The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 101

In the Xiao family compound, Mrs. Wen, the wife of Xiao, was at her wits' end watching her daughter's tantrums.

"I've found so many outstanding young men for you, but you won't even look at them or talk about them. What's so good about that Zhao Minghua that you're so fixated on him?"

He's perfect in every way!

Xiao Chunlan was devastated when she mistakenly thought he was keeping a mistress, but she didn't give up on Zhao Minghua. She had liked Zhao Minghua since she was a child. Back then, a group of boys and girls were playing together, and she spotted the handsome young man at first glance.

Knowing that he was the third young master of Baicaotang, she secretly fell in love with him.

Having finally reached the age of marriage, she revealed her thoughts to her mother. To her utter surprise, the Zhao family only came to propose marriage once before giving up on the idea.

What happened to the legendary repeated marriage proposals? Why didn't she come to propose anymore? Xiao Chunlan complained about her mother, wondering why she refused.
Later, Wen mobilized all the reliable resources of her extended family and found several young men, one of whom even obtained the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations). However, Xiao Chunlan simply refused to accept them.

If pushed too far, she would go on a hunger strike, refusing to eat, and resorting to crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide, insisting on marrying no one but Zhao Minghua.

This made Wen extremely anxious.

"Your aunt told me that Wenhua is in love with you, Chunlan. Wenhua is two years older than you. He was your cousin who was married into the Wen family..."

"What, the Xiao family has married one after another and now they want to return one?" Xiao Chunlan said disdainfully, "Don't you know what kind of person Wenhua is? He's not in love with me, but with every young and beautiful girl."

"You kid..."

"Isn't that right? The four maids serving him in his courtyard, aren't they all seductive and flirtatious, lacking any sense of duty as maids? Isn't it all because he spoils them?"

“It takes skill for a man to have multiple wives and concubines,” said Wen. “Only those incompetent country folk would only have one wife, and they might not even be able to find another.”

"Mother, were you happy when you married my father?"

Xiao Chunlan was speechless: "With so many concubines and so many illegitimate sons in the inner courtyard, aren't you tired?"

These words were like a sharp knife stabbing into Wen's heart.

She married into the Xiao family at the age of fifteen. The young couple were very loving, and she became pregnant less than three months into their marriage. The day she was diagnosed with pregnancy, he took his dowry maid to bed.

After she gave birth to her child after ten months of pregnancy, the man already had two concubines in his house, and one of them was also six months pregnant.

In the days that followed, he would bring in a new concubine every two years, and Wen's heart had long since died.

As long as she remains Mrs. Xiao, I don't care who else is around.

Mrs. Xiao was eager to find a good marriage for her daughter, someone she knew well. Marrying back into the Wen family was actually a good option, since they were her maternal relatives and her uncle and aunt loved her.

As a result, Xiao Chunlan looked down on Wen Hua at all.

"You've taken a liking to Zhao Minghua? Is he really that good?"

“What’s wrong with it? Do you see any women in the Zhao family’s backyard?” Xiao Chunlan said, “The Zhao family has never taken concubines for three generations, which is considered one of the best among the wealthy families in Changzhou.”

“The Zhao family is not considered a prominent family in Changzhou.” Wen pointed out: “Only the four major families in Changzhou can be considered prominent families.”

"That's still better than others."

You're strong, but the problem is, people don't even want you.

"Mother, you and Mrs. Zhao are on good terms, why don't you go and take a look? Anyway, I'm determined to marry Zhao Minghua, he's mine in life and he's mine in death..."

"Chunlan, can you please stop fooling around?"

Unfortunately, the little darling has been spoiled since childhood, and nothing she says will work.

Having no other options, Ms. Wen had to turn to Mrs. Zhao for help.

Since the last time it was confirmed that the rumor about Zhao Minghua keeping a mistress was false, Wen was a little embarrassed to go to Mrs. Zhao's place. Although some things were done discreetly, everyone was an adult, and everyone knew the truth.

Sending a message to someone is a bit low-class; the only way is to bump into them by chance.

In order to run into Mrs. Zhao, Madam Wen racked her brains and sent people to keep watch every day until one day a servant came to tell her: Mrs. Zhao went out and went to the jewelry store at Xiao's Wharf.

"Waiter, these earrings..." She looked up, her face full of surprise: "Mrs. Zhao, what a coincidence..."

"Mrs. Xiao, what a coincidence..."

What was Mrs. Zhao thinking about? What was so coincidental? Today was just really bad luck.

How did I end up running into her!
"Is Mrs. Zhao interested in the silver necklace?"

This is something only children wear. I've never heard of the Zhao family having a new baby.

There's only one possibility: it was bought as a gift.

"Yes, it's exquisite and lovely." Mrs. Zhao had already paid and taken the necklace for the waiter to pack it into a box. "Mrs. Xiao, I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."

"So urgent?"

No, we just met, why are you leaving already?

"Yes, it's urgent." Zhou smiled slightly and nodded to her, "We'll talk later when you have time."

“Great! I’ll be free tomorrow. Let’s have tea together. I’ve heard there’s a women’s teahouse in Changzhou with really good pastries. It’s my treat. I’ll invite you to Changzhou for tea.”

"Thank you, but I've been quite busy lately. Let's do it another day. I'll make an appointment with you when I'm free."

Zhou is indeed a straightforward person, but that doesn't mean she's happy.

There's only one reason why Mrs. Zhao is so anxious and impatient to find me.

However, the master has already issued a clear ultimatum: no marriage proposals are to be made with members of the Xiao family.

Moreover, she has already set her sights on someone better. Without comparison, there is no harm. Although these two are both descendants of the Xiao family, they are worlds apart.

Only by making comparisons can people distinguish between good and bad.

Take Mrs. Xiao in front of us for example. Compared with the three wives in Chun Nuan's family, the difference is too great.

Wen's smile didn't reach her eyes, giving people a very uncomfortable feeling; one could tell she was scheming without even looking.

The three ladies in Chunnuan's family are all very pleasant to chat with; their soft, gentle voices are especially pleasant to listen to.

This is the difference between a true lady from a noble family and a commoner.

Zhou herself was not a very refined person, so she particularly admired the elegance and gentleness of the three wives of the Xiao family.

That feeling is something I can't learn even if I try.

The real reason I came out today to pick out a necklace is to give Xiao Muyang a gift for his first birthday.

Tomorrow we're going to the Xiao family's new house in Shuikou Village, where I'll finally see the daughter-in-law I've been longing for.

After leaving the silver shop and getting into the carriage, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Madam Wen hadn't chased after her: it was really close, she almost had to pawn her son.

"Aunt Wu, what do you think Mrs. Zhao means?" Looking at the Zhao family's carriage leaving from the window on the second floor of the silver shop, Madam Wen's face was gloomy.

"Perhaps Mrs. Zhao really has something on her mind?" Wu Ma quickly said, "Madam, please don't be angry."

(End of this chapter)