Under the oppression of the Sun Family for more than a decade, they had been living in extreme poverty, often not having enough to eat, let alone enough to accumulate any possessions. If Tong Tiehu were to marry Qiao Xiaomai, who knows if the Sun Family would extend their bullying to their household too?
It was one thing to observe the Sun Family's shenanigans from afar, but quite another to become a part of their family through marriage. Not many people were willing to take that risk.
Moreover, after last year's incident where the Sun Family publicly declared that Zhuang Lühe would get her comeuppance for her unfilial actions, and then Qiao Changshun ended up really breaking his leg, those who did have an interest in Qiao Xiaomai withdrew their marital considerations one after another.
