Chapter 6: The Big Family

Chapter 6

Mrs. Xu held onto the woman beside her, Mrs. Gu Jiu, and asked with great confusion, "Sister-in-law, I don't quite understand our customs here. At this age, can she still become a child bride? She's old enough to have her own child bride!" Updated chapters at novelhall.com

Mrs. Xu almost burst out laughing. That comment really hit home.

Holding back her laughter, she answered seriously, "Of course not, that's not possible."

Their voices were audible to everyone around them.

Wu Sanniang glared fiercely at Gu Jiu through her tearful eyes, then continued to beg Mrs. Gao piteously, "Auntie, auntie, let me be a maid in your house, a servant girl doing chores. I'll take any food you give me, please just take me in!"

Mrs. Gao frowned. "Sanniang, your parents are still here. How can I, an outsider, become your master? You're neglecting your parents and wanting to be my beast of burden. That's so unfilial. We can't do such an indecent thing. Go back home."

Not too far away, Wu Laowu angrily shouted, "You ungrateful wretch, so eager to saddle someone else with you, is that it? Fine, don't come back! Oldest Xie, we don't want this worthless girl anymore. Take her away, sell her off or use her as livestock, it's up to you. At least we'll save some food."

Mrs. Zhang muttered from the side, "I've never seen such people. One girl sets her eyes on someone else's son and stubbornly tries to impose herself. The other despises her own flesh and blood, wasting the family's food, and seizes the chance to foist her off on others. What kind of people are they?"

Mrs. Zhang pulled Oldest Xie toward her, shielding him behind her back. She instructed Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Sun, "You two from the second and third families, look after my mother-in-law and go on ahead."

Then she turned and berated Wu Sanniang, "Can't you understand plain speech? You think you can pull this stunt just because my mother-in-law is kindhearted? Do you think we don't know what you're scheming? First, you want to impose yourself on our family. Next, you'll latch onto our Fourth Son. Finally, you want our Fourth Son to marry you? You must be dreaming! There's a line of girls from the county town waiting to marry our Fourth Son, and you think you're worthy? What a joke, get lost!"

Wu Sanniang's face turned pale, then red, her eyes flashing with resentful defiance. Her expression twisted as tears streamed down, and she protested miserably, "I didn't... Sister-in-law, let me explain..."

But Mrs. Zhang didn't let her finish. Hands on hips, she shouted at the villagers, "All of you, get moving! Do you want to lose your lives gawking?"

Mrs. Zhang's ferocity was well-known far and wide. At her roar, young and old dared not linger, urging each other, "Let's go, let's go."

From afar, Wu Laowu cursed at Wu Sanniang, "You shameless thing, why don't you just chase after them?"

His tone suggested he wished Wu Sanniang would really disregard everything and follow the Xie family.

Unfortunately, after hesitating for a while, Wu Sanniang didn't dare gamble that the Xie family would take her in, so she trudged back dejectedly.

Mrs. Xu reached out and patted the small bundle on Gu Jiu's head, worried she might misunderstand Mrs. Zhang's harsh demeanor as being callous. She explained with a smile, "Our Fourth Son is so handsome that all the young ladies in the village like him. Whenever they hear Fourth Son has returned from school in the county town, they invent excuses to come to our house, especially this Wu Sanniang. She tries every trick in the book and just won't leave, pestering Fourth Son and not letting him study in peace."

"Our mother-in-law is well-read and sensible, so she doesn't do that shrewish scolding thing. My brother's wife and I are not very eloquent, so we rely on the elder sister-in-law's sharp tongue to take control of the situation."

The relatively well-off Xie family owned a donkey cart loaded with grains, sweet potatoes, pots, basins, jars of pickled vegetables, and other supplies, leaving just enough space for the ailing Mrs. Gao to sit.

Mrs. Gao was helped off the cart by Third Xie and comforted Gu Jiu, "Bear with it a little longer. It'll be better once we reach the mountain."

Gu Jiu nodded obediently. What else could she do but endure?

On this journey accompanying the Xie family, she had come to know them all.

The Xie family was large and thriving, clearly dominated by male offspring. Oldest Xie had five brothers in total, and the younger generation had produced four sons: Xie Daji, Xie Erqing, Xie Sanyou, and Xie Siyu, all boys without exception.

Adding Oldest Xie, Third Xie, and their three wives, as well as the matriarch Mrs. Gao and the adopted Gu Jiu, their party numbered fifteen in total, a sizable crowd of young and old.

Having many men was advantageous in this era, the main benefit being none dared provoke them.

The downside was the lack of daughters in the family, which made them dote on Gu Jiu. Even six-year-old Xie Siyu insisted on carrying her bundle, worried she might overexert herself, stubbornly refusing to let her bear any burden.

Even so, Gu Jiu felt more exhausted than Xie Siyu.

Mrs. Gao stretched her stiff body and remarked, "Your feet must have blisters. You'll need to lance them, or they'll be more painful once they rupture tomorrow."

Gu Jiu understood, giving an affirmative reply. She hauled herself up and approached Mrs. Zhang, the eldest sister-in-law. "Elder Sister, do you have a needle?"

Mrs. Zhang was distributing dry rations and glanced at Gu Jiu, muttering under her breath, "Poor child, so much trouble."

She stuffed the ration bag into Mrs. Xu's hands. "Wait a moment."

Mrs. Xu smiled reassuringly at Gu Jiu, "Jiu Niang, don't mind her. The elder sister-in-law is actually quite kind. You'll understand once you've been around her longer."

"I know, a harsh tongue but a tender heart. I get it," Gu Jiu replied with a smile.

Mrs. Sun laughed, "Oh my, Jiu Niang is so perceptive. The elder sister-in-law is like a paper tiger, seeming fierce but truly soft-hearted."

Mrs. Zhang approached with a needle, scowling without warmth, "Who said that? I have a harsh tongue and an equally harsh heart, harder than iron."

"Mmm," Gu Jiu took the needle, continuing, "Smelted iron."

The Xie family members all laughed, the atmosphere becoming relaxed for the moment.