I used rebirth to bury his captivating gaze.

Chapter 17 The Little Son-in-Law

"Aunt Zou, you're here! I thought you went back to your husband's house last night?"

"When I went to Zou Jun's house, none of the three of them were home. We had lunch at my mother's house."

In the afternoon, I went to Zou Jun's house again. The whole family was there. I handed the betrothal gift list to my second aunt, explained the situation, and said, "I'll bring it back for you to see."

"Well, Zou Laqian, you talk to Yu Han first. I'll take our little guest from afar to his older brother's house in the north wing."

"Okay, Second Sister-in-law, who is this guest? Where did such a handsome young man come from? He's really handsome! It's the first time I've ever seen such a handsome man."

The handsome young man smiled at Zou Laqian, which was the best response he could give her!

"They've gone out. Aunt Zou is talking to you when she turns around." The two walked out of the south wing one after the other.

Only Yang Yuhan and Zou Laxian remained in the east room.

Yang Yuhan glanced at the red paper betrothal gift list placed on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), then said impatiently with a stern face, "Didn't I tell you beforehand that you shouldn't bring the betrothal gift list over if it wasn't signed and stamped? It's so late, we need to go to sleep."

She said that, but that's not what she really thought. After all, it wasn't her own business, and she was afraid her family would complain that she had made decisions for other people without her consent.

Yang Yuhan noticed that her gaze was still fixed on the blurry, icy snowflake-like glass window. She would squint her tiny, triangular eyes whenever she saw a handsome man. He was a little over 1.5 meters tall, with an eagle-like nose that was hooked at the tip and turned upwards—the hallmark of her flirting with handsome men!

She was so infatuated with the handsome man that she was completely distracted. Luckily, Zou Jun was a man from the village whom she knew well, otherwise the girl would have been sold out and would have been helping him count the money.

Zou Laxian was right about Yu Han's assessment. It took her a while to vaguely hear Yu Han's words before she replied, "I didn't want to take it back, but when I got to their front door, Zou Jun ran out with a red paper sheet and insisted that I take it back."

"They brought it over but didn't sign or put their fingerprints on it. What does that mean? I said before, they're clearly here to embarrass us in the village. They're forcing us to have a premarital medical examination without any conditions. Why would we need a medical examination if there's nothing wrong? Isn't it because of the incident with the sack a few days ago? The Zou family hasn't finished yet, and this is a lingering effect?"

"Yu Han, what are you thinking? Since you say that, I'll take the betrothal gift list over right away and have them sign and stamp it." Zou Laqian picked up the betrothal gift list, lifted her buttocks, and walked towards the door.

"Go if you want, who can stop you?" Yang Yuhan looked at her wobbly jogging steps and laughed, "Ha! This matchmaker is really easy to fool, the 'reverse psychology' works."

Call it a "provocation" or not! It's a lingering problem from the previous "sack-covering" incident, and it hasn't been completely resolved yet!

"Aunt Zou, hurry back this time, or the gate will be locked. We have a handsome young man waiting for us to entertain him!"

"Okay, just wait for me and don't lock the gate. Once you lock the gate, I'll have Zou Jun jump over." Zou Laqian looked back and saw Yang Yuqiu and the handsome guy walking towards the north wing, chatting and laughing, while Liu Shulan went into the west kitchen.

"Damn it, Zou Jun turned around and tried to jump over, but I had the handsome guy break his legs."

"Yu Han, please don't let the handsome guy from your family break Zou Jun's legs. Yu Qiu will have to wait on him for the rest of her life, and she'll suffer." After saying this, Zou Laqian hurriedly turned around and ran away.

Zou Laqian muttered to herself, "Zou Jun's bride is on the verge of death. Those two foolish uncles and aunts, those two misers, still think they can get a good wife without spending a penny. Before the new bride even enters the house, they've already made you a cuckold."

Yang Yuhan muttered under her breath, "Alright, I don't want to hear it anymore. No matchmaker is any good. When you came in, your triangular eyes were staring intently at my handsome guy. I'd better lock the door."

With a loud crash, the two wooden doors folded in half and were locked shut with a large iron lock in Yu Han's hand!

"Ah! You actually locked the door! Now that a handsome guy has come to the house, you don't want my Zou Jun anymore, huh! I just realized why. No wonder you didn't sign or put your fingerprints on the documents, and you shouldn't bring back the dowry list. Yu Qiu is already seeing someone."

Zou Laqian heard a loud bang and thought it was thunder. Her heart sank, and she continued running towards the farmhouse behind the village. "Quickly tell Zou Jun about this. If the marriage really falls through, the 100 yuan reward that Second Uncle promised him will be gone."

In no time, about ten minutes later, there was a loud knocking sound at the gate of the Yang family compound. Yang Yuhan, who was in the south wing, knew immediately that it must be the matchmaker Zou. It was quite fast; the round trip only took about ten minutes.

She didn't rush to open the main gate. Just then, Diao Yan went to the west warehouse to get two scallions to make scallion chops while she was cooking.

She didn't know who was knocking on the door, but the sound was a little creepy; the knocking was very urgent, as if something serious had happened.

Diao Yan, carrying two large scallions, went to open the door. Luckily, she had the key. She quickly opened the door, but it only opened a crack. A couple rushed in, nearly knocking Diao Yan over.

It was getting dark, and she couldn't see people's faces clearly. Annoyed, she snapped, "What's your rush? Are you in such a hurry to snatch the coffin?"

The woman who came in wasn't angry; instead, she quickly replied, "It's not that I'm in a hurry to grab the coffin, it's that I'm in a hurry to grab the woman."

The man kept apologizing, "I'm sorry, Third Aunt, we're in a hurry. The dowry list needs to be given to Yuhan."

Diao Yan suddenly saw Zou Laxian and Zou Jun.

Her attitude softened. "Why is it just the two of you? Zou Jun, what did you just say? What's wrong with the betrothal gift list?"

"Third Aunt, we need to get to the south wing first." Zou Jun hurriedly walked to the south wing with the betrothal gift list in his hand.

Zou Laxian followed him for a few steps, then stopped.

"You're in a hurry, but I'm in a hurry to cook dinner. It was my turn to cook, and I wanted to relax and just make something simple to eat. But then we had guests over, and I had to cook several dishes. It's such a hassle."

“I know a handsome young man came to your house,” Zou Laxian said, standing at the door.

"He's not really a guest, he's just a long-lost family member, he's my fourth brother-in-law."

“Ah! No wonder he looked so familiar. I remember more than ten years ago, your family had a boy who was about seven or eight years old. It was said that the old man found him a wife who was more than ten years older than him, and then he ran away in anger. Is that true?” Zou Laxian stepped forward and spoke.

"You don't know this, he's not actually the old man's or the old woman's biological father..."

"Oh no, I have to get into the east wing right away. I can't cheat my family member, Zou Jun."

"I'll talk to you another day." Zou Laxian turned around and hurriedly ran into the south wing.

"Get lost," Diao Yan cursed at her.

When Zou Laqian entered the east room, the dowry list, which already bore the fingerprints and signatures of both Zou Jun and Yu Yanli, was no longer in Zou Jun's possession.

Then the two returned to the Zou family's small courtyard behind the village, looking dejected. That night, Zou Laxian did not go back to his parents' house at the south end of the village, but stayed at Zou Jun's house for the sake of convenience.

“That handsome man is Yuqiu’s fourth uncle. Since he’s her fourth uncle, we’ve wasted our time signing the dowry list. We still need to go to the county hospital for a premarital checkup, after all, she had that incident with the burlap sack.” Yu Yanli said weakly.

"The whole sack-tying thing has been going on for days, and it's still not over. I told you not to panic, even if a handsome guy comes along, she might not like him. Now look what's happened, you've signed the dowry list and you still have to buy everything. And you're trying to use the sack-tying incident to pressure her into asking for less dowry? Look, the Yang family is much smarter than you."

The father added, "Before, they insisted on having the check-up. After seeing the handsome guy, they were afraid that their future daughter-in-law would be snatched away by him. They signed and put their fingerprints on the dowry list, almost risking their lives for the Yang family. Now that they know the handsome guy is her fourth uncle, they are no longer worried and are not afraid that their daughter-in-law will be snatched away. They went ahead with the check-up."

Mr. Zou continued, "This is called using brine to curdle tofu; one thing can subdue another!"

"You're saying this now? You didn't say this when you signed the document. You said you'd sign it, and you'd sign everything on the dowry list, not a single thing could be missing. You have to be honest. What, you think you can trick her into marrying you without spending a penny and have her give you a free grandson?" Yu Yanli said.

"Oh my! Old woman, aren't you saying the opposite of what you meant in those last two sentences?"

“Yesterday I rushed into the house and stopped Zou Jun from giving the betrothal gift list to Yu Han. At that time, Diao Yan seemed to have something to say, but she didn’t finish speaking to me. I was in a hurry and didn’t listen. I ran into the house, and as a result, the betrothal gift list in Zou Jun’s hand ended up in Yu Han’s hands.”