“What are we supposed to do now?!”
Old Madam Gu collapsed onto the ground, wailing loudly.
It was over.
Not only had Chengwen’s tuition not been secured—they now had to refund five taels of silver!
Five taels!
With the harvests failing these past few years, how many farming households could possibly scrape together five taels?
A heavy gloom settled over the Gu household. The villagers who had gathered to watch gradually dispersed.
In times like these, selling sons or daughters was no longer rare. When everyone was struggling just to stay alive, who had the energy to meddle in another family’s affairs? Once the spectacle was over, they naturally went their separate ways.
Elsewhere, Gu Nianzhi finally found Madam Liu and Gu Nian’an tied up near the fields.
When he saw Gu Nianzhi, Gu Nian’an whimpered desperately. But his mouth had been stuffed with a pair of Old Madam Gu’s filthy socks—he couldn’t make a sound no matter how hard he tried.
Gu Nianzhi quickly untied them both.
“Nianzhi, are you hurt?” Madam Liu pulled her close and examined her from head to toe. Only after seeing she was unharmed did she finally relax.
“I’m fine, Mother.”
“Nianzhi, Nian’an… if Mother divorces, are you willing to come with me?”
Gu Nianzhi knew—Madam Liu had made up her mind.
“I’ll go with you, Mother.”
“I’ll go too!” Gu Nian’an blurted out in a panic, afraid his sister and mother would leave him behind.
“Good.”
Madam Liu looked at her two children with aching tenderness. Following her would mean hardship—but at least they would be together.
The three of them went to the village head’s house. His wife was sitting in the courtyard, picking beans.
Seeing them arrive, she brought out a few stools and invited them to sit.
“When will these hard days ever end…”
Qingshan Town belonged to Yunshui County. Starting two years ago, the entire county had seen little rain. Crops barely survived, with no real harvest to speak of.
After paying grain taxes, every household had to tighten their belts. Even the village head’s family lived on thin porridge and wild vegetables, rarely seeing a scrap of meat.
“I’ve heard about your family’s situation,” the village head’s wife said gently. “What are you planning to do now?”
She truly pitied Madam Liu and her children.
As a woman herself, she understood Madam Liu’s helplessness. If it were her, she couldn’t bear to sell her daughter to such a household either.
Sigh… in the end, it was all because of poverty.
“Sister Yaozhi,” Madam Liu said quietly, “I’m done living like this. I want a divorce.”
The village head’s wife’s hand trembled. She nearly dropped the winnowing basket.
“Have you really thought this through? Times are already hard—if you divorce, you may not even have a bite to eat.”
She didn’t say it outright, but without a man in the household, a divorced woman with children would inevitably be bullied.
In these times, a man hauling loads could still earn twenty or so coins a day. Women, however, could barely find work at all—and would simply starve.
Madam Liu understood her concern. But thinking of her children, thinking of all the grievances she had endured over the years—even if she stayed, life would only grow worse.
Seeing that her resolve was firm, the village head’s wife sighed and went inside to call for Village Head Gu Liusheng.
“Have you really made up your mind?” he asked.
In recent years, the village had turned a blind eye to families selling children—survival came first.
He had heard about today’s incident as well, but it was still another family’s business. Normally, he wouldn’t interfere.
“I have. I want a divorce.”
The courtyard fell silent.
At last, the village head sighed and gestured for Madam Liu and her children to lead the way.
The moment they stepped through the Gu family gate, the entire household was already seated in the main hall, waiting for them.
“So you still know how to come back?” Old Madam Gu snarled. “You filthy things—why didn’t you all just die outside!”
Madam Liu didn’t know what had happened in the interim, but judging by Old Madam Gu’s expression, she could tell the old woman had suffered a major loss.
“Well now,” Zhang Cuihua sneered, “Second Sister-in-law is quite virtuous. I wonder how your natal family taught you—disobeying your husband’s family like this.”
Zhang Cuihua knew full well that Madam Liu had never been favored in her natal home. Because she was a girl, she’d been treated like an old ox, ordered around endlessly.
Later, she’d been sold into a wealthy household as a maid, only being released at twenty to marry Gu Dàchuí—a man unloved by both parents.
Yet Gu Dàchuí was weak and blindly filial, leaving Madam Liu to suffer endless hardships in the Gu household.
Hearing mention of her natal family, a trace of desolation flashed through Madam Liu’s eyes.
Without family backing, she had always been unable to hold her head up in the Gu household.
Now that she was divorcing, she didn’t even know where she could go.
Doubt crept in.
Was this decision really the right one?
Sensing her hesitation, Gu Nianzhi tightened her grip on Madam Liu’s hand.
At that moment, Old Master Gu noticed someone standing at the door. He rose and squinted—and froze.
“It’s the village head! Please, come in!”
Lihua Village was large, formed by three major clans: Gu, Li, and Tian. Though the village head held no high official rank, his authority in the village was absolute. No one dared offend him lightly.
Old Master Gu hurried to seat him and shot Zhang Cuihua a look. She immediately brought over a cup of hot water.
“There’s nothing fine to offer—please have some water.”
“Mm.”
The village head took a sip, then slowly scanned the room.
The Gu family exchanged uneasy glances.
What did this mean?
In earlier years, selling one’s daughter would’ve meant expulsion from the village. But these days were different—wild vegetables had nearly been dug clean, and such things happened often. The village head rarely intervened anymore.
Reading the mixed thoughts on their faces, the village head spoke plainly.
“In the past, if no one pursued the matter, I didn’t interfere. Everyone knows how hard life has been. But today, Nianzhi and her mother came to me—so I must intervene.”
“T-this…”
The Gu family panicked.
The matter could be big or small. If ignored, it would pass. But if the village head took charge, they’d have no choice but to keep that little wretch.
“Village Head, Chengwen is already a tongsheng,” Old Madam Gu pleaded. “Life is hard, yes, but we must continue supporting his studies!”
“That’s right! He’s studied for so many years—he’s so close to becoming a xiucai. How can we give up now?!”
Supporting a scholar was costly even in good years—let alone during a famine.
And the village head understood this too.
They were so close.
A xiucai could meet officials without kneeling, receive tax exemptions on fifty mu of land, and even open a private school in town, earning dozens of taels each year.
The benefits were enormous.
“Enough,” the village head said. “I’m not here to pursue the matter today.”
Hearing that, the Gu family finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“But Madam Liu and her children have truly suffered,” he continued. “Since they’ve asked me to decide, let this marriage end in divorce.”
“What?!”
Gu Dàchuí sprang to his feet.
“Gui-niang! I’ve never beaten you, never shortchanged you in all these years—how could you…?”
He couldn’t believe it.
If one had to name the man in Lihua Village who treated his wife best, Gu Dàchuí would top the list.
He couldn’t understand how Madam Liu could be so ungrateful—leaving him in times when even food was scarce.
Looking at his devastated expression, Madam Liu felt a stab of pity—yet an unnamed anger burned in her chest.
Gu Nianzhi despised this type of man the most: the self-righteous “nice guy,” moved only by his own imagined virtue.
“Even if not for me,” she said coldly, “then do it for my daughter.”