After eating her fill, she began to pretend to be completely at ease and chatted with Zhu Zi.
"What's your surname? How old are you this year? Should I call you brother or younger brother?"
She was beautiful, had a pleasant voice, and spoke in a stylish, not-quite-standard Nancheng dialect. She was so charming that Zhu Zi was smitten.
A little shyly, he sat down beside her and said he was 28 this year and his surname was Wang.
Melody looked at him gently and smiled, "Then I'm older than you. You have to call me sister."
"Ah?"
Zhu Zi and his mother were both taken aback.
"You're older than Zhu Zi? How old are you?"
"Thirty-five. Didn't they tell you?"
Thirty-five? Was she kidding?
She looked at most twenty-five, how could she be thirty-five?
"Really, I'm not lying. What woman would joke about something like that? I'm almost ten years older than you. If I were your wife, you wouldn't mind that I'm old, would you?"
Zhu Zi clearly hadn't expected her to be so old.
He wanted a wife to continue the family line. She was almost forty, and this...
Melody said, "City people don't like to sunbathe, so they don't look as old. But my son is nine years old. Did they tell you?"
"I've been married twice and have a nine-year-old son. Do you mind?"
The mother and son were stunned again. "You've been married? And you have a child? Twice?"
"That's normal where I come from. If you feel you can't go on, or your personalities don't match, you divorce and find someone else. Didn't they tell you?"
Zhu Zi's mother felt a surge of indignant anger, as if she had been deceived. She glanced at the cunning and calm Melody, then stomped her foot and turned to leave.
Melody took the opportunity to move closer to Zhu Zi, using her beauty to make him like her more and prevent him from hating her.
Soon, Zhu Zi's mother returned, leading two middle-aged women of similar age, chattering as they hurried back.
Upon entering, the three women, without a word, dragged Melody into the room, pushed her onto the bed, and lifted her clothes.
Soon, the three reached a consensus.
Zhu Zi's mother had been swindled out of her money. This woman was truly not a...
Zhu Zi's mother cried out in anger and was about to rush out, but the other two women stopped her.
"Zhu Zi's mother, don't be in a hurry. She's already gone. Where are you going to find her now? If you ask me, she looks quite young and pretty. Why not just accept it?"
"What do you mean young? She's 35! She's been married twice and has a child. Our Zhu Zi is a pure young man. How can he be burdened with such an unlucky creature?"
The other two were instantly speechless. They exchanged glances, their expressions conveying sympathy for her.
Melody didn't seem to mind being spoken of like this. She slowly sat up and tidied her clothes.
"Did you not make things clear when you bought me? Those kinds of people are difficult to deal with and unreasonable. You've already accepted me, and it might not be so easy to return me."
Zhu Zi's mother was so angry her fingers almost poked Melody's scalp.
"What do you mean? Seeing that our Zhu Zi is good-looking and honest, and our family is well-off, are you planning to stay here?"
Melody: "I'm not that bad, am I? Besides my age, and the fact that I can't have children, you wouldn't be able to tell I'm thirty-five, would you? How am I not good enough for your Zhu Zi?"
"What? You can't have children? What's wrong with you?"
"I got a minor illness."
Melody looked like she didn't really want to talk about it.
"Don't worry, I don't have much longer to live. When I die, Zhu Zi can marry a young and beautiful woman, and it won't delay you much."
Zhu Zi's mother was almost angered to death, but luckily the other two women supported her.
"What kind of jinx are you? Look at the wives that Old Zhang and Old Li found, and then look at you!"
"What kind of work do you do? Where did they find you? Why is our family so unlucky to have encountered you?"
Melody smiled charmingly and made a gesture of smoking.
"I'm having a craving for a cigarette. Can you give me one?"
"You smoke?"
"What's the big deal? I drink too. If I hadn't drunk too much, I wouldn't have been brought here by them."
She smiled insincerely.
"You can tell from my appearance, I work in a club. I usually interact with rich people, and I specialize in accompanying them for meals and drinks. It's very profitable."
Zhu Zi's mother was once again stunned.
If not for the other two women holding her back, she would have gone to tear Melody apart.
"What a misfortune for the family! Why are we so unlucky to have paid for such a woman! She works in that kind of job!"
"Wuwuwu! Those heartless bastards! Our Zhu Zi is pure, how can he be ruined by her!"
Melody finally lost her patience.
"Why are you speaking so harshly? What's wrong with a woman like me? Men in the city like women like me!"
After speaking, she kindly reminded the three of them.
"Wash your hands when you go out later and remember to disinfect. My illness is contagious. Don't say I intentionally harmed you."
Knowing her profession and hearing that she was ill, even the most foolish rural women could guess what it was.
They were so scared that they stopped trying to persuade Zhu Zi's mother and ran out.
Zhu Zi's mother was crying and wailing alone in the room. Zhu Zi also walked in.
Clearly, he had heard the entire conversation. The tenderness he had for Melody was gone from his face.
"Who told you to come to our house? You're ruining our reputation. How can you still smile?"
Melody said,
"I didn't come to your house voluntarily. I was tied up and brought here for no reason."
"But I say, Zhu Zi. I've seen many men in the city, and I'm tired of them. I really want to settle down and live a good life with an honest man. How about you just make do, and we two can live together."
"Although I'm a bit older than you, I know more. We don't have to have children. Let's be a happy immortal couple..."
"Shameless!"
Zhu Zi's mother's face turned red upon hearing this. She interrupted Melody and instructed Zhu Zi.
"Go and find your Aunt Zhang now and tell her to refund our money. Whoever wants this kind of woman can have her. Our family definitely doesn't want her!"
"She's old and can't have children, and she's not honest. Keeping her in the house will be a disaster sooner or later!"
Zhu Zi nodded and hurried out.
Melody sat on the kang, looking at the heartbroken woman, and still had the mood to joke.
"Mother-in-law, why don't I see Zhu Zi's father?"
"Who is your mother-in-law? You should be grateful that Zhu Zi's father isn't here. If he met a woman like you, he would beat you to death!"
After speaking, Zhu Zi's mother huffily left the room and took out a large lock to lock the room door.
Melody stretched her limbs in the room. When she was tired of stretching, she went to the window to observe the terrain of the village.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Zi ran back in a rage. Zhu Zi's mother hurried to meet him.
"Why didn't she come? What did she say? Does she want to renege?"