NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51: Marriage Certificate
Chapter 51: Marriage Certificate
It was almost dawn when Xu Lian returned home with a grim expression on his face. He knocked on the door of Wang Cuiyun’s main room.
“Get up, get up!”
There was a muffled reply from inside.
After a moment, Li Xiya opened the door, her autumn-like eyes filled with concern as she looked at him. “Brother Lian, did you stay up all night?”
Xu Lian didn’t want her to know about last night’s events to avoid worrying her. “The sky is about to clear. Take Chan’er and go to the kitchen to make breakfast. I need to ask your mother something. We’ll join you soon to eat together.”
Although Li Xiya found it strange, she didn’t question him any further. She took Yang Chan’er and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Li Xiya was just that kind of woman – a good woman. Xu Lian was her man, the head of their household. She respected and obeyed him, making her a perfect partner for daily life.
Yang Chan’er, on the other hand, was a different story. She lacked initiative and was obedient to everyone. In contrast, Li Xiya had her own opinions but would only submit to Xu Lian. She wasn’t inclined to listen to others.
“What’s so urgent this early in the morning?”
Still drowsy, Wang Cuiyun sat before a bronze mirror, combing her hair.
Xu Lian closed the door, walked up to her and lowered his voice. “Let me ask you, is Sister Xiya really your biological daughter?”
Wang Cuiyun froze for a moment. Then she glared at Xu Lian, her temper flaring up. “Of course Xiya is my daughter! I carried her for ten months and gave birth to her myself. What do you mean by that? After taking my good daughter, are you planning to not take care of me in my old age and kick me out? No way! Xiya wouldn’t agree to it!”
She angrily jabbed her finger at him. “You ungrateful wretch! Back then, when you were crushed by falling rocks at the mine and were bedridden, if it weren’t for the food from my house, you’d have starved to death!”
Xu Lian waited patiently for her to finish her tirade. “Who said anything about kicking you out?”
Wang Cuiyun looked skeptical. “If not to kick me out, why are you asking if Xiya is my daughter?”
Xu Lian replied, “I’m just asking. Why are you so upset? Relax. When Sister Xiya gives me a child, you’ll still have to help me raise them. How could I kick you out without squeezing every bit of value out of you first?”
Wang Cuiyun’s face lit up with a smile. “Fine, fine. I’ll help raise the child.”
Seeing her let down her guard, Xu Lian pressed further. “So Sister Xiya is definitely your biological daughter?”
Wang Cuiyun rolled her eyes. “True as gold!”
Xu Lian found it puzzling. Last night, the man had addressed her as “Miss Xiya” with the utmost respect. But Wang Cuiyun was just an ordinary woman. How could her daughter command such deference from someone like that?
Could it be that Li Jinshui had been cuckolded? The thought crossed Xu Lian’s mind.
He looked at Wang Cuiyun again. It seemed like she had been quite attractive in her youth. “Sister Xiya probably isn’t Uncle Li Jinshui’s biological daughter, is she?”
Wang Cuiyun showed no sign of guilt.
She said nonchalantly, “I have had relationships with dozens, if not hundreds, of men over the years. How would I know if she’s the child of that dead man? That deadbeat was working in the mines, hauling rocks, barely making enough to eat. I was starving. What choice did I have but to let some travelers in and earn some food?”
Xu Lian’s mouth twitched. Finally, he understood the situation.
When Wang Cuiyun was younger, she frequently entertained passing men to avoid starvation.
One day, while Li Jinshui was at the mines, a high-ranking official happened to visit Green Bamboo Town. Attracted to the young and beautiful Wang Cuiyun, he spent some time with her, resulting in her pregnancy.
The man from last night was most likely sent by this official to find his child.
“Among all the men you’ve been with, was there anyone particularly memorable or particularly generous?”
Xu Lian didn’t have to think twice. A wealthy man would naturally stand out, hence his question.
Wang Cuiyun’s eyes sparkled with memory. “There was one – an especially generous one. He gave me a large gold bar. I cut it into small pieces, like tiny golden sesame seeds, and spent it little by little without letting that deadbeat find out.
“I bought a big pile of snacks whenever I could and ate well for years. Eating well improved my milk supply, and that’s how Xiya grew up so healthy.
“If you think about it, you should thank that gold ingot too. Without it, Xiya wouldn’t look this good.”
Li Jinshui’s misfortune… Xu Lian didn’t know what to say. Blaming Wang Cuiyun wasn’t entirely fair either – times were hard, and hunger could drive anyone to desperate measures. It was just bad luck for Li Jinshui.
Xu Lian sighed. “The man who gave you the gold ingot is probably a powerful figure. He must have used some method to confirm that Xiya is his daughter. The man who broke into our house the other night was sent by him to find her.”
Wang Cuiyun’s eyes lit up. “A powerful figure? Looking for a family? This is fantastic news! How do you know this? Did you talk to him? What kind of compensation does this powerful figure offer?”
“Compensation…” Xu Lian couldn’t help but admire her ability to seize opportunities. “The man said that Sister Xiya is like a phoenix, while I’m just a beast on the ground. He told me to step aside and cut ties with her.”
Deciding to toy with her, Xu Lian sighed dramatically. “I’m just a lowly foreman at the mine. How can I compete with someone so powerful? I’ll have to cut ties with all of you. After breakfast, take Xiya and move back to the old house in the alley. This place will be just me and Chan’er from now on.”
Wang Cuiyun panicked.
Living with Xu Lian meant eating well every day, avoiding blood donations to the night patrol, and slowly recovering her health. Life had never been better. She didn’t want to go back to the old, precarious days, nor pin her hopes on an uncertain benefactor.
She started cursing, “What ‘powerful figure’? That’s a lot of nonsense! Xiya is the daughter I carried for ten months and raised with my own hands. The ten taels of gold he gave me were merely payment for my services! Who is he to judge whether or not you’re a match for Xiya? Besides, you and Xiya have been together for a long time. If you work a little harder and get Xiya pregnant, let’s see if he still dares to talk about whether you’re a match!”
That was exactly what Xu Lian wanted to hear. He chuckled, feeling amused. Wang Cuiyun’s words hit the nail on the head. “All right, I’ll work harder. Once Sister Xiya gives me a child, not even her biological father can tear us apart”.
To prevent Wang Cuiyun from being swayed or changing her stance in the future, which could lead to unnecessary trouble, Xu Lian took out a brush, ink, paper, and an ink stone. He wrote everything down in black and white and asked Wang Cuiyun to leave her fingerprint as a seal of agreement.
Wang Cuiyun grumbled in dissatisfaction. “Seriously, don’t you trust me?”
Not at all… Xu Lian tactfully replied, “I think it’s better to have something in writing.”
Left with no choice, Wang Cuiyun pressed her fingerprint onto the document.
Satisfied, Xu Lian reviewed the agreement. Then, he took it to the kitchen to have Li Xiya add her fingerprint. He had absolute confidence in Sister Xiya, but to avoid any potential disputes with her biological father later on, it was better to formalize things with a “marriage certificate”.
“What is that?”
Li Xiya asked curiously.
Xu Lian didn’t let her see it and joked, “It’s your contract of sale. Do you dare to leave your fingerprint on it?”
Li Xiya rolled her eyes at him, not even bothering to look at the document. She casually left her fingerprint, clearly unafraid of being “sold off” by him.
Their mutual trust had reached an unshakable level-her affection for him was a solid 93/100.