“We’ve known each other since we were children, and our families are already engaged. Naturally, we’re a good match.”
Xiao’an shook her head.
“That was then. This is now. We may have been suitable back then, but we aren’t anymore.
“If two people aren’t compatible, they shouldn’t force themselves to make it work. We have to break off the engagement. It will be better for both of us.”
“Xiao’an, my marrying into both households doesn’t hurt you. Why are you so bothered by it?”
Xiao’an didn’t want to argue with an ancient man about right and wrong. There was simply no way she could make him understand.
Although fate had brought her to this world, that did not mean she had to accept everything about it.
Xiao’an intended to live according to her own wishes.
“Go home. Tell your parents that I’ll return the betrothal gifts in the next few days.”
Kang Rong looked at her in disbelief.
“Xiao’an, you can’t put me in such a difficult position. My sister-in-law is virtuous, capable, and honest.
“She’ll be devastated when she learns that you refuse to accept me marrying into both households. You can’t make things difficult for her, either. Can’t you give her a chance to live?”
There was barely concealed anger in Kang Rong’s voice. He was furious at Xiao’an for being so unreasonable.
His words infuriated Xiao’an, and she finally lost her patience.
“If you keep talking nonsense, believe me, I’ll throw you out myself!”
Kang Rong could see that Xiao’an was genuinely angry. He took two steps backward and looked at the somewhat “unfamiliar” Xiao’an with great restraint.
“Fine. I’ll leave now. But marrying into both households really doesn’t affect you. Don’t be angry, and stop talking about breaking off our engagement just because you’re upset.
“If you make a fuss over such a small matter and the villagers find out, they’ll laugh at you.”
Kang Rong was going to marry his own sister-in-law, yet he repeatedly told Xiao’an that it had nothing to do with her, that it didn’t affect her, and that she had no right to make a fuss.
Xiao’an was a modern woman. How could she tolerate hearing such things from Kang Rong over and over again?
She pulled the peach branch out of the clay jar and viciously smacked Kang Rong twice across the mouth while he was still rambling.
“Are you leaving or not? If you don’t, I’ll smack you in the eyes next!”
The sharp thorns on the peach branch scratched several cuts across Kang Rong’s cheek and the corner of his mouth, drawing blood.
Only then did he finally shut up.
He wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve and glared at Xiao’an with a trace of anger before turning around and leaving.
Xiao’an’s own hands had also been pricked by the thorns, leaving several bleeding wounds.
She threw the peach branch aside and sat down on the stool, thinking furiously:
I’m definitely breaking off this engagement!
When the engagement had been arranged, Kang Rong’s family had given the original owner two taels of silver as the betrothal gift.
If Xiao’an wanted to break off the engagement, she had to return those two taels to the Kang family.
But her house was completely empty. Where was she supposed to get two taels of silver?
Xiao’an was stumped.
After thinking for a long while, she realized that the only thing in her possession worth any money was the house itself.
She decided to sell it.
But after selling the house, where would she live?
She couldn’t think of a solution for the moment, so she simply stopped worrying about it.
First, she would break off the engagement. Then she would figure out where to live.
Problems had to be dealt with one at a time. There was always a solution.
She stood up, left the house, and went to find the village head.
Xiao’an and the original owner had the same name, surname, and birthday. But that wasn’t all. They also had something else in common—they had both been raised by their grandparents.
The house Xiao’an intended to sell was the three-room house her grandparents had left to the original owner.
She had no money at all, so in order to break off the engagement, this was the only thing she could do.
The three rooms were still in reasonably good condition, but Xiao’an only asked for three taels of silver because she wanted to sell them quickly.
When the village head heard this, he was surprised.
“Xiao’an, I know it’s a famine year, but three decent rooms for only three taels of silver is far too cheap. They should be worth at least five or six taels, perhaps even seven.”
“I urgently need the money. I can’t worry about getting a better price.”
After several consecutive years of famine, many families had already run out of food. Selling children was not uncommon, let alone selling houses.
The village head sighed.
“All right. I’ll go around the village and ask about it right now.”
Xiao’an thanked him and left his house.
She went directly to the fields to dig up wild vegetables.
If she wanted to survive, she had to gather vegetables every day. Otherwise, she would go hungry.
Linshi Village was a large village with more than four hundred households. Most of the villagers were poor, but there were also a few families with some wealth.
Those were the families the village head approached.
Since everyone lived in the same village, everyone knew what each family’s house was like.
It didn’t take much effort before the house was sold.
The paperwork was drawn up that very day, and Xiao’an received the silver.
She promised to move out the next day and began packing her belongings.
One wooden cabinet, some farming tools, an iron cooking pot, two large jars, two earthenware vessels, two buckets, and a large clay basin filled with bowls and chopsticks.
She placed these things temporarily at her neighbor Zhu Cui’s house.
One quilt and several pieces of clothing were stuffed into a large woven basket, which she also temporarily left at Zhu Cui’s house.
She would collect everything once she found somewhere to live.
These were all of Xiao’an’s possessions.
That night, Xiao’an slept fully dressed.
Afraid that someone might have their eyes on the three taels of silver she had just received, she kept a sickle beside her.
She spent the entire night half-asleep, never getting any proper rest.
At last, dawn arrived.
Xiao’an washed and tidied herself up before leaving the house and heading straight toward the western end of the village.
There were two matchmakers in Linshi Village.
One lived at the eastern end of the village and was named Zhou Dalan.
The other lived at the western end and was named Huang Guixia.
Huang Guixia had been the matchmaker who arranged Xiao’an and Kang Rong’s engagement.
Xiao’an entered Huang Guixia’s small courtyard.
Huang Guixia had a long face. Because she had not eaten a proper meal in a long time, she had become extremely thin, making her face look even longer—almost longer than a shoehorn.
She smiled and said,
“Xiao’an, what brings you here? Come inside and sit.”
Xiao’an got straight to the point.
“Auntie Huang, I need your help. I’d like you to come with me to Kang Rong’s house.
“I want to break off my engagement.”
Huang Guixia was so shocked that her jaw nearly dropped. Her already long face seemed to stretch even further.
“Xiao’an, you can’t say something like that so casually.
“Everything was going perfectly well. Why do you want to break off the engagement? A girl who has broken off an engagement will have a hard time finding a good husband afterward.”
“Kang Rong wants to marry into both households. I have no way of accepting that. We’re no longer suitable for each other, so I’ve decided to end the engagement. It will be better for both of us.”
“Kang Rong wants to marry into both households?”
Huang Guixia looked incredulous.
“That poor, struggling man wants to support two wives? His waist is as thin as a bamboo stalk, but his appetite for women is as wide as a river! He really doesn’t know his own limits.
“His parents are only setting him up for trouble. What will happen when he can’t support them all? Will he have to catch mice to feed two wives and all their children?”
She paused and added,
“And mice aren’t that easy to catch, either.”
Xiao’an touched the tip of her nose, suppressing a laugh.
“Kang Rong seems very determined. He’ll probably manage somehow.
“But none of that has anything to do with me anymore. I don’t want to get involved. I just want to break off the engagement.”
Huang Guixia sighed.
“When you got engaged, the Kang family gave two taels of silver as the betrothal gift. If you want to break off the engagement, do you have the money to return it?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly remembered something.
“I heard from the villagers that you sold your house yesterday for a ridiculously low price just so you could break off the engagement?”
Xiao’an nodded.
Huang Guixia had originally intended to persuade Kang Rong not to marry into both households and then persuade Xiao’an not to break off the engagement.
But when she learned that Xiao’an had actually sold her house—and at such a low price—she realized that Xiao’an had made up her mind.
After a brief silence, she looked at Xiao’an.
“All right. I’ll go with you. Let’s leave now.”
The two women left Huang Guixia’s small courtyard and followed the path along the woods at the western edge of the village, heading straight toward the northern mountains.
Meanwhile, the previous day, after Kang Rong had returned home, his mother had hurriedly asked him what Xiao’an had said.
Seeing Lin Feng standing nearby and listening, Kang Rong was afraid she would feel hurt, so he did not tell her that Xiao’an wanted to break off the engagement.
He only said that Xiao’an was a little unhappy, but that she hadn’t actually objected.
Kang Rong thought Xiao’an had only said she wanted to break off the engagement because she was throwing a tantrum. He hadn’t taken her words seriously at all.
Kang Rong’s mother smiled.
“Xiao’an is a sensible girl. How could she possibly object to something like this?
“It doesn’t matter if she’s unhappy. Give her a few days to think it through, and naturally, her anger will pass.”
Then she added,
“If that’s the case, you should move into the western room tonight and sleep on the heated brick bed.”