Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My parents were going to sell me to the Cripple from the neighboring village.

The Cripple was thirty-five this year. His first wife had been beaten to death by him. It was said that she’d had an affair, and he couldn’t take the anger, so he beat her to death.

The Cripple was willing to give my parents five taels of silver as the betrothal gift. Hiding inside, I saw my parents’ faces almost split from grinning.

The Cripple’s face was ruined even without a smile. He was very short, probably not even reaching my shoulder. His teeth were rotten and yellow, and his shifty eyes darted around like a rat’s.

After the matchmaker and the Cripple left, I said to my parents, “I won’t marry him. If you keep me at home, I can keep sewing shoes to earn money. If you marry me off, all the money I earn will go to the Cripple.”

My parents wouldn’t agree. No matter how well my sewn shoes sold, I could earn at most a hundred and twenty wen a month. Besides, they’d already kept me until I was eighteen just to make money. Many girls in the village married at sixteen, and people were already gossiping about them.

That very night, I tucked an axe under my clothes and planned to go to the Cripple’s house to hack him to death.

If only the Cripple were dead, I could avoid marrying him for a while.

With the dark night and howling wind, who would ever guess that I had killed the Cripple?

But there were people drinking at the Cripple’s house-four in total including himself.

Luckily, they didn’t keep a dog.

I hid in a corner, waiting for the others to leave before I killed the Cripple.

Then I overheard their conversation.

One man said, “Zheng the Cripple, are you really going to spend five taels of silver to marry that Xu Liumei from Apricot Blossom Village?”

Another said, “That’s way too expensive! That little girl is good-looking and capable, but she’s really not worth that price. Why would you marry a bodhisattva just to worship her?”

Zheng the Cripple said, “What do you know? However much I spend to marry her, I’ll make her earn it all back for me!”

“How?”

The one who hadn’t spoken dismissed it: “She sews shoes, making at most a few dozen wen a month, not even one tael a year! Brother, you’re taking a huge loss!”

Zheng the Cripple smirked proudly, then asked mysteriously, “Brothers, what do you think of that little girl? Once I’ve married her, if you fellows want to have a taste, that wouldn’t be out of the question.”

They all paused for a moment, then burst into thunderous laughter.

At first I didn’t understand, but then I heard Zheng the Cripple say, “I’ll charge you fifty wen each time, and I’ll have that slut earn it all back for me in just a few months!”

They eagerly agreed.

Understanding what they meant, I trembled with rage.