Chapter 118 Wild Man
When the villagers saw that Liang Laoer and his family had come to the Jiang family for a banquet, they all began to talk about it in low voices.
"Hey, isn't this the family of Jiang Xiucai's former fiancée? They actually had the nerve to come to the Jiang family for dinner after breaking off the engagement."
"Yeah, how can their family have the nerve to attend Jiang Xiucai's celebration banquet?"
"I'm afraid that the daughter of Liang Laoer still has feelings for Jiang Lin. I heard that she went to the county town to study in order to win back Jiang Lin's heart. After all, there is no young man in the village who can compare to such an outstanding man as Jiang Lin."
"What a pity! Even if Liang Qianhuan reads more books now, the Jiang family probably won't look down on her."
"Yes, now that Jiang Lin has passed the imperial examination, his status has changed. Today is different from the past. I'm afraid the Liang family must be regretting it. If they had saved this marriage, the Liang family would have a scholar wife now."
"Yes, yes. Although Liang Qianhuan's appearance is one of the best in our Yunfeng Village, it's a pity that no matter how pretty she is, she can't change her status as a peasant. Even if she can make money now, she is no longer worthy of our Jiang Xiucai."
"Although she can help the family earn money now, a girl who always dresses up inappropriately to do business doesn't look like a girl at all. Not to mention the current Jiang family, even in ordinary families, no elders would like such an unruly girl as a daughter-in-law."
……
Everyone was talking at once, and all kinds of ridicule and mockery could be heard. This is human nature, they flatter the powerful and look down on the weak.
Liang Laoer and Liu felt so uncomfortable when they sat at the table that they wished they could dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.
Old Man Liang and his whole family were also invited. Old Lady Liang and the others didn't care about the criticisms. After all, the two families had severed their relationship, and being mocked had nothing to do with their family.
Qianhuan ignored everyone's discussions. When she saw her auntie coming over with Wenjie, she immediately ran over and greeted them warmly: "Auntie, Wenjie, you guys are here for the banquet too. Jiang Xiucai's house is really lively today. You guys have to eat more later."
"Qianhuan, how come your family is here too?" Chen really didn't expect Qianhuan's whole family to come.
Qianhuan deliberately said loudly: "It was Jiang Xiucai's mother who came to invite us. We said that our family didn't have money to give gifts, so we wouldn't come to dinner. But Jiang Xiucai's mother said that she didn't want any gifts, and just wanted our family to come to dinner empty-handed."
Qianhuan deliberately sighed and said loudly, "Alas, they are begging us so much, we can't be so unkind, just give them some face and come to show our support. Besides, we are not stupid, it would be a waste not to eat the free food."
When everyone heard her say this, they finally understood that it was not Liang Laoer's family who came to eat with flattering attitude, but the Jiang family who begged them to come.
Well, his son is a high school scholar, so shouldn’t he show off?
Seeing Qianhuan looking nonchalant, Chen felt relieved. She had been worried that her niece would be sad to see her ex-fiancé enjoying such a glorious life.
After the sound of firecrackers rang out, everyone began to sit down and prepare to eat.
Some people who wanted to curry favor with the Jiang family were assigned to the same table with Qianhuan and the others, but they even stood up and went to other tables in disgust. In the end, Chen brought Wenjie, and the Zhang and Xie families next door to sit at the same table with them.
Qianhuan secretly remembered those people in her heart, and then began to pick up food for Liu and Liang Laoer, asking them to eat more.
At this time, Jiang Xiucai's mother cleared her throat and began to speak: "Thank you all for coming to the celebration banquet for my son's passing the examination. Here, I have another big happy event to announce, that is, my son Jiang Lin and Miss Liu Yingying, the daughter of Mr. Liu in the town, are going to get engaged. Everyone here today is a witness."
Everyone suddenly realized that it was no wonder that there was always a well-dressed girl following Jiang Lin today. It turned out that she was the only daughter of Mr. Liu in the town.
Everyone started talking at once again: "Jiang Lin is so lucky. He was engaged to Liang Qianhuan, the most beautiful girl in the village. After the engagement was broken off, he was actually favored by the Liu family. The Jiang family will be very powerful in the future."
Liu Yingying looked shy. After today, she would be Jiang Lang's fiancée, and she would be the scholar's wife.
If Doctor Jiang passes the imperial examination or even becomes an official in the future, she can become an official's wife. It must be that Liu Yingying has good vision and has chosen such an outstanding man.
Everyone offered their congratulations, except for the Liang family, who were sitting at the table feeling extremely awkward.
Xu Tingting also came to the banquet with her parents. She finally understood why after Jiang Lin's family cancelled Qianhuan's marriage, her parents went to the Jiang family to hint at her and wanted her to get engaged to Jiang Lin, but Jiang Lin's mother refused outright. It turned out that Jiang Lin had already climbed onto the high branch of Liu Yuanwai's family.
Only then did she realize that she had been hating the wrong person all along. Jiang Lin was really just a gigolo as Liang Qianhuan said. She was really blind to have had a crush on him for so many years.
The villagers were still discussing, "This young lady from the family of the wealthy man is really different. Her behavior shows that she is a lady from a wealthy family. No wonder Mr. Jiang didn't want the daughter of the second son."
"Yes, I heard that Mr. Liu's family only has this one daughter. From now on, all the family property will belong to Jiang Lin and his wife."
"Compared like this, Liang Qianhuan is indeed inferior to Miss Liu in every way."
There were also villagers who spoke up for Qianhuan. Aunt Li, who had previously been the most hostile to Liang Laoer's family, was the first to stand up. Ever since she had received favor from Liang Laoer's family when selling chestnuts, she no longer targeted them.
Aunt Li said, "Miss Liu was born into a wealthy family because she was lucky. But Qianhuan relied on herself. She earned money to buy land and mountains for her family, and now she has started to build a blue brick and tile house for her family. Which girl in our village can be so capable?"
"Who knows how this girl Qianhuan earned the money? Last time, she was secretly washing a wild man's cloak by the river. I heard that the material of the cloak is something that only rich people can afford. She looks so seductive, maybe she seduced some rich old man to get the money."
The woman who was speaking was surnamed Cao, and everyone called her Aunt Cao.
Aunt Cao is usually on good terms with Jiang Lin's mother. After Jiang Lin passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, he can be exempted from the land tax on 50 acres of land. Thirty acres of land will be distributed to Jiang's family members for free, leaving 20 acres. Jiang Lin's mother promised Aunt Cao that she could let the Cao family register five acres of land under Jiang Lin's name.
Although the Jiang family also collected some rent from the Cao family, it was much lighter than the land tax levied by the government. Since Cao got the upper hand, she naturally did her best to curry favor with Jiang Linniang.