The Zhao family was a well-known family in Guyun Village.
Why were they so famous?
Because the Zhao family had incredibly strong multiple-birth genes.
The head of the Zhao family, Zhao Dahu, married Zhang Huimei. They only had one pregnancy, but ended up with one son and two daughters.
Their son was Zhao Jianfeng, and their daughters were Zhao Xiaoyun and Zhao Xiaoxue.
The main focus here is Zhao Jianfeng.
Zhao Jianfeng married Wang Suhong.
He inherited his father’s powerful genes and had five pregnancies in a row—each one producing triplets.
The first pregnancy gave them three sons:
Zhao Tiezhu, Zhao Gangzhu, and Zhao Yinzhu.
The second pregnancy was also three sons:
Zhao Sizhu, Zhao Wuzhu, and Zhao Liuzhu.
The third pregnancy produced three daughters:
Zhao Jinhua, Zhao Yinhua, and Zhao Caihua.
The fourth pregnancy gave them three sons:
Zhao Qizhu, Zhao Bazhu, and Zhao Jiuzhu.
The fifth pregnancy produced three daughters:
Zhao Honghua, Zhao Lanhua, and Zhao Xiaohua.
The Zhao family’s “Nine Pillars” and “Six Flowers” were famous both near and far.
On top of that, the Zhao family members were all tall and strongly built, leading many villagers to suspect they had foreign blood.
Especially after the Zhao family’s first three “pillars” joined the military, the family became even more famous.
At first, everyone envied the Zhao family for having three sons serving in the army.
But after the three brothers left to serve and only Zhao Tiezhu returned, people began to look at the Zhao family differently.
They started thinking there was nothing so great about joining the military after all.
Originally, people admired military service because soldiers received allowances, and many families wanted to marry their daughters into the Zhao family.
But after the Zhao family supposedly lost two sons, no one wanted to send their daughters there anymore.
As a result, Zhao Tiezhu had reached the age of twenty-six and still could not find a wife.
Needless to say, things were even worse for his younger brothers.
Rumors also spread through the village that any woman who married into the Zhao family would have to bear at least five pregnancies—and every pregnancy had to produce triplets.
That scared off even more potential brides.
Especially the young women.
Just hearing that they might have to give birth to so many children was terrifying enough.
And marrying Zhao Tiezhu might mean becoming a widow while her husband was still alive.
After all, hadn’t the other two “pillars” died?
Because of all this, the rumors surrounding the Zhao family only grew worse and worse.
The Zhao sons could not find wives, and even the daughters struggled to marry.
After the Zhao family also sent Sizhu, Wuzhu, and Liuzhu into the army, villagers practically ran away whenever they saw someone from the Zhao family.
In truth, there really was a special reason the Zhao men joined the military.
For some reason, the Zhao family members were born to be sharpshooters and artillery specialists.
The moment they raised a thumb to aim, they instinctively knew the target’s position. Once a gun was in their hands, they almost never missed.
Naturally, the military highly valued people like that.
All the Zhao brothers had been specially recruited.
As for Gangzhu and Yinzhu, they had not actually died. They had simply been sent on special missions.
The villagers just did not know.
Zhao Tiezhu’s inability to find a wife had worried Zhao Mama, Wang Suhong, to no end.
Left with no other choice, she raised the bride price, hoping someone would be willing to marry their daughter into the Zhao family.
As long as the eldest son got married, she believed the younger sons would eventually be able to find wives too.
So when Zhao Tiezhu returned home on leave, Wang Chunhua immediately sent someone to the Zhao family with an offer.
She was willing to marry Lin Qiaoyun into the Zhao family.
The bride price?
One hundred yuan.
In an era when ten yuan was enough to marry a wife, one hundred yuan was practically an astronomical amount.
But the Zhao family knew about Lin Qiaoyun.
The girl was not only pretty, but educated as well.
So Zhao Mama gritted her teeth and agreed.
Zhao Tiezhu had already risen to the rank of company commander.
The Zhao family could afford the money to marry him a wife.
Besides, as the eldest son, Zhao Mama wanted to find him someone good.
The problem was that Lin Qiaoyun was still underage.
So after discussing it with Wang Chunhua, they secretly changed Lin Qiaoyun’s age.
They altered her age from sixteen to eighteen so she could legally register her marriage with Zhao Tiezhu.
Meanwhile, Zhao Tiezhu spent most of the year in the military and had no idea how old his future wife actually was.
When Zhao Mama told him to submit a marriage application, he simply did it.
His situation was considered special, and the military knew about his family circumstances.
Because of that, his marriage application was approved in only one day.
What no one had expected, however, was that the girl would refuse the marriage and even try to kill herself.
After receiving the news that Lin Qiaoyun had attempted suicide, Zhao Tiezhu immediately came to the Lin family home.
He was a soldier.
There was no way he could force someone into marriage.
When Zhao Tiezhu arrived at the Lin house, most of the family had gone to work in the fields.
Only Lin Qiaoyun and her mother, Xu Nian’en, were at home.
Lin Qiaofeng was there as well, but she had been hiding in her room and had not come out for several days.
“Comrade Zhao, are you here to see our Qiaoyun?”
“Yes, Auntie. I heard Qiaoyun wasn’t feeling well, so I came to check on her. Auntie, may I speak with Qiaoyun alone?”
Xu Nian’en looked at the tall, handsome young man in front of her.
Truthfully, she was quite satisfied with him.
The only thing she disliked was his profession.
Soldiers went to war, and once they stepped onto the battlefield, life and death were left to fate.
But the marriage had already been arranged by her mother-in-law.
The wedding date had been set.
Neither she nor her husband had any power to resist it.
Now, all she could hope for was that this future son-in-law had good fortune and would not die young.
Only then could her daughter have a chance at happiness.
“Auntie…?”
“Oh! Yes, of course. Come in.”
Zhao Tiezhu entered the Lin house and handed the things he had brought to Xu Nian’en.
“These are for Qiaoyun to nourish her body. Let her eat something good.”
“Ah, alright.”
Xu Nian’en led Zhao Tiezhu into their room.
Their family of three only had this single room.
Even at sixteen years old, their daughter still slept in the same room as her parents.
Thinking about their circumstances, Xu Nian’en felt guilty toward her daughter.
As parents, they had been too powerless.
At that moment, Lin Qiaoyun was lying on the bed sorting through her space.
Out of nowhere, she suddenly saw her bargain-bin mother bring a man into the room.
Now she finally understood what people used to mean when they said love at first sight was really just attraction based on looks.
Because that was exactly what was happening to her.
She liked this man.
Was he outrageously handsome?
Not really.
But somehow, everything about him fit perfectly with her taste.
Especially the fact that he had a lip bead and dimples when he smiled.
“Oh! Oh! Oh! He’s here, he’s here! He’s finally appeared!”
In just that short moment, countless thoughts ran through Lin Qiaoyun’s mind.
“Qiaoyun, Comrade Zhao came to see you. The two of you talk for a while. Mom’s going to boil some water.”
After bringing him into the room, Xu Nian’en left.
She deliberately left the door open so the two of them could talk properly without giving anyone gossip material.
She also did not go too far away.
As soon as Zhao Tiezhu entered the room, he saw a very pretty young girl reclining against the bed.
Her face was tiny, barely the size of his palm, yet she had large, bright eyes.
At that moment, she was staring at him without blinking.
And she did not seem to reject him at all.
Zhao Tiezhu had not expected his future wife to look so young.
He could not help wondering if she had even reached adulthood.