Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When we returned home, my brother wasn’t there. My mother spoke to my father with a hint of reluctance, “She’s a good girl. If she married into our family and only then told us about the costs, we’d have no choice but to support him. It’s rare for that brat of ours to have such good taste, but our family simply can’t take on such a burden.”

Even so, no one considered telling Sister Xianglan to stop supporting her brother. Everyone in the village, from eighty-year-old grandmothers to seven-year-old children, knew what happened the year Sister Xianglan’s parents died. Her uncle and aunt had wanted to sell her off as a concubine. It was Zhao Qingzhu, only nine years old at the time, who escaped under the cover of night. He dragged the village head from the neighboring village and roared while holding up a piece of paper:

“According to the Great Zhao Code, if both parents are deceased, a male as young as nine can be the head of the household! I am the master of my house! If you don’t stop them from selling my sister today, I’ll take this to the County Seat and sue them-and I’ll sue you along with them, village head!”

The villagers didn’t understand the law, and the village head hadn’t originally intended to meddle in such a messy family affair. But with such a commotion, the village head became frightened by the boy’s life-and-death desperation. He also feared the laws on that paper might be real and that the County Seat truly would strip him of his position. He could only glare at the uncle and aunt, warning them that everything in the Zhao household belonged to Zhao Qingzhu, and if they dared to be greedy, he would report them to the authorities and have them arrested.

Having intimidated that black-hearted couple, Zhao Qingzhu walked a very, very long way the next day to the County Seat to officially register his status as the head of the household.

They were siblings with such a deep bond that no one had the face to tell Sister Xianglan to abandon her brother.

Understanding my mother’s reluctance, my father looked at me and said, “Actually, if we add in Ya’er’s dowry, it’s not like we couldn’t afford it.”

Ya’er is my name. Hearing my father call me, I scratched my head and asked, “What does my brother getting a wife have to do with me?”

My father smiled. “Good Ya’er, what do you think of Brother Qingzhu?”

I was twelve that year, pampered by my family and ignorant of many things. I answered honestly, “He’s very nice. He’s fair-skinned and clean. It’s just that he stays inside reading every day and never plays with us.”

After I spoke, my parents took ten eggs and headed out. It was only much later that I learned they had gone to see Zhao Qingzhu’s teacher, Old Hu Tongsheng. They asked him how Zhao Qingzhu was actually doing in his studies. The old scholar patted his chest with confidence:

“This disciple of mine will be a Xiucai at the very least in the future. I won’t hide it from you-I haven’t accepted a single copper in tuition from him. I only do it for the sake of being his teacher. You mark my words, there will certainly be great benefits for me in the future.”

That certain tone made my father stomp his foot and make a decision. He wanted an exchange marriage with the Zhao family: Sister Xianglan would marry my brother, and our family would help support her brother. However, no matter how successful Zhao Qingzhu became in the future, he would have to marry me.