Agreed, the banquet will be held tomorrow.

Once the paperwork was finalized, Feng Cailian finally allowed Meng Yun to come out.

"Sister..." Jin Yanchuan, excited at the sight of her, was about to call out, but Jin Yan'an immediately stopped him. Seeing the young girl shaking her head at him, Jin Yanchuan quickly covered his mouth, not daring to speak.

After everyone had pressed their thumbprints onto the severance agreement, Village Chief Meng handed a copy to Meng Yun.

"Girl, from now on, be a sensible and obedient daughter-in-law in your new home. As for this place... it has nothing to do with you anymore. I honestly think this is a good thing," Village Chief Meng said with a bitter smile.

"Don't worry, Village Chief Grandfather, I will," Meng Yun replied, tucking the agreement into her space. From this moment on, she was finally free of the soul-crushing Meng family.

"Since the matter is settled, we'll be taking the girl now," Matchmaker Li said, having realized that the Meng family was simply using the girl to squeeze out some silver.

Zhou Yaru stepped forward and took Meng Yun's hand. "Yun'er, come home with Mother."

"Yes, Mother!" This was Meng Yun's first time meeting Zhou Yaru. Though she was around forty and dressed in coarse, simple clothes, her gentle and kind features immediately won Meng Yun over. The word "Mother" came to her lips quite naturally.

"There now," Zhou Yaru said, leading Meng Yun away, followed by her two sons.

"Hey, what about those things..." Bao Shi called out, seeing the items in the simple-minded boy's hands being taken away.

"The person has already been sold to us; there is no need for further pleasantries," Matchmaker Li retorted coldly, a stark contrast to the beaming smile she had worn earlier.

"Village Chief Grandfather, I'll come back to visit you when I have the time," Meng Yun said, looking back at Meng Shouye before boarding the cart.

"Good, just be obedient. Once you're married, your husband's family must come first!" Meng Shouye advised.

Zhou Yaru pulled Meng Yun onto the donkey cart. Jin Yan'an took the reins, cracked the whip, and the cart trotted away. Village Chief Meng watched until the cart disappeared from view before shaking his head and walking away.

The Meng family was overjoyed. Fifteen taels of silver—five more than they would have gotten from Butcher Leng! Bao Shi could not stop grinning, the wrinkles on her face deepening with every smile.

Feng Cailian felt a pang of resentment. "Mother, I raised that girl for over a decade, surely this silver..." She glanced greedily at the coin purse at the old woman's waist.

"Fine, since you've spoken, I'll give you one tael." Bao Shi was notoriously stingy; for her to cough up a single tael was as rare as the sun rising in the west.

On the cart, Zhou Yaru held Meng Yun's hand the entire time. Meng Yun grew fond of this woman who was now her mother-in-law. Initially, she had planned to use the simple-minded boy's family as a stepping stone to escape the Mengs, intending to earn enough money, leave the Mengs a decent sum, and then divorce and head out on her own. But now, seeing how kind and gentle her mother-in-law was, and noting that the brother-in-law seemed easy to get along with, she decided to put that plan on hold for now.

"Sister Li, we weren't prepared today, but we will be holding the wedding for the children tomorrow. You must come," Zhou Yaru said. Half an hour later, they arrived at Li Village.

"I certainly will," Matchmaker Li smiled.

After they stepped off the cart, Zhou Yaru took down all the gifts and produced a tael of silver. "Thank you for today, Sister Li. Please accept these gifts as a token of the Zhou family's appreciation."

"I'll take the silver, but you should keep the goods; you'll need them for the wedding," Matchmaker Li said, pushing the pastries back. "It was actually young Yan'an who reminded me today—that den of wolves, the Meng family, needed to be cut off. Even though it cost five taels more, it saves you from future trouble."

"You're right," Zhou Yaru nodded.

"Alright, it's getting late. You should go home and prepare. I'll handle the marriage certificate this afternoon, get the official seal from the magistrate, and have it delivered to you tomorrow," Matchmaker Li said.

"Thank you so much, Sister Li." Zhou Yaru offered another tael of silver. "This is for the officials to have some tea."

Matchmaker Li had mentioned earlier that she had quick and easy access to the magistrate's office.

"No, no, I'm at the office all the time and I'm familiar with those rascals. I don't need tea money for this. You'll need the silver for the wedding; we'll see plenty of each other in the future," Matchmaker Li said, casting a glance at Jin Yan'an.

"Very well, we'll see each other often," Zhou Yaru smiled and agreed.

The cart then headed for town.

Zhou Yaru touched the purse in her sleeve. With less than five taels left, she had to buy wine, food, melon seeds, and candies for the next day. Most importantly, she needed to buy red clothes for the two children. Especially for Meng Yun—she had nothing but the rags on her back, not even a change of clothes, let alone a wedding dress. Since the girl was now family, the wife of her son, she couldn't let her go without.

Once her mind was made up, the shopping went quickly. She bought five pounds of pork, two chickens, five fish, and a variety of vegetables and peanuts. At the clothing shop, she bought wedding attire and red bedding. Even the cheapest sets cost over six hundred wen. She also bought fine cotton fabric for Meng Yun to make two changes of clothes.

Throughout the process, Meng Yun watched everything. She noted every item her mother-in-law bought, realizing the woman was truly thoughtful. When Zhou Yaru bought her new clothes and shoes at the end, Meng Yun felt a warmth in her heart. This mother-in-law was truly wonderful—definitely someone worth cherishing.

Once the shopping was done, Zhou Yaru took Meng Yun's hand and asked, "Yun'er, is there anything else you need? This is my first time hosting a wedding, and I'm afraid I might have overlooked something. Tell me, and I'll buy it for you."

"Mother, this is more than enough," Meng Yun smiled.

"That's good. If you find you need anything else, just tell me later, don't be shy," Zhou Yaru said kindly. She couldn't let the young master suffer. He had been such a brilliant, spirited youth, only for tragedy to strike on his way to the imperial examinations. He had been beaten into a state of simple-mindedness, and Yan'an had been crippled. Ah, fate was truly cruel.

After buying the final sweets and seeds, the group headed back.

Jin Yanchuan had wanted to talk to the young lady the whole way, but she hadn't acknowledged him. He felt quite dejected, stealing glances at her from time to time, but she never looked his way.

Finally, they arrived at Zhou Village. Jin Yan'an went to return the donkey cart and ran into several villagers who asked about Jin Yanchuan's wedding.

Jin Yan'an smiled and told them, "My brother's wedding is set. We're holding the banquet tomorrow; everyone is welcome." He didn't specifically invite anyone, as he knew many in the village preferred to keep their distance due to his father's reputation and his maternal grandfather's attitude toward his parents. He left it up to them.

"Uncle Changhe, I'm returning the cart. I've already fed it fodder," Jin Yan'an called out as he reached the gate of Zhou Changhe's house.

"Ah, was everything successful?" Zhou Changhe and his wife, Li Mianhua, came out.

"It was. The wedding is tomorrow. My mother asked that you and Auntie bring Shitou and Gouzi over early," Jin Yan'an said, unhooking the cart and leading the donkey into the shed.

"Good, good, we'll be there early," Changhe agreed with a smile.

Li Mianhua’s face was equally radiant, as if it were her own child getting married.