"What's wrong with this girl? Has she gone mad?"

The voice beside my ear snapped me back to reality, and I found myself in a mud house with Xue Minglang standing by my side.

He looked much younger, holding my hands tightly with a happy expression on his face.

The room was empty, with only two chairs in it. Xue Minglang's uncle and aunt were sitting on them, and it was them who had just spoken. Lin Xiuyin stood beside them, holding a teapot.

I remembered this scene. It was four years ago when he brought me, his future wife, to his hometown to meet his relatives.

Could it be that God couldn't bear to see me suffer and gave me a chance to be reborn?

His uncle's face showed displeasure as he said, "What's the matter? Don't you know you should kneel down and offer tea to your elders?"

His aunt added, "In our village, his uncle is the eldest, and even if Xiaoming's father was still alive, he would have to offer tea to his uncle first. It's our village's tradition. If you want to enter our house, you must first kneel down and offer tea to his uncle and aunt."

Xue Minglang smiled on the surface, but there was some uneasiness in his eyes, as if he was observing my reaction.

I smiled faintly, shook off his hand, and said, "Since that's the case, I'd rather not enter this door."

After saying that, I turned and walked away, and I heard his aunt's angry voice from behind, "What kind of woman did Mingwa bring back? She doesn't know any manners! She's so temperamental!"

I walked out of the mud house and then remembered that Xue Minglang's hometown was a very secluded rural village. The bus leaving the village only ran once every two days, and I had to transfer several times to get back to the city. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to leave today!

Xue Minglang chased after me and grabbed my hand, speaking to me gently, "Qianqian, are you angry? Why would you say such hurtful words?"

Seeing that I remained silent, he continued, "Our village highly respects our elders, so it's customary for the daughter-in-law to kneel down and offer tea. They didn't mean to make things difficult for you. I also know that you're from the city and not used to these rural customs. We agreed on this before we came, didn't we? We shouldn't let others affect our relationship."

I have to admit, Xue Minglang played his move well.

He came from a less privileged family, had a lower education level than me, and earned much less than me.

He was two years younger than me and claimed to have fallen in love with me at first sight, pursuing me intensely.

I also came from a single-parent family, and my inner self was fragile and humble. I felt that I had something in common with him and gradually accepted him.

In the early stages of love, one's mind is unclear. This time around, I finally saw everything clearly.

In fact, I was the best choice among the women he knew, but he only used my insecurity to disguise himself and easily broke into my heart.

I said with a cold face, "Xue Minglang, I've thought about it and I don't think we're suitable for each other or for marriage."

His face visibly panicked, "Qianqian, why would you think that?"

At this moment, Lin Xiuyin also followed us out. Her rough, wrinkled face was filled with gullies, and her chubby body was panting from running.

"Girl, we villagers are all simple people. We didn't mean to offend you. From the moment I first saw you, I liked you from the bottom of my heart. I really wanted you to be my daughter-in-law." She took out a small cloth bag from her pocket, inside of which were some crumpled red bills. "This is the money I saved from working in the fields all my life. It's meant for my son to marry a wife. You take it and use it to buy a house in the city as your bridal chamber."

In the beginning, I was moved by Lin Xiuyin's sincerity and felt that she truly cared for me, even revealing her savings when we had just met.

Now, looking at the meager twenty thousand yuan, I couldn't help but almost laugh out loud.

These twenty thousand yuan held great significance. At first, it was used for the betrothal gift, and later as the down payment for the house.

I paid the 1.5 million yuan down payment, but because of this twenty thousand yuan, both mine and Xue Minglang's names were written on the property. I also paid for the mortgage, but the house still counted as shared property between spouses.

Some people really are born schemers, always calculating and never at a loss.

I declined, saying that it wasn't necessary, but she grabbed my arm and secretly used force, causing me pain.

Lin Xiuyin, speaking with a strong rural accent, said urgently, "Are you looking down on us, mother and son?"

I was tightly held and started struggling. The more I struggled, the harder she held on.

Realizing that this was their territory, I needed to think long term, so I softened my tone and said, "Of course not, Auntie. This is the money you've worked hard for all your life. How can you give it to me after just meeting me? I really can't accept it!"

Lin Xiuyin stuffed the cloth bag into my arms and said, "I say you can accept it, so you can accept it."

"How about this, you can keep the money for now, and when you formally propose to my family, you can give it to my mother. That would be more appropriate."

When Lin Xiuyin heard that there was still a chance, she became excited and quickly put the cloth bag back into her pocket.

Xue Minglang happily held my hand and rubbed my nose, saying, "My precious, you're not angry anymore, right?"

The two of them flanked me, one on each side, and led me back to the small mud house.