Miao Miaomiao crouched beneath the outside wall, listening to everything inside the room.
Hmph. That Shen Cuiping—back in the mourning hall she’d already noticed how that woman’s eyes kept drifting toward Huo Qichuan. Whatever she was scheming, anyone with eyes could see it.
Miao Miaomiao was certain that, judging by this family’s usual do-anything-to-get-what-they-want nature, that woman would definitely make a move tonight.
So after everything dispersed, she quietly kept watch over Shen Cuiping’s movements, until she saw her slip into her mother-in-law’s room late at night…
Having already seen the tricks this family could pull, how could she not keep her guard up?
She just hadn’t expected the truly vicious one to be Shen Jianzhang.
Miao Miaomiao shot him a wary glare. Sixteen or seventeen—an age when one should be studying—yet his mind was already so malicious. She’d have to be even more careful around him in the future.
But…
She gave a contemptuous smile.
Just wait till tomorrow—she’d make sure all their careful calculations were smashed to pieces…
…
Sure enough, early the next morning, Miao Miaomiao’s natal family came knocking, brandishing brooms.
“Mother-in-law! Mother-in-law! Get your old self out here!”
Miao Miaomiao’s mother, Zhang Cuiying, was an extremely sharp-tongued woman. The moment she entered, she raised her voice and started shouting, while her father, Miao Tianli, could only trail behind as background support.
This time, four people from her natal family had come: her parents, her fourth sister, and her fifth brother. Aside from the third sister who hadn’t come, almost everyone was here.
Miao Miaomiao looked at them and smiled in satisfaction.
The Shen family never would’ve imagined the news would reach her natal family so fast. Green Water Village was far away—on foot it’d take half a day, and even with a bicycle it’d still take over an hour.
Yet they thought they could settle Miao Miaomiao’s remarriage right under her parents’ noses?
Sorry—no chance.
“Big Girl, thank goodness you sent word overnight. Otherwise we wouldn’t have known what happened here. That Qin family—so utterly shameless!” Miao Tianli slapped his thigh angrily.
At least this old man still cared about her a little.
Zhang Cuiying shot him a cold look. “What’s that got to do with anything? Big Girl marrying someone is still marrying someone. What matters is that old hag wants to swallow our two hundred yuan bride price! That’s two hundred! We have to get it back!”
Her mother had always favored sons over daughters. She didn’t care who her daughter married—only whether the bride price was high enough to fund her son’s schooling and future marriage.
Miao Miaomiao had counted on that. When she sent a neighbor’s kid to deliver the message before dawn, she deliberately highlighted this point in big, bold strokes.
Otherwise, they might not have come at all.
“That’s right, Mom. You have to fight for this. I’m still your daughter after all—if I remarry, how can the bride price not end up in your pockets?” Miao Miaomiao said, clinging to Zhang Cuiying’s arm and fanning the flames.
She didn’t believe this couldn’t pit them against each other.
“Exactly, Mom—two hundred yuan! That means I can marry a wife soon!” her fifth brother, Miao Fengshou, drooled at the thought. With that money, he could go have some fun, maybe even double or triple it—heh, time to turn things around and live like a landlord.
“Yeah, yeah, Mom! With money we can eat meat!” her timid fourth sister, Miao Wangwang, said excitedly.
“Mm. Just wait—Mom’ll make sure you eat well and live well,” Zhang Cuiying said, her confidence soaring.
The Miao family all began rubbing their hands in anticipation.
At that moment, Qin Dafen emerged, supported by Shen Cuiping. Seeing this scene, mother and daughter immediately felt intimidated.
“Cuiping, quick… quick, call your brother and your younger brother home, hurry!”
With only a few women in the house, Qin Dafen couldn’t help feeling afraid.
“Hey, Mother-in-law, where do you think you’re going?”
Just as she tried to escape, Zhang Cuiying blocked the doorway with a broom.
With nowhere to go, Qin Dafen forced an awkward smile. “Heh heh, why have you all come? To visit Big Girl? Want some tea, maybe some sunflower seeds? I’ve got this year’s fresh ones.”
“Sure, bring them out, Grandma. I love cracking seeds,” Miao Miaomiao said lazily as she sat down, clearly enjoying the show. Today’s performance was called Two Tiger Mothers Clash—and it was a good one.
Her attitude made Qin Dafen grind her teeth. “You lazy daughter-in-law—!”
Miao Miaomiao ignored her and went straight inside, rummaging through Qin Dafen’s stash. Not only sunflower seeds, but even two jin of unshelled peanuts—she handed them all out.
Qin Dafen’s heart ached at the sight. That damned girl—since when did she know where the peanuts were hidden?!
But she couldn’t lash out now. She could only watch as the Miao family ate her food right in front of her.
Damn it—why hadn’t that eldest and fourth son come back yet?!
Zhang Cuiying, sharp as ever, noticed there were no men from the household around and immediately went on the offensive. “Mother-in-law, let me ask you: did you marry off my Big Girl to someone else last night and take two hundred yuan in bride price?”
Qin Dafen shot Miao Miaomiao a vicious glare. This little bitch—she must’ve tipped them off overnight!
An ungrateful white-eyed wolf, a husband-killing curse. If she’d known, she never would’ve taken her in.
Under Qin Dafen’s murderous stare, Miao Miaomiao remained calm. She leisurely cracked sunflower seeds and even smiled at her. “Mother-in-law, want some?”
That question made Qin Dafen’s heart pound even harder.
She was furious to death.
“No! Eat, eat, choke to death!” she muttered bitterly.
Zhang Cuiying, however, wasn’t having it. Why was this in-law dodging her question?
She rushed forward, grabbed Qin Dafen’s arm, and pressed her. “What’s going on, Qin Dafen? I asked you something—why aren’t you answering?”
Forced into a corner, Qin Dafen snapped.
“Get off me!” She shook her arm free and shouted, “Answer what? Once Big Girl married into my family, she became one of us! I can sell her or marry her off however I want—what business is it of yours?! What right do you have to ask?!”
“What?!” Zhang Cuiying’s eyes flew wide as she pointed at her nose and cursed, “You old hag, do you think this is still the old society? This is the New Republic! Your feudal nonsense doesn’t fly anymore! Even if Big Girl married into your family, she’s still my daughter. How can you sell her just because you feel like it?!”
“But I gave you a hundred yuan bride price—she’s my daughter-in-law!” Qin Dafen jabbed at herself. “My daughter-in-law! If I want her to remarry, she remarries. Her bride price belongs to me!”
“Yours? Ha ha ha ha—” Zhang Cuiying laughed and slapped her thigh, then turned to ask her family, “Would you agree to that?”
The Miao family all shook their heads. “No…”
With their support, Zhang Cuiying grew bolder. Hands on her thick waist, she pointed and cursed, “My Big Girl is such a fine woman—slim waist, strong hips, perfect for bearing children. Marrying her to your second son for only a hundred yuan was already a bargain. Too bad your second son had thin luck and a short life—went off early to sell salted duck eggs in the underworld. Can you blame us for that? It’s just that he didn’t have the fate to enjoy blessings. So now that he’s dead and Big Girl’s a widow, she should naturally return to her natal family! Her future marriage has nothing to do with your Shen family!”
“Mm, Mom’s right,” Miao Miaomiao said, cracking peanuts and giving her a thumbs-up.
Qin Dafen was dumbfounded. “But I paid a hundred yuan!”
“Old hag, can’t you understand?” Zhang Cuiying cursed, hands on her hips. “You paid the bride price, your son married her—the process is done. There’s no reason to return the money! As for your son dying and Big Girl becoming a widow, she naturally goes back to her parents’ home. Any future marriage has nothing to do with your Shen family!”
Qin Dafen’s voice trembled. “Then… the two hundred yuan for the new marriage—it doesn’t belong to us either?”
“Of course not!”
Zhang Cuiying stood tall as she spoke.
“Don’t even think about it!”
At that moment, Shen Jianzhang stepped into the room, his narrow, slitted eyes sweeping coldly over everyone inside.