The Qin family truly hadn’t expected to be counter-accused by Jia Zhangshi even under such circumstances. They were so enraged that their blood pressure skyrocketed, their chests tightened, and they nearly couldn’t catch their breath.
They couldn’t believe there existed someone so despicable and shameless in this day and age—thicker-skinned than the heavens, practically an ancient old monster!
For a moment, the onlooking crowd began murmuring among themselves.
The Jia family had a poor reputation in this compound, especially after Old Jia’s death. Jia Zhangshi, leveraging her widow status, had been throwing tantrums and causing scenes everywhere, plaguing nearly everyone in the compound.
Just think—back in the earlier years when Jia Dongxu hadn’t yet entered the factory and Jia Zhangshi refused to work, where did their daily necessities and food come from?
Weren’t they all extorted from the compound?
Thus, in the original storyline, Qin Huairu became so adept at swindling and playing the victim after becoming a widow precisely because she had an experienced old hag at home teaching her step by step!
However, Jia Zhangshi was a classic hypocrite—she wanted her daughter-in-law to exploit widowhood for scams while refusing to let her escape control, berating her for interacting with other men and calling her shameless.
Honestly, Qin Huairu should have made a clean break back then, taking the children and leaving Jia Zhangshi to fend for herself.
Unfortunately, Qin Huairu was inherently family-oriented and child-focused, which ultimately made her a pawn under Jia Zhangshi’s control.
“Marry a chicken, follow a chicken; marry a dog, follow a dog”—Qin Huairu wasn’t inherently bad and was quite responsible, but in the original plot, she married the wrong person.
Now, with things having escalated to this point, there was no way Qin Huairu would marry into the Jia family, and she’d become the talk of the town.
It’s also worth mentioning that by this time, the tripartite authority of the Three Great Uncles in the compound had begun to take clear shape.
He Daqing and Xu Damao’s father both failed to secure dominance, thanks in no small part to the Deaf Old Lady stirring the waters.
Zhang Yuanlin saw no issue with this outcome.
The Jia family had a lousy reputation, and the Xu family was just as bad, if not more repulsive.
Jia Zhangshi was openly shameless—no pretenses—while the Xu family smiled to your face but stabbed you in the back. Together, they were a perfect pair of scoundrels, despised inside and out.
As for He Daqing, he was simply an old fool—a widow-obsessed man who’d even abandon his own children for one. He was also vicious when hitting people. Having someone like him as an elder would likely land someone in the hospital every time.
Zhang Yuanlin did wonder, though, why no one ever called He Daqing “Foolish Qing”?
Oh, right—the nickname “Shazhu” was given by He Daqing himself!
Well, that explained it—a father setting up his own son. No one else could interfere!
Thus, under the Deaf Old Lady’s scheming, Yi Zhonghai, whom she treated like an adopted son, became the First Elder; Liu Haizhong, with his three sons, became the Second Uncle; and Yan Bugui, who’d read some books, ended up as the Third Uncle.
Admittedly, this was the best lineup the compound could muster. What could you expect from a place of this caliber?
Just think—none of the three elders could overpower Shazhu alone; they had to team up to keep him in check. When the compound’s authorities were being compared to Shazhu, how good could they possibly be?
Amid the crowd, onlookers chatted among themselves, and the Three Great Uncles had their own opinions.
The First Elder’s wife asked:
“Old Yi, Dongxu is your apprentice. Things have escalated to this point, are you sure you won’t say something?”
Yi Zhonghai scratched his head in frustration, thinking that while moral kidnapping was his specialty, the other party wasn’t even from their compound yet – how could he possibly apply it?
“I’d like to speak up, but no matter how you look at it, the Jia Family is in the wrong here. If you ask me, Old Sister-in-law should lower her head for now. There would be plenty of time to deal with things after the girl enters their household. But Old Sister-in-law has no patience – she wants to suppress her future daughter-in-law before she’s even married. Now that Qin Huairu’s parents have seen through it, what can we do?”
To be honest, Yi Zhonghai felt disappointed by their incompetence. Such a good daughter-in-law – if they could bring her into the family, having both husband and wife to support him in his old age would make his retirement much more secure.
He had originally taken Jia Dongxu as his apprentice precisely because the young man had lost his father and had no job.
As the saying goes, a teacher for a day is a father for life. He had given Jia Dongxu employment, so when he grew old, surely Jia Dongxu would find ways to take care of him and provide for his retirement?
Moreover, Yi Zhonghai had been closely following Jia Dongxu’s matchmaking progress because the quality of Jia Dongxu’s wife would directly impact his own retirement plans.
After learning that Qin Huairu was an excellent girl, Yi Zhonghai had intended to help the Jia Family. He never expected Jia Zhangshi to be so impatient – starting to suppress the girl before she’d even crossed their threshold. Now they’d angered the other party right from the start – how could he possibly help?
After all, as the First Elder and chief manager of the compound, Yi Zhonghai had to protect his reputation. He needed to carefully consider every action. In this situation where Jia Zhangshi was clearly at fault, he had no justification for forcefully intervening.
Most importantly, if Qin Huairu didn’t enter their compound, Yi Zhonghai couldn’t even employ moral kidnapping. What would be the point of all this effort if she just turned around and left? Wouldn’t that make all his scheming pointless?
“What a pity! Such a fine girl. The matchmaker says she’s hardworking and capable – she’d probably be good at taking care of people too!”
Yi Zhonghai shook his head, and his wife sighed beside him. Since they had no children of their own, they could only find other ways to address their retirement concerns.
Not far away, Second Aunt was also complaining.
“This Jia Zhangshi really… speaking like that to someone who hasn’t even married into the family yet. Nobody would be happy with that!”
Liu Haizhong nodded in agreement:
“Indeed, this isn’t how you suppress someone. Jia Zhangshi should learn from the factory leaders about this – being too obvious only backfires. No, Jia Zhangshi is really inadequate in this aspect!”
Their son Liu Guangqi, hearing this, desperately wanted to suggest that his parents intercept Qin Huairu for himself. But since he wasn’t even eighteen yet, he couldn’t possibly bring it up!
Meanwhile, Third Aunt on the other side was shaking her head too:
“So stingy! At the very least, they should have prepared proper appearances!”
Yan Bugui chimed in:
“That’s true. You need to choose the right moment for scheming. They started calculating before they’re even family! I’m not even as calculating as Jia Zhangshi. At minimum, you need to maintain appearances. But it’s good to watch and learn – we can treat this as a teaching moment. When our children get married in the future, we mustn’t make the same mistakes.”
Secretly, Yan Bugui lamented that such stinginess would never secure a daughter-in-law. Well, it seemed they couldn’t cut corners when their children started matchmaking later!
These families with underage children were purely here for the spectacle. Since their children weren’t of marriageable age yet, they had no other considerations.
But Shazhu and Xu Damao were different.
Shazhu had his eyes on Qin Huairu. Seeing that the Jia Family couldn’t control her, he immediately declared to his father He Daqing:
“Dad, I want to marry Qin Huairu! Give me the bride price money – twenty, no, thirty! I must marry her!”
Whack!
A chestnut knock landed on Shazhu’s head as He Daqing’s eyes widened in fury.
“Get lost! How old are you, you little brat, to be thinking about a wife? Your dad here is still single!”
“Besides, this girl looks like the difficult type. Our father-son household is already a mess – if we marry her, who’d end up serving whom?”
Shazhu felt utterly wronged. I’m already nineteen, why can’t I think about marriage?
As for household chores, I’ll just do them myself if I have to!
Meanwhile, He Daqing grumbled inwardly: Marrying a wife costs money! The family savings are reserved for my own wedding!
Last time I secretly asked someone to find me a pretty widow – we’re meeting in a few days. Wonder if she’ll be as beautiful as Qin Huairu?
Nearby, He Yushui who had come along to watch the commotion listened to her brother and father’s conversation, missing her deceased mother again. Besides her own mother, neither her father nor brother cared about her at all!
Not far away, Xu Damao was equally captivated. Being a lecher by nature, he could barely walk straight whenever he saw Qin Huairu. Though slightly better than Shazhu, it was merely a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
“Dad, Mom, I’ve taken a liking to Qin Huairu. How about our family offering twenty yuan as bride price?”
Mr. and Mrs. Xu exchanged glances and immediately began their earnest lecturing.
“Damao, you must remember – pretty women are everywhere, but wealthy women are one in a million.”
“You need to focus on money, on prosperity. In the future, we’ll only find you someone from a well-off family. She’s just a country girl – what’s so good about her?”
“Besides, her family is too greedy. They weren’t satisfied with fifteen yuan bride price and a Sewing Machine. We’re counting on you marrying rich and bringing things back from your in-laws!”
“Be obedient now. This one’s too poor – we don’t want her. Look at their bumpkin appearance – marrying her would bring no profit, only losses. We don’t want this kind!”