Siheyuan: Black and steady Gou Laoliu

Qinjia Village.

The hot topic in the village today: Qin Laosan and Li Guafu were caught having an affair.

There have been rumors about the two having an affair in the past, but "catch the thief and the stolen goods, catch the adulterer and the couple", and without evidence it would only have some impact on the reputation of the two people involved, which is not a big problem.

But once they are caught in the act, they are considered adulterers and are morally corrupt, and they must parade around the village with the adulterers hanging on their backs and accept criticism from the people.

It should be clear that in the old days, there was a crime of "adultery" and the law allowed lynching, and even the killing of adulterous men and women on the spot. This is why there was the saying of "throwing a pig cage" for having an affair.

Now that we have entered a new era, there is no such severe punishment for adultery. Instead, there is more moral condemnation. In more serious cases, some people will pick up stones and throw them at the couple to vent their anger.

As for throwing away rotten vegetable leaves and eggs like in movies and TV dramas, it is absolutely impossible because people would not dare to do so. Even rotten vegetable leaves have to be fed to chickens and pigs.

Qin Laosan and Li Guafu were escorted by the militia to parade around the entire village. They were both completely disgraced, and even their families were brought into disgrace.

After the tour of the village, Widow Li said ruthlessly and resolutely: "Don't come to me again! And you have to compensate me for the pile of firewood in my house!"

When she was touring the village just now, Widow Li saw her children looking at her with disgust, aversion and hatred, which made her feel like being stabbed by thousands of needles in the heart.

For the sake of her child, she had to completely sever ties with Qin Lao San.

What's more, in her opinion, Qin Laosan was caught last night because of his own stupidity. He threw the cigarette butt into the firewood pile, which attracted the militia to catch him.

If you have such a fool as your lover, you will be killed by him sooner or later.

Qin Laosan opened his mouth to explain, but swallowed the words back.

He clearly remembered that he did not smoke on the way to Widow Li's house last night, but no matter how he explained, Widow Li just didn't believe him.

This time, Qin Laosan has completely lost face. He doesn't know how long he will be laughed at by the villagers.

"Could it be that little bastard from Widow Li's family who did it? That little bastard has been looking at me in a wrong way."

Qin Laosan was so embarrassed that he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. He lowered his head to look at the road, quickened his pace and ran back home.

Qin Lao San, who was full of anger, returned home and saw his daughter. He was immediately furious.

After finding the vent, he slapped his daughter hard: "It's all your fault, you troublemaker. If you hadn't caused so many troubles, I wouldn't have gotten married to Jia Dongxu smoothly, and there wouldn't have been so many troubles!"

In Qin Laosan's opinion, if he had a city man as a son-in-law, he would be blessed and would not suffer such a disaster.

It's easy to find excuses to accuse someone of a crime, and this is it.

Qin Huairu covered her red, swollen, and burning face and sobbed aggrievedly. Seeing that no one spoke up for her, she sneered in her heart: "This is the family that I have always treated with all my heart. I have finally seen it all clearly in the past two days!"

Now Qin Huairu felt that as long as someone could afford the price, his so-called family members would tie her up and sell her.

Disappointment never occurs in an instant, but accumulates bit by bit.

From this moment on, Qin Huairu and her family were estranged from each other, and the only person she could rely on was Brother Li.

Just when the gloomy atmosphere made people have to breathe carefully, a familiar voice sounded from outside the door: "I'm thirsty, I'm dying of thirst, hurry up and pour me a bowl of water!"

I heard her voice before I saw her. Who else could it be but Wang the Matchmaker?

Qin Lao San glared at his daughter angrily: "What are you standing there for? Go quickly! Pour the sugar water and add more sugar!"

Soon, Qin Laosan performed Sichuan Opera face-changing again, and walked to the door with a big smile on his face to greet them: "Sister Wang, what brings you here? Come in and sit down."

His family has become a big joke in the village, but they are just waiting for their daughter to marry into the city to help the family gain face. Secondly, they are afraid that this scandal will be spread to the ears of the Jia family by the matchmaker Wang.

Therefore, Qin Laosan wished he could treat Wang the matchmaker like an empress and serve her.

Matchmaker Wang sat down, drank the sugar water, sighed, and then complained: "Qin Lao San, Qin Lao San, I don't know what to say about you. Oh, maybe it's true that good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone."

Qin Lao San was completely confused: "Sister Wang, what do you mean by this?"

Matchmaker Wang sighed helplessly: "The Jia family wants to cancel the engagement."

This short sentence made the Qin family feel like they were struck by lightning. They were all petrified and stunned.

Qin Laosan was so anxious that his voice began to tremble: "Sister Wang, what on earth is going on?"

"I just heard yesterday that Jia Dongxu recently hooked up with a girl from a wealthy family. At first I didn't believe it and thought someone must be spreading rumors, but after careful inquiry, I found out that it was all true."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lao San immediately flew into a rage and cursed: "This Jia Dongxu is such a piece of shit! How can he have his eyes on the pot while having his cake and eat it too! He is so shameless!"

After he finished cursing, he suddenly noticed that everyone in the family was looking at him. Qin Laosan then realized that he was also being cursed, and his face immediately turned red.

Matchmaker Wang found the right time to boast: "Last night I asked several matchmakers near the girl's home, and I heard that Jia Dongxu and the girl's marriage is basically done."

She paused for a moment and continued, "Then I will definitely go to your family to cancel the engagement. I'm just afraid that your family will be unaware of the situation and will suffer a great loss in the cancellation of the engagement, so I got up early and rushed to your village to report the news."

At this point, matchmaker Wang pointed at Qin Lao San with a blaming finger and said, "The Jia family is looking down on the poor and loving the rich and want to cancel the engagement, but your family has such a big scandal, isn't that clearly giving people a reason to cancel the engagement!"

Matchmaker Wang sighed helplessly, "Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. As long as the Jia family comes to Qinjia Village, your affairs will be hidden no matter how hard you try!"

"Sister Wang, you must help me think of a solution!"

Qin Lao San was so panicked that he could only seek help from outside the field. Then he thought of something and hurriedly added, "Don't worry, Sister Wang, I will definitely not treat you unfairly afterwards!"

His family had already spent most of the betrothal gift given by that bastard Jia Dongxu. Asking him to return the gift now would be like asking for his life.

Moreover, his family's reputation has been ruined by the scandal of having an affair. If the Jia family brings people to the village to cancel the engagement, then he, Qin Lao San, will become the biggest joke in the village and will never be able to hold his head up high again.

Under the eager gaze of the family, Matchmaker Wang sighed worriedly, frowned and thought hard for a moment before speaking again:

"How about this? While the Jia family still doesn't know what happened in your village, I'll go to the city to talk to the Jia family about breaking off the engagement. This way, the Jia family will be at fault first, and I'll do my best to help your family keep half of the betrothal gift."

"If it's more, the Jia family will definitely not be willing to come to your village to cancel the engagement. If you return half of the betrothal gift, everyone will be able to save face!"

After saying this, Matchmaker Wang stared at Qin Lao San, who was frowning, and said, "Qin Lao San, if you think it's okay, I will go to the city to mediate immediately. If the Jia family is determined to come to the countryside to cancel the engagement, then I will be helpless."

"Hey, Sister Wang, let's do as you say."

Qin Laosan was not stupid. He knew that under the current circumstances it was already very good for his family to be able to keep half of the betrothal gift. If he dragged it on any longer, and the Jia family came to the countryside to cancel the engagement, his family would have trouble living.

After the matter was finalized, Huairu's mother smiled flatteringly and said, "Sister Wang, I'll have to trouble you to help my Huairu keep an eye out for potential partners in the city."

The fact that her daughter was going to marry into the city was known to everyone. If she marries a farmer in the future, everyone will make some sarcastic remarks about her: Your ancestors did not do good deeds, so your daughter is not destined to marry into the city and enjoy a good life!

Matchmaker Wang waved her hand and said perfunctorily, "Let's wait until the hype is over before we talk about it."

Then, she remembered something and her expression became serious: "Qin Lao San, your family must not mention the cancellation of the engagement to outsiders now. When the current storm is over, I will tell the villagers that it was Jia Dongxu who got drunk and had sex, and ruined the girl's innocence. We had to cancel the engagement, and this way Huairu's reputation can be preserved."

Seeing that Matchmaker Wang really cared about his family, the whole family thanked her profusely.

After leaving the Qin family, Matchmaker Wang couldn't help laughing out loud, muttering with great relief: "Fortunately, I was well-informed, otherwise I would have missed this great opportunity to make money on both ends!"