HLnovel Chapter 569: The Son-in-Law of the Former Village Chief’s Family
Chapter 569: The Son-in-Law of the Former Village Chief’s Family
Gu Ruinian was shoved aside as an excited backdrop by the wives and grandmothers upon finishing the list.
He clenched his fists tightly.
This Taohua, who travelled back in time, couldn’t participate in exams, so she made a list like an exam ranking.
Letting this group of illiterate women get excited with her blindly.
What use is it? Ultimately, it’s hard to reach the formal occasions.
Gu Ruinian thought this weaving workshop was Taohua’s idea.
He was both jealous and hateful.
"Can your leg still get better?"
Gu Ruinian carried water and headed home. Because of his inconvenient right leg, and having never done physical labor in this life or the previous one, he needed to rest every few steps.
Xu Xinghua was the one who stopped him for a chat.
Gu Ruinian looked coldly at the girl standing before him, a wave of disgust surged in his heart.
Xu Xinghua had pockmarks on her face from a rash as a child, which she covered with thick powder.
Gu Ruinian felt like he could poke a hole in her face.
Xu Xinghua was three years older than Gu Ruinian.
In Gu Ruinian’s eyes, Xu Xinghua was not as good as Wu Na, at least Wu Na was young and without pockmarks on her face.
"Whether my leg is good or not has nothing to do with you," Gu Ruinian said coldly.
Xu Xinghua chuckled and said, "You’re still so proud even like this? Your dad and my parents are planning to arrange a marriage for us. If you were a Scholar like Jingzhe, I could reluctantly agree, but you’re just a child student with a lame leg, I don’t fancy you."
After speaking, she looked up and down at Gu Ruinian’s leg.
That gaze stabbed Gu Ruinian, making his whole body tingle with pain.
This illiterate village girl with a face full of pockmarks dared to look down on him.
Is there no justice?
"But I agreed," Xu Xinghua said.
Gu Ruinian’s shoulders trembled; he suddenly turned his head, looking incredulous.
Xu Xinghua said, "What? What else can you hope for? Do you think you can marry a Champion Scholar’s sister like Jingzhe? And you? Do you dare? Your dad agreed to have you marry into our Xu Family. After that, you’ll live a good life with us in the Xu Family. We have good land, no worries about food and drink. The kids you’ll have will be Xu Family’s children. After you marry in, we’ll take you to the prefectural city to treat your leg. I heard the famous doctors in the prefecture are good at treating legs."
Xu Xinghua glanced at Gu Ruinian’s leg, unable to conceal the disdain in her eyes, and said, "Your leg can walk now. Go to the prefecture and have it treated thoroughly, maybe it can be cured. Once cured, you can study, and we’ll send you to Wanliu Academy. You can strive for a scholar’s wife, a scholar’s wife, an imperial decree lady. In the village, I’ll be as proud as Tong Dajiao."
Although there were not many scholars in Qinghe Bay, and there has never been an official, because of the incident where Gu Daqiao quit school due to his leg injury, the villagers know not to choose those with physical defects as officials.
Only nobility or royal kin are not restricted. Anyone who goes through exams to pursue a bureaucratic career faces restrictions.
So Xu Xinghua told her parents, it’s okay for Gu Ruinian to marry into our family, but his leg must be treated.
When Xu Yong was the Qinghe Bay Village Chief, there were many proposals.
But Xu Xinghua wasn’t satisfied with any of them.
She wanted a scholar, and the family conditions couldn’t be too poor.
The suitors were either like Fan Tong, scholars from poor families, or those with good family conditions but unable to study well from nearby towns.
Scholars with good family backgrounds despised Xu Xinghua’s appearance and temperament.
There was never a perfect balance, so Xu Xinghua was left with nothing.
Previously, she was in no rush, relying on being the village chief’s daughter. But ever since Xu Yong was removed as village chief, fewer suitors came knocking.
And the few who did, either asked her to be a second wife or were truly unsuitable.
She couldn’t drag this on, as keeping an unwed older girl affects other girls’ marriage prospects in the clan, as well as her brother’s. So, when Gu Youtian came knocking, Xu Yong was willing to agree to the marriage, on the condition that Gu Ruinian must marry in.
Otherwise, the Xu Family helps with his leg and education, yet once he gains his own wings, the Xu Family would gain nothing.
Xu Yong was removed as village chief, but he wasn’t fooled.
Xu Yong wasn’t sure Gu Ruinian’s leg could be cured, but even if it couldn’t and he couldn’t become an official, the marriage was still worthwhile. Educating him to be a local gentry was still profitable.
He also wanted a scholar with good legs and a good family background, but such a person didn’t match with Xu Xinghua.
Looking at Xu Xinghua chattering in front of him, Gu Ruinian’s heart was filled with the desire to die.
Gu Youtian asking him to marry Xu Xinghua was already beyond what he could accept, let alone marry into the Xu Family.
Xu Xinghua’s cousin-in-law Xu Dabao and cousin Xu Erbao would occasionally come to humiliate him.
Gu Youtian had no regard for father-son affection.
"I don’t agree with this marriage," Gu Ruinian told Xu Xinghua.
Xu Xinghua got angry.
From the moment Gu Ruinian returned to the village, Xu Xinghua’s eyes were on him.
An excellent child student, about to become a Scholar, family downfall didn’t matter because Gu Ruinian was handsome and young.
Several times in the village, she greeted him. Outwardly, Gu Ruinian maintained the gentle and graceful image of a scholar, but Xu Xinghua knew the disdain in his eyes, as if silently telling her she wasn’t worthy.
Then came the explosive news of his Scholar exam failure and secret affair with his cousin.
This scholar was just so-so.
What right did he have to look down on her, what right did he have to refuse this marriage?
In this marriage, Xu Xinghua felt like she was the savior.
Xu Xinghua raised her head and said, "What do you think you are? Jingzhe, who is handsome and top of the list, with girls in the prefecture for you to choose from? Stop dreaming. You’re just a cripple having affairs with a widow. Our family is willing to take you in, Gu Youtian should be burning incense at your family’s ancestral tomb? What use is your disagreement?"
Xu Xinghua was ruthless, knowing that Gu Ruinian was bent on competing with Jingzhe, she deliberately stabbed at his sore points.
She had to subdue him; otherwise, he would leverage his scholar’s pride against her.
"What are you being so proud of anyway? Alright, go back and prepare. When my dad picks a good day, once the firecrackers go off, just come to our house," she said.
Gu Ruinian clutched the bucket tightly; his knuckles turned white.
Xu Xinghua raised her eyebrows.
She wanted to see if Gu Ruinian could maintain his proud demeanor after marrying in.
After taunting Gu Ruinian, Xu Xinghua turned and left.
Gu Ruinian angrily dropped the bucket on the ground; the freshly drawn well water was cold, and the chill shocked his legs awake, instantly waking up his mind.
He earnestly contemplated the marriage that displeased him.
They were willing to help treat his leg, willing to support his studies; it was a good match for him at the moment.
But Xu Xinghua was someone he simply couldn’t bring himself to like.
Gu Ruinian grit his teeth with resentment; he had no objection to being a son-in-law openly, but he was unwilling to become one to the village chief’s ugly daughter.
If it weren’t for his and the Young Master’s plan being foiled by Taohua and Tong Huaqiong, how could he have ended up in this situation?
Laughter echoed from the village.
Those girls and daughters-in-law hired by Tong Huaqiong’s weaving workshop smiled at everyone.
The laughter pierced Gu Ruinian’s ears unbearably.
Looking up, he saw the relatives of the main house gathered in front of the weaving workshop, a crowd fawning over Tong Huaqiong and Taohua, while Chen Sufen stood by with a pregnant belly; Gu Ruinian felt even more annoyed.
"Hey! Blind eyes, walking and bumping into people?"
Gu Ruinian was lost in thought when someone bumped hard into his shoulder.