Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 110 - 108: Exchanging the Bride

Chapter 110: Chapter 108: Exchanging the Bride

Mrs. Zhuang Lin watched her daughter-in-law fly away. That just wouldn’t do. She knew her own son, and his reputation was worse than the water in a foul sewer. How could anyone be willing to marry him! Xu Wenhui was her last hope! Even she herself wouldn’t want to marry such a person, let alone be forced.

But ever since that ungrateful wretch ran off with someone, she was left alone to look after two elders. Her son would lose his temper and beat someone, and her husband spent his days gambling or eating till he was full and sleeping. Once he woke up, he’d eat again. The burden of a big family: housework, farming, earning silver, taking care of two young and two old, all fell on her shoulders. Life was too hard! One way or another, she had to get someone to help her share the burden.

"I don’t care if you’ve fixed a marriage or not. Mrs. Shen has already arranged my son’s marriage with that ill-fated girl! Since ancient times, a marriage has been determined by the parents and matchmaker! Your engagement doesn’t count! Today, I must take Mrs. Xu home!"

"Mrs. Shen can’t decide this! She isn’t our mother! Whoever promised you a daughter-in-law, you should go and ask them." The foreman Liang wasn’t buying her story!

"Didn’t Mrs. Liu accept that ill-fated girl as her sister? We have a daughter at home. Why don’t you marry my daughter and give my daughter-in-law back to my son? My daughter is a virgin, wouldn’t she be a better choice than that ill-fated girl?" Mrs. Zhuang Linshi grabbed the sleeve of the foreman Liang.

"Firstly, Miss Xu is not your daughter-in-law, not an ill-fated girl, and you must stop referring to her this way! Secondly, I am engaged to Miss Xu. I only want to marry her, I don’t want anyone else!" Foreman Liang withdrew his sleeve and frowned. He rarely interacted with women, and he didn’t expect that dealing with them would be so difficult!

"The sister I accepted, I promised her that I wouldn’t arrange her marriage without her consent!" Mrs. Liu also started to explain!

"My goodness, in broad daylight, someone is trying to forcibly snatch someone else’s daughter-in-law!" Mrs. Zhuang Linshi couldn’t help but cry loudly. She was truly heartbroken that the daughter-in-law she almost had was being snatched away by someone else.

The villagers also felt pity for Mrs. Zhuang Linshi; her life was too hard. Yet she was doing all this out of a mother’s concern.

"Auntie, Wen Hui is not suitable for my cousin. She is a weak woman, and she doesn’t have the strength to take care of him. You should look for a wife in the villages deeper in the mountains. The girls there are strong and can surely share your burden." Mrs. Zhuang Linshi herself was married from a mountain village, so she was very strong. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to do both farming and housework.

Whenever it was time for plowing and turning the soil, households without oxen had to rely on human power. Plowing one acre of land could cause blisters even on the rough hands of the men. When freshly harvested grain with high moisture content was taken from the fields, every basket weighed over a hundred catties. If the men in the house were weak, and she didn’t have the strength, how could she bring it back home!

Mr. Ding, a newcomer to the village, began to think after hearing this.

"I want Xu Wenhui! If we don’t have any silver, which mountain girl would be willing to marry us? You don’t need to deceive me!" The little silver they had at home was taken away by her husband and son for gambling or drinking. Without silver, how could she propose a marriage! She had no choice!

Also, Xu Wenhui was alone in the world. Even if she was mistreated in her house, there’d be no one to stand up for her. It can’t be the same with other daughters-in-law. What if her son hit someone else’s daughter and their brothers came to the door? Her son couldn’t afford to be disabled!

Of course, she wanted to find a distant, mountainous, ignorant person’s family and propose marriage to a strong daughter-in-law! Then she would not let her return to her home in the future, but without silver, how could this be possible!

"Madam, my daughter is very strong. If you are willing to have your daughter marry into our family, I am willing to have my daughter marry your son!" Old man Ding thought of his simple-minded but strong daughter and said it out loud! Their family had just moved here not long ago, and everyone was not yet familiar with their children’s personalities! It would be better to set up their marriage as soon as possible.

"Why are you willing to let your daughter marry my son? Who are you? I seem to have never seen you before!" Does he not know about her family situation? This seemed unlikely since villagers had been discussing it just now.

"My family is also poor. We can’t afford a daughter-in-law! So we’re thinking about swapping. We can’t just cut off our lineage, right?" His children were all fools. It was hard to arrange their marriages.

"What is your son like? How is his health?" Mrs. Zhuang Linshi felt a bit uneasy.

"My son is very obedient and incredibly strong! He can take a bath with frozen water in the dead of winter and not fall sick!" It’s just that he’s a little lacking in wits!

"He’s not missing any limbs, is he?" Mrs. Zhuang Linshi wouldn’t want her daughter marrying someone handicapped. That would be too hard, too tiring!

"No, he’s quite capable of hard labor." It’s just that he only knows brute force and has no flexibility!

"I need to meet your son and daughter before making a decision!" Her own daughter has also suffered a lot with her, she hopes she can live a little easier in the future.

"Alright, no problem." Mr. Ding agreed right away, even just looking won’t tell you much.

"Can your daughter do farmwork? Is she obedient?" Mrs. Zhuang Linshi thought about bringing a daughter-in-law home. She’s there to work, not to do nothing!

"Yes, she puts in so much effort when working. My daughter is particularly strong, even more so than a man, and she’s very straightforward. If you tell her to do something, she’ll do it." It’s just that you can’t yell or beat her. Whoever dares to, she’ll fight back!

So, even if he knows his future son-in-law is violent, he’s not worried. Ordinary men are not physically stronger than his daughter. He doesn’t believe that after hitting his daughter once, he’d dare to hit again! His daughter is straightforward. If he instructs her to hit her husband every time he gambles or drinks, he doesn’t believe that after going a few times, her husband would dare to do it again! Remembering his daughter’s fierceness, he gets scared!

To others, these may be concerns. But to his daughter, these are non-issues! Fortunately, his daughter listens only to him!

"In that case, can I now go to see your son and daughter?" This sudden visit might reveal their characters the best.

"Sure, no problem! What about the dowry and the betrothal gift...."

"Since it’s an ’exchange of brides and grooms,’ let’s just skip all that!" Her family doesn’t have much to offer.

"Yes, yes, let’s skip. We’ve just moved here and used up almost all our property to buy the house. We don’t have much left. Skipping would be best!"

Everyone was left stunned by this surprising turn of events.

Then, the villagers followed along to watch the fun. They didn’t know much about Mr. Ding’s son and daughter.

They had moved here in winter, when everyone seldom went out. Others had seen these siblings, but they didn’t really know their temperaments.

Mrs. Zhuang Linshi had seen the pair and was very satisfied. The daughter was a bit too tall, but height means strength, which is what her family needed most. Otherwise, how would the work get done!

The villagers didn’t understand why Mr. Ding would swap marriages. Even if his family was a bit poor, his children should still have no trouble finding spouses. There were plenty of poor families in the world, after all!

Later, when Zhuang Jiaqiang was beaten to the point of crying for his parents, and dared not gamble or drink again, Mrs. Zhuang Linshi would say to anyone she met, "What a cursed life, to end up marrying such a calamity!" Only then did everyone understand why Mr. Ding had swapped marriages. However, it’s true that one thing neutralizes another. They were indeed a perfect match!