As the evening approached, someone from the Zhang family arrived.
"Put some firewood in, then go see what they want."
The two walked out of the stove room.
Their front door was indeed just for decoration.
Any cat or dog could come in as they pleased.
"Mr. Zhang, Mrs. Zhang."
The woman had her hair in a bun, wearing blue clothes, neither fat nor thin, with a slight smile on her face, looking like a kind-hearted person.
The man had a beard, even shorter than the woman, following her, his eyes like a weasel, rolling left and right, his head still as he scanned their shabby courtyard; the beard couldn't hide the lewd expression on his face.
The woman called Mrs. Zhang made an attempt to hold Jiang Tanyue's hand, as if caressing it like a loving elder, but Jiang Tanyue, who had been prepared, dodged it without a sound.
Everyone in the family was like this, always wanting to touch others.
Zhang Qin had missed her chance to hold her hand, but she didn't show any anger, still with a smile on her face, raising her hand to touch her temples to hide her emotions, "Xiaohua, look at you, we'll be family soon, why are you still so distant with Auntie?"
Her eyes scanned the girl from top to bottom, over and over again.
Old Mr. Jiang of the Jiang family dared to demand a huge sum, one hundred taels, but her Zhang family's money wasn't to be wasted like that. With that hundred taels of silver, she could go to another village to buy two unwanted girls.
If it weren't for Jiang Xiaohua being the right age and so small and frail-looking, as if she would have trouble giving birth, she wouldn't even want her.
But then there was her son's situation...
Lu Jingzhi had a keen sense of malice, and sometimes she'd rather not trust her own mind, but her intuition.
This kind-faced woman didn't seem to be as kind as she appeared.
"Auntie, you came at the right time, there's something I need to talk to you about," said Jiang Tanyue.
Zhang Qin slapped her thigh, "Isn't that just perfect! Your home isn't really a good place to talk. Come, come, come with Auntie to our house, we can talk there slowly. Xiaomiao, you should come too. Auntie has some snacks, got them from someone a couple of days ago, white sugar cake, osmanthus cake..."
Lu Jingzhi's stomach rumbled very appropriately.
Jiang Tanyue was speechless.
When Zhang Qin held out her hand to take Lu Jingzhi's, her face didn't show it, but her heart was extremely contemptuous.
A few cakes could easily take this girl away; she was too easy to deceive.
Zhang Qin's eyes twinkled with evil intent. Seeing that the two girls had no defenses, she didn't even bother to pretend anymore.
Yes.
She didn't really have such a good temper as she appeared.
Her precious son had been beaten at home, and she couldn't bear it.
Since Shen Nanwei wasn't home, she would take the two girls back to her house first. They wanted to eat her family's cakes after beating her precious son – how nice it would be if dreams could come true!
Just like Zhang Qin, Zhang Xiong's eyes were muddy and frivolous.
One to be taken home, to let his son cook raw rice into cooked rice. The other, to be beaten severely—frankly speaking, the younger sister Jiang Xiaomiao was much prettier than her elder sister. The messy hair and blood-stained gauze couldn't hide her beauty. It's a pity she was so young. If only Zhang Dabao could marry the younger sister instead, he could still...
"No need, there are still things to do at home. It's not convenient to go too far," said Jiang Tanyue. "The two of you must be tired from your busy day, so I won't waste your time. I'll get straight to the point: I won't marry into the Zhang family."
One sentence stirred up huge waves.
"You stinking brat..." Zhang Xiong stepped forward, wanting to hit her out of habit, thinking that after receiving the money, they could make fools of them. He wouldn't let them get away with it.
But he was stopped by Zhang Qin.