Not long after, the other brothers of the Old Jiang family arrived.
Four sons and over a dozen grandchildren gathered, a large family surrounding Cheng You and Cheng Wenyu.
The old man had lived to this age, already with a house full of descendants.
He even had great-grandchildren. The only thing he worried about were these two children from Jiang Qing's family.
"Grandpa, I still don't know, how much dowry did you prepare for my mother?"
Cheng You felt that Cheng Tao hadn't exaggerated; the dowry Jiang Qing left behind must have been substantial.
The old man took a list from inside the house and gave it to Cheng You.
"It's all on here, take a look for yourself."
The amount of money, the number of pieces of jewelry, even the quilts and basins were all written down.
It was a full page list. For any family marrying off a daughter, this dowry was considerable, if not more.
Even Cheng You was surprised; the cash alone was two thousand!
God knew how much effort she had put in to pry eight hundred yuan from Cheng Tianhua!
"Grandpa, why is there so much money?"
The old man sighed, "Youyou, I didn't tell your mother about this, but I'll tell you both. Actually, your mother isn't our biological daughter. It was during the war, and everything was chaotic. When we came here from another province, on the road fleeing famine, we found your mother."
Jiang Qing, at a glance, looked like she came from a wealthy family.
She was fair-skinned, chubby, and extremely beautiful.
More importantly, a bracelet and a jade pendant were hidden in her swaddling clothes.
He still remembered the appearance of that jade pendant; he had never seen such fine jade.
The Old Jiang family was fleeing famine, so hungry they would eat grass roots, their bodies gaunt and their faces sallow.
They had no resources to raise another daughter.
Under duress, he had no choice but to sell the jade pendant.
He sold it to a foreigner, and this money saved the Old Jiang family's lives.
From a young age, the old man taught his four children to be good to Jiang Qing, not only because she was their sister, but more so because she was their savior.
After setting aside enough money for their living expenses, he didn't touch the rest, but saved it to be Jiang Qing's dowry.
When Song Yulian came to return the dowry, he was still thinking that Cheng Tianhua had some conscience.
However, he never expected that this money, after circling around, would not end up in Cheng You's hands.
Cheng You suddenly thought of her bracelet, with its excellent quality. Her mother's biological parents must have had no choice but to abandon her.
Cheng You broke the stagnant atmosphere: "Whether Mom is biological or not, Grandpa is our dearest. If blood relations were truly that important, Grandpa wouldn't have raised Mom for so many years!"
Jiang Dingcheng laughed, "Right! Youyou is right! Regardless of blood relation, you and Wenyu are both our family's children!"
Liao Hongmei's attitude softened considerably towards the Cheng You siblings after learning what they had been through.
Cheng Tianhua was a beast to do such a thing.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go to Wujing Village and settle the score with Cheng Tianhua, so he knows our Old Jiang family isn't to be trifled with!"
Others chimed in, "Yes, let's go!"
The Old Jiang family was well-off. While other families had no bicycles, the Old Jiang family had several.
Borrowing a few more from others, a large family could all go along.
Originally, the old man's health was poor, and everyone advised him not to go.
But he was too angry to be stopped.
Cheng You gave him another ginseng pill and a cup of water. Seeing his improved complexion, she allowed him to go.
From a distance, people saw a group of people appear at the entrance of Wujing Village and couldn't help but stop and watch.
Upon closer inspection, they realized it was the Old Jiang family.
The old man was the brigade party secretary, and many people recognized him.
"Cheng You, you're back at your maternal grandfather's house?"
Cheng You smiled and nodded, "Yes, my maternal grandfather and uncles insisted on coming back to see my father, so they came with me."
Hearing this, the people nearby figured it wasn't a visit, but an account to settle.
After all, Cheng Tianhua had almost sold Jiang Qing's children.
They secretly followed, anticipating a good show.
Even more so, those who enjoyed drama shouted, "Tianhua, your father-in-law is here to see you!"
Song Yulian, inside the house, thought it was her father who had arrived and quickly opened the door.
To her surprise, it was Elder Jiang.
Liao Hongmei slapped her across the face.
"You cursed, wicked woman! Do you really think our Old Jiang family has no one, allowing you to bully us!"
Jiang Dingcheng thought it was fortunate he brought Liao Hongmei, otherwise, it wouldn't be easy for him to lay hands on a woman.
Look at Liao Hongmei, how decisive her hair-pulling action was.
The Old Jiang family stood blocking the doorway, coldly watching Liao Hongmei beat her.
Song Yulian screamed, "You lunatic! Why are you beating people in our house!"
Liao Hongmei, panting, pushed her away. It was winter, and wearing thick clothes made fighting inconvenient.
"Don't you know why I'm hitting you? You instigated your daughter to hook up with men and steal Cheng You's marriage! And you occupied Cheng You's mother's dowry, how dare you! If I were you, I'd just bang my head against a wall and die."
Song Yulian felt like her scalp was being torn off, wincing in pain.
"Cheng You couldn't keep a man herself, why blame my daughter? This is Wujing Village, you barbarians from wherever you came from, daring to come to our territory and beat people!"
Liao Hongmei grabbed her hair and pulled it upwards. "Take a good look at who I am! Your dog eyes aren't very bright, it's only been a short while, and you don't recognize us anymore!"
Song Yulian's gaze swept over them, and she finally understood.
No wonder they said Cheng Tianhua's father-in-law was here; it was Jiang Qing's maternal family.
Song Yulian panicked. Cheng You actually dared to bring the Old Jiang family here.
"So what if Cheng Tao stole her marriage? Tianhua compensated Cheng You with five hundred yuan and gave her Cheng Tao's bride price!"
"Pah! You shallow thing! When have the daughters of our Old Jiang family ever cared about five hundred yuan! Song Yulian, why do they say you have a black heart? Jiang Qing's dowry back then had two thousand yuan in cash alone. It was agreed that it would be given to Cheng You when she came of age, but you dared to pocket it!"
Song Yulian was in a panic. They wouldn't have come here for no reason, but how did Cheng You know about this?
"I don't understand what you're talking about! Get out, get out of here!"
Jiang Dingcheng sneered, "Even Cheng Tianhua wouldn't dare to tell us to get out. You, a usurper, what right do you have to say such a thing!"
Song Yulian's eyes narrowed, and immense rage surged within her.
Usurper!
How long had Jiang Qing been dead, yet some still thought her entry into the Cheng family was illegitimate.
"I am Cheng Tianhua's wife, why do I not have the right!" she shrieked.
As soon as Song Yulian finished speaking, she saw Cheng Tianhua rushing in from outside.
"Dad! Dad, why are you here? Why didn't you tell me in advance, so I could come and pick you up."