Free Web NovelChapter 363: Chapter 144: Troubling Matters
The midday banquet was lively; almost the entire village had turned out. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Xu Suying was truly excited. This time, she had ordered a menu of ten cold dishes, ten hot dishes, and two soups—a truly grand affair.
But Xu Suying knew how to handle people. It was one thing to show off her family’s good fortune, but she wouldn’t stir up resentment from the Zhao Family.
She and Chen Song toasted Mr. Zhao and his brother, saying graciously, "We’ve been wanting to treat you to a meal for a long time, and we’ve finally gotten the chance. Look how well you’ve raised Zhao Jing. The boy is about to make something of himself, and we’ve snatched him up to be our son-in-law. We’re the ones who’ve really lucked out."
Then she turned to Mrs. Zhao and said, "I’m too excited for words and so incredibly grateful to you all. Please, eat and drink your fill. Let us show you our humble appreciation."
Chen Song and Xu Suying were a couple who knew how to work a room. With just a few words, they smoothed over the slight discomfort the Zhao clansmen had been feeling.
As they ate and listened to the couple, they couldn’t help but whisper to the people beside them, "That Chen Song and his wife are really capable." freёwebnovel.com
"Capable and decent, too. This is an excellent match."
"I heard that Wanqing’s birth characters are auspicious for Jing. I didn’t believe it before, but now I think it’s true."
"Stop gossiping and eat. Can’t all this delicious food shut your mouth?"
After Chen Song and Xu Suying had made a round of toasts, it was Zhao Jing and De’an’s turn to toast the clan elders.
The two young men—one cool and handsome, the other with a carefree smile—stood together, one cold and one warm. The contrast was striking.
"Those two old folks from the other Chen family didn’t come? I don’t know what they’re thinking. Their grandson is so successful, yet they refuse to acknowledge him. They must have water on the brain."
When Chen Song’s family went to pay respects to their ancestors, Chen Dasheng and Chen Dalong were overjoyed. Chen Dachang, however, wore a dark expression, as if someone owed him a fortune.
Someone in the know explained that it was because Chen Wanyue’s marriage into the Shi Family had made Chen Dachang and the old woman furious.
They had been against the match from the start; Chen Wanyue had gone against their wishes and stubbornly married into the Shi Family behind their backs.
Marry, then, fine. She was a girl who had lost all her use-value; she could marry whomever she pleased. But she shouldn’t have taken the entire betrothal gift, and on top of that, she even stole the deed to the family’s small courtyard house.
Chen Dachang and his son, Chen Lin, went secretly to demand it back, but Chen Wanyue simply refused to give it to them.
At first, she denied it. Later, when she saw she couldn’t hide it any longer, she simply played dumb, claiming she had bought the courtyard herself. She said she had given the old woman silver, and the old woman had promised to give her the house. Now they were going back on their word and refusing to admit it—did they think she was a pushover?
Anyone could tell she was just trying to fool them.
She was just a village girl who had barely even been to the county town in her life. Where would she have gotten the ability to earn money and buy a house?
Her story was full of holes, but some people were willing to believe it.
The old couple from the Shi Family stepped forward to "uphold justice," throwing the elderly Chen Dachang and the limping Chen Lin out of the house.
When the father and son were thrown out, a large crowd had gathered outside. Seeing them swept out the door, everyone burst out laughing as if watching a comedy.
Afterward, Chen Dachang started selling sesame seed cakes in the county town. It’s unclear whether his competitors hired people to stir up trouble or if the townspeople were just that idle, but they would gossip right to his face.
"Raising a granddaughter like that... you’ve become a laughingstock. You absolutely deserve it."
"Chen Wanyue and the Shi Family... ’people of a kind flock together.’ They’re a perfect match. The Shi Family is shameless and black-hearted. You old man, you still have the nerve to sell your cakes? Be careful they don’t smash up your stall and burn it down one of these days."
Perhaps those words got to him, or perhaps raising such a granddaughter had truly brought him utter shame, but the old man grew more and more silent. Before, he might say a sentence or two all day; now, he could go for weeks without making a sound. He was like a mummy.
To make matters worse, Mrs. Li found a rich lover and began openly living with him.
It was said she even intended to divorce Chen Lin, but he refused to grant those two adulterers their wish and was stubbornly dragging things out.
All of this was too sordid. Chen Dachang heard it all, and the anger festered inside him.
The anger made him sick.
But his illness wasn’t headaches, chest pain, numb limbs, a stroke, or anything like that. It was as if he had contracted some strange disease. He went about his work mechanically each day, but toward everything else, he was numb, as if he couldn’t see or hear. It was all very, very peculiar.
Because of this peculiar illness, when Chen Song returned to pay respects to their ancestors, Chen Dachang naturally had no reaction.
As for the banquet they had arranged and the invitation to come eat, Chen Dachang, of course, would not attend.
The old woman didn’t come purely because she didn’t want to see the smug looks on the faces of Chen Song’s family.
