Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Lu Yunzhou glanced at the sallow, emaciated girl, his face full of disdain. This was the girl whose Eight Characters of Birth matched his own, the girl he would eventually marry. Just looking at her made him feel sick. Lu Yunzhou said, “Mother, can you give her a change of clothes? That outfit is an eyesore.” “All right. I’ll alter one of your sister’s outfits for her.” And so Liu Siyue set up a bed in Lu Yunzhou’s room and cared for him around the clock. He was her Husband, her future. Although Lu Yunzhou looked down on her and never showed her the slightest kindness, she still tried her best to play the part of a child bride, making sure no one could find fault with her. Every day, besides caring for Lu Yunzhou, she also had to do the household chores. Her small body was worked nearly to exhaustion. Whenever the village women saw her, they looked at her with pity, though she had no idea what their looks meant. A year later, Lu Yunzhou’s health improved, and he was finally able to get out of bed. She took him around the village. Perhaps because he was in better spirits, his health improved even more quickly. Two years later, Lu Yunzhou went to a private school in the neighboring village. Every day, she saw him off to school, brought him lunch at noon, and went to meet him when classes ended in the evening. This continued for five years. Lu Yunzhou grew even more disdainful of her and would occasionally mock her as well. She could not understand why he looked down on her so much, why he disliked her, or why he would not let her return home. Later, Lu Yunzhou passed the tongsheng examination and went to study in town. He abandoned her completely, and she became nothing more than a beast of burden for the Lu Family. After finishing the farm work, she still had to come home and do the housework, go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables, and gather pigweed. In short, she never had a moment of free time. It was only once, when she went up the mountain with the villagers to gather pigweed, that she learned the truth from the girls who often worked alongside her and helped her. As it turned out, Lu Yunzhou’s illness had never improved. Even the eminent doctors in town and the county had been helpless. One day, a fortune-teller came to the village. Liu Pozi had him calculate Lu Yunzhou’s fortune, and quite a few villagers went to watch the spectacle. The fortune-teller told the Lu Family that they needed to buy a girl with the same Eight Characters of Birth as Lu Yunzhou and take her in as a child bride. After that, as long as he continued taking his medicine, his health would gradually improve. Then, on the day the girl came of age, the two had to marry and consummate their marriage. Only then would Lu Yunzhou's illness be completely cured. Only then did Liu Siyue learn the truth. But regardless of the truth, no matter how much he disliked her, he was still her future husband—the future father of her children. She had continued to dream about the future. Her Husband was so clever that he had already passed the tongsheng examination. In the future, he might even pass the xiucai and juren examinations and become an even greater official. She would become an official’s wife, and her children would become the sons and daughters of an official. They would never have to suffer as she had. But today, her dream had finally come to an end. The Husband she had painstakingly served for seven years, the man she had always loved, had heartlessly abandoned her. Only now did she understand that no matter how much effort she put in, she could never win even the slightest bit of affection from him. From beginning to end, his entire family had only been using her. Now that they had gotten what they wanted and Lu Yunzhou’s illness was cured, they intended to kick her aside and clear the way for his future. She was merely a child bride, a village woman who could never appear in polite society. Thinking of this, she laughed. Zhou Xiangxing, who had come to give her some silver, heard the laughter from inside the room. She gently knocked on the door, then pushed it open and sat down beside the bed. “Younger Sister-in-law, this is one tael of silver for you. Keep it safe. You’ll need to raise the child in the future. “Younger Sister-in-law, do you hate me? I know I’m not a good woman, but I never wanted to force you to leave. What happened to you today was something they planned long ago. The only reason you were able to stay in the Lu Family until now was because they wanted to see whether the child in your belly was a boy or a girl. If it was a boy, they would keep the child and drive you away. If it was a girl, they would drive both of you away. In the end, you could never escape the fate of being driven out. “I’ve never told anyone about my own situation. The truth is, I never wanted to marry into the Lu Family. I didn’t like Lu Yunping at all. Back when I was still with my Birth Family, I had a childhood sweetheart whom I had grown up with. We were even about to become engaged. But because Lu Yunping took a liking to me and insisted on marrying me, Liu Pozi learned that I was skilled at embroidery and had my parents compare the two families’ offers. Whichever family offered the higher bride price would get to marry me. The Lu Family offered more, and my parents cared only about the silver, so they tore us apart and married me to Lu Yunping. “I did this to get revenge on him. If it weren’t for Lu Yunping, I wouldn’t have suffered so much. If he had truly treated me well, I would have accepted my fate and lived a peaceful life with him. Wasn’t the purpose of marriage simply to have clothes and food, raise a family with one’s Husband, and have a place to shelter from the wind and rain? “But he never treated me well. Lu Yunping may look honest and simple on the surface, and may seem endlessly considerate toward me, making him appear to everyone like a good son and a good Husband, but he is actually a beast. The things he has done to me are impossible to tell anyone. All the injuries on my body are in hidden places, so I have no way to show them to outsiders. “There’s nothing more I want to say. This is a little of the private money I saved from my embroidery work. It isn’t much, but it may help you a little. This is all I can do.” Liu Siyue sat up on the bed, her eyes red. After hearing Elder Sister-in-law’s words, she realized that the woman she had once envied was only outwardly happy and respectable. In private, she had suffered such torment. She was truly pitiful. “Elder Sister-in-law, I don’t blame you. Even without you, there would have been someone else. I couldn’t have escaped being driven away anyway. “I should be thanking you. If you hadn’t taken care of us mother and daughter these past few days, we wouldn’t have survived until today. “Elder Sister-in-law, why is life so difficult for us women?” “Don’t cry. You’ll hurt your eyes. Hurry and look at the baby—she should be hungry. I’ll cook some rice porridge. You soothe her.” Zhou Xiangxing left. Liu Siyue picked up the baby and softly comforted her. After about half an hour, Zhou Xiangxing returned with a bowl of rice porridge. “Give some to the child first, then eat the rest yourself. You need to eat well so you’ll have milk. Otherwise, the child will suffer. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll take you to Liu Family Village.” Early the next morning, Zhou Xiangxing cooked a large pot of porridge and boiled two eggs, urging Liu Siyue to eat quickly. While she was drinking the porridge, Liu Pozi came in, and Zhou Xiangxing hurriedly hid the eggs. “Eat quickly. Once you’re done, leave our Lu Family as soon as possible.” “I know, Mother.” “Don’t call me Mother. We have nothing to do with each other anymore.” “Mother, I want to take Siyue to Liu Family Village in a little while. She hasn’t been back all these years, and I’m afraid she…” “What are you afraid of? You’re always sticking your nose into other people’s business. Aren’t you afraid the people from Liu Family Village will beat you up and then make us pay your medical expenses?” “Mother, I’ll only take her to the entrance of Liu Family Village. I absolutely won’t go into the village.” Liu Pozi grunted and turned to leave. Zhou Xiangxing knew that her mother-in-law had agreed. After Liu Siyue finished eating, she really did take her to the entrance of Liu Family Village before returning by herself. Liu Siyue carried a small bundle on her back and held a child in her arms as she walked into the village. Whenever she encountered villagers who asked who she was, she became somewhat flustered. She had been very young when she left, and after seven years, many people no longer recognized her. “My father is Liu Dahu. I’m Liu Siyue.” “Oh, I remember now. You’re the child who was sold to the Lu Family, aren’t you? You haven’t come back all these years. Why have you returned today? Were you bullied by your In-laws' Family?” “She definitely was. Look at how swollen her eyes are—they’re practically the size of peaches. And why are you carrying a child? Hurry home.” Quite a few villagers followed behind her. Some truly cared about her, while others had simply come to watch the spectacle. That was the best form of spiritual entertainment available to ordinary villagers.