“This wretched girl dared to jump into the river after just a few words from me. Who does she think she’s showing off to?”
“Mom! That butcher is in his thirties and beat his two previous wives to death. How could you promise Xiaoyue to him…”
“What’s wrong with being thirty? Only older men know how to cherish a woman.”
The sharp, mean voice exploded in Xu Xiaoyue’s ears. Her head throbbed with a splitting pain as she shivered and forced her eyes open. What met her gaze were bare mud walls with several large characters painted in red:
“The world is vast; there is much to be achieved.”
Xu Xiaoyue twitched her fingertips and looked toward the source of the voice.
The old woman speaking was wearing a set of clothes made of Dacron, her face fleshy and coarse. Noticing Xu Xiaoyue’s movement, her slanted eyes suddenly glared.
“She’s awake, she’s awake! I knew she was just faking being sick.”
After saying that, the old woman seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and walked out of the room, muttering curses under her breath.
“Xiaoyue? You nearly scared your mother to death.” Before Xu Xiaoyue could react, the front of her clothes was soaked by the woman’s sobbing.
After crying for a while, the woman seemed to suddenly remember something. She hurriedly began packing things and, after smoothing Xu Xiaoyue’s hair, urged her.
“The Yan family has already sent someone to pick you up. Pack your things quickly so you don’t keep them waiting.” As she spoke, her hands never stopped moving.
To be fair, they had to thank her father-in-law for setting up a childhood betrothal between Xu Xiaoyue and the Yan family when she was young. Who would have thought that after all these years since the Yan youth returned to the city, they hadn’t forgotten? They had received a letter the day before yesterday mentioning this very engagement.
Ever since her husband died, the mother and daughter hadn’t seen a single day of peace. Now, her mother-in-law actually wanted to marry Xiaoyue off to that old butcher just for the ten-odd yuan of bride price to fund a wedding for the second son’s family.
Xu Xiaoyue was dazed, recalling the words she had just heard—the old butcher, the Yan family, and this environment that felt so deeply rooted in a past era…
Her head thundered, and a cold shiver ran through her body. This was exactly like the beginning of the period novel written by her former best friend, whom she had recently fallen out with.
As a high-achieving youth of the new era, Xu Xiaoyue considered herself a law-abiding person who did things by the book.
But unexpectedly, because she was too beautiful, she was confessed to by the man her best friend secretly loved. Even though Xu Xiaoyue explicitly rejected him, she was still targeted with resentment.
Xu Xiaoyue never imagined that ten years of friendship couldn’t withstand a single man. Her friend had even used her actual name for a vicious supporting female character who nearly marries a butcher at the very start of the story.
In the book, after escaping the old butcher, she received a letter from the military compound in the capital mentioning the childhood betrothal from over a decade ago. She thought her luck had finally turned.
The Xu Xiaoyue in the book hadn’t thought twice. Carrying a joyful heart, she rushed to the Yan family. After sitting on a green-skinned train for two days and three nights, she finally arrived, only to find the reality was nothing like she had imagined.
Her betrothed husband, Yan Shuli, did not acknowledge the marriage at all, and his attitude toward her was cold and indifferent.
In order to stay in the military compound, Xu Xiaoyue first attempted to force herself on Yan Shuli to solidify their relationship. Unexpectedly, she ended up “trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice,” ruining her own reputation for nothing.
Xu Xiaoyue originally thought she could use her beauty to commit “crimes of passion,” seducing military commanders to get ahead. But who knew she would end up with the reputation of a loose woman and be sentenced to prison for her “indecent relationships”?
After enduring the disgust to finish reading the novel, Xu Xiaoyue hadn’t even had the chance to settle the score with her roommate before she transmigrated into the world of the book.
Xu Xiaoyue’s mother worked quickly, packing the luggage into a small bundle in no time. While the rest of the Xu family’s second branch was still out working and hadn’t returned, she pulled Xu Xiaoyue and ran all the way to the village entrance.
“Mom can only send you this far. You’ll have to handle the rest of the road yourself.”
“When you get to the capital, remember to send your mother a telegram. Let me give you some heartfelt advice: when you get to the Yan family, you must grasp the opportunity. My daughter is so beautiful; if you marry into that family, you’ll have endless wealth and glory for the rest of your life.”
“Even if that doesn’t work out, there are plenty of high-quality male comrades in that military compound. Keep your eyes open and pick one that’s easy to handle. After the wedding, have your in-laws find you a good job and bring your mother to live in the capital with you. Who would want to keep living like a country bumpkin?”
Mother Xu was calculating in her heart. With her daughter’s face, she could surely hook a “golden turtle” of a son-in-law.
In all honesty, in these ten-odd neighboring villages, there wasn’t a second person who looked better than Xu Xiaoyue.
She had watery almond eyes. Even in an era where everyone struggled to eat their fill, Xu Xiaoyue managed to maintain fair and delicate skin. She had a standard heart-shaped face, and a small black mole at the corner of her eye added a hint of charm.
To young men, Xu Xiaoyue had the look of a great beauty. But according to the eyes of the older generation, they always felt this girl was far too enchanting, with a “fox-like” face that suggested she wouldn’t stay settled.
It was precisely because of this that while many young comrades had feelings for Xu Xiaoyue, the only one who had actually come to propose was that old butcher.
Seeing the car approaching from a distance, the reluctance in Mother Xu’s eyes was almost overflowing. She lowered her head to help tidy the edges of Xu Xiaoyue’s clothes, hiding the tears in her eyes.
Despite the short time they had spent together, Xu Xiaoyue could feel the complex emotions of the woman before her—hoping she could go out, find a good family to marry into, and never come back, yet also feeling reluctant to let her go.
She pinched the corner of her shirt and met the woman’s gaze. After a moment of hesitation, Xu Xiaoyue said, “Mom, you have to take care of yourself.”
Mother Xu’s throat tightened, and her suppressed tears immediately fell. She could barely hold back the sour emotion in her heart. Wiping her eyes, she said with a forced smile, “You silly girl, as if your mother would mistreat herself.”
“But you—you have to be thick-skinned. Men are all the same.”
The car had already pulled up. Xu Xiaoyue nodded, put her luggage inside, and sat down. “Mom, I’m leaving.”
The mother and daughter parted ways. Neither noticed a man standing under the large locust tree behind them.
The tree blocked their view, but the conversation between the mother and daughter had been heard loud and clear.
The man’s handsome face was ice-cold without any expression. His thin lips were pressed into a line of chilliness, and his deep eyes were currently like frozen pools, dark and intimidating.
What a calculated plan. They had actually schemed against his nephew and even the officers in the compound. He wanted to see just how much “face” this village girl thought she had to speak such arrogant nonsense.
Yan Ye straightened up. Standing nearly one hundred and ninety centimeters tall, his deep green military uniform outlined muscles ready for action. He had the standard broad shoulders and narrow waist, and he wore black military boots. The medals on his shoulders alone were enough to make one gasp.
Having joined the army at eighteen, he had risen to the rank of Regimental Commander by twenty-seven, breaking records in the military. Just by standing there, the natural aura of authority Yan Ye exuded was enough to make one tremble with fear.
He was only passing through and had remembered his elder brother mentioning a childhood betrothal at home a few days ago, so he thought he would come and take a look.
It really was a stroke of luck—to overhear such a performance. Since they dared to plot against the Yan family, they would have to bear the corresponding consequences.
As the car drove along the muddy road and the scenery outside the window receded, Xu Xiaoyue sized up the driver in front.
In this era, to be able to afford a car and hire a driver, the Yan family was indeed wealthy and powerful.
However, she was destined to disappoint Mother Xu’s expectations. On this trip to the capital, Xu Xiaoyue was determined to break off the engagement.