Chapter 1420 - 1414: Shrew
"Hey, the guy I was talking about yesterday is here. In a bit, you better not back down!" Er Gou's wife spotted Lin Chuan coming towards them from afar and whispered to Liu the Cripple's wife.
Liu the Cripple's wife glanced at Lin Chuan and sneered, "He might be better looking than the village leader's second son, but what good is it? He doesn't have the village leader's money or power."
"Stop talking, keep yelling. Once the door opens, we'll drop the stuff and leave. As long as we deliver the betrothal gifts, don't worry about the rest," said Er Gou's wife.
Liu the Cripple's wife immediately stood up, not bothering to dust off the dirt from her backside. Her big fat hands slammed against the large iron gate of Huang Mengqi's house, shouting, "Aunt Huang, open the door quickly! I'm here with Er Gou's wife to discuss something with you."
"Ladies, please move aside." Lin Chuan approached Huang Mengqi's gate, blocked by these two old women, and spoke calmly.
Er Gou's wife said nothing and stepped aside, but Liu the Cripple's wife stopped shouting, ceased banging on the gate, looked back at Lin Chuan, and mockingly said, "Oh, I wondered who it was. Turns out it's an outsider. The girl from the Huang family is such a good girl, but after just a few years in the city, instead of learning something good, she's learned to keep a man."
"Auntie, you're mistaken. It's not Mengqi keeping me, it's me keeping her. I'm going to keep her for a lifetime." Lin Chuan laughed rather than angered, glanced Liu the Cripple's wife up and down, and continued laughing, "What a shame, if someone like you went to the city without a figure, without looks, even if you paid, I bet no one would want you!"
Liu the Cripple's wife's face changed in anger, wanting to act out to gain the upper hand, but Lin Chuan beat her to it.
"Luckily, you were born in the countryside, raised in the countryside. The countrymen take pity on you and don't mind you much. If you grew up in the city, your parents would spend a lifetime worrying about your marriage!"
When it comes to spite, Lin Chuan's words are the most venomous, but only when encountering someone spiteful does he give tit for tat.
Liu the Cripple's wife's face turned angrily, her heart pounding violently. No one had dared to say such vicious words in front of her all these years. It was the first time encountering it today, leaving her momentarily at a loss. But after a brief adjustment, she prepared to retaliate.
Er Gou's wife tried not to laugh, her old face turning red, watching the drama unfold with amusement.
Everyone who knew Liu the Cripple's wife was aware that she's the famous shrew of Stone Village. When it comes to insults, nobody does it better than her. Yet unexpectedly, today a young man left her speechless, making Liu the Cripple's wife feel embarrassed.
She was about to say something harmful and selfish but suddenly found herself speechless, feeling like something was stuck in her throat.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm just speaking the truth. If something's wrong, just pretend you didn't hear it. I wouldn't dare to offend someone like you," Lin Chuan said innocently, seeing Liu the Cripple's wife glaring sharply at him.
Er Gou's wife saw Liu the Cripple's wife with her mouth open in anger yet unable to speak, thinking it was because of rage. Unable to hold back any longer, she laughed out loud.
"Mengqi, open the door, it's me." Lin Chuan ignored the two older women, walked to the iron gate, knocked lightly twice, and called inside, then stopped knocking.
"By the way, you were just yelling in front of someone's door, don't you know that's impolite?" Lin Chuan turned to Liu the Cripple's wife, suddenly slapped his forehead, and said regretfully, "Sorry, I forgot. A shrew doesn't know what politeness is. Why am I talking to a shrew about this? My apologies!"
Poor Liu the Cripple's wife glared at Lin Chuan, her fury burning intensely, but knowing she wasn't his match, refrained from acting. A usually sharp-tongued woman now speechless, she looked to Er Gou's wife for help.
Hoping Er Gou's wife would help her counter Lin Chuan a bit, giving her a way out.
But Er Gou's wife didn't care about all that. She herself had suffered at Liu the Cripple's wife's hands before, and now only wanted to deliver the betrothal gifts, not getting involved. Especially after seeing Lin Chuan's tough stance yesterday, she was afraid of him causing trouble at her home if pushed too far.
The iron gate soon opened, and Huang Mengqi came out, expressionless, glancing coldly at Er Gou's wife and Liu the Cripple's wife before turning to Lin Chuan, speaking gently, "Come in, my mom made dumplings waiting for you to come back and eat."
"Mengqi, you're home!" Er Gou's wife quickly approached, picking up some of the large packages of betrothal gifts, grinning, "We knocked on the door for ages, why didn't you open?"
"Yes... yes, exactly. We knocked for ages, but no one answered. Yet when someone lightly knocks twice, someone comes to open the door willingly. It seems neighbors for years can't compare to a newly-met sweetheart!" Liu the Cripple's wife's throat felt better suddenly, enabling her to speak, and she immediately started mocking.
Huang Mengqi didn't even look at them, still speaking coldly, "I didn't hear." Then to Lin Chuan, "Come in. I don't want to see crazy dogs barking at my door."
"Who are you calling a mad dog? Say that again, I dare you, and I'll show you how disrespectful you're becoming, so... ouch..." Aunt Liu's wife heard Huang Mengqi call them mad dogs and immediately got angry. However, she got a sore throat before she could finish her sentence.
Er Gou's wife, however, ignored this, still carrying part of the dowry. She smiled and said, "Mengqi, we're already at your doorstep, why don't you let us in to sit for a bit."
"No, we're planning to discuss some family matters today, so we aren't welcoming outsiders." Huang Mengqi directly refused.
At this moment, Lin Chuan walked in. Just as Huang Mengqi was about to close the door, a package was thrown in from outside, followed by another package before Huang Mengqi could react.
Huang Mengqi simply opened the iron gate, demanding, "What are you doing? I don't want your things, take them all back."
But Er Gou's wife and Aunt Liu's wife didn't listen, throwing all the packages they brought through the iron gate into Huang Mengqi's yard. Er Gou's wife said, "Mengqi, this is part of the village chief's dowry. This is just a small part, you two families can discuss and set a good date. There will be more dowry coming."
After saying that, the two older women attempted to leave, feeling like they had completed their task and could go back to report to the village chief.
However, they hadn't taken more than two steps before Aunt Liu's wife got hit on the back of the head by something.
"Ouch." Aunt Liu's wife shouted, turning around just in time for something to hit her nose, causing blood to gush out. Feeling something flowing from her nose, Aunt Liu's wife touched it and saw her hand covered in blood, immediately screaming.
Er Gou's wife didn't fare any better. After being hit by something, she came to her senses and saw that the items they had thrown into Huang Mengqi's house were all being thrown out, as if they had eyes and were targeting her.
Trying to dodge the assault from those things, Er Gou's wife ducked and dodged, quite overwhelmed for a moment.
It was Lin Chuan throwing the dowry out, and he managed to hit Er Gou's wife and Aunt Liu's wife through some magical intervention.
"Take all these things you brought and leave; our family doesn't want this junk," said Huang Mengqi as she closed the gate.
Some of the dowry consisted of fragile items. Being tossed back and forth repeatedly, many things were shattered beyond recognition. Even the non-fragile items were intentionally thrown by Lin Chuan onto the hard ground outside, getting smashed and deformed.
Aunt Liu's wife covered her nose with one hand, sifting through the thrown-out dowry with the other, seething with anger but unable to curse, leaving her embarrassed and at a loss.
Er Gou's wife was in a similar situation. She couldn't vent her anger, watching the perfectly good items get smashed to pieces, unsure of how to explain to the village chief.
A group of spectators in the distance made sarcastic remarks. Some villagers had been bullied by Er Gou's wife and Aunt Liu's wife, and now seeing this scene, they finally felt some sense of relief.
Inside the house, Huang's mother was making dumplings, a worried expression on her face. She knew the two older women had stirred chaos in Huang Mengqi's home, but as an outsider, she couldn't say much. She could only help Huang Mengqi in crucial moments, as it was the only thing she could do.
"Have they left?" Huang's mother stopped what she was doing and looked up to ask.
"Gone, they really are shameless. Forcing someone to be their daughter-in-law like this?" Huang Mengqi washed her hands and sat down to continue making dumplings, frustrated.
Huang Tianyi rolled his eyes and grumbled, "I told you earlier, if you let me chase them away, it'd be over by now. But it still ended up being Brother Lin who drove them away. If I had chased them off earlier, our ears could have had some peace and quiet!"
Huang's mother turned around, glared at Huang Tianyi, and scolded, "Enough, stop talking, go back to your room and study."
"I...nevermind, if this kind of thing happens again, I won't listen to you all. I'll chase them away myself. A bunch of old hags causing trouble in my house." Huang Tianyi said before rushing to his room to study.
Huang's mother sighed, her eyes welling up with tears.
Huang Mengqi just lowered her head, silently making dumplings.