Chapter Eleven Good and Evil

  The onlookers all left, but Xing's widow and Lixiang stayed behind. Lixiang had bumped into the table at the Qi's house, if she went back now wouldn't that be losing face in front of Liu Shi? No matter what Xing's widow said, she wouldn't let Lixiang go home, so she naturally stayed behind to take care of her as well.

  Liu was no longer able to bear it this time, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he scolded: "You shameless widow, don't give face if you don't want face. My son is willing to marry that broken shoe daughter of yours, you should be burning incense in gratitude. How dare you overstep your bounds? Have you ever seen a daughter-in-law who hasn't even entered the door yet and is served by her mother-in-law?"

  Xing's widow had her face covered with bruises, but she also knew that what was said about her was true. There was no reason for a mother-in-law to serve her daughter-in-law. However, she didn't want to go home and let the villagers see her like this, or they would gossip about her family, especially Li Xiang.

  "Hey, we've been here for so long and haven't seen Zhen'er yet? I heard she's going to the Qi family, oh my, that's a place of luxury, Zhen'er is really lucky." Xing Widow was seething with anger but didn't dare to argue with Liu Shi, fearing she would take it out on Li Xiang later. She thought to herself, Zhen'er's sale price was thirty taels of silver, a huge sum for a farming family, and they even got rent reduction. Liu Shi heard her mention Zhen'er and couldn't help but feel pleased, no longer giving her the cold shoulder.

  When the news of Qi Feng'er replacing Qi Zhen'er came out, Li Xiang's side was also making a big fuss. Mrs. Xing was so anxious that she didn't have the heart to pay attention to this matter, and it was only brought up at this time in order to ease relations with Liu Shi, but unexpectedly it touched on Liu Shi's sore spot.

  Liu's face turned completely black after hearing this. Where is Zhen'er? Zhen'er should have entered the wolf's belly long ago.

  Liu thought of her daughter Feng'er entering the Qi manor tomorrow and felt heartbroken, sorrowfully returning to her own room.

  Qifeng was originally a proud person and would not look up to Lixiang's behavior, so she had never been in a good mood towards her. Just now, it was just an accident that she came to this house and saw her. Now that Lixiang woke up and spoke kindly to her, the more Qifeng listened, the more disgusted she became, and she went out with a sullen face, leaving Lixiang staring blankly.

  Lixiang looked at her back and thought resentfully, who would want to talk to you anyway? If it weren't for the fact that she would have to get along with her for many years after marrying into the family, why would she bother to try so hard to please her?

  Xing's widow came in with a beaming smile on her face, and Lixiang was dizzy from the shock.

  "Mom, what's got you so excited?"

  "I'm telling you, you must be even happier than your mother. Qifeng is leaving tomorrow."

  Lixiang indeed became interested, "What's going on?"

  "It wasn't Qi Zhen'er who was going to be a maid at the Qi manor, it was Qi Feng'er. I just heard it from Qi Qiang's father."

  "It's impossible, didn't Qiang say that his mother doted on Feng'er? How could she bear to let her become a maid?" Lixiang murmured, even in a family like hers, her mother wouldn't sell her off.

  "So I'm saying even heaven is helping you, Qi Zhener and her brother Hu Zi were eaten by wolves at the foot of Dapeng Mountain, so Qi Feng'er can only replace her to go to the Qi Manor. From now on, when your family no longer has this annoying little sister-in-law, your days will be much better."

  Lixiang was also delighted from the bottom of her heart. Thinking that she should make a good show, express her concern and reluctance to let her daughter go, so she asked her mother to go home and pack a few changes of clothes, and bring back that hairpin.

  Xing's widow thought she just wanted to dress up a bit to leave a good impression on the Qi family, so she didn't think much of it and brought it for her. The next day, when she saw her give that hairpin to Qi Feng'er, her eyes almost popped out - that was a silver hairpin worth two taels of silver!

  Lixiang sent it out with a heartache, but thinking of her future days in the Qi family, she steeled herself and sent it anyway.

  It's also unknown whether it was Li Xiang's cleverness or the real effect of the hairpin, but after getting married, Liu Shi's attitude towards her gradually improved and was no longer as cold and disgusted as before. Of course, this is a later story.

  In the main room, Old Qi remained silent for a long time after hearing what Qi Xingwen had said.

  Zi Xingwen looked at his father like this and was still a little afraid. No matter how he explained it, he couldn't shake off the responsibility for this matter.

  "You only saw tattered clothes and shoes at the foot of the mountain, didn't you go up to take a look?" After a long time, Old Qi finally spoke up.

  Zi Xingwen hesitated for a long time before speaking in a low voice, "No, their clothes were torn too badly, everyone suspected that they might have been harmed. Moreover, at that time, Mrs. Xing, no, I mean, Auntie Xing came to our house, so I and the child's mother rushed back home."

  The old man looked deeply at his son for a long time, so long that he felt like he almost didn't recognize him anymore. He then let out a sigh and shifted his gaze away, "Eldest son, I'll only say one thing: people do things while heaven watches; good and evil will ultimately be rewarded!" After saying this, he walked out with his hands behind his back.

  After Yang's difficult childbirth and death, when Lao San distanced himself from them, he felt that things had already deviated from his expectations. He thought that marrying a clever and capable eldest daughter-in-law would be good for supporting this family, but unexpectedly, the eldest daughter-in-law was indeed clever and capable, yet she also made this family disperse even faster.

  Yang left, he also thought about making up for Lao San and the two children, but at that time Lao San had already distanced himself from him, and the household was controlled by Liu Shi, so he couldn't make amends with them. Lao San's sudden death made his relationship with the third house even more distant, and although the two children were very respectful to him, they didn't get close to him.

  Until this time, the old man and his family wanted to sell Zhen Er, he finally realized that this home was no longer under his control, and he had lost his dominant position. He also thought about dividing the family, but the second child was in the city, and the third child's family only had two small children left. If they divided the house, who would take care of them? They were old too, how many more years could they work? Wasn't it for the sake of living with the old man and his family in the future that they handed over the house to them early on?

  Zi Xingwen felt a chill in his heart after hearing his father's words. Was his father not going to take care of him anymore?

  Qī Fèng'ér left the next day, and Liú shì cried so hard that her heart was torn apart, tightly grasping her hand and refusing to let go.

  Qifeng still had some happiness, but she was also made to cry by her mother. Last night, with a yearning for the Qi manor and fear of the future, she didn't sleep well all night, and only felt a bit better after washing her face with cold water this morning.

  She took the hairpin from Lixiang, and she was slightly surprised. Such a beautiful hairpin, she had only seen Lixiang wear it twice before, and at that time, she didn't even allow anyone to touch it. Today, she actually gave it to her, it seemed that she had misunderstood her in the past.

  For this reason, Qifeng'er completely changed her attitude towards Lixiang. Later, when Liu went to the Qi mansion to see her, she would also advise Liu to be kinder to Lixiang, which was also one of the reasons for Liu's change in attitude towards Lixiang later on.

  After seeing off Qi Feng'er, the Qi family was in a slump for a while. Soon, Lixiang recovered and followed her mother back to their own home. After all, they had already started preparing for the six rituals, and it wouldn't be good for her to stay at the Qi's house all the time.

  After Lixiang married into the Qi family, she began a lively life in the Qi household. The reason was simple: Qi Fu had also married a wealthy young lady from the city, who was also quite strong-willed and couldn't get along with either Liu Shi or Lixiang. After losing her obedient daughter and son-in-law, Liu Shi welcomed two difficult people into her home, and her life underwent a drastic change.

  As for the farce of the Qi family, although Qizhen did not see it with her own eyes, she had expected it. Because it was she who told Lixiang that Liu would take her sold body money to marry a daughter-in-law for Qi Qiang, and still want a daughter-in-law from a good family.

  Lixiang's poor family background is known to everyone in the village, and she also has a widowed mother to support. How could Liu look up to her?

  Ke Li Xiang had invested so much in Qiang, how could she let the duck that had reached her mouth fly away? She would definitely take a risk and marry into the Qiang family. After all, thirty-two silver coins were not a small amount of money in rural areas, enough for a family to live well for several years.

  To say that Qizhen and Lixiang didn't have much deep hatred, after all they didn't have any interest disputes, except for the last Qingming Festival when Qiqiang stole eggs for her but almost got her beaten to death.

  This time, Qizhen felt a little guilty for plotting against Lixiang. Until she vaguely remembered that in her previous life, Liu's wife had said to her when she came to ask for money, "After Lixiang and Qiqiang get married, Qiqiang listens to everything she says." Only then did Qizhen feel that Lixiang must have played a role in Tiger being pushed down the mountain by Qiqiang, after all, she was the one who followed closely behind Qizhen when she went to the Qi mansion and got married.

  She wanted to know how sensational the commotion at the Qi's house was, but she didn't expect that it was Old Man Qi who ended up ending the commotion.