Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Juhua smiled. "Let’s not do it tonight. I’m sleepy."

Seeing she was trying to slack off again, Qingmu chuckled. "Mother will say you’re being lazy again. I’ll help you apply it; it’s no trouble."

The two of them slowly walked home, with Black Dog leading the way.

**********

After Li Changming finished dinner, a beaming Li Changxing called him outside.

He asked, "What is it, Changxing? I was about to go to bed."

Li Changxing didn’t say a word, simply pulling him along to his house. Inside, his mother, Cheng, was sewing clothes by the light of an oil lamp, chatting idly with Grandma Huang, who sat beside her.

Li Changming quickly greeted them, "Grandma Huang," then "Third Aunt," before looking at Li Changxing with a puzzled expression, wondering why he’d been dragged over.

Li Changxing handed him a small stool, then finally couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He turned to Grandma Huang and said, "Grandma Huang, my brother’s here. Could you tell him again? Was what you said earlier really true?"

Grandma Huang gazed at the slightly scruffy Li Changming and smiled. "Of course, it’s true. Changming, Meizi’s mother has agreed to let you have Meizi’s hand in marriage. You should send someone to their home to make a formal proposal. However, Meizi’s mother wants to see you. She has something she wants to say to you."

The news left Li Changming reeling. He stammered, "But I thought... I thought... she wasn’t willing?"

Seeing his reaction, Cheng chided him, "Listen to yourself. Don’t tell me you’re unhappy she changed her mind."

Li Changxing leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "It must be Meizi. She must have agreed to it, so her mother had no choice but to give in. See, wasn’t I right? If you hadn’t asked Grandma Huang to go over there in the first place, there would’ve been no hope for this marriage."

The realization washed over an excited Li Changming, and he nodded again and again. He gratefully gripped Li Changxing’s hand, momentarily overwhelmed and unsure what to do.

Grandma Huang smiled at him. "Don’t you worry. Now that Meizi’s family has agreed to the match, they won’t make things difficult for you. But Changming, I must warn you, Gou Dan’s mother is still unhappy about this. She might scold you or say some hurtful things out of anger. You have to bear it. You need to let her vent and get it out of her system."

Li Changming said quickly, "She’s my elder. I can only listen when she speaks; I won’t talk back no matter what she says. Don’t you worry, Grandma Huang."

Cheng added her own earnest advice. "Gou Dan’s mother dotes on Meizi like a precious treasure. Since she’s agreed to let you marry her, she definitely won’t force you to come up with a huge bride price. If you went into debt for it, life would be hard for Meizi after she married you, right? My guess is she’ll have some conditions. She might demand that you move out and live separately from your family after the wedding. If that’s the case, you have to agree. It’s not unheard of for a son to move out after he marries; it’s just a matter of sooner or later."

Li Changming gravely agreed.

His heart was pounding with apprehension. He had no idea how Gou Dan’s mother was going to treat him.

But he had to make this trip. He also believed that Gou Dan’s mother wouldn’t be completely unreasonable with him. So, taking a deep breath, he said to Grandma Huang, "Then let’s go!"

Grandma Huang nodded and headed out first.

Li Changxing quickly grabbed Li Changming’s arm and whispered, "Don’t panic. No matter what she says, this wife is as good as yours. It won’t kill you to let her say a few harsh words, will it?"

Li Changming patted his hand to show that he understood, then hurried to catch up with Grandma Huang, supporting her by the arm as they headed for Meizi’s home.

The faint moonlight overhead shrunk their shadows into a single, huddled mass. Muffled voices, high and low, drifted from the courtyards of the various homes, mixed with a bark or two, but the houses themselves were mostly pitch-black.

To Li Changming, however, the moon felt incredibly bright. The moonlight bathed the trees, courtyards, and houses in a clear glow that made his own heart feel just as bright. ’And the breeze is so gentle,’ he thought.

When they arrived at Meizi’s house, even though Li Changming had braced himself, the scene that greeted him still made his heart flutter with anxiety.

In the main room, two oil lamps were lit. Unlike the pitch-darkness of the neighboring houses, their dim, yellow light was enough to illuminate the room quite clearly. Seated formally beside the central table were Qin, Gou Dan’s mother, and Gou Dan’s grandmother.

When Gou Dan’s mother saw Grandma Huang, she quickly rose and ushered her to a seat.

Grandma Huang smiled. "I’m getting old and need to rest early. I’ve brought Changming here, so you all can talk. I’ll be heading back now."

Seeing that she was leaving, Gou Dan’s mother didn’t press her to stay. She walked her a good way down the road before turning back.

Li Changming sat on a small stool, looking up timidly at Qin and the old grandmother. If it weren’t for his tall frame, the difference in seating height would have made him seem a full head shorter than them.

Gou Dan’s mother didn’t lash out at him. After sitting down, she looked at Li Changming seriously and said, "If my Meizi didn’t think you were a decent person, her father and I would never have agreed to give our daughter to you. I won’t mince words. You’re a good lad yourself, and it’s not that I look down on you, but your family’s situation... well, I don’t need to spell it out. You know it yourself. There’s nothing to be done about it now. Her life will be in your hands from now on, so I’ve called you here tonight to plan things out."

Li Changming quickly sat up a little straighter and said to Gou Dan’s mother with great sincerity, "I know I’m not worthy of Meizi, but I had to at least try, which is why I asked Grandma Huang to plead my case. Auntie, please say whatever is on your mind. I genuinely love Meizi. This isn’t like asking for any other girl’s hand in marriage."

Just as he finished speaking, he thought he heard something fall to the floor with a soft thud in the adjacent room, followed by silence.

Qin asked gruffly, "Does your father know about this?"

Li Changming quickly replied, "Neither my father nor my mother knows yet."

Gou Dan’s mother said, "You will tell them tomorrow and have a matchmaker come to our door to make a formal proposal. That’s the first thing. The second is, you must promise that after you and Meizi are married, you will move out and live separately. Otherwise, this marriage is off." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian.com and vote for it with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)