After the ugly scene last night, the only way they could salvage their reputation would be to marry me back into the family, and then work me over good and proper.
None of their family could do farm work—they’d had to hire help every year in the past. With me around, they wouldn’t need to hire anyone. What a fine plan. A pity. I’d suffered through it once; there was no way I was going to repeat it.
Xie Facai’s face was dark, and Xie Yanlai suddenly walked over and tried to grab me.
I screamed and hid behind my older brother.
My brother shoved him away: “Don’t touch my sister. If she doesn’t want you, don’t be so shameless.”
Zhao Qin was frantic: “Are you even my son anymore? Your elder sister’s marriage didn’t bring in any bride price, and now your younger sister could finally get some bride-price money for you to marry a wife—and you won’t agree?”
I sneered: “I know exactly what you’re thinking. If I marry into that family, I’ll be tormented to death, and you wouldn’t care one bit.”
“Shut your mouth! If you’re so capable, go find yourself a city man to marry! Taking a bride price is the rule in this village!”
“Why should I shut up? I’ve said I won’t marry Xie Yanlai. If you love bride prices so much, make Liu Yaolan divorce him and marry him herself!”
Zhao Qin looked around wildly for something to hit me with: “How dare you curse your sister with divorce! I’ll beat you to death!”
“That’s enough, Ma, stop the racket!” My brother looked at the Xiejia people: “We’re all from the same village—no need to act like enemies. Let’s forget this marriage. Your son’s a decent sort; he’ll find a good match eventually.”
Liu Cuizhi wanted to say more, but Xie Facai stopped her. He said, somewhat helplessly: “Fine. It’s over anyway. Let’s just talk about the compensation.”
Everyone sat down to discuss compensation.
My father lit up his pipe and sat in the corner like a spectator in the audience, showing no intention whatsoever of getting involved.
Everyone was used to it and paid him no mind.
Sure enough, the talk turned to how my sister had spent their family’s money back in the day, and they demanded Zhao Qin pay it back.
Zhao Qin refused a hundred times over: “I’ve never heard of my daughter sping your money. Besides, when a courtship falls through, you don’t get the money back! I won’t pay. Go ask around—nobody does that.”
“Heh. If it were thirty or twenty yuan, fine, we wouldn’t be poor because of it. But your elder daughter—do you have any idea how much of our family’s money she spent?” Liu Cuizhi pulled out an account book and slammed it on the table, wetting her finger with spit to turn the pages and show Zhao Qin: “Look! Your daughter courted my son for two years—over a hundred yuan just on restaurant meals, plus clothes, pocket money, and a bicycle on top of that. Nearly seven hundred yuan altogether! That much money would be more than enough to marry off two wives. Can we just let that go? Nobody’s money comes blowing in on the wind!”
Liu Cuizhi had a very sharp tongue, and Zhao Qin had never been able to out-argue her. Her face flushed purple with rage, and she shot me a vicious glare.
I found it funny: “That money wasn’t spent on me. What are you glaring at me for?”
“You’re not off the hook either! Look how much of our family’s property you destroyed yesterday—our reputation is ruined too!” With me, it wasn’t just about money for Liu Cuizhi anymore—it was pure hatred.
My brother said: “I’ll pay for the window glass my sister broke yesterday. Anything else has nothing to do with her.”
“Zhenzhen!” Xie Yanlai looked at me with pained regret. “Why can’t you just understand my feelings? As long as you come back with me, I promise, all of this will be behind us—we’ll live a good life together…”
“I think that’s a fine idea too.” Zhao Qin stood up. “He’s being so sincere—why do you have to be so difficult? Someone like you, what kind of family do you think you’ll marry into in the future? You think you’ll rise to the top in one step? Just hurry back and stop wasting time here.”
I looked at Zhao Qin. “I’d rather die than go back. Get seven hundred yuan ready to compensate them. Your precious daughter made this mess, so she’ll bear the consequences herself. Otherwise, when they go to my brother-in-law’s workplace to demand the money, that’ll be quite the spectacle.”
“That’s right!” Liu Cuizhi slapped her thigh. “Why didn’t I think of that? If you don’t pay, we’ll go straight to the leaders at the Gongxiaoshe. I refuse to believe they’d dare deny the debt!”
At those words, Zhao Qin trembled with rage, pointing at me and raising her hand to strike again.
My brother kept a firm grip on her arm and said to the Xiejia people, “Enough. I’ll verify this with my eldest sister. If she really did sp that much money, we will pay you back. Let’s write up a note first—for exactly how much, we’ll pay it when the time comes. My second younger sister will compensate you for the glass she broke yesterday. From now on, this matter has nothing to do with me or my second sister.”
“What about yesterday’s wedding banquet?!” Liu Cuizhi demanded anxiously.
I smiled. “Yesterday, Uncle made himself perfectly clear—he never inted to have me pay for it. What, you said it in front of all those people yesterday, and today you’re denying it?”
Xie Facai, having been cornered by my words, looked far from pleased.
Liu Cuizhi said urgently, “So we’re just letting it go like that? Our family spent quite a bit of money over the two of you!”
“All you did was borrow money to put on a few tables of food. Your family concealed so many things and ruined my reputation for life—it’s generous of me not to demand compensation from you. If you keep pestering us, I’ll go to the village chief and the township head, and I’ll make sure your Xie Yanlai’s reputation is destroyed and he can never find a wife for the rest of his life.” I spoke slowly and calmly, in no hurry at all.
Liu Cuizhi clutched her chest in fury, coughing repeatedly.
Zhao Qin looked toward my father. “Stop playing dead! Tell us—how exactly is this going to be handled!”
My father puffed away at his pipe, completely ignoring her. Furious, Zhao Qin snatched the pipe from him and threw it aside. “What are you playing dead for! Lanlan is in trouble right now!”
My father sighed. “What can I say? The children are grown—I can’t control them, and the family money isn’t in my hands either. You all decide what to do. Just one thing: our Liu family has never owed anyone money. If there’s money in the house, pay it back; if not, make it up after the crops are sold in autumn. That’s my thinking.”
Everyone was stunned—those were probably the most words my father had ever said in his life.
Zhao Qin kicked my father in fury. “What do you know, you fool! What family ever demands repayment for money spent on courting!”
My father fell silent again, scratching at his hair, just sighing.
Liu Cuizhi sneered. “You say you won’t pay, so you won’t pay? Dream on. Let me make this ugly talk clear right now: if your family doesn’t pay back the money, I’ll never let this go!”
Zhao Qin snapped angrily, “Then what do you want!”
“What can I do? I’ll just cling to your family’s eldest daughter. I’ll tell everyone how shameless your girl is—she spent all our family’s money, slept with my son, and then the moment she found someone with better prospects, she just up and ran! Shameless hussy, aren’t you afraid of getting a disease!”
We were all stunned. I wondered to myself—Liu Yaolan had been dating him for two years. Had they really slept together?
Xie Yanlai hurriedly tugged at Liu Cuizhi’s arm. “That’s enough, Mom, don’t talk about this!”
My brother frowned. “Auntie, you can’t just say things like that.”
“Hmph!” Liu Cuizhi said smugly. “If you don’t pay up, I’ll spread it everywhere. Just you wait!”
“You shameless hag, slinging mud at my daughter like this—I’ll fight you to the death!” Zhao Qin charged over and grappled with Liu Cuizhi.
Liu Cuizhi kicked Zhao Qin in the knee. “What I said is the truth! How dare you hit me?”
Zhao Qin was far too fat and slow-moving, so she fell straight to the ground. She dragged Liu Cuizhi down with her, and the two women brawled in the courtyard, quickly getting covered in dirt. Everyone else rushed over to pull them apart, but the two women fought with such ferocity that they couldn’t be separated.
I stood far off, not getting involved at all.
It took my brother a long while to finally pull them apart. Zhao Qin had a mouthful of dirt, her hair a mess, her clothes covered in dust. Furious, she cursed at me: “It’s all because of you, you little bitch! If you hadn’t broken off the engagement, would I have taken this beating?”
I looked at her calmly. “If your daughter hadn’t spent his family’s money, none of this would have happened.”
“I’ll beat you to death—”
My brother stopped Zhao Qin. “Just why did Big Sister sp so much of their money? Did she buy a bicycle too? She’s already married—what’s the deal with still using her ex’s things?”
“Let me ask my sister first and see if it’s true.” Zhao Qin stood up, flustered, brushing the dust off herself.
“You’re still going to deny it? Plenty of people saw that bicycle my son bought her—hardly anyone in the village can afford a bicycle these days!” Liu Cuizhi sneered. “If you won’t own up to it, we’ll go make a scene at her fiancé’s house and see who s up humiliated.”