Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 3 reveals her background!

The Zhang family refers to Zhang Qi, the eldest son of Lu Jia's maternal uncle Zhang Hong, and his eldest daughter-in-law He, who were born to Lu Jia's maternal grandfather Zhang Hong's second wife.

The Xie family ancestors were from Tanzhou Prefecture. They made their fortune in business and then went to the capital. Later, they offended someone, their business failed, and the family's wealth was depleted. After dealing with the Xie family patriarch and sending him up the mountain, Zhang and her husband Xie Zhang accepted the invitation of her father Zhang Hong and settled down in Shawan, which was under the jurisdiction of Tanzhou Prefecture. Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Why do we say they were "selling" Lu Jia? It's because the Zhang family never consulted with Zhang, the mother, about arranging a marriage for her.

And what is this Li Er?
This scoundrel, relying on his family's several shops, spends his days indulging in debauchery, cockfighting, and dog racing. He's either flirting with the girls at this opera troupe or blocking the way for the ladies at that embroidery shop.

Three days ago, Lu Jia was selling needlework at the Shawan Wharf in a small boat. Her good uncle had someone bring Li Er over, and that scoundrel actually capsized her boat just to see her!

In the bitterly cold spring, Lu Jia drank several mouthfuls of river water, then fell into a coma and never recovered.

It was only at this point that the sinister intentions of the Zhang couple were revealed.

In her previous life, Zhang had also gone to their door to argue in the same way, but Zhang Qi and his wife denied it. Later, they claimed that it was for Lu Jia's sake, that they couldn't bear to see Zhang struggling to raise her and her siblings, so they arranged a good marriage for her that would ensure she wouldn't have to worry about food or clothing!
Enraged, Zhang reportedly grabbed He by the hair and beat her on the spot. Of course, with so many servants in the Zhang family, He couldn't be outdone and ended up injuring Zhang's leg as well, which took more than half a month to recover.

The reason it is said to be "it is said" is because Lu Jia was still unconscious at this time in her previous life. She had been unconscious for four days, meaning she would not wake up until the afternoon of the next day.

In this life, Lu Jia actually woke up at this moment, so she couldn't just watch Zhang suffer.

She glanced at the gradually brightening sky and immediately called to Xie Yi, "Let's go, let's go and bring Mother back."

As soon as she lifted her foot, a dark cloud appeared before her eyes, and she slumped back into the chair with a thud.

Xie Yi quickly helped her sit up straight: "Just calm down. You haven't eaten for days, what can you do there? I'll go!"

He was about to tell Zhang the good news that Lu Jia had woken up. After saying that, he made a cup of tea by Lu Jia's bedside, fiddled with two porcelain jars on the table, found a few pieces of broken cake and stuffed them into her hand, and then quickly left.

After leaving the main gate and going around to the next house, Xie Yi saw that the Zhang family's gate was ajar, so he went straight into the house.

The Zhang Family Residence is the ancestral home of the Zhang family, built by the great-grandfather of Zhang Hong, the maternal grandfather. It has five courtyards in total.

Although most of the servants were on the side of their masters, they were all from poor backgrounds. The Zhang family was unethical, and some people couldn't stand it.

The cleaning woman secretly pointed to the main courtyard for Xie Yi, who understood and ran over there.

Before they even reached the door, He Shi's angry shouts rang out: "...The Zhang family has raised you for so many years, and you still dare to come to the Zhang family and cause trouble! You jinx who brings misfortune to husbands and children, you've ruined the Xie family, and now you want to bring misfortune to the Zhang family? Guards! Hold her down and beat her to death!"

Xie Yi was furious. He grabbed a door bolt and rushed in without saying a word: "If you dare to lay a hand on me, I'll fight you to the death!"

In the courtyard, He Shi's hair was disheveled, several gold hairpins were either on the ground or hanging from her temples, and there was a handprint on her left cheek, which was quite a sight.

At this moment, she was shouting and grabbing Zhang's arm fiercely, while also directing the old women to hit Zhang's legs.

Two bloody marks had already appeared on the back of Zhang's hand. Fortunately, Xie Yi reacted quickly and caught He's raised right hand. With a bang, Zhang was unharmed, while He screamed and swung her right hand around!

Xie Yi quickly helped Zhang to the side.

Zhang asked anxiously, "Why are you here? Where's your sister?"

Before Xie Yi could reply, Madam He grabbed him and started yelling, "You bastard, how dare you hit me? I'm your aunt, how dare you defy Heaven!"

Xie Yi sneered: "After my maternal grandfather was buried, you said that the two families would not contact each other unless there was something going on! Now that you know you are my aunt, my maternal grandfather died and you blocked the door?"
"Furthermore, you secretly colluded with that scoundrel from the Li family to harm my sister. Is this something you would do?"
"What kind of aunt are you? You're a wolf in sheep's clothing!"

He couldn't out-argue him! She then turned to Zhang and threw a tantrum: "What family's daughter is over fifteen and still not engaged? She has no father, so shouldn't I, as her aunt, think of her?"
"The Li family is a very wealthy family, owning four or five oil shops. She became a young mistress after marrying into the family, eating and drinking well every day. Isn't that better than when she was at her parents' home?"
"You two will come over every few days to freeload, and that'll be enough for you to enjoy life to the fullest!"
"I'm doing this for your own good, and you're ungrateful for my kindness!"

Zhang cursed angrily, "Shameless thing! You won't let your daughter have such a good time?"

Madam He shrieked, "Our Ru'er is a proper young lady of the Zhang family, how can your Jia'er compare to her?!"

"How can a bad bamboo produce a good shoot! You shameless person, how can you raise a decent young lady? It's laughable!"

Madam He's face turned ashen. She screamed and rushed forward, "Let's not beat around the bush. I'm asking you, is Jia'er really your daughter with Xie Zhang?"

Zhang spat in her face: "Bullshit! Wasn't she my daughter or yours? Let me tell you, if anything happens to my daughter, I'll make your whole family pay the price!"

Madam He gritted her teeth: "Zhang Qiuniang, don't take me for a fool!"
“That girl doesn’t look like either of you two. Before our father sent you back to Shawan, you never mentioned having a daughter!”

"And after I came back, a five-year-old girl inexplicably appeared by my side!"

"Back then, you lived in the capital, and we were thousands of miles apart. It's true that we only corresponded by letter. But you didn't tell us about such an important thing as the birth of your eldest daughter. How can you claim that she was your child?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Yi looked at his mother with his mouth agape.

Zhang's facial muscles twitched: "Stop beating around the bush. Do you think you can fool me like this? No way!"

"You colluded with Li Er to cause my daughter to fall into a coma. If you don't give me an explanation today, I'll go to the county government office and beat the drum!"

After saying that, she turned to leave.

He rushed forward and grabbed her, then pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve and unfolded it: "Who is trying to beat around the bush?"
"Open your eyes and take a good look. This is what I found when I was cleaning out the old man's belongings the other day!"

"The above refers to the three hundred taels of silver spent on Jia Jie'er's registration at the Shawan County Government Office."

"Let me ask you, what is the reason for paying three hundred taels of silver to register her? If she is your biological daughter, what reason is there for her to register in Shawan?"
"If she is really your child, why didn't you register her in the capital? If not, how did you bring her out of the city?"

"This is the old master's own handwriting, and it even has his fingerprint on it. The three hundred taels of silver were paid by the Zhang family, so don't even think about going back on your word!"

Looking at the handwriting on the document, Zhang's eyes instantly reddened, whether from anger or something else.

When Zhang Hong was young, he raised his eldest daughter, Zhang Shi, as a lady. He asked the clan elder to give her the formal name Qiu Niang and also invited a tutor to teach her to read.

Therefore, she not only recognized the handwriting on the document, but also immediately identified it as the stub left by Zhang Hong when he signed the document at the county government office! ...

"Mother, what's going on?" Xie Yi was bewildered.

"Fool!" Madam He sneered at him. "Your parents treat that bastard child like a treasure, but you, their own only son, are treated like weeds. And you're still in the dark, treating this unknown girl like a goddess!"

Xie Yi glared at her: "I wasn't talking to you!"

Zhang Qiuniang rushed forward and tore open her mouth, shouting, "My Jia'er is not some unknown person!"

"Then tell me about her background!"

Madam He shoved her away: "She doesn't even look down on a rich kid like the Li family. I'd like to see what kind of amazing background she has!"

(End of this chapter)