"Father, do you have any suitable candidates? I have an uncle in my mother's family. His wife died before the new year, and he's looking for another..." Mao Zhushi said at the right time.
She heard this news from her mother when she went back to her parents' house a while ago.
At that time, her mother was very worried because her uncle was not only ugly, but also a cripple.
The most important thing was that her uncle was a gambler. Other than a mud brick house that was about to collapse, he only had half of his gambling debt left.
In any case, if it were her, she would rather be an old lady for the rest of her life than marry him.
"Daya hasn't reached marriageable age yet, is the age difference too big?" Mao Zhushi frowned.
She was not thinking for Mao Xiaoyu, but from what she knew, the relatives of her third sister-in-law were all poor.
Since he wanted to send Daya out, of course, the more betrothal gifts, the better.
According to the current market in the village, the betrothal gift was only a few hundred wen. Those who were better off could even give two more pieces of coarse cloth.
She had overheard her father-in-law and mother-in-law saying that they wanted to sell her to the landlord to be his concubine.
Of course, Grandpa Mao was not satisfied with his third daughter-in-law's uncle. "Third Brother's family, I don't agree with this. We still need to think about the matter of Daya."
He had spent 200 wens to find someone to matchmake them. If the landlord agreed, he would have to give their family 5 taels of silver as a betrothal gift!
It was said that the landlord's first concubine was married for 5 taels of silver. The maidservant had thick eyebrows and big eyes. Although she had lost some weight now, she would be fine after a few days of care and food.
The people in the house were talking about Mao Xiaoyu's marriage, but Mao Xiaoyu was so angry that smoke was coming out of her head!
So that's what the little widow was talking about!
What did she mean by her grandfather and grandmother could no longer tolerate her? It turned out that these people were scheming to sell her for money!
Resisting the urge to kick the door open, Mao Xiaoyu took a deep breath and turned to walk out of the courtyard.
Originally, she just wanted to make a scene at home and cause some trouble for that family.
Now, she had changed her mind. They wanted her to live a bad life? Did they like to scheme against her?
Hmph!
She reached out and wiped some dirt on her face and body, trying to make himself look as pathetic as possible.
Mao Xiaoyu opened the door and took a deep breath.
"Not good, there's a thief in the house!"
"Everyone, come and take a look! My house has been rummaged by a thief!"
Good Lord, the meat we ate at noon was not for nothing. Mao Xiaoyu used all her strength and soon, a group of villagers surrounded the entrance of the Mao family.
The villagers had basically all eaten their dinner. Now that they heard that there was a thief, they all ran out of their houses.
By the time Grandpa Mao and the others realized that the situation was bad, it was already too late.
Even the Village Chief, who lived far away, was slowly walking towards the Mao family with the help of his son.
"Daya, what are you making so much noise for? There are always people in the house during the day. There's no thief!" Grandpa Mao said in exasperation.
"Grandpa, go inside and take a look. The clothes and blankets are all on the ground, and the cabinets and drawers are all open. If this isn't a thief, what is it?" Mao Xiaoyu looked as if she would not believe anything he said.
"Grandpa Mao, did you not pay attention during your lunch break, and let the thief take advantage of the loophole?"
"Daya, what did you lose at home?"
"Where is Madam Liu? Why didn't she come out?"
…
The villagers were all very curious. If not for Grandpa Mao and the others blocking the door, they would have gone to see what it looked like after being visited by the thief.
"The child is insensible. Maybe her mother left in a hurry this morning and didn't have time to pack her things, so this girl misunderstood!" After Mao Zhushi gave her man a look, she quickly stood up and explained.
Sanmao was already extremely anxious. He had a part to play in the search of sister-in-law's house today. If the villagers knew the truth, how could he face others?
"Daya, your mother is in the kitchen waiting for you to come back and eat!" Sanmao went forward to pull Mao Xiaoyu's collar.
Mao Xiaoyu was not easy to coax. She pretended to be sad and started crying.
She saw the Village Chief walking over from the corner of her eye. "Sob, sob. Village Chief, please help me and my mother. Our house was robbed, and my mother was so angry that she sat on the brick bed and cried."
"Didn't your grandfather and the others say that there were no thieves?" The Village Chief stroked his beard.
He had heard everything that Grandpa Mao had said just now.
"Village Chief, why don't you go in and take a look? I'm really not lying!" Mao Xiaoyu wiped her tears with both hands and cried in pain.
Her grandfather's group of people had no bottom line at all. They actually dared to lie in front of so many people.
The Village Chief nodded. After a few days of contact, he had a good impression of this little girl.
He took a few steps forward and saw Grandpa Mao blocking the entrance. The Village Chief snorted.
"Move!" he shouted. The Village Chief glared at Grandpa Mao.
"The child is just messing around. Why do you believe her, Village Chief?" Grandpa Mao obviously had no intention of backing down.
He could not let anyone in now. Grandpa Mao had already asked his wife to sneak into his eldest daughter-in-law's room. As long as he stopped her for a while, he would be fine after his wife settled things in the room.
"Grandpa, where's Grandma? Did she go to destroy the evidence?" Mao Xiaoyu looked left and right. Indeed, she did not see the old lady who would usually make a fuss.
"Daya, how can you talk to your grandfather like that?" Mao Erlang stretched out his hand, wanting to slap her.
This brat had been acting like she was on drugs for the past two days. Why was she so difficult to deal with?
"Grandpa, move aside. If my mother is bullied by Grandma, I'll go to the county and report it to the authorities tomorrow!" Mao Xiaoyu was no longer in the mood to deal with Grandpa Mao.
With her mother's combat power, she was no match for Grandma Mao.
The Village Chief knew who Grandma Mao was. He was afraid that Grandma Mao would bully them too much. "Come up, a few of you. Take Elder Mao and these people away!"
As soon as the Village Chief gave the order, the villagers who usually disliked Grandpa Mao's family immediately stood up and pulled away the few people blocking the door.
Taking advantage of her small frame, Mao Xiaoyu ran back to her house.
At this moment, Grandma Mao was bullying her eldest daughter-in-law, especially when she saw that there was meat in her room.
"Little b*tch, you actually dare to hide it! Tell me, where did you get the money to buy meat?" Grandma Mao hit and pinched her, and it did not take long for Liu Xianniang to be beaten into a sorry state.
After seeing the meat, Grandma Mao had long forgotten what she was there for.
She had even completely forgotten what her husband had said.
"Mother, Xiaoyu bought this with the money she earned from picking herbs in the mountains these past two days." Liu Xianniang would not lie, so she told him the truth.
"Picking herbs? That worthless thing could recognize medicinal herbs? I think you stole it from my room!" Grandma Mao's triangular eyes narrowed.
"Mother, I haven't been in your room these past few days, don't talk nonsense!" Liu Xianniang was scared to death.