Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 100 Part 2 – Can I Come Pick You Up? (II)

Just bringing the matter up made Hong Juan fume. “Daring to scheme against Mianmian, of all people. They should take a good look in the mirror. And they even want her to take them to Yan City—such nerve!”

Xia Mian wasn’t angry; she just found it funny.

The reason she was staying in her hometown a while longer wasn’t to tease Ning Shaobai, but to meet Xia Chuan’s intended bride.

Xia Chuan was only a year younger than Xia He. As the only remaining bachelor at home, his father planned for him to get married by the end of the year or early next year at the latest.

In small towns, the process from matchmaking to wedding was relatively fast. Once a man and woman met through a match and liked each other, the parents would meet, and if all went well, the marriage could happen in just three to five months. Xia Hai and Xia He had both married this way, and things seemed to be going well for them so far.

Since Xia Mian and Xia Wenyue’s family probably wouldn’t be able to come back for the wedding, she decided to stay now, at least to meet her future third sister-in-law and, if things were decided, get acquainted in advance.

In fact, ever since Xia He got married, Xia Chuan had started meeting potential brides. But he had high standards and hadn’t found anyone suitable until about six months ago, when a colleague at the transportation bureau introduced him to Ma Lili, a nurse at the county hospital.

They’d been seeing each other for a few months now, long enough that things should have been settled. But Xia Mian’s uncle and aunt were reluctant, so they kept delaying, hoping Xia Chuan would change his mind.

It was because the Ma family had a bad reputation.

In rural-style arranged marriages, people looked beyond the individual’s qualities—elders cared more about the family background. That’s also a reason why reputation mattered a lot, because a bad one could affect the marriage prospects of the next generation.

In this small county, everyone was connected to some degree. As it happened, second sister-in-law Hong Juan had a cousin-in-law from the same place as the Ma family, and at the mere mention of them, she’d shake her head. Stingy, snobbish, calculating—those could be tolerated. The real problem was that the daughters of the Ma family were raised solely to serve their brothers.

They were the prime examples of what people in later years would call “brother-devoted demons”.

1

In this era, outside the cities’ one-child families, most rural households still had some preference for sons over daughters. But for many, it was within limits. Girls simply got fewer resources, but once married off, most were left to live their own married lives without much interference.

The Ma family, however, was an extreme case. Both of Ma Lili’s older sisters had been rumored to steal from their husbands and in-laws to give money to their natal family.

Of course, Xia Mian’s uncle and aunt didn’t want to be in-laws with such a family. But they couldn’t sway Xia Chuan, who was deeply fond of Ma Lili and repeatedly promised she was different from her sisters: educated, had broad views, wished to escape her family, and would devote herself entirely to their life together.

When Xia Chuan said this, Xia Mian was still a bit doubtful. Her aunt-in-law came right out with what Xia Mian was thinking. “Didn’t Ma Lili graduate from nursing school? At best, that’s a high-school level education. As for ‘broad view,’ she’s a county hospital nurse—has she even been outside the county? How much experience could she possibly have?”

“Why do you make it sound like she’s a college graduate?”

Xia Chuan smiled. “That’s only because she hasn’t had the chance. Otherwise, she might really have gone to college. She’s very smart, has read a lot on her own, and her knowledge isn’t necessarily worse than Mianmian’s.”

His mother rolled her eyes openly. The two sisters-in-law also disapproved, but no one said more—love is blind, and no amount of reasoning could break through a filter hundreds of meters thick.

Thanks to Xia Chuan’s persistent efforts, his parents finally agreed that the parents from both sides should meet.

The date was set for today. Xia Mian had expected to just be an idle onlooker, but in the end, the matter unexpectedly involved her as well.

The moment she saw Ma Lili, Xia Mian understood why Xia Chuan liked this girl so much. She had striking features and a curvaceous figure; even a plain, conservative dress looked vivid on her. And yet her expression was cool, her demeanor detached. The combination of those contradictory traits made her instantly eye-catching—she was the type who, in later years, might well be called an aloof beauty.

Xia Chuan’s smile was so wide his eyes practically turned into slits. His parents also smiled warmly as they invited the matchmaker and the Ma family into the house.

Whether naturally reserved or something else, Ma Lili’s expression remained as cool as ever.

The Ma family came with four people: the father, the mother, Ma Lili, and her younger brother, Ma Wenwu, who looked about eighteen or nineteen and was said to be only a year younger than his sister.

This was another reason Xia Chuan’s father had opposed the match—Ma Lili’s marriage would inevitably be used as leverage for Ma Wenwu’s own marriage. Everything Ma Wenwu needed to marry would have to be obtained through Ma Lili’s marriage.

Sure enough, at first things seemed fine enough, with the Ma family acting politely. But once drinks began to flow, the family habits described in the rumor started to show.

Mr. Ma let his eyes roam over the Xia family, and when they landed on Xia Mian, they gleamed with interest.

Mrs. Ma looked carefully around the room and yard, full of scrutiny, all the while asking about the bride prices Li Fang and Hong Juan had received when they married, what had been purchased, how the property would be divided when the family eventually separated, and so forth.

Ma Lili frowned slightly, seeming as if she wanted to stop her mother, but at a sharp glare from her, she could only look helplessly at Xia Chuan.

Xia Chuan tried to reassure her with his eyes.

His mother kept her smile. “We have three sons, and none of them will be shortchanged. They’ll get everything they should have.”

“Our two in-laws are reasonable, and most of the money we paid was brought back as dowries. In any case, bride price and the like are for the couple’s life together—there’s nothing wrong with doing things by the rules.”

After she said this, Ma Lili’s already cool expression turned even colder. It was impossible to tell exactly who she was dissatisfied with.

Brother-devoted demon (扶弟魔): Derogatory slang, usually of a woman, about a person who devotes themselves to their original family, not necessarily only to their younger brother, in a way that annoys their spouse’s family.