When Li Qingxiu woke again, it was already dark. Mother Li was sitting by her side wiping away tears, while Father Li smoked his pipe, occasionally tapping it against the kang table.
That afternoon, after Liu Xianglan had just called the men of the household back, Li Qingxiu had pretended to faint. But as she kept up the act, she had genuinely fallen asleep.
Li Qingxiu hadn’t slept enough, but the smoke in the room was too pungent.
“Cough… cough… Mother…” she rasped, her voice hoarse. “What happened to me?”
“Xiù’er? Xiù’er?”
Li Qingxiu held her head, feigning confusion. “Mother, what happened? Why does my head hurt so much?”
Mother Li was taken aback. “Xiù’er, don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”
“Earlier, you…”
“Enough!” Father Li cut Mother Li off. “Go make dinner now. It’s time to eat!”
Mother Li lowered her head obediently and went to prepare the meal. Father Li tapped his pipe again and said coldly, “Your matter with Director Wang is settled. The engagement will be formalized the day after tomorrow, and you’ll be married next month.”
“Father…” Li Qingxiu choked back a sob, turning away, her expression turning icy.
You old fool! Still not giving up?
Just you wait!
The Li family had four children in total—three sons and one daughter. Li Qingxiu was the third child, with a younger brother below her. Since Fourth Brother Li was still unmarried, the family hadn’t yet divided the household. In the evening, everyone gathered around a large table for dinner.
It had to be said, the Li family genes were truly remarkable. All the Li siblings had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and were tall with long legs. Li Qingxiu had looked at herself in the mirror—the original owner bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to her, though she was much thinner. Still, she was quite pretty and even two years younger. Thinking about it that way, she had actually gained something.
Twenty-four years old! The prime age for anything!
Li Qingxiu ate a large bowl of noodles. Out of guilt, Mother Li had poached two eggs for her, leaving her feeling full and satisfied. Liu Xianglan pursed her lips, seemingly displeased about the two eggs in Li Qingxiu’s bowl, but in the end, she glanced warily at her father-in-law and said nothing.
Li Qingxiu also noticed that although Father Li was a man of few words, he held absolute authority in this household. Everyone feared him, and so, she hatched another plan.
Nighttime.
Although the two rooms were separated by a central hall, the old house wasn’t soundproof. If you listened carefully, you could hear the movements from the opposite room.
Li Qingxiu strained her ears for a long time, catching the gist of the conversation—she wasn’t mad, what happened that afternoon was an accident, and such a good marriage couldn’t be allowed to fall through.
In the dead of night, when all was quiet and still…
Li Qingxiu searched the central hall for a while and finally found a kitchen knife hidden on top of the cupboard. She grabbed it and headed straight for the opposite room.
Not long after, screams like a pig being slaughtered erupted from inside.
“Ahhhhh!”
“What are you doing, Li Qingxiu?!”
“Where’s Sun Zhigang? I want to marry Sun Zhigang.”
“Xiù’er… put the knife down first.”
“Where have you hidden Sun Zhigang?!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Li Qingxiu fainted again. The Li household was thrown into chaos for half the night, and Li Qingxiu passed out directly, leaving Father Li with no outlet for his anger. He could only swallow his fury.
The whole family gathered around her, discussing what to do next.
“What are we going to do? How did Xiù’er go mad? Will Director Wang still want her?” Liu Xianglan was more anxious than anyone. After all, she had accepted benefits from Zhang Cuifen. If this fell through, she’d have to return all those favors.
“Dare you send her? Aren’t you afraid Third Sister might go crazy and kill Director Wang?” The speaker was Fourth Brother Li. Though crudely put, his words were sharp.
Second Brother Li, who had been keeping his head down, muttered gloomily, “Forget about marriage—with Xiù’er like this, she won’t even be able to keep her job. We’ll have to support her from now on.”
The original host had worked at the town’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative, earning twenty yuan a month. This job had been arranged by her ex-fiancé’s family as compensation when they broke off the engagement.
Actually, right after the engagement was called off, there had been no shortage of matchmakers. The original host was good-looking, had a decent job, and had even attended high school for a year, so quite a few suitors came forward. But back then, the Li family couldn’t bear to lose her monthly twenty-yuan income, and the original host herself was too picky, neither aiming high nor settling low—that’s how she ended up delayed until this age.
Mother Li glanced at her daughter lying on the kang, and a flicker of pity crossed her heart. “How about letting Xiù’er go take care of Eldest Brother’s children?”
Father Li took a drag of his pipe. “With Xiù’er in this state, can she even look after Eldest Brother’s kids?”
Fourth Brother Li exclaimed, “What’s there to worry about? Once she’s at Big Brother’s place, Third Sister might not even have her fits anymore.”
Liu Xianglan was somewhat unwilling to give up. “How about… how about marrying Xiù’er off to Second Lǎizi from the east end of the village? Lǎizi’s mother said they’ve saved up quite a bit for the bride price…”
Thump!
Father Li slammed his pipe heavily on the kang table, startling everyone in the room.
Though Father Li wasn’t exactly a good father, he cared deeply about face. Marrying off to Director Wang was still somewhat acceptable, but marrying Second Lǎizi? Wouldn’t that make people point fingers at their backs?
Liu Xianglan ducked behind Second Brother Li, keeping her head low. Though she was sharp-tongued, having been childless for years after marriage, she didn’t dare throw a tantrum in front of Father Li.
Fourth Brother Li curled his lip in disgust and muttered, “That Second Lǎizi looks so awful. If he came back with Third Sister for New Year’s and sat at the same table with us, I’d find it disgusting.”
Mother Li glanced at Father Li’s expression and tentatively suggested, “Then what should we tell Eldest Brother?”
Father Li made the decision: “Just say we’re sending Xiù’er to the big city for medical treatment. As her eldest brother, he can’t just ignore her. Give Xiù’er a hundred yuan to take with her, as money for her treatment.”
Li Qingxiu, with her eyes closed, raised an eyebrow.
A hundred yuan? Are you treating me like a beggar?! Every month, her earnings plus what Eldest Brother Li sent home added up to fifty or sixty yuan!
“That won’t do!”
Second Brother Li, who usually couldn’t be prodded into saying a word, grew anxious now. “With Xiù’er gone, we’ll already be losing her salary. Now you want her to take a hundred yuan with her too? Since when does a daughter take money from her parents’ home?”
“If I were Big Brother, I’d think it’s too little,” Fourth Brother Li began showing off his knowledge. “What can a hundred yuan even do? Medical treatment in the big city is expensive. A month in the hospital costs several hundred.”
Liu Xianglan was almost amused by her brother-in-law’s foolishness. “Fourth Brother, you and Qiuyan are supposed to get married this year, right? Her family is asking for a hefty bride price, plus the Three Rotations and One Sound and the banquet expenses. Does our family have that kind of money?”
Fourth Brother Li fell silent. Mother Li, who doted most on her youngest son, naturally didn’t want him to be looked down upon by his future in-laws. She mumbled, “Xiù’er became like this because of the marriage issue. Maybe once she goes to Eldest Brother’s place, she’ll get better and won’t need to spend money on treatment…”
Li Qingxiu almost laughed in anger. Sending their “crazy” daughter to Eldest Brother’s house as a nanny, and they’re not even willing to give her a hundred yuan?
Could it be that the original host was picked up from the streets?!
Liu Xianglan quickly chimed in, “That’s right! Besides, Eldest Brother earns so much money. Xiù’er will be looking after his children for him—it’s already generous enough that we’re not asking him to pay her wages.”
The entire room fell silent.
Fourth Brother Li was also reaching the age to marry, and the family’s funds were already tight. With a hundred yuan taken away, it would inevitably have to be made up from elsewhere, and no one wanted to suffer the loss themselves.
Hearing this, Li Qingxiu sneered coldly and decided to administer a strong dose of medicine. She suddenly sprang up, pinned down Second Brother Li beside her, straddled him, and tightly gripped his neck.
“Sun Zhigang! Why did you treat me like this?!”
“Why won’t you marry me?!”
“I’ll kill you, Sun Zhigang!”
Sun Zhigang was the original owner’s fiancé who had climbed the social ladder—a convenient scapegoat to bring up anytime.
Li Qingxiu only used thirty percent of her strength, but Second Brother Li was already choking, his eyes rolling back. “Cough… let… go…”
The others snapped out of their shock and scrambled to pull Li Qingxiu away.
“Xiù’er! Let go!”
“Let go! Li Qingxiu, let go!”
Only then did the family realize how strong Li Qingxiu was—they couldn’t even pry her off.
Li Qingxiu then conveniently fainted, and as air rushed back into his lungs, Second Brother Li coughed violently, his hacking sounds heart-wrenching. Liu Xianglan snapped sharply, “Send her away! We’ll send her off tomorrow!”
The family was thoroughly frightened and no longer dwelled on the hundred yuan. But Li Qingxiu wasn’t satisfied—a hundred yuan was far too little.
“What! You want three hundred yuan?!” Mother Li straightened her hunched back at the mention of three hundred yuan, her voice turning shrill.
Li Qingxiu choked back a sob twice, wiping away nonexistent tears. “Mother, if I go to Eldest Brother’s place like this, I’ll only be a nuisance. Shouldn’t I at least have my own money for medical expenses?”
Li Qingxiu knew full well that the Li family could afford this sum. In the original story, Fourth Brother Li’s wedding had cost over six hundred yuan in total. When Eldest Brother Li and the female lead returned for the wedding, they even overheard Fourth Brother Li boasting about it to others.
However, the Li family naturally wasn’t willing to hand over the money so easily.
Thus, Li Qingxiu threw tantrums five times in three days, each time triggered only when others mentioned marriage or dowry, solidifying the notion that her madness stemmed from her failed engagement.
Most importantly, she directed her outbursts each time at the three men in the Li family. Strike the snake at its head—she had long noticed that while the women in this family schemed and acted maliciously on the surface, it was the men who ultimately reaped the benefits.
The Li family suffered immensely from her disturbances. All three men bore bruises, and they finally agreed to give Li Qingxiu the three hundred yuan.
However, they would only give her a hundred yuan in cash, claiming they feared it would be unsafe on the train. So, Li Qingxiu personally supervised Father Li as he went to the post office to wire two hundred yuan to Eldest Brother Li, along with a telegram explaining that the money was hers and informing him that she would be arriving the next day.
As for Li Qingxiu’s condition, Father Li didn’t mention a word. With so much money taken, there would be more than enough for medical expenses. If their daughter arrived without any signs of illness, Eldest Brother would still owe the family a favor.
If she got lost along the way… that would be Eldest Brother’s fault—after all, he was the one who asked his sister to come look after the children. And the two hundred yuan would have to be returned.
The early March morning in the north was still bitterly cold. Before dawn, Li Qingxiu left the small mountain village where she had stayed for less than ten days. Together with Second Brother Li, she boarded a tractor bound for the county town.
Sitting on the bumpy tractor, Li Qingxiu tightened her cotton-padded jacket. The money was divided into three portions and hidden in the lining of her clothes. The introduction letter issued by the village and Eldest Brother’s address were tucked inside the inner pocket of her jacket.
This was an era where one could not leave home without an introduction letter. To escape the Li family’s cage, her only choice now was to seek refuge with Eldest Brother Li and the female lead.