Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 487: Chapter 255: The Dust Settles

Zhou Baozhu turned his head and said to his son, Zhou Xiaonian, "Tell your wife to kneel in the main hall for a day. Also, she is not to go to the workshop anymore—it’ll keep her from stirring up trouble. Our family doesn’t need the money she earns."

Zhou Xiaonian didn’t dare to object and could only nod.

After giving his son orders, Zhou Baozhu turned to Big Mouth Zhao, who was sitting to the side with his mouth hanging open watching the spectacle. "And what are you here for, Big Mouth?" he asked.

Shorty Zhou said angrily, "He’s here to curse your grandson to an early death!"

Zhou Baozhu’s eyes flew wide, and he was about to start cursing when Big Mouth Zhao hurriedly explained his reason for being there. "I didn’t mean to curse anyone," he added. "Who told her to do something awful, not admit it, and then blame my wife? I just said that if my wife was the one gossiping, may I give birth to a son with no asshole; but if she was the one who said it, may her son not live past the end of the year. It’s not like I was cursing her specifically. If she really didn’t say it, then there’s no problem, right?"

Zhou Baozhu was furious, but looking at this simpleton, he couldn’t quite unleash his anger. After stewing for a long while, he said, "You’re usually an honest man, kid. Why would you say something so vicious today? Even if you were angry and wanted to make a vicious oath, you should have said, ’If she said it, may her husband not live past the end of the year,’ or ’may her father-in-law not live past the end of the year.’ You can’t just go and say my grandson won’t live past the end of the year!"

He thoroughly detested this troublemaking daughter-in-law. In his mind, he had already increased the kneeling punishment to two days.

Zhang Dashuan and Zheng Changhe heard his words and desperately wanted to laugh, but feeling it would be inappropriate, they held it in. ’What’s the difference between an old person dying and a young person dying?’ they thought. ’It’s not like the dead get to choose, is it?’

Big Mouth Zhao said hurriedly, "Uncle, listen to yourself. How could I curse you?"

Zhou Baozhu glared at him, fuming, "Then you can’t curse my grandson either! He’s still so little."

Big Mouth Zhao scratched his head sheepishly, too embarrassed to say anything more.

Seeing that the family had already punished the daughter-in-law, Zhang Dashuan said no more. He shot a look at Zheng Changhe and stood up to take his leave. There was no point in staying to look at the faces of the Zhou brothers, which were as black as the bottom of a pot. Besides, leaving would also allow them to carry out their family punishment. He wasn’t worried about Zhou Baozhu going back on his word; a man of his age had to have some integrity, or he’d have no standing in the village.

As soon as they announced their departure, Big Mouth Zhao also leaped to his feet and hastily said his goodbyes. He was fundamentally a simple, kind-hearted man; he had only lost his temper because his anger had gone straight to his head. Now that he had calmed down, he felt that cursing someone’s son to not live past the end of the year was truly excessive. Feeling uneasy, he took off running.

Once outside the Zhou family’s courtyard, Zhang Dashuan saw Big Mouth Zhao’s fleeing figure and couldn’t help but chuckle with Zheng Changhe.

「At the Zhang family home」

During lunch, Zhang Dashuan brought up what had happened at the Zhou’s. He remarked with some emotion, "I used to think Granny Hua was annoying, but now, compared to Xiaonian’s wife, she doesn’t seem so bad—Granny Hua is just a bit of a gossip, but at least she doesn’t try to harm people. Can you believe it? Xiaonian’s wife stirred up all this trouble just because we didn’t agree to a match with her younger sister."

He rolled her eyes in anger. "We’ll see who in the village dares to associate with her from now on."

"What do you mean, no one?" Zhang Dashuan replied. "Weren’t her words spread around as if they were the gospel truth? There are always people who love to listen to that kind of talk and meddle in other people’s business."

Noticing her eldest son’s gloomy expression, He quickly gave her husband a look, signaling for him to stop talking.

Zhang Huai had been in a terrible mood for days. Logically, as long as he and Juhua loved each other, it shouldn’t matter what other people said. But hearing people claim he was put off by Juhua’s face, that he only wanted to marry her for her money—those words were truly piercing, yet there was no way for him to refute them.

Seeing his older brother’s anger, Zhang Yang finished his meal, slammed his chopsticks and bowl on the table, and said furiously, "It’s just because our family is poorer than Sister Juhua’s right now, isn’t it? Those people are just small-minded. They think anyone willing to marry a rich family’s ’ugly’ daughter must be a gold digger. But what if our family was richer than Sister Juhua’s? What if I become a Scholar, or a Provincial Graduate? What if I then become the Champion Scholar? If the Champion Scholar’s brother marries an ’ugly’ woman, who would dare say he’s a gold digger? When I become a high-ranking official, let’s see who dares to say an official’s brother is marrying an ’ugly’ woman for her money! Hmph, ignorant peasants!"

Zhang Dashuan heard this and laughed heartily. "Good! Good son! Forget becoming a Champion Scholar; if you just become a Scholar, I bet no one would dare say such things anymore. But, Yangzi, people are just like that—they always love to gossip. When you get down to it, there’s usually no real malice behind it. Of course, Xiaonian’s wife is a different story; her heart’s not in the right place. By then, it’ll be your Uncle Zheng’s turn to get angry, because people will be saying, ’For an ugly woman to marry into such a good family, she must have accumulated good fortune from a past life! The Zhang family is just too honest and couldn’t bring themselves to break off the engagement, otherwise, why would they marry such an ugly daughter-in-law? Wouldn’t that be a disgrace to the Scholar’s family!’"