CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 036 RUIN YOUR SISTER’S LIFE

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At this moment, Zhang Shan Ni’s family was brimming with joy, but at the Zhang Family in Shanglin Village, disaster almost struck.

It happened that day when Lin Zhaodi and Zhang Dongliang, mother and son, were blinded by greed over the 300 coins received for selling their daughter. Upon receiving the silver, they instantly neglected Zhang Zhiguo.

Suddenly wealthy from the unexpected fortune, mother and son rushed home—Lin Zhaodi holding such an amount of silver for the first time in her life! Even when their eldest daughter was yet to marry, the household only had around a hundred pieces of silver; after the marriages of her first and second daughters, a mere few dozen pieces remained pitifully.

With the daughters married off, not only did she send the dowries supplied by the sons-in-law with the daughters, but the gold ring left by their grandmother before her passing also went with them, along with thirty pieces of silver she secretly squirreled away for her two elder daughters.

For Zhang Yunni and Zhang Baonni, Lin Zhaodi harbored genuine maternal love. Zhang Zhiguo did too, cherishing his elder daughters, but deep down in his heart, his most profound affection was reserved for his only son, Zhang Dongliang.

Seeing his son agree to ’sell’ his younger daughter, although he had something to say, he ultimately did not express any opposition, implicitly condoning Lin Zhaodi and her son’s actions.

At the same time, he agreed with his son, knowing his youngest daughter was soft-hearted. He thought once this period was over, he would have a heartfelt talk with her, cry about the hardships of poor days — how could Zhang Shan Ni truly ignore her parents then?

By then, Xie Jingchen would have returned to the military, out of reach—would it not be he, the old father, who had the final say?!

However, they hadn’t expected that on the very night they collected the silver, it would be stolen by a thief—who was none other than their beloved son!

Originally, the Zhang and Lin families had agreed on a marriage swap. Now that Zhang Shan Ni refused to marry into the Lin Family, dramatically leaping into a lake and eventually being sold off by Zhang Family’s mother and son, Lin Aiguo, learning of this, would no longer allow his sister to marry into their family!

He and his mother decided if the Zhang Family had no daughter to offer in return, they would outright cancel the marital alliance!

After all, the two families had initially only discussed a swap; they hadn’t officially agreed upon anything face-to-face, only reaching a covert agreement with no entanglement of property.

Most importantly, Lin Aiguo, finding no beauty in Zhang Shan Ni—to be honest, couldn’t bring himself to admire her; calling her ugly and dark, not even a fraction as lovely as his sister, dare she disdain him? With his strong male chauvinism, he was already displeased.

Moreover, when Zhang Shan Ni discovered him peeping outside the yard, the strength of her beating was truly genuine—rod to flesh, almost making him kneel. After enduring the pain till night, deeply to his bones, despite being relatively weak, Lin Aiguo firmly believed he couldn’t tolerate this ’tigress’!

Thus, regarding the Zhang Family’s retraction of the marriage offer, aside from feeling somewhat reluctant, Lin Aiguo responded with unexpected silence, tacitly approving the Zhang Family’s actions.

After all, in Lin Aiguo’s heart, as long as his sister was there, he was confident he would eventually find himself a suitable wife.

But big brother, have you considered your sister’s feelings?

Zhang Shan Ni’s dramatic suicide attempt had become the talk of the entire Qingshan Team—how could Lin Aimei possibly not have heard about it?!

Originally, it was because of her older brother’s issues that her own marriage prospects became challenging. Just as the Zhang Dongliang family showed interest, allowing her to finally escape the Lin Family through marriage, it was all disrupted by Zhang Shan Ni’s commotion!

Lin Aimei was furious beyond measure; if not for retaining her rationality, she would have gone mad!

However, Lin Aimei knew that in her mother’s eyes, she was nothing but a losing investment; if Zhang Shanni had not been married into the Zhang family, her marriage to Zhang Dongliang would undoubtedly be canceled!

The most important thing was that she had already been intimately involved with Zhang Dongliang in order to strengthen her bargaining position! Perhaps she was already secretly bearing his child...

With this realization, seeing her mother and elder brother discuss matters in secret, she felt a strong sense of crisis and hid herself in the shadows, covering her mouth as she listened to the conversation between her mother and elder brother:

"Mom, the marriage with the Zhang family is definitely off now. That Zhang Shanni even dared to seek death, and now she has been sold by that evil mother of the Zhang family to Xie Laoer, we definitely can’t even go there to argue!"

Compared to the incompetent Zhang Guozhi, Xie Tiesheng was no pushover; his family was not to be trifled with!

"Alas, there’s not a single good person in the Zhang family! The only one who was somewhat bearable was that little wretch Zhang Shanni, and now she dares to look down on my son, I will definitely seek justice for you! It’s just, if this marriage falls through, then Xiao Mei..."

"Mom, Xiao Mei must not marry into that family either!" Lin Aiguo interrupted his mother’s words, a fierce light flashing in his eyes, unseen by Mrs. Lin as she was solely focused on cursing the Zhang family.

"Now that this marriage is off, Xiao Mei definitely won’t marry into that family either. But you siblings are no longer young, you can’t keep delaying..."

Mrs. Lin sighed in distress; she had been strong for half her life but now had to face reality.

Her parents’ family had long been gone, her husband had died early, and although she still had an elder and a younger brother-in-law, being a widow invited so much trouble—her sisters-in-law and other relatives guarded against her as if against a wolf just for the integrity she clung to, and she had persisted through sheer grit, raising her eleven-year-old son and two-year-old daughter alone.

However, her son’s health had deteriorated due to premature labor, and by the age of fifteen or sixteen, his back began to stoop. By the age of twenty, the hunch was apparent. As he grew older, the hunchback became more pronounced, and with his spine being bent under pressure, he wasn’t even five foot two...

With such a figure, it was difficult to find a match in the village.

This dragging on, till the daughter turned seventeen without having found a match for the son, even though the bride price had doubled, no one was willing to marry him! In the end, they had no choice but to consider an exchange of matches.

But for an exchange, people still looked at conditions, and over three years, the most ideal was an exchange with the Zhang family.

Who would have expected the Zhang Family’s parents to have not revealed a single piece of background to Zhang Shanni, causing trouble when their eldest son went to observe the potential bride, leading Zhang Shanni to attempt suicide by jumping into a lake!

With it turning out like this, there was no chance for their son.

Although it was not as severe as the past few years, a human life being involved still wasn’t something easily dismissed.

"Mom, isn’t there still a family in Shanglin Village willing to consider an exchange?"

"Oh, but that family, the conditions are really too poor, that would ruin your sister’s entire life!"

"Then what do you suggest, mom? We surely can’t bring a foolish daughter-in-law home, that would ruin your grandson’s entire life!" Lin Aiguo might not have been educated, but he had his basic common sense.

Foolish women tend to give birth to foolish sons; this has been proven to be true through experience.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lin felt a sharp pain in her chest, and slapped her thigh hard, sobbing mournfully, "It’s all my fault, dragging you siblings into suffering along with me, sobbing..."