Chapter 5

Chapter 5: This Girl Has Some Fire Fang Yao finally left Xu Manjiang’s family half a day to come up with the money before returning to the rear courtyard with Wang Hua. The dowry items that Li Xuemiao had brought over the previous day were all here. Fang Yao sorted them out in advance and planned to have them taken away together once the money was delivered. Xu Qingzhou opened his eyes as soon as he heard the door. He hadn’t been sleeping deeply. He had vaguely heard some of the commotion in the front courtyard, but he hadn’t gotten up. After lazily yawning, he asked casually, “What did you go to the front courtyard for? Why were you gone so long?” Fang Yao happened to be walking over. She gathered the quilts at the foot of the bed and tied them together with a red silk ribbon. She glanced at the strong, healthy man. Since she had free labor, why not use it? “Don’t just sit there. Put these on the table. They’ll come later to take Li Xuemiao’s things away.” Xu Qingzhou instinctively got to work. His lean arms were filled with strength. The bundle of quilts that Fang Yao had struggled to move was effortlessly lifted by him and placed on the table. Fang Yao straightened her back and answered his earlier question. “I went to ask them for compensation. One thousand yuan each for you and me. You said all the money in the family would be under my control.” Xu Qingzhou paused. He lowered his head slightly and grinned, revealing a neat row of white teeth. A faint pink hue showed beneath his lips, while his long, deep-set eyes tilted slightly upward. His high nose and sharply defined features made his entire face look striking and three-dimensional. “Fine. Second Aunt is famous throughout the village for being a miser. Being able to squeeze money out of her hands is pretty impressive.” His words were filled with obvious admiration. What he didn’t say was that ever since he had seen Fang Yao unleash her fury in the courtyard yesterday and beat Xu Manjiang until he ran around like a frightened rat, he had thought this girl had quite some fire in her. She was interesting! “You think it was easy?” Fang Yao glared at him. “I argued with them until my throat was dry, while you hid in here sleeping soundly!” She piled the remaining things onto the table, then held out her hand toward him. “You said you’d keep your word yesterday. Hurry up and give me your money too!” “Why are you in such a hurry? Fine. But I’m not giving you my money for nothing.” Xu Qingzhou reached into his jacket pocket and took out a marriage application form, placing it in an empty spot on the table. Then he opened the drawer and took out a fountain pen, an ink pad, and a locked metal box, arranging everything neatly side by side. “Fill this out, and I’ll give you the key.” Fang Yao didn’t waste any time. She filled in her name and personal information in every section of the form. Finally, she pressed her thumbprint into the designated space. Xu Qingzhou waited until she finished, then slid the key toward her and picked up the fountain pen to fill out his own section. Fang Yao used the key to unlock the metal box. Inside were two bankbooks and several large-denomination bills. She counted them. There were seven bills in total. She opened the bankbooks and saw that the savings inside were substantial as well. One account had 1,500 yuan. The other had 900 yuan. “You’re pretty good at saving money. You still have this much left after paying the betrothal gifts.” Satisfied, Fang Yao closed the box. The lock on the box clearly had more than one key, with another one probably still in his possession. To be safe, she decided to buy another lock and put it on later. Xu Qingzhou finished filling out the form, folded it, and put it back into his jacket pocket. He casually returned the pen and ink pad to the drawer, maintaining his orderly habits. “One of these bankbooks is for my military allowance, and the other is for bonuses. I joined the army when I was sixteen. The army covers my food and clothing, so I can save all the money I earn.” After saying that, he went to the bedside and picked up his military overcoat. He put it on and fastened every button neatly. “I’ll take the marriage application to my unit first. The sooner it’s submitted, the sooner it’ll be approved. Stay home and wait for me. Remember to leave the door unlocked tonight.” Fang Yao answered with a soft “Mm.” She hadn’t slept well the night before. Since newlywed brides weren’t expected to cook during the first few days after marriage, she decided to take advantage of the warmth still left in the bed and go back to sleep. Li Xuemiao had been pretending to be unconscious the entire time. She only dared to fall asleep after Xu Manjiang and his parents left the house. Half-asleep, she heard voices coming from the main entrance. From the moment Wang Cuilian entered the house, she had been cursing everyone. First, she bitterly cursed Fang Yao until her teeth practically itched with hatred. Then she cursed Xu Jianshu for being useless and not speaking up for her in Old Madam Xu’s room. After that, she complained about Xu Manjiang for being brainless, dragging Li Xuemiao into her insults as well. Every word was filled with disgust and contempt. Thinking about how her carefully planned scheme had been forced to the point of making her slam her head against a pillar because of Fang Yao, Li Xuemiao was so furious that she bit the corner of her mouth until it bled. In her previous life, Fang Yao had married Xu Manjiang and had been bullied by Wang Cuilian without daring to say a word. But now that Fang Yao had gotten hold of something she could use against them, she was actually using it to demand money? Li Xuemiao clenched her hands. When Xu Manjiang entered, she quickly suppressed her expression and struggled to sit up in bed. “Uncle…” Xu Manjiang had slept with her the previous night. Seeing her with a bandage wrapped around her head and looking so fragile, his heart softened. He hurried over to her. “We’re husband and wife now. Why are you still calling me that? Xuemiao, remember this. From now on, I’m your man.” “Mm… Manjiang…” Li Xuemiao immediately changed the way she addressed him. Of course, she had deliberately called him “Uncle” just now. She wanted to remind Xu Manjiang who was truly on his side and who now belonged to the same family as him. Wang Cuilian’s family of three hadn’t been able to deal with Fang Yao. The only reason was that Old Madam Xu had been backing her. Since they had to pay the two thousand yuan anyway, Li Xuemiao couldn’t let such an opportunity to win their favor go to waste. Based on what she remembered from her previous life, Xu Manjiang’s maternal uncle was unable to have children and treasured his only nephew immensely. Not only did he give Xu Manjiang plenty of money, he also brought him along to do business. Their future would be incredibly comfortable. As for Xu Qingzhou, he would soon become useless. No matter how much money Fang Yao extorted, she would spend the rest of her life as a widow in all but name, watching Li Xuemiao enjoy a comfortable life. “Does Fang Yao want us to compensate her?” Li Xuemiao lowered her eyes. “Manjiang… Last night wasn’t entirely your fault. I was responsible too. If you’re supposed to give Fang Yao money, then give it to her. “I don’t want the betrothal gifts that Xu Qingzhou originally gave me. I’ll return them to you. “As long as you stay on my side from now on and we live our lives well together, that’s all I need.” Xu Qingzhou had originally given her 1,500 yuan worth of dowry gifts. If she returned that money to Fang Yao, then the 800 yuan that Fang Yao had received from Xu Manjiang would also have to be handed over. Li Xuemiao would simply return that money to Xu Manjiang herself. She was essentially using someone else’s gift to win favor. Apart from having lost her virginity before marriage, she wouldn’t actually suffer much of a loss. What she truly wanted was for Xu Manjiang to guarantee that she would have a comfortable life for the rest of her days. Xu Manjiang was deeply moved by her words. “Xuemiao, you’re so understanding. Being able to marry you is the greatest blessing of my life! I really regret not meeting you sooner. “I swear, I’ll work hard to make money from now on and give you a life a hundred times better than Fang Yao’s!” After Xu Manjiang declared his loyalty to Li Xuemiao, he went outside and told Wang Cuilian that there was no need to raise the money anymore. When Wang Cuilian learned that Li Xuemiao was willing to contribute her betrothal gifts, her attitude toward her immediately changed. And because Li Xuemiao was the village Party secretary’s daughter, Wang Cuilian eagerly went into the room to fuss over her and ask about her condition. Soon, she packed up Fang Yao’s dowry items. Together with the compensation money, she carried everything to the rear courtyard. Wang Cuilian banged loudly on the door. Fang Yao got up to open it. The moment the door opened, a stack of money nearly hit her in the face. Wang Cuilian stood with both hands on her hips, her back ramrod straight, looking as though she had come ready for battle. “Take this filthy money! “Fang Yao, my son must have been blind to choose you. You’re not even half as good as Xuemiao! “Xu Qingzhou is willing to take a troublemaker like you only because he must have gotten kicked in the head! “I’ll be waiting to see the day he cries and regrets it!”