Chapter 58: Selling a Daughter to Get a Daughter-in-Law
Liu helped Bai Dazhu through the door. Hearing what her son had said, she gritted her teeth. "If we had just sold that little slut Bai Zhi, we’d have the silver for Da Bao’s marriage proposal. But now? Not only did we fail to sell her, we’ve lost a ton of silver instead."
Ms. Zhang also pulled her husband through the door. She saw her daughter, Bai Zhenzhu, leaning against the doorframe and peeking outside. The object of her gaze was none other than the shirtless Hu Feng, who was repairing a house.
Bai Zhenzhu’s face was flushed, and her eyes were fixed on Hu Feng, not even blinking.
She rarely left the house. She had only heard Hu Feng’s name but had never seen him in person. She’d assumed he was some short, stocky, ugly youth. But seeing him today, he turned out to be such a handsome, tall, and strong man. A single glance was enough to steal her soul away.
She was fifteen this year, the perfect age for marriage arrangements. Her family had already looked into a few potential matches for her, but she hadn’t taken a liking to any of them. They were either so poor they didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, or they were incredibly ugly. Compared to the Hu Feng before her now, those men weren’t even worthy of carrying his shoes.
Ms. Zhang reached out and pinched her daughter’s arm, whispering, "What are you looking at? Have you no shame? Get back to your room, now."
Bai Zhenzhu, blushing and lowering her head, hurried back to her room.
This scene happened to unfold right before Liu’s eyes. How could she possibly pass up such a perfect opportunity to mock and ridicule Ms. Zhang?
"Sister-in-law, Zhenzhu is at that age when a young girl’s heart starts to flutter. It’s only natural for her to be smitten when she sees a handsome man. It’s all perfectly normal. You don’t have to shout at the child like that."
Ms. Zhang’s expression changed several times. "Sister-in-law, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Zhenzhu just glanced at Bai Zhi a few times. How is that her ’heart fluttering’? Furthermore, I don’t agree with what you said. What’s all this about a ’young girl’s fluttering heart’ and being ’smitten’ by handsome men? I, Zhang Shumei, never experienced such things. Zhenzhu is still young and doesn’t understand any of it. For you to say such things so casually, Sister-in-law... you must be quite experienced yourself."
Liu never imagined that the mud she’d slung would be thrown right back in her own face...
"Alright, alright, that’s enough from both of you. Is this really the time for this? How can you still be in the mood to bicker?" This time, Old Mrs. Bai’s head was truly throbbing with pain. The thought of those six taels of silver made her tremble with rage.
Bai Dazhu shot Liu a glare and snapped, "You’ve got a big mouth. If you’re so good at talking, why don’t you give Mother an idea on how to get us through this mess?"
Liu snorted. "I’ve had a plan all along. You think you’re so tough, only knowing how to use your fists. If you hadn’t fought with Hu Changlin, would Lu Changchun have been able to extort those six taels of silver from us?"
When Old Mrs. Bai heard that her elder daughter-in-law had a plan, she quickly asked, "What’s your idea? Hurry up and tell us."
Liu’s lips curled into a smile. "It’s actually quite simple. We just do what we planned before: find a match for that slut Bai Zhi. Once her marriage is settled, the money will come rolling in, won’t it? I’ve already asked around. In Baiyang Village, five li away, there are more men than women. The village is also heavy with Yin Qi and has bad feng shui, so no girls are willing to marry into there. Because of that, the men in the village work desperately to earn and save money to get a wife. Right now, the betrothal gift for a wife is at least twenty taels of silver. Twenty taels! After we pay off the six taels, won’t we still have fourteen taels left? In our Huangtuo Village, ten taels of silver is enough for a betrothal gift. We’ll even have four taels of silver left over for a wedding banquet."
Inside the house, the family’s abacus clacked away with their scheming, but they had no idea that Bai Zhi was standing right outside the main gate, hearing everything crystal clear.