Lin Si Lai hooked the corner of his lips and, amidst a chorus of jeers, swept Zhang Fang Cao into his arms.
"Li Ai Guo, let's go get the divorce papers."
"Fang Cao, you? You really..."
Li Ai Guo, enraged, snapped back, "You're just throwing yourself at him? You're cuckolding me publicly like this?"
Zhang Fang Cao tried to struggle, but her body was weak. She knew she had been set up, all for that moment when she lunged forward, for the illusion of throwing herself into his arms.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Lin Si Lai's fingers twitched, and Zhang Fang Cao seemed to automatically shift and nestle into his embrace.
This action struck Li Ai Guo's heart like a heavy blow.
"Fine, fine, divorce. We'll go get divorced right now."
In Lin Si Lai's arms, Zhang Fang Cao's tears flowed torrentially. But as Lin Si Lai maintained a steady pace, his gentle care minimizing any jostling, her heart seemed to instantly surrender. She felt a tenderness even more delicate than what Zheng Guo Ge had shown her years ago.
Forget it, she thought. It had already come to this, she could only follow the course of events.
Her maiden home wasn't her home, and her marital home was gone. The Lin family, for whom marrying a wife was so difficult, would surely cherish her, wouldn't they?
Zhang Fang Cao's body no longer resisted, and Lin Si Lai smiled. He had his wife, and a healthy child.
The crowd dispersed, following the three main characters.
Tian Jing sensed the faint happiness emanating from Zhang Fang Cao, realizing she had indeed been calculated by Zheng Ge.
She looked up, "The more I see your deviousness, the more I like you. It's strange."
"Because Tian Tian knows I would never scheme against you."
"Do you think I believe that?"
"Yes, one hundred percent. I only scheme against enemies."
"Brother." The fuse of the incident ran over, "How did it turn out like this?"
"What did your brother teach you?"
"He taught me... uh, nothing. Brother didn't teach me anything. I was just angry and exchanged a few words with Zhang Fang Cao, and then things became uncontrollable."
"Yes, it was you who couldn't control it, but it was all within someone else's expectations."
"Who?"
"Min Min," Li Zheng Guo interrupted his sister's questioning. "Aren't you busy?"
Li Min blinked. Was she busy? She probably was. So, she should go be busy.
A sense of loss, as the music faded, enveloped Tian Jing. She sighed and asked, "Zheng Ge, wasn't that too cruel?"
"No, I helped her find a man who cherishes her. Li Ai Guo will also reflect seriously. Everything is developing for the better."
His Tian Tian was pregnant and going through a difficult time. He couldn't allow a constant danger to exist.
Just like...
Zhao Xiao Fang, who had been stealing glances, was startled by a pair of cold eyes and quickly retreated into the courtyard.
Li Zheng Guo frowned. How should he deal with this?
"Mother."
Da Mai looked at her mother, who was acting like a thief. "Don't you find Zhang Fang Cao's situation a bit strange?"
"What's strange about it?"
"I saw that in the end, she wanted to move but couldn't. Mother, do you want to become a member of the Lin family?"
Zhao Xiao Fang immediately shook her head. "No, no, Da Mai, what nonsense are you talking about?"
"Whether I'm talking nonsense, I know best. What you're thinking, you know best too. Zhang Fang Cao is sought after because she's still young and can still have children. What about you? An older woman who has had two daughters and had a miscarriage. Who would want you? Besides my father."
Da Mai turned and left.
Watching her eldest daughter's retreating back, Zhao Xiao Fang touched her face. Was she old? She was only 29, just three years older than that person.
Da Mai, who had stopped and turned back, looked at her mother's dreamlike smile and felt so nauseated she wanted to throw up.
...
Li Ai Guo and Zhang Fang Cao divorced.
Zhang Fang Cao, carrying her child, married Lin Si Lai.
The Zhang family received fifty yuan in betrothal gifts and had no objections.
No, they had absolutely no objections. The Zhang family considered it an honor, not a disgrace.
They had a powerful in-law family, even more powerful than the previous one. Who would dare come to their door seeking redress now?
"Zhang, your whole family deserves to die! Shameless, immoral people, doing such a thing that ruins public morals, and you even accepted betrothal gifts? Ptooey! Give back my family's betrothal gifts."
It turned out Hu Hong Ju had returned. She had stayed at her maiden home for too long. Her parents had personally sent her back, intending to beg her husband earnestly. She had grandchildren and was still divorced; how could she possibly live?
Who knew that as soon as she entered the village, she would hear news of her younger son's divorce.
She questioned her husband, but he disdainfully pushed her out, saying it was all her fault.
Zhang's mother leaned against the courtyard gate, her arms crossed, looking at her noticeably haggard former in-law.
"After so many years of marriage, what logic is there in returning betrothal gifts? Wouldn't that mean that even a woman whose husband died could demand them back? A married daughter, no one can guarantee she'll stay married forever, can they?"
"Besides, it was your Ai Guo who proposed the divorce. My Fang Cao didn't agree, but he insisted on divorcing."
"Nonsense!" Hu Hong Ju's face turned red with anger. "It was your Zhang Fang Cao who threw herself at him, and only then did my Ai Guo go for a divorce. What was said before were just angry words. When couples argue, are there ever nice words?"
Zhang's mother waved her away dismissively, like swatting away a fly. "Go, go, go. Go find Fang Cao. Stop babbling with me. A married daughter is like spilled water."
Hu Hong Ju was choked with anger. This wicked woman was just bullying her because she didn't dare provoke the Lin family! "I'll see how long you can be arrogant. Once Lin Si Lai gets tired of her, she'll just be another discarded slut."
"Don't spew filth from your mouth." Zhang's mother placed one hand on her hip and pointed at Hu Hong Ju with the other.
"My Fang Cao is cherished. Your Ai Guo is a piece of mud that can't be plastered onto the wall. He can't even manage his own land. Does he naively think he can still rely on his father to cover for him like when they were earning work points? What a joke."
"It's no wonder Accountant Li dislikes you. You've raised a perfectly good son into a useless lump who can neither carry nor lift. What are you even doing back here? Come back to beg Accountant Li to take you in?"
"I think you should find another family soon and earn another betrothal gift for your maiden family."
"I'll rip your mouth open!" Such humiliation made Hu Hong Ju's mind cloud over with rage.
The fight between the two women attracted onlookers.
Recently, there had been one dramatic event after another.
Accountant Li quietly watched the two women brawling on the ground, but in his heart, he wondered how his family had become this way.
Ever since Zheng Guo's young wife entered Kushan Mountain, his once good family had changed.
Was it really good before?
He curled his lips into a light smile. From the moment he stopped actively repaying his cousin's debt, from the moment he agreed to his younger son marrying Zhang Fang Cao, his family was destined for this. This was retribution, immediate retribution.
Let it be. The retribution for owing money and not repaying it, for owing lives and not repaying them, he would bear it.
May 14th. Li Rong Guo's family's warm room.
Li's mother pulled her daughter over to help.
Li Min was extremely unwilling. Why should Zhao Xiao Fang stand by as if she were a distinguished guest watching, while she, the actual guest, had to do the work?
Da Mai pushed Li's mother and her away. "Third Aunt and Aunt Min Min are guests. My mother can manage. My mother is very virtuous."
Li's mother knew this eldest granddaughter was opinionated, so she reluctantly left the kitchen.
Da Mai looked at her mother, who was standing with her arms crossed, lost in thought, doing nothing. "Mother, this important matter today, if you don't handle it properly, I'll ask Father to grant you freedom. Your heart is no longer here, so it's better to set you free."
Zhao Xiao Fang, whose mind had wandered, jolted awake. "Ah? Oh, I'll do it. I'll do it."
Watching her mother nimbly work in the kitchen, Da Mai breathed a sigh of relief and sat down to help stoke the fire.