Chapter 171: Setting a Marriage
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
As the workshop became more and more crowded, the idea of building a factory was officially brought to the table. However, the type of factory, the size of the factory, and where it was built all needed to be carefully discussed and deliberated.
Early in the morning, Aunt cooked a pot of sweet potato porridge, steamed a few baskets of cornbread, steamed buns, and pickled vegetables. The family sat together for breakfast.
“I’ll fart if I eat too many sweet potatoes!” Little Bruiser looked at the sweet potato porridge in front of him and pouted.
Aunt glared at him. “I think you don’t want to eat it! You’ve learned to be picky!”
“Who said so?” Little Bruiser picked up the wooden spoon and refused to admit that he was thinking about the crunchy candy.!!
Yu Shaoqing looked at his son lovingly, his eyes shining.
Yu Wan whispered to him, “Little Brother wasn’t like this in the past. It was after Dad came back that he became bolder and more pretentious.” As she spoke, she glanced at her brother in amusement.
Little Bruiser hadn’t had a father in six years. It wasn’t easy for his father to come back, so he naturally had to be pretentious. Yu Shaoqing was very happy that his son was being pretentious, so he gave his son cornbread.
Little Bruiser didn’t look at him, but grabbed it in his hand and bit down hard.
“Why aren’t you talking about pickled vegetables now?” Aunt teased him.
Everyone in the room laughed.
“About building a house,” Uncle said. “What do you think?”
Yu Song said, “That depends on where it’s built.”
Uncle said coldly, “Children shouldn’t interrupt when adults are talking. Ah Wan, you talk.”
Yu Song, whose heart had been hurt ten thousand times: “…”
Yu Wan smiled and said, “I think the same as Second Brother. I also think that we should consider where to build the factory first. Not only do I want to build the factory, but I also want to build a row of houses for the staff dormitory.”
“What do you mean?” Aunt asked in confusion.
“It’s for the long-term workers,” Yu Wan explained.
At the mention of long-term workers, everyone understood. Wasn’t this referring to the bandits who were opening the back mountain? Although they weren’t good people, ever since they were poisoned by Chef Bao, they had been working desperately every day, afraid that they wouldn’t be able to obtain the antidote to extend their lives if they weren’t careful.
Although her uncle’s family didn’t understand why she wanted to build a house for them, they didn’t object. Ah Wan was a person with her own ideas. She must have her own reasons for doing this. Besides, they couldn’t always squeeze into Shuanzi’s cow shed.
“Then we need a bigger place,” Uncle muttered. He looked at Yu Shaoqing and was about to ask him if he had any thoughts when he saw Yu Shaoqing holding a stone and smiling foolishly.
Uncle : “…” Was it an illusion? Why did it feel like his third brother had gone crazy from sitting in jail for a few days?
“Third Brother,” Uncle said solemnly.
Yu Shaoqing came back to his senses. He looked at his brother and then at the stone in his hand. With a smile, he said, “Big Brother, do you think it looks good?”
What was so good about a broken stone? Did he really become stupid from sitting in jail? Uncle was about to reprimand his younger brother when Aunt tugged at his arm, indicating for him to look at Yu Wan. He looked at Yu Wan, who pursed her lips and smiled as she glanced at Little Bruiser.
Uncle understood. It was a gift from his son so he treated it like a treasure.
“It’s beautiful!” Uncle said in a long tone.
Little Bruiser buried his head in his porridge.
After a few discussions, the family set the factory at the foot of the mountain. The few plots of land that originally belonged to Ah Wan and Auntie Zhang were the ones with the least damage during the earthquake. Now that they were not farming and had nothing to do, they might as well use them to do something else.
The matter of buying land was left to Uncle to communicate with the village headman and the Zhang family.
The blueprint for the house was drawn by Yu Wan.
Yu Shaoqing looked deeply at his daughter. After six years, his daughter had already learned how to read and write.
Yu Shaoqing finally learned about Ah Wan’s experiences in the past few years from his family. His heart ached so much that he wished he could turn back time. No matter what, he would not let his daughter go missing or let his daughter be bullied by Mrs. Zhao’s family.
“Dad, do you think this is okay?” Yu Wan’s voice interrupted Yu Shaoqing’s thoughts.
Yu Shaoqing was distracted and didn’t hear what his daughter said at all. He only nodded blankly. “Yes.”
Other than Madam Jiang and the two ignorant children, everyone else looked at him with their mouths agape. How could this be? Aren’t you spoiling your daughter too much?! She wants to use stone and bricks to build a factory! Even her own house isn’t so luxurious!
Yu Feng’s heart ached. He didn’t want to talk to his third uncle and sister anymore.
“Then it’s settled,” Yu Wan said with a smile. “Dad, you’re the best.”
Yu Shaoqing : “…” Uh… he seemed to have agreed to something incredible?
The construction of the factory required a lot of manpower. The selection of carpenters and craftsmen was left to Yu Feng.
However, before that, Yu Feng and Yu Wan had to make a trip to Lotus Flower Town. The wood could be cut from the back of the mountain, but the stone and bricks had to be selected and ordered. Yu Wan originally planned to go with her father. Yu Feng was worried that Yu Wan would only buy the expensive ones, and his third uncle would spoil her, then they would spend all the money they had earned with great difficulty, so he proposed to go with Yu Wan.
Yu Wan nodded. “Alright, Dad, since you’re at home. Spend more time with Little Bruiser and Mom.”
Little Bruiser, who loved to travel, didn’t insist on going out with his sister this time.
The two of them took a few baskets of things and walked to town.
In the few days that Yu Shaoqing was locked up in the Dali Temple, Bai Tang and Shopkeeper Cui received the news and came to visit Yu Wan. Master Qin also came. They were not sure that the centurion with the surname Yu was Yu Wan’s father. Even so, they still came to ask about the situation. Yu Wan remembered this friendship in her heart.
The two of them went to the White Jade Restaurant first.
It was not time to eat yet, so there were not many people in the White Jade Restaurant. Shopkeeper Cui was rarely free, so he stood behind the counter and played with his abacus.
The two of them came to the counter.
Shopkeeper Cui felt the light in front of him dim. He looked up and saw Yu Feng and Yu Wan. His eyes lit up. “Miss Yu, Little Brother Yu, why are you here? By the way, I heard that the Dali Temple released your father. Is he back?”
Yu Wan’s lips curled up slightly. “Yes, he’s back. Thank you for your concern, Shopkeeper Cui. Please accept these two jars of snowflake salt.”
“Aiya, you’re too polite!” Snowflake salt was a good thing. Back then, he had spent fifty taels to buy a jar. Now, this girl was giving him two jars for free!
“Take it,” Yu Feng said.
The snowflake salt from last time was indeed almost used up. Shopkeeper Cui was wondering when he could buy some more from Yu Wan. Shopkeeper Cui accepted it in embarrassment.
“Is Miss Bai not around?” She had a basket of eggs specially for Bai Tang. They were laid by her pheasant and were better than other eggs.
Shopkeeper Cui exclaimed, “I haven’t seen her for three days.”
“Did something happen?” Yu Feng asked.
Shopkeeper Cui did not notice his anxious expression and sighed. “No, it’s just that she’s about to get married and it’s not convenient for her to go out.”
Yu Feng’s expression changed.
Yu Wan glanced at her brother and asked Shopkeeper Cui, “Why is it so sudden? I didn’t hear her mention it the last time she came to my house.”
“It’s just been decided.” Shopkeeper Cui sighed again, as if he was not very satisfied with this marriage. Without waiting for Yu Wan to ask, he directly said to her, “He’s Mrs. Bai’s nephew. I’ve seen him before. He’s quite handsome and is humble and polite. It’s just that… you’ve been to the Bai Manor and know Miss’s relationship with Mrs. Bai. Isn’t this forcing her to marry Mrs. Bai’s family?”
Indeed, no matter how outstanding that Young Master Bai was, as long as he was Mrs. Bai’s nephew, Bai Tang would not have a good impression of him. How could a daughter-in-law not suffer a little? Would Mrs. Bai seek justice for Bai Tang? It was impossible.
“Why did Old Master Bai agree?” Yu Wan asked.
Was Old Master Bai stupid? His daughter didn’t care about Mrs. Bai at all. If she married into the Chen family, would the Chen family give his daughter a good life?
Shopkeeper Cui said helplessly, “Master’s ears are soft.”
What soft-hearted? It was just that he had a new lover and forgot about his old one. He wanted his son so he ignored his daughter. He wanted Bai Tang to call him father, but he did not give Bai Tang the love that a father should give.
After leaving the White Jade Restaurant, Yu Wan saw her brother’s lonely expression and quickly said to him, “Big Brother, don’t be anxious. I’ll go to the Bai Manor to see Miss Bai and hear what she has to say.”
Yu Feng was stunned. “Why are you going to the Bai Manor?”
Yu Wan said matter-of-factly, “To snatch my sister-in-law! If my sister-in-law wants to marry someone with the surname Chen, how can I not snatch her back?”
“You…” Yu Feng’s face turned red. “Don’t spout nonsense!”
Yu Wan raised her eyebrows. “What did I say? Do you not like Miss Bai?”
Yu Feng subconsciously wanted to refute, but he realized that he couldn’t deny it at all. He couldn’t tell when it started, but by the time he realized it, he couldn’t erase this person from his heart. However, she was the high and mighty daughter of the Bai family. And he was a poor country boy. He was ultimately not worthy of her.
“Stop fooling around,” Yu Feng said in a low voice.
Yu Wan knew what he was thinking when she saw his expression. “Big Brother, you can’t be so unconfident in yourself. How can Miss Bai be as happy as marrying into our family than other families?”
This was from Bai Tang’s point of view. In terms of character, her brother was impeccable. In terms of looks, he was also handsome. In terms of the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, her aunt doted on Miss Bai to death. There was no need to mention Zhenzhen. She and Little Zhenzhen both liked Bai Tang very much.
As for their family background, the Yu family was already on the way to earning money. In a few years, they would be able to soar. It was true that with Miss Bai’s maternal family’s status, theirs was still a little low-class to marry into. However, relationships sometimes did not only involve a match made of status.
“Alright, since Big Brother wants to give up on Miss Bai, I have nothing to say.” Yu Wan saw that Yu Feng could not bring himself to be ruthless and pretended to walk back.
When she brushed past Yu Feng, he gritted his teeth and grabbed her arm. “You… go and see her.”
The two of them rented a carriage to the Capital. They remembered the way and the carriage quickly arrived at the Bai Manor.
The door of the Bai Manor was tightly shut, and it looked colder than usual.
Yu Wan said to Yu Feng, “Big Brother, wait for me at the teahouse we passed by just now.”
It was too eye-catching to park the carriage here. Yu Feng thought about it and nodded. After the carriage disappeared at the end of the street, Yu Wan walked up the steps and knocked on the door of the Bai Manor.
“Who is it?” A pageboy opened the door from the inside and stuck his head out to take a look. It was a plainly dressed girl. Yu Wan was finally not dressed like a village girl, but she was not a noble young lady either. The pageboy looked at her suspiciously. “Who are you looking for?”
Yu Wan said, “I’m looking for Miss Bai. Please tell her that my surname is Yu.”
The pageboy waved his hand without thinking. “My young miss has something on. It’s not convenient for her to meet guests!”
Was it inconvenient to see guests, or was she not allowed to see guests?
The moment the pageboy closed the door, Yu Wan reached out and gently blocked him. “Miss Bai asked me to come. You only need to say that Miss Yu came to look for her, and she will know.”
At this point, it would be unreasonable to turn her away. Unexpectedly, the pageboy did not even look at Yu Wan as he forcefully closed the door.
Yu Wan took a deep breath and secretly warned herself that today was not a good day to fight. If she couldn’t enter through the door, couldn’t she climb over the wall?
Yu Wan came to the alley between the Yan Manor and the Bai Manor. Yan Jiuchao had once climbed over the wall with his bare hands.
The last time she came to the Bai Manor, the Bai Manor was holding a banquet. Now that all the flowers, flowers, lanterns, and silk had been taken down, the manor seemed much more deserted. Thinking about it now, Bai Tang’s painstaking efforts for her father at the banquet were really ironic.
Yu Wan had never been to Bai Tang’s courtyard. She followed a few maidservants before she finally found the right path. She had even easily climbed over the mansion wall, so a mere courtyard wall was naturally nothing. She climbed up the wall. Suddenly, a group of women hurried over. She was so shocked that she quickly put her body down.
When the group of people passed by, Yu Wan revealed her head again. She widened her quiet eyes and stared unblinkingly at the group of people.
The leader of the group was a woman dressed in jewelry. She was Bai Tang’s stepmother, Mrs. Bai. Behind her were seven to eight maidservants. Each of them was holding a tray with a dazzling array of jewelry and wedding dresses.
The wedding dress was bright and red.
Mrs. Bai stopped in front of a closed door.
From Yu Wan’s angle, she could see her back, but Yu Wan inexplicably felt her roll her eyes.
Mrs. Bai’s gentle voice sounded. “Tang’er, Mother is here to see you.”
“Who’s my mother? My mother is long dead! Stop trying to build a relationship with me! Who do you think you are!”
As expected of Lotus Flower Town’s overlord, her aura was not inferior to before! Yu Wan continued to lie on the wall and watch. She still couldn’t see Mrs Bai’s expression, but she still felt that Mrs. Bai rolled her eyes even more.
Mrs. Bai said softly, “Tang’er, it’s fine if you scold me, but don’t anger your own body. I’m here to give you jewelry and a wedding dress. They were all specially made for you. You should come out and take a look. If you don’t like it, I’ll get someone to make it again.”
“Who wants your things! Get lost! Get lost!”
Mrs. Bai gave an old woman behind her a look. The old woman walked forward with a key.
Only then did Yu Wan notice that Bai Tang’s door was locked. Mrs. Bai even pretended to let Bai Tang out. How could she come out?
The lock was opened and the old woman pushed open the door. She did not expect Bai Tang to be standing at the door. When she saw a living person, she was so frightened that she took a few steps back!
Bai Tang went to Lotus Flower Village three days ago. Compared to that day, Bai Tang looked much more haggard. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were red and swollen.
Bai Tang glared fiercely at Mrs. Bai, who was outside the door, and said in a hoarse voice, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Aren’t you just trying to turn the Bai family into your Chen family? Stop dreaming!”
Mrs. Bai’s tone was very aggrieved. “Tang’er, what are you talking about? What Bai family? Since I’ve married into the Bai family, I’m a member of the Bai family. Why would I side with an outsider?”
“Then you have to ask yourself!” Bai Tang said angrily.
Mrs. Bai sighed delicately. “Tang’er, stop throwing a tantrum. I understand that you’ve always looked down on me and can’t wait to chase me out of the Bai family. But no matter how you treat me, in my heart, I treat you as my own daughter.”
“Is that so?” Bai Tang sneered.
Mrs. Bai said earnestly, “You and Zhou’er are both sick. I left Zhou’er behind and guarded you sincerely. Am I pretending?”
Bai Tang asked, “Isn’t that so? You’re just doing it for my father!”
Mrs. Bai said with a hurt expression, “Tang’er, you’re disappointing me by saying that. Forget it, let’s not talk about the past. Master personally chose this marriage. I didn’t say anything.”
Bai Tang said coldly, “You didn’t say anything. You just put him together with a few crooked melons and brought him to my father! Don’t think that the Bai Manor will be yours just because I’m married!”
Mrs. Bai touched the corner of her lips with her handkerchief. “So what if you don’t marry, won’t the Bai Manor still be mine?”
Bai Tang was stunned by her sudden change in attitude.
The hurt and grievance on Mrs. Bai’s face had already disappeared, replaced by an almost disdainful mockery. She looked at Bai Tang as if she was looking at a canary in a cage and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Your brother is your father’s only son. Everything in the Bai family will belong to him sooner or later. Your mother’s dowry will be carried to the Chen family with you, but who does the Chen family belong to? How have you treated me these few years? After you reach the Chen family, the Chen family will also take good care of you for me.”
Bai Tang suspected that this woman’s brain was damaged. Why did she, who had always pretended to be weak in front of her, suddenly say such arrogant and vicious words? As expected, she was about to get married, so this woman no longer looked down on her.
It was fine if this woman had designs on the Bai family, but she actually didn’t even let go of her mother’s dowry. What right did she have?!
Mrs. Bai sneered. “What’s the use of your mother being from a famous family? In the end, she still can’t beat a lowly commoner like me. Serves her right for dying early.”
“You’re not allowed to talk about my mother!” Bai Tang was furious. She raised her hand and slapped Mrs. Bai!
“Beast! What are you doing!” Old Master Bai’s angry roar suddenly sounded behind the crowd.
Only then did the maidservants disperse, revealing Old Master Bai, who had been listening for a long time.
The moment Mrs. Bai was slapped, she fell to the ground. At first glance, it looked like Bai Tang had used all her strength to slap her to death.
“Madam!” The old woman at the side quickly went to help her.
“Move aside!” Old Master Bai shouted sternly. The old women retreated to the side, and Old Master Bai personally helped Mrs. Bai up.
Mrs. Bai’s eyes were weak and she looked dizzy. There was a bloody wound at the corner of her mouth.
Old Master Bai was even angrier now that she was bleeding!
However, Bai Tang froze the moment she saw her father. It was strange that that woman suddenly became so strange. It turned out that she was deliberately provoking her. She had long known that her father was here… Perhaps she was the one who led her father here…
“It’s not like that… It’s her… She said my mother…”
Slap!
Before Bai Tang could finish her sentence, Old Master Bai slapped her hard!
Bai Tang was stunned by the slap.
“Master, don’t be angry. Don’t hit Tang’er,” Mrs. Bai advised with a pained expression.
Old Master Bai brushed her hand away. “You’re spoiling her too much! Look at how she bullied you! She doesn’t even have you in her eyes!”
Mrs. Bai said, “Yes, yes, yes. I’ve spoiled Tang’er. Master, if you want to get angry, come at me. Tang’er is still young…”
“Stop pretending!” Bai Tang said with tears in her eyes.
Old Master Bai raised his hand again. Mrs. Bai threw herself at him and knelt in front of him. “Master! Please stop!”
In the end, Old Master Bai did not slap her. He turned to look at Bai Tang and said angrily, “Do you really think that your market is very good? You show your face all day and hang out with a group of men! Which young master from a family is willing to marry you? Don’t you know what reputation you have in Lotus Flower Town? It’s your good fortune that your cousin is willing to marry you! You even lost your temper and vented your anger on your mother! How did your mother let you down?! If your mother hadn’t put in a good word for you, you wouldn’t even be able to marry into the Chen family!”
What was more heart-wrenching than this slap was Old Master Bai’s words.
Bai Tang had always tried her best to be the daughter her father was proud of, but she did not expect that everything she endured would be so unbearable in her father’s eyes.
“Put the things in for her!” Old Master Bai shouted, and the maidservants entered one after another, neatly placing the tray on the table.
Bai Tang entered the room in a daze and looked at the scissors on the dressing table. The door closed behind her, and tears fell.