Chapter 5: One Hundred Plus Two Hundred Fifty

Fang Yuan could take on a whole room by herself. She pointed right at Li Meng’s nose and said, “You. Yes, you. Do I even need to insult you? Are you so pure and innocent? Have you ever seen a decent girl show up pregnant at someone else’s wedding? Want me to go outside and tell everyone about it?”

Li Meng shut her mouth. She cared about her reputation too. With the whole village gossiping, she couldn’t save face. She hadn’t expected this woman to be so fierce.

Fang Yuan turned to Oldest Lu and Li Meng and let loose: “I’m giving you face, so take it. When I tell you to shut up, just close your mouth. What, you think I’m easy to deal with? Think I won’t go out there and talk sense into people?”

She spat in Li Meng’s direction. “Pfft. Your precious eldest son—aren’t you ashamed to be involved in something so disgraceful?”

Li Meng pressed her lips tightly together. If word of this got out, she’d never be able to hold her head up in the village again.

Li Meng turned to Lu Feng, her voice as delicate as a wilted flower. “Feng-ge, I’m willing to suffer for you.”

Lu Feng’s face darkened. Who asked you to suffer? He just felt embarrassed. What was this woman doing here after breaking off the engagement?

Li Meng’s heartfelt confession only earned her Lu Feng’s back. No understanding, no comfort. The road to prosperity was off to a rocky start.

Fang Yuan spoke up, “I’m giving up this room for my parents. If Oldest Lu wants to live here, he’ll have to pay me.”

No freebies. Fang Yuan wasn’t about to waste words on people like them. Her family never suffered losses, and they cared about money. Ask around in the township—everyone knew that.

Old Lu mulled it over and thought it made sense. Fang Yuan might be a bit rough around the edges, but she had a good heart. She was thinking of her elders.

Sons are all family, but when it comes to dividing the house, things should be fair.

He sucked on his unlit pipe and said, “Fang Yuan’s right, but there’s no money left. We spent it all marrying you.”

Classic broke man.

Fang Yuan wasn’t afraid of the Lu family being poor. She’d already known most of their situation before marrying in. It wasn’t the Lu family she was planning to squeeze.

She pointed at Li Meng. “You guys might not have money, but she does. She came all this way, pregnant and alone, to find a man—she must have money.”

A penniless woman couldn’t act so spoiled. New bedding, a new enamel mug hanging on her luggage—one glance and Fang Yuan could tell she had cash.

Li Meng instinctively clutched her money pouch, furious and dizzy. This woman was shameless, eyeing her money. “Dream on! You’re just a thief. Why should I give you my money?”

Fang Yuan replied, “Thief? What’s worse, stealing money or stealing a man? I’m giving you a chance to pay a ransom for your man. He just married me, you know. What, you think you can just take him for free?” No need to act—she was playing the bandit to a T.

Old Lu and his wife were both stunned. What kind of person had they married into the family? Old Mrs. Lu realized Fang Yuan was not someone to cross.

Lu Feng just felt worthless. He’d just gotten married, and now this woman was selling him off for cash.

He glanced at Fang Yuan, then turned away, not wanting to look at her again. What kind of person had that matchmaker brought into their home?

If Lu Feng had a choice, he’d stay far away from both these women.

All the family’s money had gone into marrying off the eldest son. They really had nothing left. Now everyone just stared at the two women, meaning: You sort it out yourselves.

Li Meng could see it too—Lu Feng was starting to look down on her. She had to hold her ground. She gritted her teeth. “How much do you want?”

Fang Yuan shot back, “What, after all this fuss, you think this disgraceful man isn’t worth much? Shouldn’t you pay whatever you have? If it were me, I wouldn’t even take him if you paid me.”

Of course he was worth something. Now it was all about pride. Li Meng had to give Lu Feng face. Her man had to be valuable.

Besides, she’d made such a scene earlier, and Lu Feng seemed to be siding against her. Now she had to show some backbone and prove how much she valued her Feng-ge.

Li Meng gritted her teeth. What was a bit of money? Her man was capable, and there’d be plenty of money in the future. She’d be a rich wife someday.

She glared at Fang Yuan, thinking, “One day, this woman will have to watch me rise to the top. When we’re doing well, we won’t bother with Lu’s second family. Hmph. Let her regret it.”

She dug in her pocket for a long time, pulled out a roll of bills, steeled herself, stomped her foot, and threw the money over with her eyes closed. “Here! Take it! All of it!”

Oldest Lu watched as the two women bought and sold him, thinking, “So I really was sold by one woman and bought by another?”

Old Mrs. Lu was worried, seeing Li Meng just hand over her money like that. Was she stupid?

What would her son’s future look like? This woman really wasn’t much. You can’t just take advantage for nothing.

Honestly, Fang Yuan was the better woman—she knew how to run a household. Look at that: she’d just arrived and already had the house and the money in hand. She was a real manager.

Old Mrs. Lu was timid but not foolish. She thought, “Well, this isn’t so bad. Both sons have wives now.”

The eldest son’s wife came chasing after him—if she had to suffer a bit, so be it. The second son’s wife was begged for by the family, so of course she should be treated well. Even if she was meant for the eldest, there was no other way. The real worry was that the second son still had to go to college. What would they do?

The second son’s wife was fierce—she didn’t dare cross her. She wouldn’t even say it out loud. But she’d already decided: from now on, she’d go along with whatever the second son’s wife wanted. She didn’t dare do otherwise.

Fang Yuan calmly opened the roll of bills, licked her fingers, and started counting. Then she frowned at Li Meng and said, “So this disgraceful man is only worth two hundred fifty?”

That number—what a coincidence—wasn’t exactly lucky.

But the amount stunned the whole Lu family. It was more than all the money they’d scraped together for Fang Yuan’s bride price.

They looked at Li Meng like she was an idiot. So much money, just handed over?

Old Mrs. Lu even glanced at her eldest son—he wasn’t worth two hundred fifty, was he?

Li Meng was furious. This woman was too wicked. Wasn’t she deliberately driving a wedge between her and Lu Feng? “You’re the two hundred fifty! My Feng-ge is not a two hundred fifty!”

She pulled out a handkerchief and threw it at Fang Yuan. “Take it! It’s all yours!” She was ready to give her heart for Feng-ge.

Every penny was her love for him. She just didn’t know if he understood.

Unfortunately, Lu Feng didn’t see it that way. Watching Li Meng act foolish, he was getting anxious. What’s wrong with being worth two hundred fifty? Throwing money around like this—now that’s really being a fool.

He couldn’t bring himself to say, “He’s not worth two hundred fifty.”

Fang Yuan opened the handkerchief, counted the money, and was finally satisfied. She pocketed the cash and announced to the room, “One hundred plus two hundred fifty—deal. This disgraceful man is yours now.”

Li Meng was dizzy with anger. Three hundred fifty is three hundred fifty—why did she have to say two hundred fifty plus one hundred? It was like saying she wasn’t even worth two hundred fifty. Too wicked.

Fang Yuan wiped her hands with the handkerchief, then tossed it back to Li Meng with a look of disgust. “I don’t want this thing. It’s dirty.”

Her tone was so disdainful, it was almost bullying.

Just then, Lu’s third son arrived with the village party secretary."