At this moment, Su Qiao’s arms were both being gripped by Su Xiaowu, and her mouth was being pressed tightly by him, making it even hard for her to breathe.
With no other choice, she had to endure the blows from the broom that Wang Lanxiang was swinging at her.
But this did nothing to satisfy Wang Lanxiang’s anger.
Just thinking about the neighbors she had seen peeking out from their yards earlier made her even more furious. She took a deep breath and raised the broom at Su Qiao once again.
This time, Su Xiaowu felt a twinge of fear.
He quickly let go of Su Qiao and reached out to block the broom. “Mother, stop! Tomorrow is the engagement banquet, isn’t it? If she gets hurt, and so many people are watching! Just talk to her—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Su Qiao, who had broken free, charged straight at Wang Lanxiang, hitting her squarely in the stomach!
Caught completely off guard, Wang Lanxiang let out a loud “Ouch!” and toppled backward, landing hard on the ground with a thud.
“Mother!” Su Xiaowu was terrified.
He bent down quickly to help his mother, while Su Qiao took advantage of the moment to dash toward the door.
“What on earth are you doing, Xiao Qiao?!”
Seeing the scene, Su Xiaowu panicked. He abandoned his mother and stood up.
But when Su Qiao reached the door, she found that the main room’s door had been locked by Wang Lanxiang. Trapped and unable to get out, Su Qiao grew frantic!
Without thinking, she grabbed a nearby stool and smashed it against the door with all her strength.
At the same time, she shouted even louder, “Help! Someone save me! My aunt is trying to sell me for money!”
Her voice cracked with sobs, piercing and agonizing, sending shivers down anyone’s spine who heard it.
This was exactly the scene Xiao Qifeng saw when he arrived at the Su household.
He froze in place, and the calm expression he had had moments ago was replaced by sheer disbelief.
He turned to his old classmate, Su Xiaojun, standing beside him, and asked sternly, “What’s going on here? Your cousin doesn’t agree to this marriage?!”
Su Xiaojun didn’t expect that when he left for work that morning, the house was fine, how had it turned into such chaos in just a short while?
His face flushed red and white in embarrassment, caught completely off guard.
He didn’t dare respond to Xiao Qifeng and instead hurried to the main room. He pushed hard against the door that had been locked from the inside and shouted roughly, “Mother, what are you doing? Open the door right now!”
To emphasize the urgency, he added, “Qifeng is here, he specifically came to see Su Qiao!”
Those words carried undeniable weight.
Inside, there was a brief pause of silence, followed by a flurry of clattering and fumbling sounds.
Soon, the door opened, and Wang Lanxiang, looking completely messy, limped out.
She first gave Xiao Qifeng an awkward smile, then put on an air of normalcy and said, “Qifeng is here? Come in, come in, sit down!”
As she spoke, she kept sending frantic glances toward the inside, while Su Xiaowu was struggling to cover Su Qiao’s mouth and drag her back into the room.
Xiao Qifeng stood still, furrowing his brow, quietly observing the scene.
He had received a telegram from his mother, Wu Xiuping, only after buying his train ticket home.
The telegram contained just one sentence: “Return immediately for the wedding.”
Holding the telegram, Xiao Qifeng was completely baffled. He had no idea what his mother was causing such a commotion about.
He had returned from the battlefield three months ago.
Due to a severe leg injury, he had been transferred to the military hospital for treatment.
Before that, he hadn’t been home for more than two years.
Considering his condition, the military had notified Wu Xiuping and even provided travel expenses so she could visit him in the hospital.
Seeing her son’s leg tightly bandaged, Wu Xiuping didn’t ask a word. She wiped away her tears and took care of him at the hospital for two full weeks.
Later, she had to return home because she couldn’t leave her grandson, Xiao Shu’er, being fostered at someone else’s house.
On the train, Xiao Qifeng kept thinking, replaying the conversations he had had with his mother during those hospital days. He still couldn’t figure out when they had ever talked about marriage.
Fortunately, the train from the capital, where the military headquarters was, to his home was only about twenty-some hours. He had left early this morning to make the journey.
What surprised Xiao Qifeng even more was that Wu Xiuping looked even more astonished to see him.
The first words out of her mouth were, “Why isn’t your leg crippled?”
The second were, “How did you get back so fast?”
Xiao Qifeng could only stare in silence.
After he pressed repeatedly, Wu Xiuping finally explained everything she had been doing these past days.
Only then did he realize that his mother hadn’t lied in the telegram, she really had arranged a bride for him.
And it was the daughter of Aunt Qiuyue she had been talking about for so many years—Su Qiao.
“I heard from the doctors that your leg might have lasting problems, and that you wouldn’t be able to return to the military. I wasn’t worried about you being discharged, I just thought… would you be upset if it happened?”
Wu Xiuping wiped her tears as she explained to her son.
“Why did I send the telegram so late? That was on purpose. I thought I’d get the bride married before you came home. Otherwise, when you got back, you’d be embarrassed, overthinking things, and it might all get delayed.
Your Aunt Qiuyue’s daughter is truly a good girl! Go ask around, where else in ten miles could you find such a girl? I’m telling you, if her eldest aunt hadn’t been so scheming, trying to marry her off to someone else so her own second child could get a wife, a girl this good wouldn’t even have been available to you!
I really care about Su Qiao, so I helped make sure this marriage happened for you. Don’t glare at me, your mother didn’t cheat anyone. I explained everything clearly to her eldest aunt, even about your leg. And all the three hundred yuan you sent over the years were used as her betrothal gift. No matter what, I wouldn’t shortchange your Aunt Qiuyue’s daughter!”
At this, Wu Xiuping paused, looked at her son’s leg, and ground her teeth in anger. “But if I had known your leg wasn’t crippled, I wouldn’t have given so much, what a bargain for that black-hearted woman! Ah, it would’ve been better to save some for your new house!”
Hearing his mother constantly talk about his “crippled leg,” Xiao Qifeng’s temple throbbed.
He finally couldn’t hold back, dropped his luggage, and said to his mother, “Go notify the village! This engagement banquet is off. Su Qiao is underage, and I haven’t filed a marriage report. If they go through with it without approval from my unit, that would be a huge mistake!”
Hearing this, Wu Xiuping was shocked. She had never anticipated such a situation.
The key question—
“You didn’t get discharged? Weren’t you supposed to be unable to return to the military because of your leg?” she asked anxiously.
Xiao Qifeng had to stop and explain helplessly again, “I can’t go back to my original unit, so I’ve been transferred to the military district. Mother, hurry and notify them. I’ll go to the Su household and clear this up.”
Even if the engagement banquet couldn’t take place, knowing her son’s leg was fine and he could continue serving in the military made Wu Xiuping happy.
She smiled broadly as she followed him out of the house, shouting after him, “Talk to them properly! Even if the banquet can’t happen for now, Su Qiao is still our daughter-in-law. Make it clear, they can hold the banquet next year after the wedding certificate is issued, and we’ll celebrate in style!”
Xiao Qifeng didn’t even drink a drop of water at home before hurrying off to Xiaojin Village. He never expected to see such a scene waiting for him.
Seeing Xiao Qifeng standing there without moving, Wang Lanxiang immediately realized that he had heard everything Su Qiao had just said.
Angry and resentful in her heart but unable to show it, she could only try to come up with some excuse.
She pretended to be angry and scolded from inside the house, “Xiao Qiao, you’re old enough to know better! Even if you’re mad at me, you can’t talk nonsense like this! What do you mean ‘selling you’? How is that losing your conscience? Your uncle and I have worked so hard to raise the three of you, and for you to say something like that, that’s really losing your conscience!”
From inside the room came the sounds of struggling footsteps, along with muffled whimpers from the girl whose mouth was being covered.
Xiao Qifeng really couldn’t watch any longer. He turned to Wang Lanxiang and asked, “Aunt, can you let me talk to Su Qiao alone?”
Wang Lanxiang’s expression changed, but she couldn’t refuse this request.
After all, the betrothal gifts had already been exchanged, according to custom, they were considered engaged. Xiao Qifeng hadn’t been home for many years, and now he was asking to meet his fiancée. There was simply no way to say no.
Gritting her teeth, Wang Lanxiang had no choice but to go back into the house herself. Soon, she deliberately raised her voice so that it carried.
“Don’t be so ungrateful! Go take a look at Xiao Qifeng! A son-in-law like him, where could you find one like that, even if you searched a hundred miles? Even with a lantern, you’d have trouble finding one! If your uncle and I weren’t sincerely looking out for you, would we have picked a future husband like this for you? Su Qiao, be honest, how is this ‘selling you’? How is this wronging you?!”
Wang Lanxiang’s finger nearly pointed at Su Qiao’s face as she spoke.
The more she spoke, the angrier she got, until her heart ached with frustration.
If the Xiao family hadn’t specifically wanted to marry Su Qiao, and if the matchmaker hadn’t said that Xiao Qifeng’s leg was crippled and he might have to leave the military…
Her son’s future would still have been uncertain. Xiao Qifeng had been to the battlefield and carried military merits. If he were transferred to civilian life later, whether to the county or the town, he would likely get a respectable position. With this marriage connection, her second son, Xiaowu, would have a chance at a good job in the future.
If her son got a good position, why worry about marriage? He could surely find an even better wife!
And since the Xiao family promised such a generous betrothal gift, Wang Lanxiang reluctantly agreed to let such a good match go to Su Qiao.
Otherwise, she could have kept someone this good for her own daughter, her own Xiaona hadn’t even had a match set yet!
Yet this damned girl still didn’t appreciate it!
Thinking of this, and seeing Xiao Qifeng’s perfectly fine legs, Wang Lanxiang felt as if her whole body was about to split apart in frustration.