Chapter 1 Crossing
Oh my god? It's so noisy next to my ears. Who is it that is crying beside my bed so early in the morning when I'm still asleep? Is there something wrong with me? I just can't open my eyes.
Aren’t you just watching Douyin at home? You fell asleep while watching it.
Think back to your past.
I had been with Fu Cheng for seven years, from high school to graduate school and work, from the age of eighteen to twenty-five, and he suddenly proposed to break up. I didn't ask any questions, but I felt so sad and helpless in my heart.
What went wrong in this seven-year relationship? Everything was fine before. What went wrong in this relationship?
After thinking carefully about what happened recently, I really can't believe why Fu Cheng would break up. There was no sign at all. Last month, both parents were discussing the wedding date.
The separation was like a bolt from the blue to me.
I didn't go to class, I just stayed at home and calmed down.
Suddenly I heard a woman crying in my ear: "Song family, our Shen family, our daughter was married to your family for only two days, and you forced her to death. This is a life, you are so cruel!"
While crying, he recounted the crimes of the Song family.
At this time, another woman was heard saying anxiously: "Dear relative, you can't say that, we didn't force her."
"Bullshit, if she didn't force it, how could she commit suicide!" Shen's mother said with disdain.
At this time, another male voice said: "Tell me! How do you want to solve it?"
When the crying woman heard this, she stopped crying instantly and said, "This is an easy matter. I was a good girl and was forced to death by you just a few days after my marriage. You have to compensate us ten taels of silver."
When the people watching the fun heard this, they all took a breath. The Shen family was really good at this. Even though the person was dead, they still wanted to make money.
All I heard was a gentle voice saying, "My dear relative, our family doesn't have that much silver. The only ten taels of silver will be given to you as a betrothal gift."
At this time, another male voice said: "Why? When you spent ten taels of silver to marry Shen Xia, it was agreed that after giving you the ten taels, she will have nothing to do with your family. To put it bluntly, this is no different from buying her. What qualifications do you have to come and ask for money again?"
Shen Xia also understood at this time. It turned out that this body had the same name as her.
Suddenly, memories flashed through my mind.
The original owner, Shen Xia, was fifteen years old this year, just coming of age, and was used by the Shen family as a tool to exchange money. The Shen family had two sons, neither of whom were married yet, so they wanted to sell the original owner for a good price so that their two sons could get married, but the highest bride price around was only three or four taels of silver.
It’s too low, not enough for two brothers to get married.
It just so happened that the Song family had five sons, all of whom were bachelors and could not afford to marry a wife. So Song's mother came and planned to use eight taels of silver to marry Shen Xia as a common wife. It would be better to say that she bought her rather than married her.
The Song and Shen families were not far from each other. Everyone knew what was going on between them.
The Song family was separated from the old house after Song's father passed away a few years ago.
It was simply impossible for all five brothers to get married. Song's mother had no choice but to marry a woman who looked like one of her sons as a common wife, hoping that each of her sons would have a child in the future.
The Shen family also knew that their daughter was married to be a shared wife, so they asked for a huge sum of ten taels.
In the end, Song's mother bought a wife for her sons without telling her brothers.
Song's mother was not stupid either. She knew the situation of the Shen family and was afraid that they would keep pestering her in the future, so she said that ten taels was fine, but it was a buyout price. Shen's mother thought it didn't matter, so she agreed and even signed a document.
This is a remote mountain village where the emperor is far away and the country is high. The surrounding villages are all poor, and there are many families who share wives. They are those who cannot afford to marry a wife, so they marry one wife for several brothers. However, there is no other family like the Song family, where five brothers marry one wife.
Other families would marry one out of three at most.
And Shen Xia would definitely not be willing.
But Shen's mother told her that the sons of the Song family were all handsome, the eldest son could hunt, so she would never starve, and she also had a younger brother who could read. After all, the original owner had never had a full meal at home.
The original owner was also a person who cared about appearance and liked good-looking scholars.
Later, after weighing the pros and cons, the original owner agreed.
Who would have known that the original owner found out after she got married that the eldest son, Song Jiang, could hunt, but he had broken his leg because of an injury he had suffered while hunting not long ago, the second son, Song Ming, also broke his hand while working outside, and the third son, Song Jin, had good hands and feet, but he could not see because of a fall when he was a child.
The fourth child had an accident while studying away from home and is now lying in bed unconscious. Only the fifth child is okay, but he is still a twelve-year-old child. The family now relies on Mother Song to do some needlework, and the fifth child, Song Yu, to make a living by tying wild vegetables.
When Shen Xia got married, the burden of the family fell on her.
Under the double blow of despair, she could no longer think straight.
In fact, she had only been married for two days, and Song's mother was pretty nice to her.
She became desperate as she thought about it, feeling that God was unfair, as she had just escaped from the wolf's den and fell into the tiger's mouth.
Then he hanged himself when no one was at home looking.
The Song family was already a poor family, so they immediately hired a doctor.
When the Shen family heard from others that Shen Xia was dead, they rushed over immediately, hoping to make a fortune.
The Song family didn't have much money at that time.
There was nothing we could do in the face of the Shen family's aggressiveness, as there was a bunch of people watching the fun around.
The people around were discussing, "Is it because the Song family has so many people that they bullied people to such an extent that they couldn't bear it and chose to commit suicide?"
At this time, someone responded: "Who said it wasn't! There are three adult men in the Song family, and they have just tasted the taste of women. As the saying goes, a cat can't help but get close when it smells fishy smell."
"Look at the burly eldest brother of the Song family. He looks like someone who would torture others."
After hearing these words, the people around showed expressions of sudden enlightenment, as if everything was clear.
The eldest, second and third sons of the Song family, who were in the room, blushed and were extremely embarrassed.
The fifth brother didn't understand what everyone was saying, nor did he understand why his brothers' faces were so red.
In fact, because Shen Xia didn't want to, none of the men in the Song family touched her.
Song's mother also said that there was no rush and to let the little girl get used to it first and not to scare her.
But it’s hard to explain in public.
But Aunt Liu, who had a better relationship with the Song family, scolded them, "What are you talking about all day long!"
"It's none of your business if someone marries a daughter-in-law but doesn't sleep with her in the same room with her."
At this time, an auntie also said dissatisfiedly: "What does it have to do with you what we say?"
The argument became more and more heated.
Shen's mother suddenly said, "Okay, wait until I have dealt with my daughter's affairs, and then you can stop arguing."
It seemed that the Song family really could not afford the money, so Shen's mother said: "Since you don't want to pay, it's fine. I will take my daughter home and bury her myself. I see that your family is so poor that you may not even be able to afford the burial expenses."
Fortunately, there happened to be a family in the town who wanted to arrange a ghost marriage and were willing to pay five taels of silver.
It would be good to take the girl's body back. Shen's mother couldn't help but feel happy.
Everyone in the Song family was shocked. Why did the style change suddenly? When did the Shen family become so good?
Although Shen Xia couldn't open his eyes, he could tell in just a short while that Shen's mother was not a good person!
Who knows what other stupid moves she might have in store.
At this time Song Jiang also said: "No, since Shen Xia has married into our Song family, she is a member of the Song family in life and a ghost of the Song family in death. How can we let you take her away."
Song Jiang also understood that Shen's mother would never be so kind as to not ask for a penny and take the body back home to pay for the burial herself.
Something is definitely going on.