The Du family wife shivered, sensing her mother-in-law's displeasure, and quickly explained, "That's not what I meant, of course, Brother Xiang's life is more important than anything."
Old Mrs. Du snorted, "It's good that you know. Not only is Brother Xiang's life more important than anything, but Miss Qi's life is also precious. You don't need to worry about this matter; my son and I will discuss how to proceed."
With that, she no longer paid attention to her foolish daughter-in-law.
The Du family wife lowered her head, not daring to say anything more. If she displeased her mother-in-law, her own life would not be easy. Brother Xiang was her son, and she would talk to him later.
Within a few days, a rumor spread through the village that Qi Zhenzhen had used the life-saving favor to coerce Du Xiang into marrying her.
The villagers held three attitudes:
One was that Qi Zhenzhen had risked her life to save Du Xiang, so it was only right for Du Xiang to marry her. Another was that Qi Zhenzhen was shameless and coercive. The third group expressed no opinion at all.
In the middle of winter, everyone was idle, and the rumor grew stronger.
Aunt Song and Song Mingyue hurried to the Qi family. They did not believe that Qi Zhenzhen would do such a thing and wanted to ask for clarification.
Mrs. Yun looked troubled, while Qi Zhenzhen appeared calm, her expression betraying no attitude towards the matter.
"Zhenzhen, tell your aunt, what exactly is going on?"
They knew that Qi Zhenzhen had gone into the mountains to save someone and had indeed rescued them, but they didn't know the aftermath.
Song Mingyue pouted, her face full of anger, "Mother, do you still need to ask? It's definitely fake. Someone like Du Xiang, how could he be worthy of Zhenzhen? I'm afraid the Du family has some ulterior motive and is spreading such talk to ruin Zhenzhen's reputation."
Aunt Song glared at Song Mingyue, "You girl, you speak without restraint, saying whatever comes to mind!"
Song Mingyue pouted, looking unconvinced. That was exactly what she thought.
Mrs. Yun sighed, "I haven't figured this out either. The rumors just suddenly appeared, and I'm still bewildered."
"Mother, Aunt Song, let's wait," Qi Zhenzhen said indifferently. "We'll know once we see what the Du family says. We can't guess the truth by speculating. Anyway, I have no interest in Du Xiang."
Song Mingyue stepped forward and put her arm around Qi Zhenzhen, gesturing to her mother, "Zhenzhen is so good, her match must be an exceptionally outstanding man. Du Xiang only knows a few characters, what's so great about that? To put it bluntly, he's weak and can't even support a family. How many people would fancy him?"
Aunt Song laughed at her, "You girl, you'll always get into trouble with that mouth of yours."
With Song Mingyue's interruption, the worry on Mrs. Yun's face eased a little, "This matter probably wasn't caused by the Du family, right? Aunt Du and Sister-in-law Du aren't that kind of people, are they?"
"You can know a person's face but not their heart. Others don't know the specifics of this matter; their family knows best," Aunt Song said. "I'm not saying it was definitely their family who caused this, but the matter is spreading so widely, their family must have heard the wind. Logically, whether it's true or not, they should come and explain. But now..."
Their Song family has come, yet the Du family remains silent.
Qi Zhenzhen was also a little curious. She felt she was a good judge of character, and Du Xiang shouldn't be that kind of person.
People are most susceptible to gossip. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Not long after Aunt Song finished speaking, the Du family matriarch, daughter-in-law, and Du Xiang arrived.
The Du family matriarch and Du Xiang looked apologetic, while the Du family wife looked uneasy.
Du Xiang knelt directly before Mrs. Yun and Qi Zhenzhen, "Aunt Qi, Miss Qi, this is all our fault. Whatever your demands, I am willing to do my best to fulfill them and compensate you."
"Bah, you say that so easily. Zhenzhen is being talked about like this, her reputation is ruined. Don't you know how important reputation is to a young lady?" Song Mingyue, impatient, couldn't help but spit, "You ungrateful wretch, Zhenzhen shouldn't have risked her life to save you."
Du Xiang lowered his head, remaining silent even when Song Mingyue rebuked him.
"Mingyue, how can you speak like that? How is our Xiang'er an ungrateful wretch? Our whole family is grateful that Zhenzhen risked her life to save him, but we are not ungrateful. Ask Zhenzhen, we sent gifts, and we sent money, but they didn't accept the money." The Du family wife looked displeased.
"Shut up." The Du family matriarch glared fiercely at her daughter-in-law, thinking her foolish wife was utterly stupid.
The Du family wife shrank her neck, daring not to speak.
"Zhenzhen's mother, this is our fault, and we are sorry to Zhenzhen. I, this old woman, have no face to see you! Just as Xiang'er said, whatever your demands, we will do our best to satisfy you," the Du family matriarch said in a deep voice. "Rest assured, whatever your demands, we are willing."
After she spoke, before Mrs. Yun and Qi Zhenzhen could react, the Du family wife couldn't hold back, "Mother, you can't joke about Brother Xiang's future."
If she agreed to everything, and the Qi family demanded that Xiang'er marry Qi Zhenzhen now, what would be the point of her doing all this?
"Xiang'er, quickly tell your grandmother," the Du family wife nudged the kneeling Du Xiang, her face anxious.
"Mother, I've already said, whatever the Qi family's demands, I will fulfill them. Please don't interfere with this matter," Du Xiang said calmly.
By now, it was basically clear who had instigated the matter.
"They say family shame should not be aired outside. Today, I don't care about my old face anymore," the Du family matriarch sighed. "After we returned, I asked Xiang'er a few more questions, and Xiang'er told me what he said to Zhenzhen. To be honest, I really like Zhenzhen. If the Qi family has even the slightest intention, I would be willing. But this foolish woman was very agitated and said her son was destined to marry a daughter of an official family..."
With the Du family matriarch saying this, who wouldn't understand?
"Sun Shi, I never thought you were such an ungrateful person. That day, you came crying to borrow money, what did Zhenzhen say?" Aunt Song pointed at the Du family wife and scolded, "Look at your own character. You, worthy of having such a good daughter-in-law like Zhenzhen? You're dreaming! Your son only studied for a few years, and you treat him like a treasure. Don't you see how many people in Da Feng excel in their studies? Do you think daughters of officials are waiting for your son to marry them?"
Her words made the Du family wife blush furiously. She wanted to retort, but her tongue was not as nimble, and she could only pant with anger.
Du Xiang felt a pang of sympathy for his mother, but he also knew that his mother had ruined a perfectly good matter. If she didn't learn her lesson, she would undoubtedly cause more embarrassing situations in the future. He was just a scholar diligently studying now, attracting little attention. If he were to achieve something in the future, and his mother remained so indiscreet, it would cause trouble.