After listening to that commotion for a long time, Li Man only figured out the general gist of things. When she went inside to ask Li Hua, he said that he didn’t know much about this matter either. It was obvious that Li Hua didn’t want to talk about this, so Li Man secretly pulled Little Five into the kitchen to ask him instead. The information that Little Five told her was what she already knew, that girl liked his second brother, but she was already engaged and what not.
In summary, she guessed that the answer was, Li Yan and Shen Mudan were a couple that grew up as childhood friends, but her parents were people that looked down upon the poor and flattered the rich. They were determined to marry their daughter into a rich family. The news of her engagement broke Li Yan’s heart. This was why he resisted all of Mudan’s attempts. As for Mudan, she was filled with grievances and couldn’t see a way out. She took things too hard, and she tried to hang herself. And then, her brother came to Li family’s house.
Thinking of Li Yan’s behavior towards her during the past several days, Li Man felt dreadful. She felt as if this scoundrel was using her to vent his suppressed feelings.
He was too despicable!
She had decided to ignore him forever, but when Li Yan returned home at lunchtime, his handsome face had become badly battered. The corner of his mouth was still bleeding. Everyone was shocked, and Li Man couldn’t resist feeling worried.
Li Shu was the first one to jump to his feet. He picked up a hoe that was by the corner. He wanted to go find the other party and get even with him. “Second brother, who hit you? I’ll go find him.”
“Put that down.” Li Yan looked at him in askance, then pushed him out of his way. Rubbing his face, he continued walking to the eastern hit. Without saying a word, he lied down on the bed once he went inside.
“Oldest brother?” Li Shu looked at Li Mo.
Li Mo silently sighed. “Put down the hoe.”
“But -”
“Let’s go eat,” said Li Mo. He went back inside the kitchen by himself.
Li Hua said to Li Shu, who looked unconvinced, “Third brother, don’t worry about this matter. If second brother wasn’t willing to beaten up, no one would be able to win against him.”
“You’re saying that second brother willingly let someone hit him?” Li Shu found it difficult to believe this.
Li Man actually thought Li Hua’s words sounded very reasonable. Li Yan originally had a falling out with his beloved, but after hearing that she had tried to commit suicide, he couldn’t take it anymore and ran over to her home to check up on her. And when her family had beaten up him for coming over, how could he fight back?
Sigh. Wouldn’t it be too cruel if a loving couple was torn apart merely because of lack money?
And so, while they were eating, Li Man stuck her head out against the stifling atmosphere by probingly asking Li Mo, “Oldest brother, Li Yan and the girl from this morning…?”
Li Mo froze for a moment, then he raised his head and answered her, “Don’t worry. There’s nothing going on between them.”
Why would she worry about that? Li Man continued to ask, “I meant, does that girl’s parents dislike our family for being poor, so they want to marry their daughter off to someone else? That girl doesn’t look too old. There’s still time. Oldest brother, how about you go over there and discuss with her parents. Let’s set an engagement for now. As for the bride price, we can make up that money later once we earn it. Could we do that?”
After all, other than Little Five, there were four grown men in this family. She didn’t believe that this family wouldn’t be able to earn enough for a decent bride price.
To her surprise, everyone looked at her in shock once she said these words.
“What’s wrong?” Li Man wondered if she had said enough. She quickly added, “Is it because her parents want a lot for the bride price? Or, is it because they don’t like our home? We can build another house. Or, is it because Li Yan has too many brothers? Once they’re married, they can move out and live separately.”
