Twenty eight

"I really don't understand! Wouldn't it be better if they all just had wives of their own. Why struggle like this? It's very unnecessary." one of the girls chipped in about the case.

"It's the Ru family that is shameless and everyone else as well. When the Ru brothers and uncle were struggling to make ends meet, no one dared get close by ten miles. Now that they are a little better off, everyone is trying to settle matters for them. What does their family have to do with everyone else?" another spoke up.

"So your saying that it's right for that slut to keep all those men? Why doesn't she just enter the brothel?" with a voice full of anger, another girl argued out.

"Exactly! If people let this happen freely, what about our society's values and morals? How will we raise our faces in front of other people? Won't people want to run away from this village when they find out?"

Soon everyone started to shout their opinions.

"The problem started because of their poor situation. Now that they are better off isn't it time to fix the problem?"

"Shameless!"

"If you agree so much, why not go and be a wife to them?"

"No matter what, four men on one woman, it's already embarrassing enough. You'll never see me also joining hands with such people just because they are doing a little better. It's already disgusting. No!"

"Those men are not men."

"They belong in a brothel."

"Who wants a wife that can only look at them when they look good? Then when they were in a poor situation, no one dare propose marriage to them. Now they want the person that stood by them, you still dare to open your mouth and be against it?"

"What good did being called a man do for them when they were at their wits end? If they died because of hunger, you still would say that they aren't men because they don't know how to work hard."

"You should just leave that family alone. Just leave them. They have had their share of hardships."

"Pppshh!! Why don't you just go and join the family. You're supporting them so sincerely I may think you're also part of their backyard."

"What about it? If she were, how does it concern you?"

"It would lessen the problems of this village."

"Eh! Mua! You also want to be part of that family? You slut!"

"Say that again and see if I don't break all those teeth in that smelly mouth of yours."

"You think you're so good at talking ah?"

It seemed that a full on fight was about to break out. The girls sprayed saliva East and west as if the matter was really bothering their hearts.

If a passerby were to sit for a few minutes to listen to their conversation, they would easily know the full story.

No one knew that the very reason the case exploded excessively was because of the Ru brothers and uncle themselves. They all wanted the wife to give birth for them first and called the village chief to settle the matter for them.

Father Dong was really perplexed by the matter. It was just their bedroom matters, what did it have to do with him?

But the brothers and uncle could not settle it on their own and wanted an outsider to decide for them at once. That was when the neighbors came to see the matter and the Ru family that had long abandoned the three brothers and uncle also stepped in to ask them to pay their filial piety.

The villagers that weren't part of the Ru family found it disturbing that four men should share a single woman. They also decided to speak out against it.

It was then it became a court matter to decide whose child should be born first, whether the Ru brothers and uncle should take other women and whether the Ru brothers should rejoin the Ru family and take care of their elders before they die.

When the Ru brothers and uncle were chased out of the Ru family, they were sick and malnourished. They all felt that they were about to die. They worked as hard as they could until they were able to treat their ailments. They surprised themselves by being able to live through an entire winter without dying.

When they got up to their staggering feet, they decided to buy a wife with the little money they had worked for. That decision was pushed for by their uncle.

Dong Mei recalled when she heard the story. She was with Bai Yang Wei at the time, as well as the other two that she'd prefer to never mention. She was watching Bai Yang Wei use a fishing method by the river at noon. They used a long bamboo pole with a wide mouthed basket attached at one end.

She wouldn't mention it was Li Hua's idea to eat roasted fish that day or how the fishing method was also hers. Cang Mang executed it using available materials. When they caught multiple fish, the two men looked at Li Hua as if she were a rare genius. They even caught a couple of beautiful fish that Li Hua decided to keep. She offered Dong Mei one but Dong Mei would have rather not had anything that reminded her of Li Hua's victory.

It was during that time that they talked about the Ru brothers and Li Hua had asked, "why not just try to make more money?"

Cang Mang also expressed his curiosity on the topic.

Bai Yang Wei calmly answered her, "marrying a wife brings good luck."

Dong Mei stepped closer to Bai Yang Wei and said playfully, "brother Bai, how about I share luck with you?"

Cang Mang pulled her back by the hair, "give me some luck instead. I'm going to make a few bets later at the market."

Dong Mei glared at him.

Cang Mang laughed, and said, "and I thought the face couldn't get uglier," then he directed his questions to her, "what? Were you just trying to steal luck? Steal some from me then."