Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Li Changming heard her bring the matter up so directly and thought, ’My third aunt was right after all.’

’My family is dirt-poor, so there’s not much to gain from splitting off. But if I do it right after getting married, won’t people say I’m a man who "forgets his mother once he has a wife"?’

He remained silent, still unsure how to respond, when Gou Dan’s mother spoke again. "I’m not asking you to be a man who ’forgets his mother once he has a wife.’ If you live separately and do well, you can still be a good son to your parents. Your family has been together for all these years, and what’s changed? If you all keep living without any foresight, how can I rest easy marrying Meizi to you? If you two are on your own, we can help and offer guidance from the side. But if you don’t split from the family, we can’t very well meddle in your household’s affairs, can we?"

When Qin saw he wasn’t speaking, he said, fuming, "If you won’t agree, then forget it. If you don’t want to improve your own situation, no one else can help you. Either way, if you don’t split from your family, Meizi is not to marry you."

Li Changming looked up with a bitter smile. "My family is very poor, so there’s not much to gain from splitting off. I’m just worried about upsetting my parents. After all, they’re still my mother and father. If I cast them aside just to get a wife, I couldn’t live with myself. But I understand what you’re saying, Auntie. At the end of the day, you have to make a good life for yourself before you can worry about anything else. Otherwise, what’s the point of sticking together if you’re all dirt-poor? I’ll go home and have a proper talk with my parents, and then I’ll have the matchmaker come to make the official proposal."

Gou Dan’s mother nodded in approval. "That’s the spirit. Ordinarily, I shouldn’t speak ill of your parents to your face, but you know as well as I do they have no foresight, which makes it hard to live a good life. Once you’re on your own, you have to make us proud and get your life on track. Only when you’re doing well can you help Changling. Otherwise, with everyone crammed together, when will things ever improve?"

Grandma Qin then chimed in, "Changming, we’re making this request for both your and Meizi’s sake. Only when you two are doing well can you help your brother and properly support your parents. So, you must go home and explain things clearly to your father. Don’t let this turn your household upside down. We wouldn’t be happy about that, and others would think our Qin Family is unreasonable, forcing a man to split from his family before the bride has even walked through the door."

Qin added disgruntedly, "If your father had a clear head, he’d agree. But in my opinion, he’s muddle-headed most of the time, so it’ll be up to you to convince him."

Li Changming quickly promised, "Rest assured, Grandma Qin, I’ll have a proper talk with my father. He’s become very determined lately, as Uncle and Auntie know." And it was true; Li Laoda had indeed been putting in much more effort than usual.

Next, they began to discuss the betrothal gift.

Gou Dan’s mother waved her hand in resignation. "Just do what you think is best. We aren’t going to be greedy about the betrothal gift. But if you offer nothing at all, people will think my Meizi has done something shameful and we’re just trying to hastily marry her off to you—and given your family’s sorry state, you’re hardly the kind of match that would have a family willingly hand over their daughter for nothing."

’If we were marrying her to Qingmu of the Zheng Family,’ she thought, ’then it would make sense not to ask for a betrothal gift.’

Li Changming, thoroughly ashamed, flushed red and said, "Rest assured, Auntie. I will not let Meizi be wronged like this."

Grandma Qin quickly added, "Just a token amount will do. If you borrow too much money, don’t you have to pay it back eventually? We can’t have Meizi marry you only to be saddled with a mountain of debt, can we?"

Li Changming nodded in agreement.

It was a truly difficult predicament. Forgoing the betrothal gift was unacceptable, but asking for too much meant their daughter would be saddled with debt the moment she married.

Gou Dan’s mother had never felt so stifled. A helpless anger built up in her chest, swelling until it was painful.

Last night, before they had settled on marrying Meizi to Li Changming, she had given Li Laoda’s family a thorough tongue-lashing, so she hadn’t felt quite so awful. But now, this man was about to become her son-in-law. She couldn’t very well curse him anymore, which meant there was no way for her to vent her frustration.

She didn’t know that Qin was even more stifled than she was. He had planned on teaching the boy a harsh lesson tonight, but then he remembered—this boy was about to be his son-in-law. If he said something too severe, wouldn’t it just upset Meizi? After all, she was right in the next room.

Since he couldn’t take his anger out on Li Changming, he could only sit there and stew. His mind drifted back to the spring, when Meizi had been bitten by a snake. That boy, Li Changming, had held her leg and sucked at the wound for the longest time. He’d had a bad feeling about it back then, and sure enough, he’d ended up paying a terrible price—he was losing his daughter over it.

And so, in his head, he cursed that snake and every last one of its ancestors!

If the snake could have heard his thoughts, it would surely have protested, "If your daughter hadn’t stepped on me, would I have bitten her?"

Seeing that there was nothing more to be said, and noticing Qin’s dark expression and Gou Dan’s mother’s exhausted look, Li Changming knew it was time to take his leave.