Volume 1, Chapter 7 – I Am Your Daughter-in-Law (Part 2)

Before Huang Qi could even speak, someone else had already spoken up for him.

“Ridiculous. A man’s ambitions lie beyond the four corners of the world. If all you care about is continuing the family line, how are you any different from animals? Do you really think everyone is like you?”

The words came from a dark-skinned, lean young man who was chopping meat.

Huang Qi turned in surprise and realized it was actually his cousin, He Chao.

“Exactly! So what if you’ve found a partner? Look at your lazy, gluttonous selves—I look down on you from the bottom of my heart.”

Another round-faced young man of similar age chimed in. It was Huang Qi’s sworn younger brother, Liu Keqian.

‘What good brothers! Seems like I still have decent standing in this village.’

Huang Qi was moved nearly to tears.

“Today is Elder Huang’s birthday, and even the neighbors have put aside their farm work to help. But you two? As his own grandsons, you’re just lazing around—have you no shame?”

“Elder Huang may have found two granddaughters-in-law on the surface, but he’s lost two laborers in exchange. How is that any different from having no descendants at all?”

“Right. Grandsons like these might as well not exist. They don’t even understand that filial piety comes first among all virtues.”

“They understand nothing! If they did, they wouldn’t have driven Elder Huang out of his own home.”

With the two leading the charge, the other single young men in the village also joined in, loudly condemning the brothers.

Huang Long and Huang Bo were caught completely off guard. They hadn’t expected to provoke public outrage.

“Serves them right. They could’ve just mocked me—why did they have to run their mouths so carelessly? This village is full of single men.”

Huang Qi felt immense satisfaction watching his two cousins being ganged up on.

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“It was my decision to let them rest. Do any of you have a problem with that?”

At that moment, Huang Qi’s second uncle, Huang Kaiyou, suddenly spoke up. In his eyes, daughters-in-law were clearly far more important than his aging father.

“That’s right. The saying goes, ‘Filial piety is the first of all virtues’, but there’s also another saying—‘Of the three forms of unfilial conduct, the worst is to have no descendants’. So Huang Long and Huang Bo’s most important task right now is to accompany their wives. Otherwise, who will carry on the Huang family line?”

Huang Qi’s second aunt, Zhou Fang, also spoke up, her words laced with sarcasm and insinuation.

“Exactly. If any of you have objections, why don’t you ask my father? Let’s see whether he thinks his grandsons should be working or spending time with their wives.”

Huang Kaiyou pushed the dilemma onto his elderly father.

“Grandfather, if you think Huang Long accompanying me is unfilial, I can just leave.”

“Same here. I don’t want to be branded an unfilial granddaughter-in-law for no reason. If that’s the case, I’d rather not be one at all.”

Xie Mei and Qu Zhen, the two women, also spoke up, applying pressure.

Huang Xinghu sat at the doorway, his face dark with displeasure. To be honest, his second son’s family was indeed unfilial, but as a grandfather, he couldn’t bear the shame of driving away his granddaughters-in-law.

Torn between choices, Huang Xinghu could only stand up silently and return to his room.

With the birthday host refusing to back them, He Chao, Liu Keqian, and the others were left speechless.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongues? You talk about ‘a man’s ambitions lying beyond the four corners’, but what kind of ambition can a bunch of losers who can’t even get married have?”

Huang Bo, now emboldened, swept his gaze around and poured on the mockery.

Li Fen could no longer save face and hurriedly retreated into the main hall.

“Don’t worry, Mother. I promise this will be the last time.”

Huang Qi narrowed his eyes and stood up again. It seemed today was destined to be a day for making a scene.

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Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Huang Qi walked into the main hall, picked up a brush from the table, and wrote nine large characters on a piece of paper. He then took it and walked to his parents’ bedroom door.

He was about to knock when he faintly heard his parents arguing inside, so he pressed his ear to the door.

“Huang Kairong, this was all your stupid idea! If we don’t see a daughter-in-law later, how do you plan to clean up this mess?”

Li Fen’s voice was agitated.

“Relax. There’s no mess to clean up. Huang Qi won’t be back right now, so no one will know whether we have a daughter-in-law or not.”

Huang Kairong sounded utterly confident.

“How do you know that?”

Li Fen sounded doubtful.

“I wrote in the letter telling him that if he didn’t find a wife, he should come back at night. Did you really think I’d dare to lie without a backup plan?”

Huang Kairong explained.

“But what’s the point? You can’t hide the truth forever.”

Li Fen couldn’t understand.

“After today, they can mock us all they want. Out of sight, out of mind.”

Huang Kairong snorted coldly.

“You’re just deceiving yourself.”

Li Fen’s voice was full of disappointment.

Hearing this, Huang Qi took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A moment later, his mother opened it.

“Guest, is there something you need?”

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Li Fen was momentarily stunned when she saw Huang Qi, forcing an awkward smile.

Huang Qi didn’t speak. Instead, he silently handed her the note.

Puzzled, Li Fen took it—and the next second, her eyes widened in disbelief. On the paper were eight large characters:

“I am Huang Qi’s fiancée.”

The sheer shock of this revelation short-circuited Li Fen’s brain. She brought the note closer, afraid she had misread even a single stroke. After a long moment, her hands trembling, she stammered:

“Girl… is… is this true?”

Huang Qi couldn’t answer, so he simply nodded firmly.

“I… I was wondering why you hadn’t brought a gift… turns out… you were preparing a much bigger surprise for our Huang family.”

As she spoke, Li Fen burst into tears of joy.

Huang Qi wanted to comfort her, but with no way to speak, he could only stand there helplessly.

“What does it say?”

Huang Kairong leaned over curiously—and when he saw the eight words, his breath hitched. He mechanically lifted his head to look at the woman who stood even taller than him, then looked back at the note as if to confirm. The next second, he suddenly burst into laughter:

“Hahaha! Huang Qi, you’re really my good son! Now I can face our ancestors with pride, even in death!”

Huang Qi was startled, inwardly complaining about his father’s loud reaction—but then he noticed the redness in the old man’s eyes, and his heart clenched.

‘When was the last time Father cried? Probably when Grandmother passed away.’

The memory was vivid. He never expected a daughter-in-law to hold such importance in his father’s eyes.

Huang Kairong’s excitement wasn’t without reason. In these times, the ultimate goal of an ordinary man was to marry and have children. His son was nearly thirty and still single—he had always blamed himself for being an inadequate father, carrying a heavy burden of guilt. Now, that pressure had finally lifted.

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“Wait… why aren’t you speaking? And why are you wearing a veil?”

In her excitement, Li Fen finally realized that this girl hadn’t spoken a word since entering the house.

Huang Qi had already prepared an excuse. He wrote:

“I just had a wisdom tooth removed. It hurts too much to speak, and my face is swollen, so I’m wearing the veil to hide it. It’ll heal in a few days.”

“Oh, I see!”

Li Fen sighed in relief, then hurriedly wiped the tears from her face, not wanting to embarrass herself in front of her future “daughter-in-law”.

“Good. Now come with me to meet the villagers. Let’s see who dares to make snide remarks in front of me now!”

Huang Kairong, who had been slightly hunched, now straightened his back with pride and strode confidently toward the door.

Huang Qi clenched the paper and brush in his hand and followed without hesitation. Everything he had done was for this moment.

Li Fen trailed behind, still wiping her tears. In front of everyone, she couldn’t let her future daughter-in-law lose face.

Outside, Huang Long and Huang Bo were still berating the village’s single men.

“He Chao, Liu Keqian, do you know whose family this courtyard belongs to? The Huangs! Since when do two outsiders like you get to boss people around here?”

“That’s right. We’re Huang Qi’s cousins—half-owners of this place. If we tell you to leave, you leave. Simple as that.”

The brothers focused their attacks on He Chao and Liu Keqian, the ones who had spoken up first.

He Chao and Liu Keqian hung their heads in silence. Without the host family’s support, they had no ground to stand on.

“You want to be the masters of this courtyard? Did you ask me first?”

The moment Huang Kairong stepped out of the main hall, his voice rang out in challenge.