Lu Yaozu cursed under his breath. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Jiang Xiaoci couldn’t compare to Bai Miaomiao at all.
Thinking of Bai Miaomiao only made him more frustrated.
If only Miaomiao’s family had the same financial standing as Jiang Xiaoci’s. We could have been together long ago.
Although Bai Miaomiao had also graduated from high school, her circumstances were completely different from Jiang Xiaoci’s.
She had a younger brother. Ever since she was little, her parents had never wanted her to attend school. They only wanted her to stay home, do housework, and take care of her brother.
But Bai Miaomiao secretly taught herself. She borrowed books from an older neighbor who had attended school. When her parents found out, they beat her severely.
Thinking quickly, she persuaded them by saying that she had talent for studying. If she became educated, she could marry a wealthy man in the future, and her bride price could then be used to help her younger brother marry.
She also promised that while attending school, she would still come home every evening and finish all the household chores.
She was intelligent, resilient, ambitious, beautiful, and delicate at the same time—everything about her awakened Lu Yaozu’s protective instincts.
Unfortunately, so did the Bai family’s outrageous bride price.
In 1975, when many families could barely afford enough food and clothing and an ordinary laborer earned only ten or twenty yuan a month, the Bai family demanded 888 yuan as the bride price.
It wasn’t that Lu Yaozu’s family lacked money. Quite the opposite—their family was relatively well-off.
However, his parents immediately recognized that Bai Miaomiao’s family would become nothing but a burden after marriage. They were certain the Bai family would constantly ask the Lu family for financial support in the future, so they absolutely refused to let him marry her.
Instead, they set their sights on Jiang Xiaoci.
Jiang Xiaoci’s parents both worked at the factory with stable incomes, and she was their only daughter. They treasured her dearly.
She was a high school graduate, beautiful, gentle, and came from a good family. Altogether, she was an exceptionally desirable marriage prospect.
So Lu Yaozu’s parents instructed him to propose to Jiang Xiaoci.
Although Lu Yaozu had some abilities of his own, he still relied heavily on his family, so he had no choice but to comply.
What he hadn’t expected was that Jiang Xiaoci would actually reject him!
She really didn’t know what was good for her.
Holding back his anger, Lu Yaozu went to see Bai Miaomiao.
Bai Miaomiao was feeding the chickens in the yard.
She wore a faded floral cotton jacket that had been washed until its colors had nearly disappeared. Though old, it had been carefully tailored at the waist with needle and thread, accentuating her graceful figure.
Her small oval face was fair and delicate.
Her hair was loosely tied back, with a few wisps framing her cheeks. She looked fragile and charming, her forehead covered in sweat, making it obvious she had been working hard all morning.
Unlike Jiang Xiaoci, that pampered young lady who supposedly couldn’t even fetch her own clothes without her family helping her.
Seeing Bai Miaomiao, Lu Yaozu’s heart ached with pity.
His Miaomiao was so beautiful, yet she wasn’t blessed with the good fortune that silly Jiang Xiaoci had.
Life truly wasn’t fair.
As he walked closer, he stepped on a dry branch.
Crack.
Hearing the sound, Bai Miaomiao looked up. Seeing the displeased expression on his face, she looked surprised.
“Brother Yaozu, what brings you here?”
Setting down the chicken feed, she quickly led him behind the house into a small grove to talk.
In those days, relationships between unmarried men and women were strictly scrutinized. Afraid of becoming the subject of gossip, Bai Miaomiao had to be cautious.
After all, she was still an unmarried young woman, while Lu Yaozu was a man. In matters involving propriety, women always had more to lose.
Only after they reached the grove did Lu Yaozu speak.
“Miaomiao, I went to propose to the Jiang family today… and that brat Jiang Xiaoci actually turned me down!”
Even saying it now, he gritted his teeth with resentment.
Bai Miaomiao was equally surprised.
The Lu family was highly respected in their area.
Lu Yaozu’s grandfather was a retired military officer who had reached the rank of brigade commander before leaving the army.
His grandmother worked at the garment factory. Bai Miaomiao didn’t know exactly what position she held, but it had to be an important one, because Lu Yaozu’s parents, his uncle, and even Lu Yaozu himself had all been assigned jobs there.
In those days, a position at a large state-owned factory was an iron rice bowl.
Jobs could even be sold for money, and if they weren’t sold, they could be passed down to the next generation.
As for the Jiang family—even if they had money, surely they wouldn’t look down on Lu Yaozu?
After all, Lu Yaozu himself was impressive: a high school graduate, handsome, and employed in a respectable job.
More importantly, he was his parents’ only son and the eldest grandson of the Lu family—the family’s sole male heir.
Yet Jiang Xiaoci had actually rejected him.
Filled with indignation on his behalf, Bai Miaomiao exclaimed,
“Brother Yaozu, did I hear that right? Jiang Xiaoci is really that ungrateful? She actually thinks she’s too good for you?”
Those words instantly reignited Lu Yaozu’s anger.
A man’s pride was one thing you couldn’t trample on.
Say anything else about him if you wanted—but to imply someone looked down on him? That was like grinding his dignity into the dirt.
“I have no idea what got into her,” Lu Yaozu snapped. “She always looked slow and foolish, but when she speaks, her words cut like knives. Miaomiao, compared to you, she’s nowhere near your level. If my parents hadn’t forced me—and if you hadn’t persuaded me—I would’ve never proposed to her.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help reaching out to hold Bai Miaomiao’s hand.
Whenever he mentioned Jiang Xiaoci, his face filled with anger and disgust.
But when he looked at Bai Miaomiao, his eyes softened with deep affection.
Allowing him to hold her hand, Bai Miaomiao merely smiled shyly, looking both sweet and troubled.
It had been her idea for Lu Yaozu to propose to Jiang Xiaoci.
The reason was simple.
Lu Yaozu’s parents were snobbish and cared only about wealth. They firmly opposed their relationship.
Since they favored the Jiang family, and Jiang Xiaoci was the Jiang family’s only daughter, they were determined to make Jiang Xiaoci their daughter-in-law.
Unable to defy his parents, Lu Yaozu had begun wavering.
Yet he couldn’t bear to leave Bai Miaomiao.
Bai Miaomiao, meanwhile, both resented her own poor family background and despised Lu Yaozu for being so weak.
He was the Lu family’s eldest grandson, yet he couldn’t even decide whom he would marry.
Did he want a wife, or did his parents?
After thinking it over, and once she was certain of Lu Yaozu’s feelings for her, Bai Miaomiao concluded that if he was destined to marry another woman anyway, it might as well be Jiang Xiaoci.
After all, she and Jiang Xiaoci had been classmates.
Aside from having a wealthy family, Bai Miaomiao believed Jiang Xiaoci had absolutely nothing going for her.
Compared to Jiang Xiaoci, Bai Miaomiao was extremely confident in herself.
Jiang Xiaoci was nothing more than a rich young lady with a simple mind and no real intelligence.
Even if Lu Yaozu married her, Bai Miaomiao was completely confident she could steal him back afterward.
For her own future, she deliberately acted generous and encouraged Lu Yaozu to propose to Jiang Xiaoci, making herself appear kind and selfless.
Deep down, however, she secretly planned something far darker.
Once Lu Yaozu and Jiang Xiaoci married, she would find a way to make Jiang Xiaoci’s parents disappear.
Jiang Xiaoci would inherit the entire family fortune.
Then, after getting rid of Jiang Xiaoci as well, all that wealth would naturally become Lu Yaozu’s.
And once he had money…
Wouldn’t he finally be able to marry her?
But things had taken an unexpected turn.
Jiang Xiaoci had actually refused him.
If Jiang Xiaoci wouldn’t take the bait, how could Lu Yaozu ever get his hands on the Jiang family’s fortune?
And without that fortune, how could he ever afford to marry her?
Putting on a heartbroken expression, Bai Miaomiao cautiously suggested,
“Brother Yaozu, you’re such a wonderful man, yet Jiang Xiaoci still rejected you. She must have something wrong with her head. Why don’t you ask her parents what they think?”
But after suffering such a humiliating rejection today, Lu Yaozu simply couldn’t swallow his pride enough to go back.
Besides, he had seen with his own eyes just how outrageously Jiang Xiaoci’s parents spoiled her.
What kind of parents treated their daughter like that?
Shouldn’t parents be the ones deciding their children’s marriages?
His family certainly did.
So why was it different with Jiang Xiaoci?
Why was she allowed to make the decision herself?
Why?
Lu Yaozu sighed helplessly.
“Forget it. Maybe we should talk to my parents instead. If I insist on marrying you, perhaps they’ll eventually give in and agree.”
But Bai Miaomiao had no intention of accepting that.
She didn’t know exactly how Lu Yaozu had been rejected today, but she herself had endured countless insults and cold looks from his parents. She had long grown tired of their contempt.
To her, this was too good an opportunity to waste.
If they could somehow manipulate Jiang Xiaoci and obtain the Jiang family’s fortune, then Lu Yaozu would have enough money to stand on his own without relying on his parents.
When that happened, marrying him would guarantee her a comfortable life.
Better yet, she would no longer have to live under his parents’ control or endure their disdain.
So…
What did it matter if Lu Yaozu suffered a little humiliation?
After all, for his sake, she had already endured far more abuse from his parents.