Chapter 4: Married
Fang Zichen frowned again.
What kind of joke was this?
He was only eighteen, how could he get married?
Some people married and had children early, while others did so late, but even for the early ones, it couldn’t be this early.
Zhao Ger looked up at him, and seeing his unpleasant expression and furrowed brows, immediately understood his thoughts.
A dull pain spread through his chest, dense and suffocating. He couldn’t quite describe the feeling, but it was unbearable.
Holding Guaizai’s hand, he remained silent, neither pleading nor begging. Cold and somewhat numb, he seemed like an outsider to the whole affair.
At worst, he’d die—that’s what he thought.
But…
He still wished someone would come to save him.
In his nineteen years of life, including today, he’d only had this thought three times.
The first time was when he was trafficked into the Ma family and tried to escape, only to be caught. The Ma family locked him in a damp, cramped, and dilapidated woodshed, bound with rough ropes. The Ma family beat him daily, denying him food and water. The wounds on his arms festered and bred maggots, gnawing at his flesh. Back then, he was still young—disgusted, terrified, panicked, and utterly lost.
He begged the Ma family to spare him, to stop beating him, promising he’d never run again. But Ma Dazhuang said they couldn’t let him go, they had to teach him a lesson. So they continued to beat him until it hurt, until he was too scared to ever think of escaping again.
The Ma family was truly ruthless. They locked him up for six whole days.
Every night, he stared at the faint light leaking through the roof, thinking: If only someone would come save me…
It didn’t matter who. Just someone to rescue him.
But… no one came.
Ma Dazhuang’s words had been right. In the years that followed, perhaps because that beating had truly hurt and terrified him, Zhao Ger never again considered escape.
He worked obediently - chopping firewood, farming, washing clothes, carrying water, doing every chore without rest.
It wasn’t that he didn’t feel exhausted. He just didn’t dare stop.
Yet, even after all that, the Ma family still forbade him from leaving Xiaohe Village.
So, as a child, he was trapped in this barren place, toiling like an ox for the Ma family, never seeing the light of day.
The second time was last night, when he was drowning. On the brink of despair, he thought again: If only someone would save me…
He didn’t want to die. His son was still so young.
And then Fang Zichen appeared.
Today, he once again wished for someone to help him.
In Xiaohe Village, he was a person without roots (with no family, hometown, or social ties).
Cast out, with no family to return to.
Penniless, without even a place to stay.
The times were harsh. If Fang Zichen didn’t want him, if the village wouldn’t tolerate him, what would the Ma family do to him?
His child was still so young, what would happen to him?
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Zhao Ger’s mind.
“…Daddy?” Guaizai called out to him softly.
Despite the sweltering summer heat, Zhao Ger’s hands and feet were icy cold. It took all his strength to keep his voice steady as he squeezed Guaizai’s small hand. “…It’s fine.”
“Daddy don’t cry,” Guaizai said.
Fang Zichen looked at Madam Ma and said leisurely, “Wherever he came from…” he should go back there.
“Young Master…”
Just then, a ger rushed into the yard, his eyes red as he pleaded with Fang Zichen, “Please, marry Zhao Ger! Otherwise, the Ma family will drown him in a pig cage when they get back. Please, save him!”
Fang Zichen: “…”
Fang Zichen reflexively turned to the village chief. “They can do that?”
The village chief sighed.
“Zhao Ger was bought by the Ma family,” he said helplessly. “Life was bearable before, giving him a couple of meals wasn’t a big deal. But these past two years, the border wars have been constant, taxes are high, and this year the court conscripted another batch of men. The Ma family has three brothers, and beneath them are several sons, a whole bunch of men. None of them want to go to war, so they’ve had to pay extra silver. Now, their family probably has almost nothing left. To save food and earn some money, they have to squeeze it out of Zhao Ger.”
“I suspect that later, they’ll either drown Zhao Ger for ‘losing his virtue’ or sell him off. Either way, it won’t end well for him.”
That’s… pretty tragic.
Fang Zichen fell silent.
He wasn’t exactly a saint. If it didn’t harm his own interests, he didn’t mind “standing up against injustice.” But if he softened his heart now, he might end up entangled in this mess.
Yet, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
After a long moment of hesitation, Fang Zichen finally spoke with difficulty, “Fine, I’ll marry him. It’s not that big a deal. I can just treat him like a brother at home.”
The village chief still looked uneasy. “Are you sure?”
Fang Zichen said, “I’m not, but at this point, what else can we do?”
The village chief pitied Zhao Ger and spoke up for him: “This isn’t Zhao Ger’s fault. Don’t take your anger out on him later, he’s had a hard life.”
“I don’t hit women,” Fang Zichen said, then added after a pause, “…or ger.”
Village Chief: “Then I’ll go talk to Ma Dazhuang’s family.”
The Ma family had been plotting this all along—of course they wouldn’t refuse. However…
“They’re demanding three taels of silver,” the village chief reported when he returned.
“What?!”
Fang Zichen was baffled. “Are they trying to take advantage of me just because I’m handsome? What kind of logic is this? When someone’s divorced, the worst they get is kicked out penniless. If they’re lucky, they might take their dowry with them. I’m not even marrying their ger, why should I pay them? Are they out of their minds?”
The village chief said, “They argue that Zhao Ger was bought by their family when he was seven. They’ve raised him for years, so asking for some silver isn’t unreasonable.”
No comments:
Post a Comment