The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 423: Doubting Life

Chapter 423: Chapter 423: Doubting Life

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Wang Yongzhu was startled, not expecting Old Granny Zhang to have been pondering this matter for the past two days.

But upon reflection, she thought that Liu Xiaoqiao was really not bad, decisive and not a petty-minded girl. If she really could marry her own Fourth Brother, it would indeed be a stroke of luck for Wang Yongping.

However, the matter of marriage must ultimately rely on mutual affection between the two.

After a moment of contemplation, she said, "The Liu Family is indeed good, and Miss Liu is a fine young lady, I have no objections. But it depends on whether they look favorably upon Fourth Brother, and also if Fourth Brother takes a liking to their young lady. As for the mountain goods business, as long as we are fair with our pricing, the business won’t slip away. There’s no need to hitch it to Fourth Brother’s life-long affair."

Old Granny Zhang merely wanted her own daughter to have no objections, and immediately said cheerfully, "As long as you have no objections, that’s great. I’ll sound out the Liu girl tomorrow and see what their family thinks. If they think it’s good as well, I’d say there’s an eighty to ninety percent chance this will happen."

"I’m not belittling Laosi, but even if he were my own son, I’d have to say, for Miss Liu to marry him, he’d be incredibly fortunate. If it weren’t for having such a capable sister like you, could he even dream of marrying such a capable wife?"

Wang Yongzhu was amused by Old Granny Zhang’s words and laughed, "Mother, Fourth Brother isn’t as bad as you’re making him out to be, okay? These days he might actually be doing a lot more than before."

Old Granny Zhang was not convinced, "No matter how capable he is, can he match my daughter’s abilities? Alright, let’s settle it then; I’ll talk to the Liu girl first thing tomorrow morning. It’s perfect, we’ll leave Laosi at the Liu Family’s place to show his worth and spend more time with Miss Liu. Maybe they’ll take a liking to each other."

Wang Yongzhu naturally did not object.

The next day as soon as it was light, Old Granny Zhang got up at the sound of movement outside.

Outside was Mother Liu getting up to cook breakfast. The others had not yet awakened, and Old Granny Zhang and Mother Liu whispered together in the kitchen for a long time before coming out and going back to their room.

Wang Yongzhu had just gotten up and saw Old Granny Zhang’s beaming face; she knew Mother Liu must have agreed.

Indeed, Old Granny Zhang came over and whispered to Wang Yongzhu, "As soon as I broached the idea of matchmaking Laosi with Miss Liu, Miss Liu was first taken aback, then said she needed to discuss with the head of the household. From her expression, she seemed very willing."

Sure enough, during breakfast, Wang Yongzhu noticed that Father Liu’s gaze towards Wang Yongping was somewhat off, and the Liu brothers had changed too, looking at Wang Yongping with a touch of scrutiny in their eyes.

Liu Xiaoqiao must have felt it too, yet she appeared fairly calm, only showing a bit of discomfort when she looked at Wang Yongping’s face.

Most people at the table felt the atmosphere had shifted, and Song Chongjin, who was very astute, just had to glance twice to understand; he gave Wang Yongzhu a knowing look, to which she nodded slightly. Song Chongjin looked sympathetically at the still dopily unaware Wang Yongping.

Wang Yongping just felt that today his godparents and the Liu brothers were behaving somewhat oddly.

Godfather looked at him the same way he looked at the mountain goods, with a bit of scrutiny in his gaze.

Godmother, on the other hand, was all smiles, her eyes gleaming with joy, looking at him as if she saw a chunk of fatty meat.

The two godbrothers, who had been very attentive to him over the past two days, now looked at him differently when they woke up; they were as guarded towards him as if he were a thief.

The meal was finished with everyone harboring their own thoughts.

Wang Yongping was then dragged out by the Liu brothers, arm in arm.

Song Chongjin shook his head, a silent lament for Wang Yongping, then joined his own Yongzhu in moving tables and chairs, ready to gather the mountain goods.

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Wang Yongping, utterly bewildered, was dragged to a secluded spot by the Liu brothers. Along the way, Liu Dasheng and Liu Daming bombarded him with all sorts of bizarre questions, making Wang Yongping doubt his very existence.

For instance, they asked Wang Yongping what kind of wife he would like to marry?

Wang Yongping actually gave it some serious thought. What kind of wife did he want? He definitely wouldn’t dare to go for someone like Li Jinzhi. In fact, he was at a point where he was set on doing the exact opposite of whatever Li Jinzhi represented.

Thus, he answered the Liu brothers with refreshing candor, saying he wanted a wife who was straightforward in her speech and actions, who didn’t cry all the time, who didn’t plaster her face with makeup, didn’t fuss over her clothes, and, preferably, was a bit fierce too.

No sooner had he said this than the Liu brothers exchanged a glance, their looks turning even more hostile towards Wang Yongping. This guy, just listen to these requirements of his, wasn’t he precisely describing their sister?

Well then, he seemed all meek and mousy, but boy was he cunning?

Liu Dasheng sneered, "So, once you marry a wife, will you let her be in charge of the household? Will you listen to your wife’s words?"

Wang Yongping was truly honest, completely unaware that the Liu brothers had misunderstood his interest in their sister, and he gave a sincere answer: "Right now, it’s my sister who runs our home, our whole family listens to her, and even if I got married, I would still have to listen to my sister, right? Of course, I would listen to my wife’s words too, as long as she doesn’t conflict with my sister, then naturally, I would listen to my wife."

Wang Yongping said this with a clear conscience, feeling there was nothing amiss.

At present, his sister was in charge of the family, they all relied on her for their good lives, so naturally, they had to listen to her in everything. Even if he brought a wife into the home, he could listen to the wife over trivial matters, but when it came to important decisions, it was his sister who had the final say.

The Liu brothers were so miffed they could hardly breathe straight. Just listen to him talk!

But looking at Wang Yongping’s clueless face, the brothers felt even more frustrated. They hadn’t said a word when Wang Yongping spoke up again: "Brothers, is there anything else you want to ask? If not, I’ll be going. My sister is waiting for me to collect mountain produce."

Liu Dasheng, pinching his nose, waved Wang Yongping off: "Go, go, go..."

Just looking at him was annoying.

Wang Yongping scratched his head and left.

The Liu brothers exchanged glances and headed home.

In the Liu Family, Liu Xiaoqiao had gone with Wang Yongzhu to collect mountain goods. The Wang Family members and Song Chongjin had also gone along, leaving only Mother Liu and Father Liu at home waiting.

When the Liu brothers came back and reported Wang Yongping’s words, Liu Dasheng took a stand: "I find Wang Family’s Fourth Child unreliable. How can it be that if my sister marries into his family, she has to listen to his sister? Let’s look for another family, shall we?"

Mother Liu actually had a rather high opinion of the Wang Family, especially Wang Yongping, who seemed like a very honest child, someone her daughter would definitely be able to handle in the future.

However, what Wang Yongping had said about her daughter marrying into the Wang Family and still having to listen to everything the little sister-in-law said ticked Mother Liu off. Her own daughter was precious too. Marrying into the Wang Family and having to obey their girl in everything—how could she not feel uncomfortable about that?

Yet they weren’t familiar with families outside their area. Without the Wang family, where could they find another good family?

Mother Liu looked at Father Liu, conflicted.

After several puffs on his pipe, Father Liu spoke slowly, "I think, Laosi is quite sincere, not one for empty flattery. Besides, it’s thanks to the Wang Family Young Lady that their days are prosperous. She’s capable, so it’s not a bad thing to listen to her."