so soon?”

“That feast, it would have been better not to go at all.”

Ye Xi and Li Ran remained silent, busy preparing the meat, and listened quietly.

Mrs. Yun drank another half bowl of tea and handed the empty bowl to Ye Xi. “Xi-ge’er, could you pour me another bowl, please?”

Ye Xi took the bowl and immediately went to refill it.

Liu Xiufeng teased her, “Why are you so thirsty? Did you fall into a salt jar? Or is our tea so good that you came specifically for it?”

Mrs. Yun rolled her eyes and said with disgust, “It’s because of that Lin family’s feast. Their cooking is terrible, the dishes were so salty, I had to keep drinking tea.”

Ye Xi returned with a bowl of tea and handed it to Mrs. Yun.

Liu Xiufeng asked, “Which chef did they hire? His cooking is so bad?”

Mrs. Yun sighed and said disdainfully, “They didn’t hire a chef, Mother Lin found a few women from the village to help with the cooking, set up a stove herself, and that’s how they made the feast.”

Liu Xiufeng was surprised. “They can be so careless?”

Mrs. Yun leaned closer and whispered, “Few people went to the feast today, not even all the tables were filled, and they received few gifts, so they had to cut corners everywhere. Who can they blame? Themselves, of course, for being so unscrupulous. Yao-ge’er’s reputation is ruined, and they invited those blessed women to prepare the bridal chamber, but then they went back on their word and didn’t give them the promised meat, who would want to give them gifts and attend their feast?”

Liu Xiufeng nodded. “We’re all neighbors and have to live together in the same village, they shouldn’t act like this.”

Mrs. Yun sighed. “Those of us who went saw that the feast was pathetic, two meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, all watery boiled radishes and cold seasoned daylily, they even served pickled vegetables! And there was barely any meat in the meat dishes, I rummaged through them and only found a few scraps of meat. Oh dear, my ten wen gift money was wasted!”

Ye Xi listened, Yao-ge’er’s family always cared about appearances, why was the feast so shabby this time?

“Aunt Yun, didn’t they use the betrothal gifts for the feast? Did the Lin family parents keep all the money?”

Mrs. Yun said, “Not to mention, the Cao family is also despicable, completely taking advantage of the situation. Perhaps they think they can control Yao-ge’er now that his reputation is ruined. I went to help yesterday and heard Mother Lin crying and cursing the Cao family for being heartless and unscrupulous.”

Li Ran became interested. “Aunt Yun, tell us more.”

“Mother Lin was complaining that the Cao family only gave one tael of silver as a betrothal gift, not even bringing a single chicken or duck, and the wedding cloth they gave Yao-ge’er was of poor quality. They even had to spend their own money when marrying off their son.”

Liu Xiufeng felt a sense of schadenfreude. “When the Cao family came to our house to break off the engagement, I knew from their harsh words that they weren’t good people. The Lin family thought it was a good match and eagerly pursued them, showing off in front of me, now they finally know what kind of people they are.”

Mrs. Yun waved her hand. “Indeed, that family is too stingy, and they call themselves well-off? The Lin family had no choice but to swallow their pride since they were eager to marry off their son. They even saved money on decorations, just pasting a few ‘double happiness’ characters, and Yao-ge’er’s wedding clothes were also shabby, the color not even a bright red.”

Ye Xi felt a bit sorry for Yao-ge’er, even such an important event as marriage was handled so carelessly, his future life probably wouldn’t be easy.

“The Cao family hired four sedan chair bearers, but they saved on the suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument) and everything else. They just carried Yao-ge’er’s two dowry chests and left, it looked quite desolate.”

Mrs. Yun drank another half bowl of tea and stood up to leave. “I didn’t eat much at the feast, and now I’m hungry, I have to go home and make a bowl of noodles with lard and broth. I won’t bother you any longer.”

Liu Xiufeng tried to persuade her to stay for dinner and have pork bone soup, but Mrs. Yun, understanding the polite gesture, chatted for a few more words and then left.

Liu Xiufeng returned to the house and sighed. “The Lin family and the Cao family are truly a match made in hell. It’s a good thing our family broke off the engagement with them, otherwise, you wouldn’t be living such a good life now. This is all thanks to Buddha’s blessing!”

Ye Xi smiled. “It must be because our family is kind and virtuous, that’s why I was blessed with such a good husband!”

Yao-ge’er sat in the sedan chair, tears streaming down his face.

His wedding today was a complete disgrace, a joke compared to Ye Xi’s wedding feast. He clenched his wedding clothes tightly, his teeth gritted.

He had forced the Cao family’s hand before, and now they were getting their revenge by humiliating him with this wedding. The two families were even.

Not only did they skimp on the betrothal gifts, but they didn’t even give him any jewelry as dowry, only one bolt of wedding cloth. Compared to the gifts they brought when they proposed to the Ye family, this was truly pathetic.

Wasn’t this a slap in the face? He confronted them, and Mother Cao sneered, “If you don’t like what we’re giving you, then don’t marry! Our family isn’t desperate, many families want to marry into our family. You’re the one who came begging us, we’re taking pity on you, with your ruined reputation, and you’re still making demands?”

He wanted to kill her, but since the marriage was settled, and he was about to marry into the Cao family, he had to swallow his anger. He would settle the score with Mother Cao after he entered their house.

A fierce glint flashed in Yao-ge’er’s eyes.

Because the Cao family was unwilling to provide proper dowry, his own family had to cover the expenses, but they didn’t have much savings, so his parents had to keep the wedding simple, not only humiliating him but also making his family a laughingstock in the village. He would definitely avenge this!

After over an hour in the sedan chair, they arrived at the Cao family’s village.

The Cao family pasted two “double happiness” characters on their door and hung a string of firecrackers, that was all the decoration for the wedding.

When the sedan chair landed at the door, Yao-ge’er was dizzy and lightheaded from the swaying motion and had to take a moment to recover.

Mother Cao, however, wore fine clothes, a bright pink dress, even more dazzling than the groom’s.

She stood on the steps and said indifferently, “Carry him inside and light the firecrackers.”

Cao Bin entered the sedan chair and carried Yao-ge’er out. Someone lit the firecrackers, the sparse crackling echoing in the alley.

Inside the courtyard, Yao-ge’er, his head covered by the veil, couldn’t see clearly, but he felt it was unusually quiet, not the lively atmosphere of a wedding.

He asked Cao Bin, “How many tables did you prepare for our wedding feast today? How many guests did you invite?”

Cao Bin didn’t answer, just carried him into the house.

Yao-ge’er was anxious and pinched his shoulder. “I’m asking you!”

Cao Bin clicked his tongue irritably and warned in a low voice, “Don’t cause trouble, or I’ll drop you.”

Yao-ge’er wasn’t one to be trifled with, no longer the docile and obedient young man who had seduced him before. He struggled and jumped down from his back.

“Oh dear! You restless child! You got down before even reaching the room! Do you even know the customs?!” Mother Cao exclaimed, rushing over and scolding him.

Yao-ge’er asked, “I’m asking you, how many meat and vegetable dishes are there at the wedding feast? How many tables did you prepare?”

Mother Cao pursed her lips and didn’t answer.

Yao-ge’er’s heart sank, he understood, and he abruptly lifted his veil.

Both Cao Bin and his mother were startled, and Father Cao was furious. “You lifted your own veil before even paying respects to the ancestors, you’re cursing our family! You shameless young man!”

After lifting his veil, Yao-ge’er could finally see clearly. There was no feast, just one table set up in front of the main room, with a few elderly family members present.

No wonder it was so quiet, the Cao family was even more stingy than his own, they didn’t even have a proper feast!

Yao-ge’er was furious. “You heartless family, humiliating me like this! Not even a proper feast, making people laugh at me, as if I was married off for free!”

Mother Cao retorted, putting her hands on her hips, “With your ruined reputation! If our family holds a grand wedding for you, it would be a disgrace to our ancestors! It’s already good enough that we’re willing to marry you, and you’re still making demands!”

Cao Bin felt a headache, his new husband was already arguing with his mother as soon as he entered the house. He tried to mediate. “Stop arguing, it’s just a formality, we married you, that’s all that matters.”

Yao-ge’er pinched Cao Bin’s ear angrily. “Now that I’ve married into your family, I’m your son-in-law, and I have a say in this family! You’re my husband, so I can discipline you! If you don’t listen to me, don’t even think about sleeping in my bed!”

Cao Bin winced in pain, and Mother Cao, seeing this, felt distressed and tried to intervene. “You heartless wretch, how can you treat your husband like this? Let go!”

Yao-ge’er pushed Mother Cao away and started fighting with her, pulling her hair and saying, “Don’t think I’m a pushover, you can’t control me. I’m in charge of this family now. If you don’t obey me, I’ll take my pregnant belly and publicize our scandal, let everyone laugh at us. I have no reputation left to lose, and you won’t have any either, and your son’s future will be ruined too!”

Mother Cao was so angry she couldn’t speak, only glaring at him, her chest heaving.

Yao-ge’er finally let go of her hair and swaggered back to his room.

Mother Cao sat on the ground, crying and wailing, “What kind of retribution is this! Marrying such a person into our family! Our house is in chaos! Heavens, what a misfortune!”