“Damn you, you little brat! Whether you want to marry him or not, you’re getting married today!”
In her dazed state, Jing Xin felt someone tugging violently at her. Her forehead burned with pain.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw an old woman wearing a tattered winter coat. The woman had a mean, spiteful face and was cursing as she grabbed Jing Xin by the collar and dragged her toward the door.
“You’re a jinx who has brought death upon your parents and relatives! What right do you have to be picky? Being married off in exchange for food for the family is your good fortune. You should be grateful and know your place instead of making a scene and disgracing yourself!”
Jing Xin tried to pry the old woman’s hand away, only to discover that she had no strength left in her body.
What was going on? Had she been drugged?
But that couldn’t be right. Hadn’t she died in an earthquake?
Outside the door, several villagers had gathered to watch the spectacle. They pointed at Jing Xin and whispered among themselves.
“The second branch of the Jing family really has raised an unfilial girl. Her elders arranged a marriage for her own good, yet she refuses to appreciate their kindness and even tries to kill herself!”
“If she were my granddaughter, I would have beaten her to death long ago!”
“Everyone is starving during this famine. For a girl to be able to exchange marriage for food is a blessing from heaven! Old Liu doesn’t even mind that she’s so young and is willing to offer ten jin of grain for her. What right does she have to refuse? She’s completely ungrateful!”
“These days, no family wants another mouth to feed. Old Liu is being kind by taking Jing Xin into his home and supporting her. What a pity he doesn’t fancy my granddaughter. Otherwise, Jing Xin wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity!”
Amid the noisy chatter, memories flooded Jing Xin’s mind.
Because she possessed a rare supernatural ability that gave her access to a magical space containing a vast expanse of black soil, she had become a target for countless people during the apocalypse.
After half a year of fleeing for her life, she had finally found a national survival base where she could settle down. She had barely spent a few days there and had not even gotten the chance to contribute to the country before a sudden earthquake claimed her life.
Then she had become Jing Xin, an orphan from the poorest branch of the Jing family in Fulai Village.
The original Jing Xin had lost her mother just five days after birth. When she was six, war broke out, and the government began forcibly recruiting soldiers. Her father had taken her eldest uncle’s place in the army and died on the battlefield.
When she was nine, her older brother, who was six years older than her, went to the county town to work and earn money. Unfortunately, he accidentally fell into the water and disappeared. His body was never found.
Everyone called her a jinx, claiming she would bring death to all her relatives. As a result, they treated her with coldness and contempt.
Her grandparents, eldest uncle, and third uncle were afraid she would bring them misfortune, so they abandoned the little girl in the mountains and left her to fend for herself.
What a miserable childhood!
Yet she had miraculously survived. Not only that, she had developed excellent hunting skills and become the first female hunter in Fulai Village.
Once her grandparents discovered that she was capable, they began showing up at her home every few days to mooch off her. They stripped her of everything she had and shamelessly claimed that since she had caused the deaths of their sons, daughters-in-law, and grandson, she was obligated to honor her elders on behalf of her deceased parents.
An entire group of people exploiting a little girl. Her relatives were utterly shameless!
The original Jing Xin had longed for family affection. Moreover, the concept of filial piety hung over her like a heavy burden. Fulai Village was a place where obedience to elders was taken extremely seriously. If she refused to care for her grandparents, the entire village would ostracize and curse her. They might even parade her through the village to publicly humiliate her.
That was why she had never dared to fight back.
Today was the fifth day of the sixth lunar month, Jing Xin’s thirteenth birthday. It was a year of severe famine, and almost every household was struggling to get enough to eat.
Yet her grandmother had suddenly appeared, claiming that the family was willing to take her back into the old Jing household.
Although the original Jing Xin had been suspicious, her longing for family affection had overcome her doubts. Without thinking too much, she followed her grandmother home.
However, after drinking a bowl of water, she had lost all her strength.
Only then did she discover her grandmother’s real intention: to force her to marry Old Liu, a forty-year-old widower in the village who had a broken leg and a drinking problem.
They called it marriage, but it was nothing more than a sale. Ten jin of grain was all it took to sell her off.
With food running out everywhere, the Jing family had long since exhausted their grain supplies. All the edible wild plants on the nearby mountains had been dug up, and the original Jing Xin could no longer find any game to hunt.
The Jing family had already gone two days without eating anything but grass roots and tree bark. When they learned that Old Liu was willing to exchange grain for Jing Xin, how could they possibly refuse?
To ensure that the girl would be delivered to him without trouble, the old woman had even dug up some medicinal herbs in the mountains and tricked Jing Xin into drinking them.
However, the original Jing Xin was unusually strong and had not been completely knocked out by the drug. During their struggle, the old woman had shoved her away. Because the medicine had weakened her, Jing Xin could not steady herself and struck her forehead against the corner of a table, collapsing unconscious.
When she woke up again, the person inside her body was no longer the original Jing Xin.
Jing Xin couldn’t help feeling that the original girl’s excellent hunting skills had gone to waste. She might have been capable in the mountains, but she had been far too foolish when it came to dealing with her relatives.
Why bother with a family like the old Jing household? Wouldn’t it have been better to live freely on her own?
And the villagers gathered outside were just as vicious. Because the original Jing Xin had lost her parents and brother and was now an orphan, they treated her as though she weren’t even human. They were practically eager to see her married off to Old Liu so she could suffer.
When she had been abandoned in the mountains, not a single person had spoken up for her. Yet now, when she merely resisted being sold into marriage, they accused her of being unfilial and condemned her from their so-called moral high ground.
They were already suffering themselves, yet they couldn’t stand the thought of someone else getting a better life.
They were all starving, and somehow they still had plenty of time to meddle in other people’s affairs.
“You little brat! Who knows how much good food you’ve been eating? You’re as heavy as a pig!”
When Old Madam Jing realized she could no longer drag Jing Xin by herself, she turned toward the crowd and shouted.
“Shoo! What are you all standing around watching for? Eldest Brother! Third Brother! What are you dawdling for? Get over here and drag her out! If we wait any longer, the medicine will wear off!”
Once the drug wore off, Jing Xin would start resisting again, and they would have an even harder time controlling her. Although the girl was small and thin, she was as strong as an ox.
When the villagers learned that the old woman had drugged Jing Xin, they barely reacted. Instead, they criticized the girl for being disobedient and refusing to go to Old Liu willingly, forcing her grandmother to waste both medicine and effort.
Jing Xin had heard enough to become numb to their nonsense. She didn’t consider these villagers worth treating as human beings.
Seeing that the old woman was calling for help, Jing Xin quickly came up with an idea. Although she still lacked the strength to fight back, she raised her voice and shouted:
“Stop! I will never marry anyone!”
She turned toward the villagers gathered at the entrance and called out loudly, “Everyone, please bear witness! I voluntarily choose to become a zishu nü—a woman who vows never to marry and will remain single for the rest of her life!”
The entire courtyard fell silent.
Old Madam Jing was stunned. A moment later, she flew into a rage.
“You damn girl! What nonsense are you spouting?”
Jing Xin repeated firmly, “I said I voluntarily choose to become a zishu nü! I will never marry and will remain single for the rest of my life!”
Old Madam Jing pointed at her and sneered.
“Have you gone mad? Do you even know what becoming a zishu nü means? Women are born to marry, bear children, and serve their husbands. A woman who refuses to marry will never have a good life!”
Of course, Jing Xin knew exactly what becoming a zishu nü entailed.
In a backward, impoverished village like Fulai, where the government had long since abandoned effective control, women had neither status nor dignity. They were treated as nothing more than baby-making machines and slaves whose purpose was to serve men.
Fulai Village had a peculiar custom. If a woman did not wish to marry, she could arrange her hair into a married woman’s hairstyle to declare that she would remain unmarried for the rest of her life. After her death, she would be regarded as a pure woman. Such women were known as zishu nü, or self-combed women.
These women were forced to live together in dilapidated houses at the far end of the village. They were forbidden from having any contact with men. Even accidentally brushing a man’s sleeve with their fingers was prohibited.
If a woman was discovered interacting with a man, she would be blamed regardless of who was at fault. The entire village would condemn her. She could be stripped naked and paraded through the streets, beaten, humiliated, trampled upon, and ultimately burned alive.
Twenty years earlier, a girl named Ah Hua had become the first zishu nü in Fulai Village because she refused to marry someone she didn’t love.
After she was driven to the village’s outskirts, the men began taking advantage of her.
Eventually, Ah Hua contracted a venereal disease. Once the men grew tired of her, they spread rumors that she was immoral and had deliberately seduced them, provoking the entire village against her.
The villagers subjected her to horrific abuse until she died.
The village elders had since used Ah Hua’s tragic story to frighten young girls, warning them never to make the same foolish choice.
Terrified by what had happened to Ah Hua, the girls had never dared to become zishu nü.
Yet today, Jing Xin had boldly declared that she would become one.
How could anyone not be shocked?
Wasn’t she practically asking for death?
However, despite their surprise, most of the villagers were secretly delighted. With another zishu nü in the village, wouldn’t they be able to do whatever they pleased?
Regardless of whether the Jing family agreed with her decision, the villagers watching the spectacle became increasingly excited when they realized Jing Xin was serious.
The men were especially thrilled, their eyes gleaming with predatory anticipation.
Some immediately stepped forward to block the Jing family members, preventing them from touching Jing Xin again. Others hurried off to fetch the village chief to “preside over justice.”
Jing Xin knew exactly what these people were thinking.
Becoming a zishu nü would certainly be dangerous, but it was still better than being forced to marry Old Liu.
She had only just arrived in this unfamiliar body. Her mind was still foggy, and the drug had left her too weak to fight.
What she needed now was time to recover.
Once the drug wore off, she would deal with these scumbags properly.
Before long, the village chief arrived.
The village chief was a kindly-looking man over fifty. After hearing Jing Xin’s decision, a strange glint flashed in his eyes. He then smiled and nodded.
“Since you’ve made up your mind, I’ll grant your wish.”
And just like that, in less than half an hour, several village women dragged Jing Xin to a dilapidated thatched hut at the far end of the village and dumped her inside.
She had nothing except the clothes on her back. Everything she had kept in the mountain shelter had already been taken by the Jing family.
The women left immediately, but not before delivering a few warnings.
“Listen carefully! As a zishu nü, you must behave yourself. Don’t even think about seducing men. We’ll be keeping an eye on you!”
“You ungrateful little brat! You actually dared to defy your elders’ arrangements. You deserve to become a worthless woman nobody wants!”
The women slammed the door shut as they left.
Bang!
The already dilapidated wooden door collapsed to the ground.
There was a huge hole in the roof and several more in the walls. The hut offered no protection from the wind and had no furniture whatsoever. Only a pile of weeds and rotten wood lay scattered across the floor, filling the air with a thick, moldy stench. Rats and insects crawled around from time to time.
It was June during a severe drought, and the heat was unbearable. The scorching sun baked the earth, leaving the air stifling both inside and outside the hut.
Jing Xin lay face-down on the ground, which was covered in sharp stones. A gust of hot wind swept through the broken walls, leaving her drenched in sweat.
Gradually, she began to regain a little strength.
Just then, a rat tried to climb onto her back and bite her. She swiftly reached behind herself, grabbed it, and flung it far away.
At the very moment she tossed the rat aside, a wave of dizziness washed over her.
In a brief, hazy flash, she saw a vast expanse of black soil stretching across a hundred mu of land.
Her black-soil space had come with her into this world!
Wonderful!
Author’s Note:
This is a straightforward wish-fulfillment novel. The female lead will grow increasingly powerful, and her special abilities will gradually become stronger. She will make extensive use of her magical space throughout the story.
The male lead will appear much later, so there will be little to no romance in the early chapters.
The female lead is not an all-knowing genius. She will occasionally have moments when her brain seems to stop working, and she can sometimes be a little absent-minded. However, she is clever most of the time, decisive, and ruthless when necessary.