Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Zhang Dashuan scoffed. "When we were poor, we were practically invisible. Anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought we were the only ones left in the Zhang family. Now that Yangzi has become a Scholar, they’re all crawling out of the woodwork. All sorts of ’uncles’ and ’aunts’ are suddenly appearing. I can let that slide—the world is full of snobs. But if they think they can meddle in our family’s business, they’ve got another thing coming."

Huai Zi’s maternal grandmother’s face grew stern. "You two can’t give them an inch this time. Otherwise, there’ll be no end to it, and they’ll be here pestering you every few days. To have something like this happen during such a happy time is just sickening. They make it sound so noble, ’for the Zhang family,’ ’for Huai Zi’s sake.’ Pah! Aren’t they just trying to get a piece of the pie? That woman would love nothing more than for him to divorce Juhua to marry her granddaughter."

Zhang Dashuan nodded. "We show them a little respect because they’re our elders, and they start thinking they’re really something, don’t they? If they want respect, they need to do something respectable first. Pulling these kinds of stunts just makes people lose all respect for them. Who knows how Huai Zi will react when he hears about this. You should also have a good talk with Juhua. Make sure she doesn’t dwell on it; it wouldn’t be good for her."

He nodded.

That very evening, He told Huai Zi what had happened. His face fell. "In their dreams! If they come here running their mouths and stirring up trouble again, I’ll throw them out. With relatives like that, we’re no better off with them and no worse off without them."

With that, he turned and went back to his room.

Juhua was the last one to find out. Everyone was afraid she would be upset if she heard, so for the time being, no one told her. Even Liu Yunlan kept it from her, only telling her mother-in-law, Yang Family, and the others.

Yang Family flew into a rage and was about to storm over to the Zhang family’s home to demand an explanation, but Liu Yunlan held her back.

She said quickly, "Mother, please don’t be angry. I was there when it happened, and of course, I gave that old hag a piece of my mind. But Aunt Zhang never agreed to help Huai Zi take a concubine, and she didn’t give that woman the time of day, either. It wouldn’t be right for us to storm over there and start a fight. Wait a couple of days, pretend you’re just hearing about this from me, and then go and remind her. That way, we’re not being rude, but we’re also not letting them think our side of the family is a pushover."

Before Yang Family could say a word, Zheng Changhe’s eyes widened. "Dashuan and I have been like brothers for years! When have we ever had to beat around the bush with each other? All this sneaking around makes it seem like we’re the ones in the wrong. Since we’ve heard about it, we have to go ask for a straight answer. What do you younger folks know? I know what kind of people his family’s distant relatives are better than any of you. This isn’t over; there’s definitely more to come. We can’t go soft on them. If anyone dares to bully our Juhua, I’ll skin them alive!"

Yang Family nodded. "He’s right. I’ve heard Huai Zi’s mother talk about those people before."

But Qingmu held up a hand to stop them. "Dad, Mom, it’s too late to go over there. If Juhua finds out, she’ll be heartbroken. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to Huai Zi, and Dad, you can find a moment to speak with Uncle Zhang. Won’t that be enough? No matter how troublesome those relatives are, they can’t override Uncle Zhang and Huai Zi. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. What are they going to do? Let’s not make a big scene and let everyone know. That will just turn nothing into something."

After hearing their son, Zheng Changhe and Yang Family stopped themselves, but their anger was far from gone. They grumbled to each other late into the night and, in the end, came to the unanimous conclusion that life was better back when they were poor. At least they didn’t have these kinds of headaches.

The next morning, Qingmu asked Huai Zi to go up the mountain with him to gather acorns, taking the opportunity to ask about yesterday’s incident.

Huai Zi shot him a sideways glance. "Don’t you start adding to the mess. It’s just those relatives trying to stir the pot. They act like they’re the founding ancestors of the Zhang family, always putting on airs in front of us. You’re not actually taking them seriously, are you? If they behave, fine. If not, we throw them out. The more you try to reason with them, the more shameless and pushy they get."

Qingmu replied with a perfectly straight face, "I’m just reminding you that our Juhua has her own family to back her up. Anyone who thinks about bullying her had better think twice."

Huai Zi couldn’t help but laugh at Qingmu’s mock-serious act. He grumbled, "Instead of figuring out how to improve their own lives, they have the spare time for this nonsense. Who has the energy to deal with them? We just had our son and daughter. Just yesterday, Juhua and I were talking about how we need to work hard and build up our savings—for our son’s future bride price and our daughter’s dowry. Plus, Yangzi’s travel expenses for the capital are a huge amount. Who has spare money to feed a bunch of freeloaders?"

Qingmu asked casually, "So if you did have the spare cash, you’d take one in?"

Huai Zi was so taken aback he sputtered, "You just love to twist my words, don’t you? Even if I had spare money, couldn’t I just save more for my son and daughter? We plan on having more kids in the future; no matter how much I earn, it’ll never be enough. You should worry about yourself. If I manage to avoid all this, and you’re the one who brings a concubine home one day, now *that* would be a real show! Anyway, we’re two brothers in my family, so I’m not worried about continuing the family line. Let Yangzi have a whole bunch of kids. If Juhua and I can have more, great. If not, Banli and Cong are enough for us."

Qingmu said with a wide grin, "I’m not worried either. Our family has only had a single heir for generations. Having Hulu is enough for us. Any more is just a bonus."

Hearing him talk about it like a business deal, Huai Zi couldn’t help but laugh again.

As for what was said between Zheng Changhe and Zhang Dashuan, nobody knew.

But the Zhang family wasn’t going to get any peace and quiet. Sure enough, around noon, Zhang Dashuan’s distant fifth and seventh uncles arrived. They wouldn’t say a word, not even when spoken to, so the family had no choice but to serve them lunch.

After they finished eating, the two men unleashed a tirade on Zhang Dashuan, scolding him for everything from disrespecting his elders to being too lax with his family.

The fifth uncle was a wiry little old man. Seeing that both Zhang Dashuan and Huai Zi were silent with grim expressions, he assumed they didn’t dare to talk back, that they were cowed by his authority as an elder. Growing even sterner, he slammed his hand on the table. "You two have no backbone! You’re just afraid of making trouble. Your fifth aunt was acting for your own good, for the good of Huai Zi and Yangzi, by helping to arrange for a wife. Who’d have thought her kindness would be met with such ingratitude? Huai Zi, you’re the brother of a Scholar! In the future, you might be the brother of a scholar, or even the Champion Scholar! To marry a..."

"Grandpa Wu!" Huai Zi’s sudden roar made the old man flinch. He stared at Huai Zi in astonishment.