The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Chapter 501: Chen Zhao Extra Chapter_1
 

Today’s business was especially good.

The inn was full, entirely occupied by guests from other places here to eat.

One of the customers specifically requested to eat the village’s vegetables or else he wouldn’t pay.

So, I went out to our vegetable garden and picked a basketful of cucumbers, melons, luffas, potatoes, along with some greens, spinach, and yam.

These vegetables are grown by my grandparents. They had tilled many fields specially for my inn’s use, right in front of and behind our house, planting dozens of types of fruits and vegetables.

Of course, I pay them for the vegetables. Sometimes when fresh game comes into the inn, I cook it and serve them a portion too.

I washed the vegetables and sent them to the kitchen.

The cook in the kitchen was my son. He had just gotten married; his bride was a pleasant and pretty girl from Lin County city.

Not only was my daughter-in-law pretty, but she was diligent, and her family was quite well-off too.

The reason my son managed to marry such a good wife was because her parents were in poor health and wished to stay in Dongchen Village to receive treatment.

Ironically, the woman I originally agreed to let my son marry wasn’t this daughter-in-law, but for some reason, the woman who married into our household ended up being her.

When my son saw his new wife was even more beautiful than the promised one, he accepted her without any complaints.

Fortunately, the wife turned out to be kind, submissive, and polite — a real gem for our family.

It wasn’t until a woman came to my doorstep arguing with my daughter-in-law that I found out why a different woman ended up marrying my son instead of the one mentioned in the marriage document.

Sobbing, my daughter-in-law told me that the woman was her elder blood sister. When she learned that their parents arranged her to marry into a rural merchant family, she protested vehemently and even threatened suicide. Seeing no alternative, their parents were forced to marry my daughter-in-law to us instead.

However, they didn’t change the name on the marriage document because her elder sister used her own name to marry someone else. They didn’t expect that two years later, the elder sister would barge in demanding to swap the marriage back.

Hugging our granddaughter who was just a few months old, my daughter-in-law kept crying. From the looks of it, she desperately feared that we might abandon her and bring back her elder sister.

I had to comfort her: “Qiong, don’t worry, our family only recognizes you. You are my son’s rightful wife who was carried in a bridal palanquin into our home. If that woman dares to make a fuss again, I will beat her with a rolling pin.”

Only then did my daughter-in-law burst into laughter. Carrying the child on her back, she helped me wash and cut the vegetables.

Two months later, my daughter-in-law’s elder sister returned, bringing along their mother and father’s legitimate wife.

Before me, that woman tearfully claimed she was tricked by a man, the marital engagement that originally belonged to her ended up being fulfilled by her younger sister.

I just listened without inviting them into the house.

When they finished crying, I said, “What you did was dishonest, too. What’s the point of coming here and saying all this now? If truth be told, our family was deceived by your family. If it comes down to it, we can always take this matter to the County Government.”

The mother and daughter duo froze at my words. Their elder sister defiantly responded, “Let’s go to the County Government! I’m already suffering, why should Qiong live a comfortable life while I languish in poverty?”

Upon hearing this, I hardened my voice: “If that be the case, we have officials present in this inn. Let’s invite one of them to make a judgement. But let me warn you, Qiong is the wife who was openly and legitimately married into my family. That fact cannot be changed, no matter what the official decides. As for you, there’s a good chance you’ll be punished and banished for deception.”

The mother and daughter hesitated for a long time. Eventually, they proposed if they could stay in Dongchen Village, they wouldn’t bring up the past again.

I sneered and ordered one of my servants to drive them away.

However, considering that my daughter-in-law still needs to visit her mother at their home, I gave them a sack of corn.

It wasn’t because I was trying to be kind, but because I knew if I didn’t give them anything, they would surely make life unbearable for her mother.

I returned to my inn and sat by the window up on the second floor.

I was gazing at the grand mansion of the Jiang Family; I haven’t visited them for many years.

It’s not that I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t face Yingbao.

Ever since my father framed Yingbao, my brother and I have not had the courage to face her.

Even though I have had a child since then, and he’s married now, I still can’t look her in the eye.

In recent years, Yingbao often comes back to pick villagers to travel with her to the Immortal Land. My son is very eager to go, but I can’t bring myself to ask her.