Chapter 19: New Grudges and Old Resentments

Fang Yuan had never met anyone this stubborn before. If this had been back at her own home, anyone who dared be stubborn with her would have had her calling for her brothers. In minutes, they would learn whose word carried weight.

Unfortunately, her brothers were not here today, and she had actually failed to out-stubborn this student. “Fine then. I’ll bring a bit more money. If we really fall, then we fall.”

The two of them dawdled for quite a while before finally getting on the bicycle and leaving.

Back in the old courtyard, several of Lu Er’s classmates had been secretly watching them for quite some time.

The group was extremely curious. “They actually seem pretty good together. Now that Lu Chuan has married a wife, will he still be willing to go to university?”

Gong Er lowered his voice mysteriously. “My mother said the Lu family’s eldest son picked up a wife for free. Lu Chuan’s wife was originally supposed to belong to Lu Feng.”

Zhang Xiaole, the village party secretary’s son, immediately objected. “Gong Er, why is your mouth so foul? Could your mother’s information possibly be more reliable than my father’s? That’s the wife the Lu family arranged for Lu Chuan. Didn’t Lu Feng’s wife explain everything this morning? The Lu family got both daughters-in-law married in at the same time. Lu Feng’s wife lived farther away, so there was a delay.”

Then he continued, “Besides, everyone knows Lu Feng was previously engaged. Isn’t Lu Feng’s wife the girl he was originally engaged to? Am I wrong?”

Gong Er was unconvinced. “I know you’re close with Lu Chuan, but I never heard him say he was getting married. Of course people will say whatever sounds best. But can something like this really be covered up? Are there few people who know about the engagement between the Lu family and the Fang family?”

Zhang Xiaole snapped back, “Bullshit. How do you know the engagement between the Lu family and the Fang family was for Lu Feng? It was Lu Chuan from the beginning. Lu Chuan is shy and reserved. If he didn’t want to tell you personal things, what’s wrong with that? What, are you determined to pin the reputation of marrying his sister-in-law onto Lu Chuan today?”

It was obvious these two were about to start fighting among themselves.

Zhu family’s youngest son became anxious. The married couple were getting along just fine, yet these people were about to start brawling. “Enough, enough. What are you arguing about? No matter what happened, as long as these words don’t spread from our mouths, we’ll have done right by Lu Chuan.”

Zhang Xiaole glared at the other two. “Neither of you is any good. We’re brothers, aren’t we? Why laugh at one of our own? Can’t we just pretend we don’t know?”

Gong Er got angry too. What was wrong with discussing it among themselves? If outsiders talked about Lu Chuan this way, would he tolerate it? “Oh, you’re the good one, are you? Fine. When he got married, he didn’t tell you either. Why are you so desperate to stick yourself to him?”

After saying that, he grabbed his schoolbag and left.

The remaining Zhang Xiaole became so angry that he kicked over the half-finished chicken coop.

One had a worse temper than the other.

Zhu San’s face darkened. “Someone else got married. What business is it of yours? Why make such a fuss?” Then he rolled up his sleeves and continued building the chicken coop.

These childhood friends had no money. When a classmate got married, all they could do was come help with some physical labor.

Zhang Xiaole joined in as well. The construction was only half finished, and they would definitely be late today.

Meanwhile, Lu Er rode steadily with Fang Yuan on the bicycle, immediately earning praise from her.

“I didn’t expect that although you don’t have much meat on your bones, you’ve actually got some strength.”

Lu Er thought it would be better if she just kept quiet. Listening to Fang Yuan speak felt like listening to someone inspecting livestock. Even compliments sounded unpleasant.

Fang Yuan said, “By the way, let’s buy a bicycle. We’ve got money anyway.”

Lu Er was somewhat tempted. “It wouldn’t be very useful.”

Fang Yuan replied, “How wouldn’t it be useful? It’ll be much more convenient when I go back to my parents’ home.”

Lu Chuan thought, So this has nothing to do with me after all.

Then Fang Yuan asked, “When do you start school? How are we supposed to live after that? What’s your plan?”

Lu Er fell silent again. This woman always managed to mock people as soon as she opened her mouth. They had only gotten married yesterday. He had not even had time to think about that yet. The marriage had arrived out of nowhere, and he had absolutely no concept of married life.

Fang Yuan continued, “By the way, why are you older than the others? Is it because your brain isn’t very good? Did you repeat a grade?”

Lu Er was irritated. Your brain is the one that’s really not working properly.

“I started school late. They started early. They’re repeating the year now.” What he meant was that his brain worked better than theirs.

Fang Yuan nodded. Her family lived close to the township, so she understood things about schooling. “Good thing you got in this year. Otherwise, after your family produced someone as lacking in morals as Lu Feng, the family’s feng shui would have been ruined. You might not even have gotten in next year.”

Lu Feng really was not much of a person, but he did not have that much destructive power.

Lu Er did not want to argue with Fang Yuan about Lu Feng. If Fang Yuan praised Lu Feng, he would not want to hear it.

But hearing Fang Yuan constantly criticize and mock Lu Feng still made him uncomfortable. Why was it that no matter what topic came up, she always managed to think of that disappointing fellow Lu Feng?

The journey was not short, and Fang Yuan chatted idly with Lu Er.

“How come Third Granny never mentioned that you got into university? It doesn’t seem like many people know about it either.”

Lu Er thought to himself that it had already been difficult enough for the family to find a wife for Lu Feng. If word got out that the family was still supporting a grown son through university, would marrying off Lu Feng be easy? There had definitely been calculation on the Lu family’s part. At the very least, it was not something they could openly discuss.

He vaguely replied, “It’s not even certain whether I’ll go to school. There’s nothing worth talking about.”

Fang Yuan said, “I knew you were full of schemes. Something this important, and you still didn’t explain it clearly. You’re treating me like an outsider.”

The problem was that she was not exactly an insider either.

Lu Er remained silent and refused to answer.

He felt that even if this marriage had never happened, he and Fang Yuan still would not have been able to communicate properly.

Fang Yuan said, “Still, your family doesn’t seem to have anyone in charge, so it’s no wonder. Otherwise, what family wouldn’t be shouting about it everywhere if one of their children got into university?”

Although Fang Yuan had hit the mark, Lu Er still felt embarrassed and did not want to hear it.

He finally forced out a sentence. “You seem to know quite a lot about that.”

Fang Yuan calmly replied, “Before I got married, my brothers investigated everything for me. Your family’s eldest son is spineless, so I wasn’t worried about being bullied after marrying in. Your parents are honest and don’t take charge. You’re quiet and withdrawn. Lu San is a bit rowdy but easy to handle. The only thing they didn’t find out was that you’d gotten into university.”

She sounded genuinely regretful.

There was a strong sense that she felt she had been deceived.

Lu Er stopped talking.

In another family, producing a university student would indeed be something to show off. But in their family, the household was poor. If people knew they were planning to support a son through university, no one would have wanted Lu Feng to get married. Naturally, they had to keep it secret.

The more closely one examined the matter, the more guilty it seemed.

Then Fang Yuan continued, “My dad said that marrying into a family like this meant I wouldn’t suffer any losses. Your family wouldn’t dare neglect me.”

What could Lu Er say?

Her father had been absolutely right.

Just look at the situation now. The entire family was being controlled by Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan said, “If our family produced a scholar, my dad would be so happy he’d jump into the air. Forget stopping a child from studying just to get a son married. My dad would sell one of his sons if he had to in order to support the one who could study.”

Lu Er could hardly praise Fang Yuan’s father for being insightful. Selling a son was not exactly something honorable.

Fang Yuan disliked how silent Lu Er was. Why couldn’t he say something?

“Does your family still have the means to support you through university?”

Lu Er cast a sidelong glance back at Fang Yuan, his eyes filled with mixed emotions of love, hate, and resentment.

“Lu Feng needed an engagement and a wedding. The family ran out of money.”

She understood immediately.

To marry her, the family had run out of money.

At least Fang Yuan knew what should and should not be said.

She slapped Lu Er on the waist.

“Good. I knew that shameless woman was no good. So that’s what this is, new grudges and old resentments. Delaying someone’s university education is ruining their future. That’s an enormous moral failing.”