“My goodness, how did I end up giving birth to someone as weak as you? It’s such a small matter, yet you tried to kill yourself by jumping into the river. You might as well have drowned!”
“You’ve ruined your own reputation now. Just what the second branch wanted. Forget about marrying into the Sun family. When the matchmaker comes later, you’ll obediently go with her. I don’t have a daughter as disappointing as you.”
Inside a small mud-brick house.
Mrs. Li strode in with her hands on her hips, tossed the coarse cloth bundle she was carrying onto the wooden table, and continued scolding the girl lying lifelessly on the bed.
The girl—Jinxiu—let out a sigh, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
Sigh…
She had actually transmigrated.
The original owner of this body was also surnamed Li, and her name was Li Jinxiu.
She had been engaged since childhood to the Sun family, who owned a grain shop in town.
Thirty years ago, Grandpa Li had fled the famine from the north with his family and met the Sun family, who had also reached the end of their rope.
Kindhearted as he was, Grandpa Li shared part of his already meager food supply with the Sun family, allowing them to survive the crisis.
Later, with the government’s assistance, the Li family settled in Shangyuan Village.
The Sun family, meanwhile, prospered only a few years after settling down.
Now they owned a grain store in town and had become quite wealthy.
Old Master Sun never forgot Grandpa Li’s kindness and arranged a marriage agreement between the two families.
Over the years, both old men passed away one after another.
Now that Jinxiu had turned fifteen, the Sun family still hadn’t come to fulfill the engagement.
Father Li had been thinking of visiting the grain shop in town to ask about it.
Just then—
The Sun family finally sent a matchmaker to the Li household.
They said they were willing to marry a daughter of the Li family.
But…
Not the eldest branch’s Li Jinxiu.
They wanted the second branch’s daughter—Li Zhenzhu.
Wu Guihua exploded on the spot.
She grabbed a broom and chased the matchmaker out while immediately starting a fight with the second branch.
The two sisters-in-law grabbed each other’s hair.
Their mother-in-law shouted at them.
Outside, the courtyard was packed with villagers watching the spectacle.
While chaos erupted outside, Li Jinxiu, who had remained in her room out of propriety after hearing the matchmaker had arrived, felt as though a bucket of icy water had been poured over her from head to toe.
All the shy anticipation she’d held onto instantly turned into humiliation and anger.
Being rejected by the Sun family was bad enough.
But the person taking her place was her own cousin.
How was she supposed to face anyone after this?
In a fit of despair, Li Jinxiu ran to the river and jumped in, smashing her head against a rock beneath the water until blood flowed.
When Jinxiu’s soul entered this body, she was still struggling in the river, desperately crying for help.
Water rushed endlessly into her nose and mouth.
The agony of suffocation overwhelmed her.
Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she suddenly felt someone firmly grab her shoulder…
She was rescued.
But her clothes had become disheveled, and she instinctively clung to the young man from the Xie family like an octopus.
Several women working in the fields saw everything.
There was no denying it.
Xie Jinnan of the Xie family was a scholar who valued propriety and honor above all else.
For the sake of his reputation, he naturally had to take responsibility for Li Jinxiu.
“Mother, don’t make yourself sick with anger. I’m willing to marry into the Xie family. Your daughter has been unfilial. From now on, I won’t be able to stay by your side and take care of you.”
Jinxiu had already gotten out of bed and was standing beside the table.
She gently pressed her lips together, glanced at Mother Li, who had turned away and was clearly still furious, sighed softly, picked up the bundle, and walked out.
“My daughter…”
Wu Guihua suddenly turned around.
The doorway was already empty.
She sat down heavily on the heated kang bed, covered her face with both hands, and her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
“Have you made up your mind?”
Li Dayou squatted silently beneath the eaves.
He heard footsteps behind him stop nearby.
Without raising his head, he spoke in a hoarse voice.
He had heard every word exchanged between his wife and daughter.
He thought about the locust plague last year that had left the fields completely barren.
He thought about how he had believed marrying into the Sun family would finally allow the eldest branch to stand a little taller.
Then he thought about his daughter marrying into the Xie family…
And about the condition of that family.
“I’ve decided.”
Jinxiu nodded softly.
Looking at her inexpensive father—her father in this life—she noticed how the burdens of life had bent his back even further.
He seemed to have aged several years overnight.
“It’s good you’ve thought it through. After you marry over there, serve your husband well. I’ve heard that Xie Jinnan is a scholar. Who knows? He may have a promising future someday.”
Old Madam Liu walked over, the deep wrinkles on her face forming a flower-like smile.
She looked at the bundle in Jinxiu’s arms with satisfaction and nodded.
Li Dayou stared blankly ahead and muttered,
“The Xie family’s father is paralyzed, and the mother is lame. If my daughter marries into that household… how could her life possibly be easy?”
Old Madam Liu frowned.
“What do you know? Precisely because her in-laws are in such poor condition, they won’t have the energy to bully her. That may not be a bad thing.”
“The Sun family isn’t one of those great noble households, but they’re quite wealthy and have plenty of rules. The head of the family and his wife are both formidable people. Jinxiu is too soft-hearted. She wouldn’t have had a good life there. The Xie family may actually suit her better.”
Hah.
Easy for you to say.
Jinxiu curled her lips in a faint, sarcastic smile.
Old Madam Liu had two sons.
The eldest was Li Dayou.
The younger was Li Gensheng.
Li Gensheng was quick-witted, capable, and naturally likable.
When he was young, he apprenticed under an old carpenter, learned excellent woodworking skills, and now jointly owned a furniture shop in town.
Li Dayou, on the other hand, was honest to a fault.
All he knew was farming.
And with famine years continuing, there might come a day when he couldn’t even feed his family.
Why would the Sun family want such a burden as Li Jinxiu?
Unfortunately for them, Grandpa Li’s kindness toward the Sun family was known by everyone.
To avoid being labeled ungrateful, they still had to marry a daughter of the Li family.
But…
The Li family had more than one daughter.
Marrying Li Zhenzhu technically didn’t break the engagement.
Even though Old Master Sun had originally preferred Li Jinxiu…
As for Old Madam Liu…
She had always favored her younger son.
After this incident…
Her heart leaned even more shamelessly toward the second branch.
“That’s right, my dear in-law speaks wisely! Young Master Xie is handsome and also a scholar. Your daughter won’t be at a disadvantage marrying him. It’s getting late—we should be on our way.”
The matchmaker, dressed in bright red and green, walked into the fenced courtyard with a cheerful smile, waving her handkerchief.
Jinxiu hesitated for a moment.
Thinking of the original Li Jinxiu, she finally knelt down and respectfully kowtowed three times before Li Dayou and Wu Guihua, who remained inside the room.
Li Dayou stood up, walked over, picked up the bundle, and handed it back to her.
“Don’t worry about your mother. And don’t blame her. She’s always had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. In a few days, when you return for your customary visit after the wedding, she’ll probably have calmed down.”
“And your younger brother… he’s always been close to you. Maybe it’s for the best that he isn’t here right now.”
“If… if you truly can’t go on living at the Xie family…”
Jinxiu perked up, listening intently.
Then what?
“…Then, just as your grandmother said, serve your parents-in-law well. If your husband appreciates your kindness, surely he won’t mistreat you. Your days shouldn’t be too difficult.”
As expected.
Returning home after a divorce?
Impossible.
Don’t even think about it.
That’s just how this world was…
Jinxiu laughed inwardly at herself, though nothing showed on her face.
She hugged the only belongings she owned tightly and followed the matchmaker out.
Old Madam Liu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning around, she shot a glare at Zhong Xiliu, who was standing in the doorway of the second branch’s room.
Just look at that smug expression.
Like a rooster that had won a fight.
She’d already gained the advantage, yet she still refused to restrain herself.
At this rate, the two branches would be fighting again before long.
Wasn’t today’s humiliation enough already?
If word spread any further, she’d have no face left.
Zhong Xiliu merely curled her lips and returned to her room.
Only then did Old Madam Liu turn back to her eldest son.
“Dayou, don’t blame your mother for being biased. Back then, when your father and Old Master Sun arranged the marriage, they only said the Sun family would marry a daughter of the Li family. They never specifically said it had to be Jinxiu. The Sun family hasn’t really broken the agreement, have they? Don’t you think your mother is right?”
“Besides, that girl’s reputation has already been tarnished. There’s no possibility left between the eldest branch and the Sun family. Try to see the bright side. We’re all one family in the end. If the second branch prospers, won’t your branch benefit too?”