Bride Swap Backfire: My Cousin's Rebirth Made Us a Power Couple-Chapter 25 - 22: The Third Branch of the Chen Family
Chen Song returned home that evening.
The news of Wo Laicai’s confession, however, had reached the Zhao Village before him.
It was the third Chen brother, Chen Lin, who brought the news back from the county seat.
Ordinarily, the Chen family’s pancake stall would close down after noon, only staying open all day during market fairs. But this time, in order to snoop for details about the sensational murder case, their stall had stayed open for the entire day.
By nightfall, concrete news had come from the government office. Even the merchant’s parents had come in person to claim the body. As soon as he heard, Chen Lin packed up his stall, closed up shop, and headed back to the Zhao Village.
As one might expect, Chen Lin, bearing such momentous news, became the star of the entire Zhao Village.
Before Chen Song got back, the house where the old Chen couple lived with the third branch of the family was impenetrably surrounded, with crowds packed three layers deep both inside and out.
But the moment Chen Song returned, the situation changed entirely.
With a cry of "The eldest Chen brother is back!" the crowd scattered like birds and beasts, all of them rushing over to Chen Song’s house.
Chen Lin and his mother were dumbstruck. When they came to their senses, the mother and son were not only embarrassed, but also fuming, their faces beet red with anger.
One of the slowest old women, struggling to step over the threshold, said to the son supporting her, "The eldest Chen brother works right in the government office. He’ll know every detail of how the case was tried. Hurry up, let’s walk faster, or we’ll miss out."
Hearing this, the grandmother’s eyes blazed with fire.
This old woman, just moments ago, had used her seniority and their good relationship to squeeze in and sit right beside her.
And now, with her still right here, she was saying such disheartening things. ’Tch, that old hag. If you don’t know how to talk, then just shut up. It won’t kill you to keep your mouth closed!’
Once everyone had cleared out completely, the grandmother started ordering her son and daughter-in-law around. "What are you still standing there gaping for? Are you waiting for me to feed you? Hurry up! Dish out the rice and bring out the bowls. You’re all lazy as sin. This old woman has no interest in waiting on you."
The old patriarch of the Chen family puffed on his long-stemmed pipe, his expression hidden by the dark night and the swirling smoke.
Chen Lin’s face was ashen, as if he’d been slapped several times. His expression couldn’t have been uglier.
Seeing this, Mrs. Li quickly pulled Chen Wanyue into the kitchen.
She didn’t dare order the men around, and she couldn’t bring herself to order her son. Besides, kitchen chores weren’t a man’s job anyway, so she only pulled Wanyue in to help.
Chen Wanyue was not happy about it. Her looks were already a step below her cousin’s. If she didn’t take good care of herself, how could she hope to win Li Cun’s affection even if she managed to marry into the Li family?
Besides, the matter she’d asked her grandmother to arrange hadn’t made any progress. She was growing more and more frustrated. It was a wonder she wasn’t already sulking and throwing a tantrum. ’And they expect me to work? Dream on!’
Wanyue’s mind was a mess. After entering the kitchen, she plopped down on the small stool by the stove and refused to move.
Seeing this, Mrs. Li grumbled as she dished out the rice, "Am I your mother, or are you mine? Raising a daughter is like raising an ancestor. I must have owed you in a past life. You ungrateful girl, I’m only making you work for your own good! If you aren’t diligent and quick with your hands, once you get to your husband’s family, you’ll just be waiting for your mother-in-law to despise you."
"If I could bring a hundred-odd chests of dowry with me, my mother-in-law would worship me like a goddess. But if I’m as capable as can be and still enter her home with nothing, it would be a mercy if she didn’t lay down the law for me three times a day. Speaking of which, Mother, how much of a dowry are you and Father preparing for me?"
"That depends on how much the Zhao family gives for your betrothal gift. If the Zhao family is generous, your father and I will prepare two mahogany chests, two new cotton quilts, and two new sets of clothes for you. If the betrothal gift is just average, then you can just pack up your clothes in a bundle and take them to Zhao Jing’s home."
Hearing this, Chen Wanyue’s face darkened. "And what about the betrothal gift from the Zhao family? Do I get to take that with me too?"
"Of course not! The betrothal gift is nominally for you, but it’s actually to thank us for the grace of raising you all these years. If you had any consideration for your father and me, or for your brother, you wouldn’t even think about touching the betrothal gift."
Chen Wanyue couldn’t help but let out a cold, bitter laugh. She was too angry to even bother with a retort.
’See? It’s just like this. It was just like this in my past life!’
In her last life, the betrothal gift from the Zhao family was just the standard amount. Her own parents had insisted on keeping all of it, giving her only a single mahogany chest and two new sets of clothes as a dowry.
She was the one who had to throw a fit, threatening to go to the village chief if they didn’t meet her demands.
The village chief was Zhao Jing’s paternal uncle, so naturally he would side with him. She had to resort to threats and coercion, using Baoshan’s reputation and future prospects as leverage, to finally make her parents add five taels of silver to the bottom of her dowry chest.
She had originally thought that since she had been reborn, things would surely change.
But who knew, a leopard can’t change its spots! Her parents were selfish by nature. No matter how many lifetimes passed, they would never think to treat their daughter generously or give her a respectable dowry of their own accord.
Furious, Chen Wanyue blurted out the thoughts she had been hiding. "I’m not marrying Zhao Jing. I want to marry Li Cun." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Mrs. Li slapped her on the head. "You little troublemaker! You can’t even eat a meal without making your mother angry, can you? What Li Cun? Where did this Li Cun come from? Who the hell is he? You’re not marrying Zhao Jing? Who will you marry then? Let me tell you, Zhao Jing’s mourning period is almost over. Your marriage could be formally arranged in just a few days. If you screw this up for me, even if I don’t do anything to you, your father will skin you alive!"
"Hah, you think I’m afraid of you? Go on, I dare you. I, Chen Wanyue, mean what I say. I’m telling you straight today: I am not marrying Zhao Jing. I am going to marry Li Cun!"
"What Zhao Jing, what Li Cun, are you two done yet? Are you planning to drag this meal out until tomorrow morning? Hurry up and bring out the food! If you keep dawdling, see if I don’t give you a good thrashing!"
Chen Lin shouted from the kitchen doorway, his face dark.
Hearing this, the grandmother thought, ’Oh no, this is bad!’
’Wanyue has such a short fuse. There’s been no progress on switching her marriage arrangement these past two days; she must be worried sick.’
’But no matter how anxious you are, you should wait until things are settled before you say anything. What’s the use of saying all this now? It’ll only anger her parents and ruin everything.’
’This plague-of-a-granddaughter, all talk and no action.’
’Looks like it’s up to me, her old grandmother, to smooth things over and clean up this mess today.’
By the time the grandmother hobbled out of the main hall, a fight had already broken out in the kitchen.
Mrs. Li was holding Chen Lin back as he roared at Chen Wanyue in a low voice, "You wicked girl, I dare you to say that again! What do you mean, not marrying Zhao Jing and marrying Li Cun? Who the hell is this Li Cun? When did you two get together? Is he trying to abduct you...?"
Chen Lin’s fury was like that of a vicious wolf whose authority had been challenged. Seeing his ferocious expression and how he was directing all his earlier anger at her, Chen Wanyue felt a flicker of fear. Still, she stuck her neck out and shouted back defiantly.
"It’s none of that. We’ve never even properly met, but I know he’s a good scholar, he’s handsome, and he’ll have a bright future. I am going to marry him. If you don’t let me have my way, I’ll make a huge scene. At worst, we’ll all go down together."
