CHAPTER 227: CHAPTER 114: JUST WAIT AND SEE TOMORROW

Once again, Shi Fengju was seen in a well-tailored treasure blue satin gown, his waist adorned with glittering beautiful jade, feet shod in pink-based cloud-patterned black boots, hair bound high, stature tall and slender, with a handsome and distinguished appearance, standing beside Sang Wan they truly made a complementary and talented couple, and the words of praise followed endlessly one after another. Even the young wives and older sisters in the community could not help but feel envious, thinking back to how just under a year ago, Miss Wan was just a country girl like themselves, but now she radiated a presence that made them feel ashamed to stand before her, filling their hearts with a myriad of emotions.

"You’re here at last!" Sang Hong and his brothers, along with Mrs. Fang, heard the news and hurriedly came out to welcome them with smiles.

Shi Fengju and Sang Wan quickly advanced to greet each other, laughing as they said, "We received the news yesterday in Qingzhou, we arrived in town yesterday afternoon, and spent the night there before arriving here today!" As they spoke, they also congratulated Sang Yufei.

Even the Shi family members had arrived, confirming without a doubt that the news was accurate! Those who had harbored skeptical thoughts had been secretly hoping for the Sang family to end up disappointed, but at this moment, they were forced to abandon such notions and admit: the Sang family was truly on the path to prosperity! They then shifted their focus to ingratiating themselves with the family.

The atmosphere turned even more congenial, and the crowd escorted the couple into the house to sit and chat, also inquiring about when the government officials who were bringing the good news would arrive. Shi Fengju obviously had made some inquiries and laughed while saying, "They should be here by noon, no rush, there’s still quite some time!"

"Good, good!" Everyone felt relieved.

Shi Fengju then ordered Chang Huan and others to come forward to pay their respects and said to Sang Hong and Mrs. Fang with a smile, "When the government officials arrive, they’ll most likely stay for lunch, and there may be as many as twenty or thirty people; you’ll probably need to prepare in advance. Wan and I bought a lot of vegetables, fish, and meat in town. Everything is on the carriage. Big brother, big sister, please let us know how you want to arrange things, we’ll leave these people here to help, just give your orders."

"That’s right, we can’t send them away after they’ve come from afar to bring good news!" everyone said.

Sang Hong and Mrs. Fang quickly thanked Shi Fengju and discussed with everyone about borrowing tables and chairs, preparing tea, and who would help with cooking—all the details were agreed upon quickly, as everyone was eager to lend a hand and make their presence felt.

As the main hall was mostly occupied by men and rather noisy, Sang Wan felt it improper to remain there for long, so after exchanging pleasantries, she got up with the intention of returning to the wing room to sit. Several aunties and sisters-in-law from the village accompanied her to talk.

Just as Sang Wan was about to get up and leave, she heard a hesitant and shy voice saying "Cousin," and as she looked towards the source, she saw Sang Rou entering from outside. Facing everyone’s gaze momentarily focused on herself, Sang Rou felt slightly embarrassed and fiddled with her fingers as she mustered up the courage to continue moving forward.

Early in the morning, Sang Pingliang had instructed Sang Rou to keep an eye on the Sang family’s side, so that she could inform him at the first sign of activity. Sang Wan and Shi Fengju’s return was a significant event, and naturally, Sang Pingliang needed to be informed.

At that time, Sang Pingliang had thought about coming over to rub shoulders with Shi Fengju, even indulging in the wild idea that Fengju might speak a few words in his favor. His own brothers had no conscience and did not heed their second uncle’s words, but the wealthy and imposing Shi family would not dare to offend! As long as Fengju aided him, they surely wouldn’t dare to be disrespectful to him!

The more Sang Pingliang thought about it, the more convinced he became; however, as he was about to step out, he hesitated and withdrew his foot.

Forget it! Impatience would ruin great plans! Now was not yet the time for him to show himself; he should wait until the government officials arrived to announce the happy news, catching them off guard! Now? Hmph! These villagers who curry favor without shame, to ingratiate themselves with those two brothers, might snub him in some way, not to mention Li Zheng, the village head. Even if others wanted to, they would still do so!

If they dared to provoke him and cause him harm, would that not be a disaster?

But even though Sang Pingliang restrained himself from going, he could not stay calm any longer. He wasn’t there; who knew what those people might say to Shi Fengju and Sang Wan? They would certainly distort the truth and smear his name with their fabrications! No, he had to invite them over first!

After all, he had never said that he would sever ties with Sang Wan, had he? Now that Wan was back, she could not ignore visiting him, an elder, could she? Therefore, Sang Rou was sent out under pressure.

"Cousin," Sang Rou managed to squeeze a faint smile onto her face, "Father sent me to invite you and sister-in-law to come over for a chat!"

The crowd could not help but jeer with "tsk" sounds, teasing her with a cacophony of jokes, "Eh, why doesn’t your dad come himself? Why send you instead?" "Hehe, you need to ask? How could he have the face to approach the main family’s door?" "Precisely, looking at what he’s done!" "But he’s still got some nerve, actually eagerly waiting for an invitation! If I were him, I’d be too ashamed to leave my house and face people!" "Ah, we can’t compare ourselves to him, can we?" "That’s true, hehe!"

With everyone’s teasing, Sang Rou dared not speak up, her face flushing red and then turning pale, as she looked pitifully at Sang Wan.

"What’s this, something happened?" Sang Wan was utterly confused, at a loss for what was going on.

"Dear lady, let’s talk about it inside the house! This matter is really more lively than a play script!" the aunties and sisters-in-law said in an animated chatter.

Today was a joyous day, and Mrs. Fang couldn’t be bothered to show disdain to a young girl, so she kindly said to Sang Rou, "Go back and tell your father that our Miss doesn’t have time right now! Whatever it is can wait! Hurry back!"

Although Mrs. Fang’s face wore a smile, her eyes carried a chill. Before Sang Rou could respond, several quick-handed aunties and big sisters pushed and shoved her, "persuading" her to leave.