Raising the Young Grand Secretary – 043

Chapter 043

Author: Feast of Masks

Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016

Translated by Gumihou

Proofread by Pill Bug

 

Seeing Old Zhao acting awkwardly like that, what other conclusion could they come up with?

Sun’shi said, “Mother, no matter how close we are to the Zhao family, it is unheard of for a family to marry off a daughter without betrothal gifts. Even families who could hardly make ends meet would still have to spend money to buy a wife. Who in the world not only refuses to send betrothal gifts, but expects others to include a gift of money when giving their daughters away?”

Old Zhao did not react to the slight, but Xue Cui’e immediately exploded.

She leapt to her feet and said, “Fourth Sister-in-law, do you even know what you are saying? What do you mean by including a gift of money when giving their daughters away?”

Sun’shi smiled innocently, “Is that not what we are doing? Cui’e, it’s not like this sister-in-law wishes to say anything to you, but, surely this way of doing things is too unreasonable?”

“What do you mean by unreasonable? Isn’t it fine so long as I’m willing? With how close our family is, why are we so calculative about these things?” Xue Cui’e said with great indignation.

“If there is no need to calculate, why bother with a dowry? Since they did not provide a betrothal gift, surely it’s not good for us to give a dowry?” Sun’shi muttered.

Xue Cui’e could not believe that Sun’shi would say such a thing and suddenly burst into tears as she screamed, “Fourth Brother! Just look at Fourth Sister-in-law! Why don’t you take a good look at her!?”

Before Xue Qinghuai could say anything, Sun’shi said, “Why ask your Fourth Brother to look at me? Am I not speaking the truth? Not only did the other side not provide a single coin, they still wanted us to pay a dowry? Why don’t you go around and ask the villagers and see if anyone thinks this is acceptable!?”

Xue Cui’e started to howl and cry. Old Man Xue’s face darkened as he snapped, “Stop crying! This is the result of your shameful behaviour!”

“Old Man…” Old Zhao’s heart ached and she could not help but try to say something.

Old Man Xue slammed the tobacco pipe onto the kang table, “Shut your mouth! If you hadn’t taught her these shameless things, would our family be in such a mess? I told you to keep your eye on her, but what did you say back then? Now that shit has happened, you had best wipe your own buttocks! This old man refuses to have anything to do with it!”

After a suffocating silence, Old Zhao also started sobbing. Mother and daughter hugged each other, crying as though they were being mistreated.

The rest of the people in the room were also speechless. The meaning behind Old Man Xue’s words was shocking but undeniable.

The implication was that Xue Cui’e had done something shameful and was caught. Not only that, the Zhao family took advantage of the situation and not only refused to provide a betrothal gift but also expected more dowry from the Xue family.

Xue Cui’e and Zhao Jinrui must have been caught doing something shameful!

Old Zhao continued to cry as she sobbed through her tears, “Good, good, very good, so you refuse to have anything to do with it. Fine, what’s there to cry about? You shut up and come with me! Come!” She pulled Xue Cui’e up and struggled to get off the kang with her.

“Mother, what are you trying to do?” Xue Qingbai stepped forward to stop her.

“Do? Nothing! Your mother has lived her life and is now despised by my sons and daughters-in-law! Since I am useless, I shall now throw myself into the river so you won’t have to look at me anymore!”

“Mother!”

If no one stopped her, the situation would have taken a dangerous turn. What would others think? Zhou’shi, Xue Qinghuai and Sun’shi all rushed forward to stop Old Zhao and proceeded to persuade her.

“Mother, we don’t find you useless, don’t think like that.”

“You not only think I’m superfluous, you don’t even want to help with your sister’s dowry! You are all black-hearted beasts! You only have this one sister…” Old Zhao continued to howl as she flopped around on the kang.

“Help, of course, we will help contribute!” Third Brother, Fourth Brother, say something! Can you truly bear hearing Mother say this?” Xue Qingshan shouted.

“We will help, of course, help contribute. We never say that we won’t contribute. Don’t overthink it.”

Old Zhao looked at Xue Qinghuai who also nodded, “As elder brothers, how could we not provide dowry for our sister?”

Old Zhao finally stopped sobbing. She dabbed her eyes with the corner of her clothes and said to Xue Cui’e, “Cui’e, you should thank your Fourth Brother, your Third Brother too, and your two sisters-in-law. Whether you can have an honourable marriage will depend on them.”

Xue Cui’e also wiped her tears as she sobbed, “Thank you Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law, Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law.”

Zhao’er, who had been watching this from the side also breathed a sigh of relief as everyone reconciled. Even so, there was a strange troubled feeling inside of her as she stared at them. The situation before her felt oddly staged.

This was especially so in the part where Old Zhao asked Xue Cui’er to thank her two elder brothers and their wives. Did Xue Cui’e only have two elder brothers? Also, Old Zhao specifically asked her to ‘Thank your Fourth Brother’. Not to mention, Yang’shi, who had never been afraid of voicing her opinion, was oddly quiet today.

She pursed her lips and stepped forward, “Little Aunt, stop crying. It is not good for brides-to-be to cry like this. It’s not like Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle refused to help you. Besides, even if they are not here, don’t you still have Eldest Uncle to help you? Isn’t that right, Eldest Uncle?”

“Of course!” Xue Qingshan patted his weighty belly grandly.

Yang’shi, who had been standing nearby, felt her heart skip a beat. She could not help but cast a look at Zhao’er.

Then, the thing she feared most happened as Sun’er said sweetly, “That’s right, Cui’e. You really shouldn’t overthink matters. I, your sister-in-law don’t have any hidden meanings when I speak. As Zhao’er said, you have three sisters-in-law, and with Eldest Brother being a Tong Sheng, how could he bear to see his younger sister suffer, ah.”

At Sun’shi’s deliberate emphasis on ‘three sisters-in-law’, the tear-dabbing Old Zhao and Xue Cui’e stiffened. Even Xue Qingshan’s smile froze on his face.

How could anyone misunderstand her meaning? Still, no one openly exposed their tricks. Sun’shi and Zhou’shi even fetched some cold water so that the mother-daughter pair could wash their tear-stained faces.

Eventually, things settled down as everyone prepared themselves to talk about the main topic.

Without waiting for her man to speak, Sun’shi took the lead and said, “Father, how should we do this? Please do not worry, whatever Eldest Brother’s family contributes, our family will match it.”

The usually quiet Zhou’shi also spoke up. This was not the time to stay quiet. She knew this too and was quick to say, “Our family may be quite poor, but so long as Eldest Brother can contribute, even if we have to sell everything we have, we shall contribute as well.”

Old Man Xue stayed silent as he rubbed the pipe bowl in his hand. Xue Qingshan’s face had darkened completely. There was no need to mention Old Zhao or Xue Cui’e’s expressions.

To be honest, this group of people had already decided what to do before calling the Third and Fourth branches over.

The discussion was not really a discussion. After all, Old Man Xue knew that his eldest son had no money, but the family could not ignore his youngest daughter’s dowry. Xue Qingshan might have no money, but Old Fourth had money and Zhao’er had money. After all, the two of them managed to purchase a mule cart worth dozens of silver taels. So, how could they not have the money for Xue Cui’e’s dowry? Therefore, the eldest couple split up and made their move, one to present the case before Old Man Xue and the other to persuade Old Zhao, thus, eventually leading to today’s drama.

In fact, the Third and Fourth branches had already promised to provide the dowry. However, nobody expects Zhao’er to suddenly interject. Thus, the awkward situation before them.

No one said anything. Old Zhao looked at Old Man Xue, then at her eldest son, and then, she turned her gaze towards Zhao’er.

“Zhao’er, your business has grown so big, you even bought a mule cart. That day, you even spoke loudly before your grandfather and grandmother. Now that your little aunt is about to get married, don’t you think it is only right that you represent the second branch family and contribute some silver too?”

Zhao’er nearly laughed out of frustration. She had never heard of anyone asking a niece to contribute money to an aunt’s marriage. Just what is happening, ah?

Xue Qinghuai said, “Mother, what are you saying? Zhao’er is from the younger generation.”

“So what if she’s from the younger generation? Aren’t these younger generations the ones who kept butting heads with your eldest brother? Everyone knows that your eldest brother had money because he had to fund Juncai’s education, but still challenged him for the money. Aren’t these younger generations deliberately provoking your eldest brother just to embarrass him and show off their wealth? Since you all have money, you should contribute some as well.”

For the sake of protecting Xue Cui’e and Xue Qingshan, this Old Zhao had decided to go on the attack and pressure them for money.

However, Zhao’er was not surprised. She had known for a long while that these accusations would come sooner or later. Until the day she exposed them, these people would hide behind all kinds of justifications, wearing masks of benevolence and kindness to save face. However, now that she had exposed them, they would openly attack her without caring about saving their faces.

Zhao’er’s lips quirked into a smile as she nodded. She said, “Grandmother, I do have money. However, this money is not something that I should simply hand over just because someone wants it, right? If you want my money, give me a good reason! How about this, why don’t we go to the village and ask around, see what the people think about having a niece pay for their aunt’s dowry? If a single person in the village says that I should pay, I shall gladly have over the silver.”

“You—”

“Eldest Uncle has no money after supporting Juncai’s education, but you expect youngsters like myself and Gou’er to have money? Do you think other people’s money comes floating to them on a river? Did you think this money came to us easily? Grandmother, I don’t like to say this, but when you demand money from us, have you ever considered Third Uncle, Third Aunt, Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt’s feelings? Fourth Uncle and I leave the house before dawn, you know?

Grandmother, have you tried traversing the road at night? It gets so dark that everything is in shadows. Even so, you must hurry forward and drive the cart against the dew-covered roads, not knowing whether the cart will overturn. Don’t blame me for spitting vicious words against seniors, but do use your head and think. Why do some people have money and why are some people poor? The poor deserve to be poor, ah! Let him be poor forever! Who asked him to spend his life poaching other people’s money? If this kind of people aren’t poor, who will be poor?!”

“You must spit out this silver whether you like it or not!” Old Zhou shouted as she trembled with anger.

“No matter what, I refuse! Those who want to contribute, let them!”

“I refuse to speak with you anymore! I will speak with Gou’er once he’s back!”

“Then go talk to your grandson! Why are you still talking to me?”

With that final throwdown, Zhao’er turned and walked away.

 

 

[Gumihou: As expected, Sun’shi did not disappoint]

 

 

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