Chapter 9: The Matriarch Defends Her Title

The Lu family all turned to look at Li Meng. This woman was a liar—everyone’s eyes were full of wariness.

Li Meng hurriedly waved her hands. “No, I’m not…”

But the facts were right in front of them—could she really explain her way out of this?

Fang Yuan shot Li Meng a glare, warning her, “From now on, stop looking at our second son. He’s literate, good-looking, and not someone you should be thinking about. If I catch you once, I’ll hit you once.”

Lu’s second son felt a bit out of sorts hearing himself called “our second son.” He couldn’t help baring his teeth in discomfort—he didn’t even feel sad anymore.

Old Mrs. Lu looked at Li Meng with concern, then glanced at her second son. If this was true, it would be the source of chaos in the family. This matter needed to be watched closely—Fang Yuan was right to be cautious.

Li Meng was so angry she was grinding her teeth, trembling and unable to speak clearly. “I was just praising you! I only like our Feng-ge!”

Fang Yuan pointed at Li Meng’s nose and cursed, “Pah! I knew you were shameless. You say these kinds of shameless things out loud.”

Honestly, Fang Yuan’s behavior and words were a bit much, but somehow, they made sense.

Lu Chuan watched as Li Meng trembled, unable to get a word out, while Fang Yuan scolded her. He thought, “It takes a villain to deal with a villain.” No one in their family had ever managed to reason with Li Meng.

Look at Fang Yuan—she didn’t bother reasoning, and she had Li Meng under control in an instant.

Fang Yuan instructed the Lu parents, “Keep an eye on this woman from now on. Don’t let her embarrass the family outside.”

Li Meng was furious, losing her composure. “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

Fang Yuan replied, “Even though we’ve split up the family, it still looks bad if people talk about us. The men rely on their reputation to work outside. Cherish it—don’t ruin it. The third son still needs to find a wife one day.”

The Lu parents didn’t dare offend Fang Yuan, and she was right, so they nodded immediately. “Don’t worry, we’ll handle it. You don’t need to worry.”

Li Meng’s only motivation to keep going was the hope of a better life in the future. No matter what she said, Fang Yuan would scold her, so she just gave up and stayed silent.

She looked at Lu Feng with pity in her eyes. So what if he became the richest man in his past life? Living with a woman like this couldn’t have been easy.

Lu Feng got goosebumps from Li Meng’s gaze. This woman was crazy.

Fang Yuan, seeing she had the situation under control and everyone was listening, was quite satisfied.

She finally got off the bed, shot a look at Lu’s second son, and said, “Let’s go. Look at your pale face, letting that shameless woman stare at you.”

Lu’s second son didn’t even know how to react. He just wanted to howl at the sky—what kind of woman was this? What kind of life was he going to have in the future?

This woman sold off Lu’s eldest brother for just 350 yuan. Could he really live with her? Why did he feel so insecure?

If Lu’s eldest brother was worth 350 yuan, Lu’s second son started wondering how much he’d be worth.

If another woman came along wanting to buy him, how much would this woman sell him for? Could she make a fortune just by selling off the men?

In the end, he still had to follow Fang Yuan. Otherwise, the whole family would have to watch her mood.

Another thing—Lu’s second son was quick-witted. He could see that Fang Yuan was a tough character. If he didn’t go along, she might drag him out herself, which would be even more embarrassing.

Looking at his parents, who were timidly watching Fang Yuan’s face, Lu’s second son sighed. After a whole day of chaos, it was time for this matter to end.

The Lu family watched as the two of them left one after another. The third son couldn’t hold back and started crying. “Mom, Dad, will second brother be okay? Will he get beaten?”

Lu’s third son had always been a bit shrewd but also timid. He wasn’t the type to do good deeds easily, but he couldn’t do bad things either.

Everyone looked at Lu’s eldest brother, who had already been beaten. Wasn’t it obvious? The second brother wouldn’t fare much better.

Lu’s eldest brother didn’t look good, blustering, “What are you looking at? At least she’s a woman—she wouldn’t dare.”

Then everyone fell silent again. She really would dare—and she already had.

She’d even beaten up the eldest brother and this not-so-innocent woman right in front of the whole family. A living example.

Coming from Lu’s eldest brother, those words had zero credibility. He muttered, “Second brother didn’t even do anything wrong.”

After that, everyone fell silent again. So you know you embarrassed yourself and deserved to be beaten? Lu’s eldest brother just squatted on the doorstep, covering his head, retreating into himself.

Old Mrs. Lu was still worried about her son. She grabbed Old Mr. Lu and spoke shakily, “Do you think second son will be okay?”

Old Mr. Lu looked miserable, completely at a loss. If he’d been tougher, if he could take charge, their second son wouldn’t have ended up like this.

But honestly, given the second son’s situation, marrying Fang Yuan wasn’t so bad. Maybe her family could help him with his studies in the future.

If he hadn’t thought about that, he wouldn’t have let his son get involved. Lacking confidence, he said, “Let’s wait and see. It should be fine.”

What else could they do? Their son had already been taken away.

Old Mrs. Lu steeled herself and stomped her foot. “As long as he’s not beaten to death, we’ll have another daughter-in-law. Second son will have a wife now.”

Then she wailed, “My poor second son!” Clearly, she wasn’t very confident.

Lu’s third son cried too. “Mom, I don’t want a wife like that.”

Old Mrs. Lu smacked him. “Nonsense! Where would we get the money to find you a wife? Otherwise, your second brother wouldn’t have to suffer.”

She glanced at Li Meng, the “bargain” daughter-in-law who’d come knocking herself. If they couldn’t have someone like Fang Yuan, they definitely couldn’t have someone like Li Meng. She’d have to make things clear to her third son later.

It’s fine if a wife is a bit fierce, but a spendthrift is absolutely unacceptable.

Mother and son exchanged tearful looks, then started wailing together.

Old Mr. Lu was getting angry. “Stop crying! Do you want the whole village to know our business?”

Fine. Old Mrs. Lu hugged the third son, and the two of them cried into their hands, trying to muffle the sound. The scene was even more heartbreaking.

Li Meng looked at this family—there wasn’t even money left to get the third son a wife. When would she ever get to be a rich lady? She wanted to cry too.

She turned to look at Lu Feng, her hope for the future reignited. “Feng-ge, I’m not afraid of hardship. Let’s work hard together for a better life.”

In the future, Lu Feng would drive everywhere, and have houses all over the place. All of that would be hers. Thinking of this, Li Meng felt her mood lift, filled with hope again.

Li Meng’s heartfelt confession was met with nothing but Lu Feng’s back as he slammed the door behind him. His wedding day had been ruined by this crazy woman. The money, the family fortune—all gone.

Lu Feng wasn’t completely without ambition, but it was just that his family was poor and things had gotten out of hand. His courage had been worn away.

Li Meng had broken off the engagement first, then came back around with a completely different attitude. Who knew what she was really up to?

But at least he was getting a wife, right? Even if the family fortune was gone.

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