Liu Qiaoer stared blankly at the weak Zhang and felt extremely speechless for a moment.
"Mom, I worked so hard to run this bun shop, why should I give it to grandma? Do you know how much money I spent? Do you know how much effort I put into it?"
They were jealous just after making a little money. If Liu Qiaoer did other business in the future, she would be skinned and eaten by these people.
"It's okay that grandma doesn't understand me, but mother, why are you the same as her?"
Liu Erzhu squatted at the door smoking opium, while Zhang in the room gave him earnest advice.
"I'm different from your grandma. She's doing this for the good of the whole family, and I'm doing this for your own good."
"Let's not talk about your identity being despised when you marry into the Lu family in the future. Just to say that the Lu family may not be sure when they will come out, and now all the money you have worked so hard to earn has been given to the Lu family."
"I know that when those two children came to our house, they were penniless. They had nothing, and now you are the only one supporting them. Instead of giving the money to irrelevant people, you should give it to your two cousins. They are your relatives."
Liu Qiaoer suddenly felt powerless to argue with Zhang. Zhang was a kind-hearted rural woman. Her thinking was still stuck in the ancient times when men were superior to women. Because she had not given birth to a son for her husband's family, she was looked down upon all her life.
She had no control over her daughter being sold, and she had no right to ask for her daughter's monthly allowance. She gave it all to her aunt's two sons. The key issue was that she did not think it was wrong. Instead, she felt that it was her duty to subsidize her two cousins.
Liu Qiaoer's face darkened. To deal with Zhang, they could only use their own thinking.
"Mother, my indenture contract is still with Madam Lu. I am already a maid in the Lu family. I can only marry whoever she tells me to marry."
"Besides, this shop belongs to the young lady, and I am her maid. I do whatever she tells me to do. The clothes I bought for you before were also a reward from the young lady. Mother, unless Madam Lu comes out of prison, I will still be a maid in the Lu family."
Zhang was easily persuaded when she heard this. She looked helplessly at the man squatting at the door smoking and said, "His father, I told you no, but you insisted on letting me come. Qiao'er is a maid of the Lu family, and her marriage is not decided by us."
Liu Erzhu stood up irritably, strode to Zhang, suddenly raised his hand, and slapped Zhang in the face unexpectedly.
"Useless thing, why don't you just die?"
Then Liu Erzhu wanted to hit Liu Qiaoer, but she dodged him easily and looked at him angrily: "Why are you hitting me?"
Liu Erzhu had a gloomy face and spat, "I am your father. The Lu family only has two children left. Send them to the government. Tomorrow your aunt will come to redeem you. Stay at home and be obedient. If you run around again, I will break your legs."
Faced with such an unreasonable Liu Erzhu, Liu Qiaoer was completely stunned.
"Why? I have my own way. If you redeem me, will you sell me again?"
Liu Erzhu didn't listen to Liu Qiaoer's explanation at all and his attitude was very arrogant.
"The Lu family is a prisoner. You will not have a good ending if you follow them. Even if they sell you, they will sell you to a rich family. You can't be a concubine, but you can't be a prisoner's wife either."
If the aunt-in-law could still coax or intimidate the person to leave, Liu Erzhu would become unreasonable, rude and brutal.
Zhang, who was frail and sick, came to Liu Qiao'er with a pale face and weakly advised: "Listen to your father, or you will be beaten again."
The price of disobedience is a beating.
Liu Qiaoer gritted her back teeth, glared at Liu Erzhu angrily, and clenched her fists. If it were the end of the world, she would have started beating people by now.
"You redeemed me and then sold me to a rich man as a concubine. You are truly my father."
Liu Erzhu jumped up angrily: "I am your biological father. If you have the ability, you can also be born into a rich family. You ungrateful thing, I will beat you to death."
He couldn't vent his anger because he didn't hit Liu Qiaoer just now. But when he saw that Liu Qiaoer was not convinced, he got angry and raised his hand to hit her again.
Just when Liu Qiaoer was thinking about whether to throw him to the ground or kick him directly, a clear voice was heard.
"Before you marry, you must obey your father. After you marry, you must obey your husband. Liu Qiaoer, I will marry her and have nothing to do with your Liu family. Please leave."
Lu Yunzheng pushed the wheelchair out of the house and came to the yard. With his picturesque eyebrows and eyes, he looked particularly deep. It was this calmness that made Liu Erzhu immediately bend down. He didn't dare to raise his head and could only knock him secretly.
Lu Yunzheng took out a piece of paper and shook it in front of Liu Erzhu.
"Liu Qiao'er's indenture contract was transferred from the Lu family. I am a scholar named Gu Mubai, and I live across the street. Today I came here to propose marriage to Liu Qiao'er, the maid of Miss Lu's family. Since you are Qiao'er's parents, why don't you also share in the joyous event?"
Propose marriage
Not to mention Liu Erzhu and Zhang, even the other people in the room were shocked.
Xia Ying didn't dare let the two children come out. Three heads appeared from the window, looking at the movement in the yard in surprise.
Gu Mubai, who was standing behind Lu Yunzheng, was also a little surprised, but his expression remained calm.
Zhang was the most surprised. She looked at Lu Yunzheng and then at Liu Qiaoer, feeling mixed emotions.
"The person Qiao'er is going to marry is you?"
Lu Yunzheng nodded slightly, then looked into Liu Qiaoer's eyes, which were dark and shiny, like stars in the dark night swept by sunlight, with light jumping around.
His chest felt like it was being burned by wildfire, and his emotions were like a gust of wind, fueling the fire fiercely. He tried hard to suppress it, fearing that it would burn up. He didn't care, and was even more worried about Liu Qiaoer's non-cooperation.
Liu Qiaoer was indeed surprised, but then she thought that this was probably the best way to get rid of the Liu family's entanglement, so she immediately agreed.
"Mother, it is like this, but I am now my young lady's maid, and my marriage only requires the young lady's consent."
What I mean is that they don’t have to worry about you at all. The Liu family has already sold the person. She is now a member of the Lu family, and the Lu family will be her mother’s family.
No matter how arrogant Liu Erzhu was, he was very humble in front of the scholars. He could not read a single word and could not understand the indenture, so he had to nod and bow to please them.
"Ah, so that's how it is. Then, there's no need to prepare a dowry for you. Qiao'er will serve your man well in the future."
Liu Qiaoer raised her chin angrily: "You don't need to prepare."
Liu Erzhu saw that his daughter had become more powerful, and then looked at Lu Yunzheng, but did not dare to really do anything. The corners of his eyes twitched in anger, and he motioned Zhang to go with him.
Zhang was filled with reluctance: "The poor scholar from the Gu family? Mother knows him, but his family is very poor."
Liu Erniu sneered: "It's not scary to be poor, but it's scary to be poor in heart. Mom, you have to take good care of yourself in the future and don't give in to him in everything. If it really doesn't work, just divorce him. I support you."
Liu Qiaoer's seemingly ordinary words were no less than a thunderbolt to those who heard them.
Zhang looked at her in surprise: "Qiao'er, what did you say? Are you confused? A woman who asks for a divorce will be thrown into the pond in the village."
Liu Qiaoer frowned, with an expression of disbelief: "Why? He beats you and looks down on you. You are so sick, but he doesn't even come home all day, let alone take care of you. Mother, why did you marry him?"