Green Lotus Peasant Girl

64

The atmosphere in the room was solemn, and Old Lady Liu had a dark expression. Seeing that Mrs. Zhou was silent, she sneered, "There were so many people watching outside just now, I felt ashamed and didn't continue arguing, but that doesn't mean you can bully me like that."

Mrs. Zhou frowned as if she didn't know what to say.

Zhou Chengkang turned to Old Lady Liu after hearing what she had to say and asked, "How did our family bully you?"

Old Lady Liu sneered, "Ask your brother."

She was full of disdain, and Zhou Chengkang was displeased with her attitude. "Auntie, can you speak properly? You have been with us for more than a year, and when the family was together, Fifth Sister was the one who cooked for you. You normally aren't bullied, right? Why do you sound so sarcastic and cynical to me?"

Zhou Chengkang was unhappy, and Old Lady Liu was even angrier. "Why should I speak in warmly when you didn't do what you promised me. Your family is a bunch of liars!"

"You cannot speak such nonsense." Mrs. Zhou finally spoke up. "It's true that our Zhou family is poor, but my children have never taken anything from anyone since they were young, much less lie to anyone."

"Didn't lie?" Old Lady Liu was furious and pointed at Elder Brother Zhou. "He said he would not have a child within five years of marriage, but it's only been a year, and now Mei Hua is pregnant. What is he if not a liar?"

Mrs. Zhou was also angry. "These two are already married, so if you are not allowing them to have children, then what kind of daughter-in-law did our family choose? I think your goal is to find two ancestors to come back to serve you, right?"

Prevent Mei Hua from getting pregnant?

Eldest Brother Zhou didn't speak a word. It seemed as though he had done this privately. Upon seeing this, Mrs. Zhou immediately became angry and understood what had happened. Then she looked at Mei Hua's pale face at the side, and then at her stomach. She gave her face bearing in mind she was pregnant and held back her belly full of anger, saying to Zhou Chengkang, "It is as she says. Your eldest brother promised not to have children for five years, and that is why she agreed to this marriage, but we didn’t know about it. If I’d known in advance, I wouldn’t have accepted the marriage because we would’ve wronged Mei Hua. Now that Mei Hua is pregnant, she wants us to agree to her wishes. She actually wants Mei Hua to terminate the pregnancy!"

"I've never seen such a vicious woman in my life!"

Li Qinghe asked calmly, "Why can't they have children for five years? They are married, so how can they not have children? Unless they have not yet consummated their marriage, but if they have not yet consummated the marriage are they still husband and wife?"

"In the beginning your family sent some copper coins, adding up to one tael of silver; is this an attitude of courting marriage? The reason I agreed to this marriage is that Eldest Son Zhou said that he will not have children within five years of marriage, and…" Old Lady Liu's tone was a bit heavy saying the last part. "Also, I will collect all the money they earn."

Mrs. Zhou was taken aback and looked at her eldest son.

Old Lady Liu sneered, "Don't look at him. I collected all the silver earned over the year, and if it hadn’t been agreed on before, did you think he was a fool?"

She paused and continued. "This child can't be born. Think about it. If you wish to have a child, you can make up for my five-year loss. Oh sorry, four years, 10 taels a year, forty taels of silver in total, then I won’t stand in your way."

Mrs. Zhou was furious. "Why don't you go rob me instead? If you were Mei Hua's mother, this would indeed be true. And if the bean curd recipe was your Liu family's, I would have accepted it. But you are her former mother-in-law, and she is willing to take care of you because of her kindness and filial piety. You should be content with that!"