Chapter 74: Selling Her Daughter for Wealth! Ma Yulian’s Heinous Madness!

The man standing before them was ugly, with shifty eyes and a furtive look, hardly the sort one would trust. Li Junsheng remembered clearly—this man was a convict, fresh out of labor reform. Ma Yulian had truly lost her mind; for the sake of money, she dared to marry her daughter off to anyone!

As soon as the man caught sight of Li Xiaoyu, a lecherous and lascivious expression spread across his face. “So this is Xiaoyu?” he said.

Before Li Junsheng could lead Xiaoyu away, the man's mother stepped forward, grabbing Xiaoyu and inspecting her up and down as if she were a piece of merchandise. She looked uncannily like a common market woman, picking over wares and preparing to haggle.

“Oh dear, this figure… not much in the front, not much in the back. You don’t look like you’d be easy to bear children,” she commented, unfazed. “But it’s fine, as long as my son doesn’t mind!”

As she spoke, the woman even tried to slap Xiaoyu on the hip. Terrified, Xiaoyu's face drained of color, and Li Junsheng pulled her behind him in one swift motion.

“What do you think you’re doing? Keep your hands to yourself!” he barked. Then, turning to Ma Yulian, his voice sharpened, “Are you out of your mind? What sort of people are you bringing into this house?”

The woman, with her prominent cheekbones and sharp, mean face, looked instantly affronted. “In-law, what are you saying?” she protested. “Can’t I touch my own daughter-in-law?”

“In-law? Who are you calling in-law? Our family does not agree to this!” Li Junsheng declared, ready to leave with his daughter. Ma Yulian hurried to block him, pulling Xiaoyu aside. “Oh, Xiaoyu, this is your Brother Dagang, and this is Aunt Zhang, your future mother-in-law!”

“Just look at Aunt Zhang—she dresses and wears jewelry even better than your own mother. She promised that if you marry into their family, she’ll treat you like her own daughter. And if, within a year, you give the Liu family a big, healthy grandson, the house and money will all be yours—what a wonderful mother-in-law!”

“You shouldn’t set your sights so high. Young Liu is already a good catch. Most importantly, I’ve already accepted a three-hundred-yuan betrothal deposit from their family. They’ve come today to settle your marriage.”

Hearing this, Xiaoyu’s face was filled with disbelief. “What? How could you? I will never agree!”

Ma Yulian’s face chilled; she lowered her voice and threatened, “Don’t even think about that penniless boyfriend of yours! If you want your sister to recover well after giving birth, you’d better behave!”

Stunned, Xiaoyu looked up, unable to fathom that her mother would threaten her with her own sister. Was this something a mother could do?

“What are you muttering about?” Li Junsheng stepped forward, pushing Ma Yulian aside and shielding Xiaoyu behind him.

Facing the mother and son, Li Junsheng spoke bluntly, “Don’t even think about it. My daughter already has someone, and I’ve met him. So take your money and gifts back and look elsewhere!”

Liu Zhigang’s face turned sour at those words. He glowered at Ma Yulian and demanded, “What’s going on? Didn’t you say your daughter wasn’t seeing anyone? I’m not spending six hundred yuan to marry someone who’s already been with another man!”

Without hesitation, Li Junsheng kicked him. “Who are you insulting? Your family’s so poor you don’t even have a mirror? If you did, maybe you’d see what a mess you are. Do you really think you deserve my daughter?”

Ma Yulian’s face paled with fear; she rushed to smooth things over before the others could get angry. “Her father just has a bad temper, please don’t mind him! Xiaoyu does have a boyfriend outside, but they’re both innocent. I never agreed to their relationship, and I never took a penny from that poor boy. Their business doesn’t count—I already told Xiaoyu to break up with him!”

Liu Zhigang still eyed Xiaoyu with obvious displeasure. He had been satisfied when he first saw her, but upon hearing she had a boyfriend, he immediately considered her sullied.

His mother, more pragmatic, knew that with her son’s prison record, he was lucky to find a wife at all and could hardly afford to be picky. She echoed Ma Yulian’s words, “It’s fine, son. Even if they’re engaged, the engagement can be broken. Our family’s better off than that poor boy’s, so it’s normal to break it off.”

Her tone was full of arrogance. She shot a warning look at Ma Yulian, saying, “Xiaoyu’s mother has already taken our money. Since she has, she must prepare the wedding—we don’t care about anything else!”

Ma Yulian kept grinning obsequiously, terrified they’d demand the three hundred yuan back. “Yes, yes, don’t worry…”

“Nonsense! My daughter and I never took your money, and we don’t want it!” Li Junsheng’s face was like ice as he made his stance clear. “Since Ma Yulian took your money, let her marry into your family if she likes. Don’t bother us again, or I won’t be polite!”

At these words, Liu Zhigang and his mother were stupefied. Ma Yulian was seething, glaring daggers at Li Junsheng. Xiaoyu, who had been frightened, almost burst out laughing at her father's words. Having her father stand up for her—it was wonderful.

“Li Junsheng, are you trying to ruin everything? Get out of here!” Ma Yulian, furious, tried to shove him out the door.

Li Junsheng sidestepped her with a cold expression. Ma Yulian, putting all her strength into the push, nearly stumbled and fell flat on her face. Humiliated and enraged, she would have cursed him on the spot if not for the guests.

“Listen to yourself! My son is willing to marry your daughter, you should count your blessings. Otherwise, who would want a girl who’s already been seeing other men and has no sense of decency?” Liu Zhigang nodded in agreement, even joining in to judge Ma Yulian. “That’s right. Compared to this old woman, second-hand goods are still better. I’d rather marry a young second-hand than an old woman with a face full of wrinkles.”

Ma Yulian, still reeling, glared at him in disbelief. Was this idiot really following Li Junsheng’s words and saying such things out loud?

“A blind date? He should visit a hospital to get his head checked first!” Li Junsheng scoffed. “That fool doesn’t even deserve to meet my daughter!” With that, he pulled Xiaoyu away, refusing to entangle with such wretches.

“How can you talk like that? What sort of upbringing do you people have? You accepted our money and now treat us like this?” The convict’s mother panicked as she saw them leaving. She had come to inspect a daughter-in-law, only to be insulted repeatedly by Li Junsheng. Seeing him slip away, she turned her wrath on Ma Yulian. “Ma Yulian, what’s wrong with your old man?”

“Mother, maybe we should…” Wang Xiuhua leaned in to whisper in Ma Yulian’s ear, offering her a sly suggestion. In her eyes, Xiaoyu was nothing more than walking six hundred yuan—she hoped to get a cut of that money herself.

Following Wang Xiuhua’s advice, Ma Yulian chased after Li Junsheng, calling out, “Even if today doesn’t work out, at least stay and let them have a meal! Go prepare some food and drink—how can you just kick guests out like this? They came all this way, after all!”

“Go eat shit!” Li Junsheng shot back, taking Xiaoyu with him and leaving the others fuming with rage.

After that encounter with the mother and son, Li Junsheng felt thoroughly disgusted.

“Xiaoyu, let your father decide for you! No matter what they say, as long as I’m here, whoever dares to gossip about you, I’ll tear their tongue out!”

Xiaoyu nodded, tears of gratitude shining in her eyes. “Dad, I’m so lucky to have you…”

Hearing this, Li Junsheng paused, his fingers trembling slightly. His daughter said she was lucky to have him? Memories of past tragedies flashed through his mind.

But fortunately—fortunately, he had been given a second chance. This time, he would protect his daughter, keep her from harm, and see that she lived a good life.

But for all these hopes to come true, he knew he must get rid of Ma Yulian as soon as possible. Otherwise, there would never be peace in this home.