The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

All the villagers couldn’t stand the Zhuang Ruman family’s ostentatious display of hubris, so at this time, nobody offered assistance, everyone just eagerly awaited for the imminent humiliation of the Zhuang Ruman family.

When others in the village were marrying their daughters off in festive celebrations, with congratulatory words coming from all sides, the Zhuang Ruman household was quiet and cold. No one came to congratulate them, letting the Zhuang Ruman family taste the consequence of their maliciousness. “These people are all a bunch of green-eyed rabbits!”

Zhuang Ruman finished hanging the red cloth at the door, rubbed his sore back, and felt indignant. “No one came to congratulate us on such a big event. They can’t stand the fact that our Qinghe is marrying into a good family, they won’t even extend a helping hand, they are even shallower than a plate!”

“The fewer people come, the more it shows their jealousy, that our family is doing well.” Mrs. Song, however, was glowing with delight.

Lately, because there was that three hundred taels of silver at home, they ate well, had flour based meals every day, meat every day; Mrs. Song was getting increasingly plump. Now, when she grinned, her face had no wrinkles and her eyes had been squeezed into thin slits.

Zhuang Ruman felt a wave of nausea when he looked at her.

With three hundred taels of silver, he could buy several shops in town, invest in courtyards and rent them out, do business, and make a fortune; It would be a proper lavish life. He could also afford to take in concubines now.

But at the moment, Zhuang Ruman was too preoccupied with Zhuang Qinghe’s marriage to free his hands to manage these things. He just wanted to get past this busy period and then start worrying about his own matters.

Zhuang Ruman’s mind drifted, while Mrs. Song babbled on, beaming, “If they don’t want to come, they don’t have to. We can save a big chunk of money on food and drink.”

The wedding banquet had to include chicken, duck, fish and meat. It would cost quite a sum of money for several tables.

These days, Mrs. Song had been eating meat all the time and found chicken, duck and fish to be very tasty. She couldn’t bear the thought that this food could not get into her mouth but would be eaten by those people she usually loathed.

She hadn’t eaten enough of the good food yet!

“You don’t understand anything. The Kong family always values face. If it doesn’t look grand, how embarrassing would it be?”

Zhuang Ruman glared at Mrs. Song, saying, “The meal for tomorrow must be discussed properly with the cook. It must be good and plentiful – the more the merrier. Let those people see what they’ve missed out by not coming, let them know how hard it is to miss out on good food.”

“But that would require so much silver…”

Mrs. Song was upset about the silver, even more about the chicken, duck and fish.

“Women are so short-sighted! From now on, we will be related to Kong family. Will we run out of silver? Yuanren will become an official in the future. We will have a life of luxury and will have everything we want. Are you still worrying about the cost of a meal?”

“You have no vision! You won’t be able to enjoy a healthy life, even if you are given a sack full of golden nuggets!”

Scolded by Zhuang Ruman, Mrs. Song didn’t dare to say another word and lowered her head.

But she was already scheming in her heart. The next morning, she would skip breakfast so she wouldn’t utterly spoil her appetite for the grand lunch feast. That way, she could eat more of the feast leftovers.

“Stop standing here and causing a mess. Go and check on Qinghe, see how she’s doing with her expensive clothes. Don’t sleep late tonight, wake up early, comb your hair, apply some cosmetics and so on. Don’t disgrace our family, or the Kong family either.”

Zhuang Ruman kept rambling. “By the way, where is Yuanzhong? I haven’t seen him since dinner, what is he doing?”

“He wasn’t feeling well, he went to sleep early.” Mrs. Song replied, “He said he didn’t want to miss the ritual of lighting the path early tomorrow morning.” In their village custom, a bride’s younger brother or cousin must rise before dawn carrying a red lantern to illuminate the bride’s departure route. This signifies a bright and prosperous future for the bride and the comforting assurance of having brothers’ support.

“I must say, Yuanzhong really is considerate, there’s no fault in him.” Zhuang Ruman remarked appreciatively.

In his opinion, having sons was better; consider his two sons – the elder one was educated, the younger one was thoughtful and considerate. Raising a daughter? She was nothing but a money-losing item.

That being said, his daughter was special; she could be exchanged for money.

So, he, Zhuang Ruman, was indeed very lucky.

The more Zhuang Ruman thought about it, the more pleased he felt.

The next day, the whole village woke from its slumber.

It wasn’t the cock’s crow that woke them, but the sound of firecrackers.

And those firecracker sounds, one after another, they just kept on coming. The end of a long string of firecrackers would then be followed by the sporadic sound of firecrackers, the noise was thunderous, so loud that people felt a buzzing in their ears.

“Isn’t it just a bride’s wedding? Look at Zhuang Ruman, so giddy that his tail is pointing at the sky!”

“Hum, they think they’re now relatives of the Kong family, so they won’t have to worry about food and clothing in the future. They just want to show off.” “Showing off is one thing, but why are they setting off fireworks continuously? Look at how scared the kids in their homes are.”

A woman, distressed because her newborn baby hadn’t stopped crying.

And those whose chickens and ducks at home were scared into huddling together were also cursing.

“They don’t know the customs. For a wedding, you set off three firecrackers at dawn, one string when the groom arrives, and for sending off, it’s customary to set off three strings and three firecrackers. Who set offs this continuously? The chickens will be so frightened that they will stop laying eggs for a few days!”

“Anyone who knows what’s going on would know it’s a wedding, but those who don’t know would even think it’s a funeral!”

The villagers were quite dissatisfied with the frequency of the firecrackers. Those who didn’t get along with Zhuang Ruman normally were now arguing loudly at his door, “Is your family the only one in the village? You’re setting off fireworks and booming away. Aren’t you afraid you’ll blow yourselves up?” “Look, the entire village is full of the smell of firecrackers. It won’t dissipate for a long time. You’re not even bothered by the smell!”

“The firecrackers are bought by my own family. Today my family has a wedding, I want to set off as many as I like. Can you manage that?” Mrs. Song was usually a tough woman, and she wasn’t going to back down now. She had her robust frame to back her up in the verbal duel.

“You all just can’t stand seeing my family’s Qinghe marry into a good family. You’re all green with envy. My family has money, we can buy a lot of firecrackers. If you have the guts, buy this many when your daughter gets married, and let us hear some noise?”

“And we’re not just setting off fireworks. Did you see all the good food and drinks in our yard? At lunchtime, we’ll finish one plate and turn over another. You’ll all be dying of envy, not being able to eat such good food and drink! We’re going to piss you off to death!”

Who on earth could talk so proud about wasting food?

And take pride in it!

They’re crazy! Such people, those who waste food, God will see it, they’ll have nowhere to get food in the future, not even mud!