I used rebirth to bury his captivating gaze.

Chapter 98 Zou Laqian and Zhu Yu conspired to take Yu Mei away, but failed; they then plotted to rui

Zhu Yu's husband died in a mining accident, leaving her a widow. She became even more unscrupulous, and later she and Zou Laxian began to conspire together.

Zou Laqian's husband, Guo Shouwan, murdered his own niece Zou Yunfang's husband for money, leaving Zou Yunfang a widow.

Zou Laqian introduced Yang Yumei to Chen Lixin, and then helped him trick her into marrying her without spending a penny. She thought Chen Lixin and her mother would be grateful to her, but she received nothing, not even a word of thanks.

She admired Chen Lixin, this handsome young man, but neither before nor after introducing Yu Mei to him, he had given her a smile. She had hoped that at least he would give her a nice smile when she introduced Yu Mei to him.

To this day, Chen Lixin has not only gained a beautiful wife but also a lovely daughter.

She grew angrier the more she thought about it, realizing that she had wasted her time and effort, and the Chen family hadn't even invited her to a meal.

Just as she was getting angry, Zhu Yu whispered in her ear, "Why don't I introduce her to a family with better conditions? Yang Yumei is beautiful, it's a bit of a pity that she married Chen Lixin, who is such a poor family. Sister Zou, don't you agree?"

"Now that you mention it, I do think that's what I was thinking. I was feeling a bit guilty towards Yumei before. The Chen family is so poor, yet I made Yumei marry him. My husband, Da Guo, said I ruined Yumei's life. When I went back to my parents' house, my brother and sister-in-law also said the same thing to me. Zhu Yu, you're right. Why don't we make up for our guilt towards Yumei by finding her a good family so she won't have to suffer with that Chen guy anymore?"

"Yes, let's write for two days to help her think it over, and then we'll inform Yumei when we've made up our minds."

“Zhu Yu, you have no idea, Chen Lixin’s family is poor, and she also has injuries.”

"Oh! Really? You really tricked Yu Mei."

"Get lost. How do you look like someone from the Yang family? If someone from her family had come to check on the man's family's circumstances and shown any concern for Yu Mei when I introduced her to him, we wouldn't have ended up rigging her off, right?"

“When I introduced another girl to my neighbor Xiao Liangzi, that girl was also the young man I had my eye on. But not long after, the next day, the girl’s brother from her family came and took her home.”

"Now that you mention it, Yang Yumei is probably too old to do anything about it. Her brother and sister-in-law are probably just hoping she'll leave soon and get married. Otherwise, why would they be so indifferent to what kind of marriage she gets?"

"Yeah, she's unlucky to have run into us."

"Sister Zou, you mean well. Otherwise, Yu Mei would have married into a rural family and been forced to work. She's quite lazy, unlike Yu Han, who owns a clothing store and I heard she also contracted a local textile factory."

"Alright, let's find a good family for Yu Mei so she can escape her misery as soon as possible."

"By the way, Sister Zou, my uncle's eldest cousin from another province is over fifty years old and is still a bachelor."

"Come on, he's so old to be Yu Mei's husband, isn't that just hurting her again? And he said he'd go save her, that we'd go atone for our sins."

"Atoning, Sister Zou, what's wrong with you atoning? You gave those Chens a beautiful and healthy wife for free, and even gave birth to a daughter for them, and they didn't even express their gratitude. And you still want to atone? Even if you're atoning for Yu Mei, so what? She's just a country girl. So what if she's pretty? Even if she marries into a well-off family in the city, her husband's son will still be a man with a defect. Which handsome young man from the city with a good family background would marry a girl from the countryside?"

"Zhu Yu, now that you say that, I suddenly feel enlightened and relaxed all over. Zhu Yu, you're taking this too seriously. I was just joking with you. I didn't do anything wrong to Yu Mei, so what's there to atone for? Okay, I'll go to Yu Mei's house later and ask her about marrying Yu Mei to your cousin."

"Okay. After it's done, I'll have my cousin give you some reward, and of course I'll get a share too."

After they finished talking, they went about their own business. Zhu Yu returned to her rented apartment.

In the evening, Zou Laxian ate a perfunctory dinner and walked alone to Yu Mei's house on the narrow path.

She walked for about ten minutes until she reached a small grove of trees separated by a cement road, and on the other side of the road was a courtyard with three adobe houses for rent.

It was already late, and a strong moon hung high in the night sky. Chen Lixin had not yet returned home in his diesel-powered tricycle used to transport furniture to the store.

Yu Mei sat anxiously on the edge of the heated brick bed, looking out the glass window several times, but the sound of their own tricycle could still be heard in the yard.

But then he saw a man pulling a rope towards his house.

Zou Laxian walked to the west room of the three mud-brick houses, while the east room had other tenants.

Yang Yumei turned her head to let her sit down, and then said, "Fourth Aunt, how did you find this place?"

“Yu Mei, I heard it from your second aunt in the rented courtyard.”

"Oh, I thought Fourth Aunt had eyes that could see a thousand miles? Hehe, what brings Fourth Aunt to my house today?"

“Yu Mei, I haven’t seen you for several years since you moved out of the compound. I’ve been thinking about you and didn’t know where you moved to. I really wanted to see you, so I came to see you. I hope Chen Sisi is doing well.”

“Little Sisi is doing very well; she’s already in first grade.” As they spoke, they both glanced at Chen Sisi, who was fast asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"That's good. Lixin hasn't come home yet after delivering the furniture?"

"He hasn't come home yet, Fourth Aunt, you really need to know..."

“I care about you, so I inquired about you everywhere. No, that day I went to the street of Erbai to buy a cabinet with Zhu Yu and saw Chen Lixin sitting in front of the ‘Double Happiness’ furniture store on a dark green tricycle. He said that the vehicle was a second-hand diesel farm vehicle that he had just bought to deliver furniture to people’s homes.”

"Oh! I see. Thank you for your concern for our family, Auntie."

Zou Laxian glanced at her with a forced smile at the small clock on a pink rectangular wooden cabinet on the ground; it was already past seven in the evening.

She was thinking she needed to get to the point quickly, lest she beat around the bush and say a lot of insincere things before even getting to the heart of the matter. If she didn't hurry, Chen Lixin might catch her on his way home, and then it would be too late to say anything.

Then he coughed twice, puffed out his chest, and said, "Well, Yumei, you've noticed, haven't you suffered a lot since you married into the Chen family? Life here is so different from when we were at our parents' home."

"Fourth Aunt, I'm alright. I don't feel any hardship. As long as you have someone you love in your heart, you won't feel any hardship." Yu Mei thought to herself, "Why should I complain to you about my suffering? Who are you anyway? If you hadn't harmed me back then, I wouldn't have suffered. Little Sisi is all grown up now, and you still come to me with useless words."

Yu Mei initially thought it to herself, and then said it aloud.

“Yu Mei, it was your fourth aunt’s fault. The Chen family was so poor and destitute. I didn’t know much about it at the time, but I just blindly introduced you to him. Who would have thought that you and he would actually get together?”

"Fourth Aunt, you're going around in circles. Just say what you have to say. Otherwise, you won't be able to say anything when Lixin gets home."

“Okay, what I wanted to tell you is that I want you to go to a family where you can enjoy a life of luxury, the eldest son of Uncle Zhu Yu’s family. His family is quite wealthy, and the people are honest and kind. Once you enter their family, they will definitely treat you very well. If they don’t treat you well, I won’t agree to it.”

"Fourth Aunt, Lixin will be back soon. I need to go to the kitchen to cook two more dishes for him. He works so hard every day to earn money for us, mother and son. He even secretly went down into the coal mine to earn money for me and almost lost his life. Don't you also have a good man who sacrificed for you?"

“I…you…” Zou Laxian was speechless.

Just as she was about to speak again, she suddenly heard the sound of a tricycle "thump, thump..." coming from the yard!

Zou Laqian hurriedly stood up and walked outside, heading straight back to her rented apartment.

Three days later, Zhu Yu whispered in Zou Laxian's ear, "Your niece Zou Yunfang's husband is dead. Shouldn't she remarry? Should we arrange a marriage for her?"

"Zhu Yu, are you still my best sister? Why are you still thinking about my own niece?"