Jiang Jianguo took his mother back to the Jiang family home, and the two younger brothers ran out.
“Where’s the money-losing burden? She’s all hurt—why didn’t she come back with you? Is she about to die or something?” Jiang’s third brother, Jiang Aiguo, asked coldly.
That woman, Jiang Li, was always full of herself, always trying to boss him around—good riddance if she died.
“She hasn’t brought me the prickly pear yet. How could she die? I won’t allow her to die—if she has to, she has to bring me the prickly pear first!” said the chubby Jiang Weiguo, hands on his hips.
Jiang Jianguo pushed his two brothers aside. “Stop the noise. Move aside. Where’s Dad?”
“Dad, I have something to tell you. Jiang Li wants to marry the Ding family’s eldest son…”
Jiang Tiezhu listened impassively as Jiang Jianguo finished speaking, then tapped his pipe.
“You handled this well. The three mud-brick houses from the Ding family are more concrete than Wang Er’s five thousand-yuan bride price. Go with your uncles and retrieve the houses.”
“Be polite. Maybe one day you’ll need to go back to the Ding family to bring your sister back. If things get messy and she’s gone, we won’t have another chance to sell her again.”
As he spoke, Jiang Tiezhu stuffed some dry tobacco into his mouth and took two puffs, feeling no issue with his words.
Since ancient times, daughters from poor families were meant to be sold.
Jiang Li was stubborn and wouldn’t marry into the Wang family. She insisted on marrying the poorest family in the village, the Dings—then she should be prepared to be sold a second time.
“I’ll follow Dad. I’ll take people to the Ding family right away,” Jiang Jianguo said cheerfully as he came out of the house.
Dad had praised him.
He knew that as long as he acted in the family’s interest, Dad would approve.
Jiang Li didn’t understand this and insisted on betraying the family at a crucial moment. Just wait—when she angered Dad, she wouldn’t have a good outcome.
Taking the Ding family’s houses was just the first step. Her real hardships were still ahead!
Jiang Jianguo, full of excitement, led his men to the Ding household, planning to drive them out and humiliate Jiang Li, to show her how foolish her choice was.
“Eldest brother of the Ding family, I’m Jianguo. I’ve come to collect the house deed,” Jiang Jianguo said, patting the door with a smile.
“Don’t think we’re cruel. This is the village rule: if you want to marry my sister, you must provide a bride price. And anyway, using the house as the bride price was your suggestion.”
“Now that my sister has moved into the Ding family, you need to give up the house today to avoid gossip.”
After knocking for a long while with no answer, Jiang Jianguo’s face darkened.
“Stop dawdling, just kick the door open,” Jiang Baoguo pushed his older brother impatiently.
“That shameless girl insists on marrying into the Ding family. Why should we be polite? If you ask me, after today, I won’t even acknowledge such a shameless sister.”
“Exactly! That money-losing burden is shameless, insisting on getting married. We’re here to collect the bride price and back her up, and she won’t even come out to greet us,” Jiang’s third brother shouted.
Curious villagers gathered to watch.
“How shameless is the Jiang girl? She moved into the groom’s house before the bride price was even paid—how low can you get?”
“Her brothers aren’t ashamed and even came to support her. And she’s ungrateful? She’s foolish!”
“With a sister like this, better break ties early, so that if her husband divorces her, she won’t cling to her family.”
“Eldest brother of the Jiang family, better break ties with your sister. The Ding family is so poor, she’ll drain the Jiang family if she’s not stopped.”
“Yes, yes, break the tie. She’ll always run to her maternal family for help. The Ding family has a few mouths to feed, and with Mom sick and the eldest disabled, life can’t go on like this.”
“…”
Jiang Jianguo gleefully stared at the Ding family’s door.
“Sis, you’ve heard it. The family you picked isn’t great. Now you want to haggle over the bride price? Isn’t that shameful?”
“If you don’t open the door, I’ll smash it.”
Just as Jiang Jianguo raised a hoe, Jiang Li’s voice came from behind him.
“Jiang Jianguo, if the door gets damaged, we’re not paying for it.”
She stepped out from the crowd, holding the Ding family’s house deed.
“This is the bride price. Keep it. From now on, I belong to the Ding family and have nothing to do with the Jiang family.”
“If you’re afraid I’ll back out, you can write a formal break-off letter like they said.”
“Don’t think I’m afraid,” Jiang Jianguo rolled up his sleeves. “You forced my hand. Once the letter is written, you’re no longer a Jiang family member.”
“If anything happens to you, the Jiang family won’t care anymore.”
They never cared when she was a Jiang family member.
Jiang Li said with relief, “Don’t you bother.”
“Good, very good. Everyone here, witness this. Jiang Li has voluntarily severed ties with the Jiang family. From now on, she has no connection to them.” Jiang Jianguo took the paper and pen from Jiang Li.
Seeing the break-off letter, Jiang Li’s heart leapt—she was finally free from the Jiang family.
“Sign it, and make a copy. Everyone in the Jiang family except you must sign it, and give a copy to the village head for record. That way, if I ever go hungry and regret it, I can’t go back to the Jiang family.”
The onlookers thought she had gone crazy.
“What kind of spell did the Ding family boy put on Jiang Li to make her so reckless and determined to marry into the Ding family?”
“The Ding family didn’t even want their houses and still insisted on marrying Jiang Li—maybe Jiang Li put a spell on the Ding boy?”
“Who knows what’s going on? It’s reached the point of severing ties—clearly the Jiang family is extremely unhappy about this marriage.”
“If it were you, you wouldn’t be happy either. Everyone knows the Ding family is the poorest in the village: three educated young men, a critically ill mother, all supported by the eldest brother.”
“I think Jiang Li is crazy. She could have married someone better, but she picked the Ding family. Her whole life will be full of hard work and servitude.”
“The Jiang family had good conditions. If she got along with her maternal family, she could have benefited a bit. Now that ties are broken, she has no fallback—she’ll be stuck in the Ding family.”
“Exactly. Before, Li Qiujü praised her as smart, capable, filial, caring for her brothers, and family-oriented. And now, for a man, she treats her family like this—so foolish.”
“Exactly, stupid. After falling out with her family, with no brothers to support her, when she suffers in her in-laws’ home, no one will stand up for her.”
“…”
Jiang Jianguo slammed the break-off letter into Jiang Li’s hands.
“Don’t worry. My signature represents the whole family. The Jiang family will never interfere again. Now you just wait to cry.”
“We are at least your real brothers. Those Ding family people won’t treat you as family. Do you really think Ding Shichen would genuinely care for you?”
“Don’t dream. He just hasn’t seen a woman, can’t marry because of his disability, and is willing to lure you home. Once he’s done, you’ll regret it.”
“That’s none of your business,” Jiang Li put away the letter. “Later, I’ll have the village head get your parents to sign. This marriage is final.”
“…”