Xiaoxiao sat in the oxcart on the way back, thinking about the useful information she had gotten from her parents' home. The reason Stone Village was richer than other villages was because of Stone Mountain. Stone Mountain didn't produce trees or crops, it only produced stones. And these stones were quite useful, usable for building houses, paving roads, and crafting various objects. For example, the stone lions in front of the government office were from Stone Village, demonstrating the villagers' excellent craftsmanship. This Stone Mountain was none other than the property of the Zhong Family's head!
Stone Village also had another wealthy family that had made its fortune through farming. They were what you would call landlords, and as fate would have it, Xiaoxiao's best friend from her childhood was the daughter of this landlord. The reason the two girls were so close was that they shared a reputation; as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. This best friend was named Li Chuntao, fourteen years old and weighing in at two hundred pounds, a weight she achieved entirely through eating. In essence, the two girls were not bad by nature, but they were considered misfits in farm households where women were expected to work like men and men were treated like beasts of burden. No one wanted to marry daughters from such families, especially since neither of them was particularly beautiful. Therefore, no suitors came knocking on their door. But outsiders did not understand the situation, and as people say, what one person tells ten, ten will tell a hundred, and the story passed on by the hundredth person is never the same as the original. That's how their reputations had been soiled—Xiaoxiao thought to herself that rumors really were terrifying!
"Xiaoxiao, wait for me!" Just as she left the village entrance, she heard a woman's shout. Xiaoxiao looked up and immediately recognized her friend by her figure!
Rushing up to the oxcart, she pulled Xiaoxiao down and walked to the side of the road, "Xiaoxiao, who's that man?"
"Oh, that's my husband..." She hadn't finished speaking when she heard a scream!
"What? Your husband? But that's not the guy we saw that day."
"Would you let me finish? That's my husband's brother!"
"Oh, oh, you scared me to death. I thought I got it wrong. I was just saying, Yang Ming that we saw the other day—he's taller, fairly pale, and quiet, looks like a true scholar!" Chuntao said this while glancing over at Yang Dong from the corner of her eye.
Xiaoxiao looked at Chuntao and noticed her cheeks were flushed red. Perhaps there was a situation brewing, so she nudged Chuntao with her elbow and teased, "What, you fancy my brother-in-law?"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"If you can get your weight down to one hundred fifty pounds, I'll help you out. How about that?"
"Really?"
"True, truer than a pearl. Let me tell you, being this heavy, you won't even manage to consummate the marriage on your wedding night!" Xiaoxiao laughed.
"Stop talking nonsense, someone might hear you," Chuntao said, embarrassed.
"I'm not trying to scare you, but with your weight, it's going to be difficult to get pregnant, and even if you do, it won't be easy to give birth. There could be dangers for both mother and child. You've still got time now; you definitely need to lose weight before you get married!"
"Then... what should I do?" Chuntao, frightened by Xiaoxiao's words, resolved to shed the excess weight.
"You? Just need to keep your mouth shut and your legs moving. Eat less, exercise more, and you're bound to slim down. I look forward to hearing your good news! I'll matchmake for you when it's time. Now I must go, it's getting late!" She finished speaking and climbed back onto the oxcart, leaving Chuntao standing there stupified, having completely forgotten why she had come in the first place!
At this moment, Yang Dong was still unaware that his new sister-in-law had just sold him out. He thought to himself how exhausting the day had been, finally, he could go home!