Chapter Twenty-Five: The Betrothal Gift

  A long line of horse-drawn carriages appeared outside the gate of Majia Village, all covered with red cloth. The leader was a bald-headed man with a long scar on his face from the corner of his eye to the other side of his mouth, looking particularly ferocious and menacing. Old Horse Head was startled and asked loudly: "Who are you? What brings you here?"

  That scar-faced big man was observing the defensive situation of Majia Village, and when he heard someone asking him, he let out a loud laugh towards the sky and said: "I am from Tianfeng Number in the city, I came to deliver the betrothal gift for our second young master, open the door, we want to send these gifts to Miss Malin's house, hurry up and open the door." Old Ma heard these words and almost fell off the watchtower, it was actually a delivery of betrothal gifts, when did he agree to this marriage?

  Old Horse's furious roar echoed through the sky above Majiacun, "Get out of here and tell Li Zhuangzhu that I, Old Horse, have not agreed to this marriage. As long as I still breathe, don't even think about taking my Ling'er away. Even if I die, I won't let Ling'er marry into the Fang family!" The old man was so angry that he became dizzy and started scolding loudly.

  The scar-faced man's face turned alternately pale and red, but remembering the young master's orders, he gritted his teeth and pulled out a gift list, reading it aloud: "Old man, don't make a fuss, listen to me. Look at this list, we're offering wealth beyond your wildest dreams - 100 bolts of brocade, 100 bolts of silk, 1,000 taels of silver, 50 taels of gold, 10 pairs of coral, and 20 pearls..." As he read the list, Old Horsehead had already been provoked, and with a swift motion, he grabbed a nearby stick and hurled it at them, shouting: "Get out! Get out! Take your stinking money and scram! I'd rather starve to death than sell my daughter. If you want to buy someone, why don't you buy your own mother for the young master as a concubine?" The villagers below burst into laughter at this.

  That big fellow was caught off guard and almost got hit by the stick, then he heard Old Master Ma cursing himself in a flustered tone. His face sank, and he shouted loudly: "Old scoundrel, don't pretend to toast but not drink, I'm asking you, are you going to open it or not?" "Get out, get far away from our Ma family's village, get out——" Old Master Ma was already hoarse from anger.

  The big man sneered and said, "Since that's the case, then we'll leave. You'll cry sooner or later, and don't come begging to us when that time comes." After finishing speaking, he turned around, whipped his horse, and left, leading a long line of carriages away. At this point, Old Horse Head was so angry he couldn't speak, only panting heavily as he watched them disappear into the distance.

  After panting for a while, he suddenly thought that such a big thing must have been heard by Mr. Zhang. Thinking of this, Old Horse's head began to ache. What to do? He hastily came down from the watchtower and hurriedly rushed home. Sure enough, he saw Mr. Zhang standing at the door from afar, his face as cold as ice. Old Horse's heart secretly cried out in distress, but he still forced himself to go forward.

  Before he even reached Mr. Zhang, he heard him say coldly: "A hundred pieces of brocade, a hundred pieces of silk, what a big price tag! Village Head Ma, my family is poor and can't afford such valuable things." Old Ma hurried forward with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, what are you talking about? I, Old Ma, do love money, but am I the kind of person who would sell out his own granddaughter for it? They came to offer betrothal gifts, just a one-sided wish, I never agreed to this matter."

  Mr. Zhang's face improved a bit after hearing this, and he said: "The engagement of the two children was your idea, and the betrothal gift should also be sent to your home. Don't make it seem like one family's daughter is being promised to two families." Old Horse Face heard this and his face flushed with anger, gritting his teeth as he said: "Mr. Zhang, rest assured that if those bastards come again to bother us, I'll break their legs!" This old man was indeed being severely reprimanded by Mr. Zhang, but he could only swallow his anger himself, getting so angry that he almost passed out and fell to the ground.

  Mr. Zhang saw that he had said such harsh words, so he didn't speak again, turned around and walked towards his own private school, saw Gan Ping at the door, but ignored him, directly brushed past him, and heard a sentence: "Ping'er, come back to read books, only by reading the books of saints can you know what shame is." Gan Ping originally felt a wave of emotion when he saw Mr. Zhang standing up for himself, but after hearing this sentence, his feet stumbled, almost falling down, didn't dare to look at Old Horse's face, just glanced through the railing at Ma Ling'er on the other side, and walked back into the house.

  The old horse stood there, almost crushing the teeth in his mouth. This is to say that I don't know what shame is! Having lived for so many years, no one has ever spoken of me like this before. How can this not make the old horse angry? The little old man's lungs are about to burst from rage. He stamped his foot fiercely and said, "What's all this commotion so early in the morning?"

  Before he had time to calm down, someone from the village came to find him, saying that the shop owners wanted to see him. This made Old Horse's heart thud with a bad feeling. Following the man to the inn, seven or eight shop owners had already been waiting there for half a day. After Old Horse greeted them one by one, he sat down in the main seat.

  They were all outsiders who had arrived in the past two years. Old Ma had already guessed their intentions, eight or nine out of ten. He sat there, not saying a word. Seeing him remain silent, those people exchanged glances with each other, and one of them stood up and said: "Village Chief Ma." Old Ma raised his eyelids to take a look, it was Wang the owner of the general store, he said: "Wang the owner, I don't know what's going on?"

  That Wang boss was plump and smiling, listening to Old Horse Head's question, he cupped his hands and said: "Village Chief Ma, how did you offend Tianfeng Number?" Old Horse Head didn't respond. This Wang boss said: "Ahh, Village Chief Ma, Tianfeng Number has already informed us that they will no longer supply goods to the village, nor will there be any more business dealings, what are we supposed to do?" As soon as he finished speaking, the other bosses also started shouting.

  The shopkeeper Wang pressed his hand down, and the noise immediately stopped. He heard him say: "Village Chief Ma, I heard that the second young master of Tianfeng Number wants to marry your daughter Ma Ling'er, is it true?" At this time, Old Horse Head had already guessed their intentions and hummed coldly, no longer speaking. Seeing Village Chief Ma's demeanor, Shopkeeper Wang thought he was a bit intimidated and said: "Village Chief Ma, Tianfeng Number is the largest shop in Xiuyue City, and their master is the president of the Xiuyue City Chamber of Commerce. We can't afford to offend them. Moreover, the biological mother of the second young master is the younger sister of Ning Lingtian, the lord of the city. If we provoke them, our Ma family will suffer."

  He said, "It's not that we're forcing you, it's mainly for your own good, and for the sake of Ma Jia Cun. If your daughter Ling becomes the wife of Second Master, our lives will be better, and the life of Ma Jia Cun will also be better. Why let Ling marry that poor boy?"

  "Bang!" The old horse head couldn't hold it in anymore, and with a loud slap on the table, all the pent-up anger from morning till now finally burst out. This old horse head was once a skilled fighter in his youth, and after all these years, his martial arts skills hadn't declined. With a furious strike, he slapped the table into a big hole, shouting angrily:

  "Shut your dog mouth, I know it's not just the Tianfeng cargo that was cut off for you? You want my granddaughter to be someone's concubine? Why didn't your mother marry that second-rate young master? If you want wealth and glory, think of a way yourself, don't put your attention on me. In Majiacun, I'm the one who calls the shots now. Don't think that just because you have some money, you can do whatever you want. I won't fall for this nonsense."

  That white and chubby Wang boss had been scared by Old Ma's slap, hearing Old Ma scolding so ruthlessly, he also spoke in a hurry: "Old Ma, I tell you, don't be too proud of yourself, there will come a day when you'll cry." Hearing these words with a menacing tone, Old Ma smiled coldly and glanced at this group of outsiders who came to Ma's village to make money, then turned around and walked out the door.

  These outsiders are not villagers of Majiacun after all, and when they encounter difficulties, they only care about themselves. Old Horse Head is not angry at this time, come on, no matter how many tricks you have, first propose marriage, then give betrothal gifts, now they actually unite the various bosses to coerce themselves, let's fight and see who is more powerful.

  The old horse head returned home with his beard held high, without even eating breakfast, and lay there sulking. No one dared to say anything, as no one would dare to touch his sore spot at this time.

  What was unexpected was that by the time they were eating lunch, Ma Zhang suddenly discovered that Ma Ling'er had disappeared. She wasn't in the private school or at any other girl's home. After searching the entire village, there was no sign of her anywhere. This really scared everyone.