A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

When Chen Xiufen passed by the cloth shop on the street with the silver, she couldn't bear it in the end, so she went in and bought some red cloth, asking Liu Yiyi to help her embroider a wedding dress for Chen Shujie.

"Why should she embroider her own wedding dress?" Liu Yiyi protested.

"Do you still want the money? If not, I'll go back and tell Shujie today that if she runs away, I won't be responsible."

For the sake of her own money, Liu Yiyi reluctantly accepted.

Chen Shujie found out about this the night before the matchmaker came to her door; she had always thought it was Chen Tianwei who was getting married!

That evening, while she was tending the fire in the kitchen, Chen Xiufen came in with a bowl, sat down next to her, sighed, sighed again, and by the third sigh, Chen Shujie put down the fire tongs.

"Mother, just say what you have to say."

Chen Xiufen gripped the rim of the bowl, her eyes fixed on the flames in the stove.

"The owner of Yang's rice shop in town, Mr. Yang, sent a matchmaker to propose marriage. Your brother and sister-in-law both think it's a good match; the family is well-off, and you won't have to worry about food and clothing after marriage. The dowry... is twenty taels."

"Wasn't Tianwei going to marry into that family?" Chen Shujie asked in surprise.

"Your sister-in-law Jinzhu isn't happy about it, but your mother thinks this marriage is a good one, so she's agreed on your behalf."

Chen Shujie froze. The firewood in the stove crackled and sparks flew out, landing on the back of her feet, but she didn't move.

"The matchmaker will be coming tomorrow. Once the engagement is finalized, we'll get ready to get married. Your brother said... we need to get the wedding done before the end of the month."

Chen Shujie slowly raised her head.

"Even Sister-in-law Jinzhu wouldn't let Tianwei marry this person, and you, her own mother, are trying to push me into it?"

Faced with Chen Shujie's questioning, Chen Xiufen replied dryly, "Their family is rich. If you marry into their family, you'll live the life of a wealthy lady. What's wrong with that?"

"But he's over fifty and has been married twice. I'm only thirteen! How can you be so heartless, Mother? Am I not your own daughter?!"

Chen Xiufen's lips trembled twice, and tears streamed down her face.

"Shujie, I'm so sorry. But your brother needs money for his exams, and we still owe money to the human traffickers. Marry into the Yang family and live a good life. They're wealthy and won't mistreat you."

"Alright."

Chen Shujie stood up and patted the dust off her skirt.

The thirteen-year-old girl was still quite short, standing in front of the stove. Her eyes were dry, without a single tear.

When her cousin Tianwei was being sold, she hid behind the door to eavesdrop, harboring a sliver of hope—at least it wasn't me.

Now that her cousin has someone to protect her, she's the one who'll be sold off. At least she's getting married, not being sold off, that's the only way she can console herself.

"Fine, I'll marry you then."

Chen Xiufen was stunned; she hadn't expected her daughter to agree so readily.

"But Mother, once I get married, the bonds between our family will be severed." Chen Shujie put down the fire tongs and left without looking back.

That night, Chen Shujie tossed and turned, unable to sleep. In the next room, Chen Shuyan and Liu Yiyi were talking quietly, so she pressed her ear against the wall to listen.

Twenty taels.

Her brother used the money to pay off debts to human traffickers, to cover his travel expenses for the imperial examinations, and to buy hair oil and face powder for his sister-in-law.

Twenty taels of silver, broken into pieces and crumpled up, every single coin has a purpose.

Chen Shujie was the only one excluded.

She turned over and stared at the dark beams.

The next morning, the sound of gongs and laughter alerted half the village. Sure enough, the town's matchmaker arrived, dressed in red and green, with a loud voice, followed by a helper carrying two gift boxes tied with red silk.

The Chen family's second branch was unusually lively, with neighbors craning their necks to watch. Chen Xiufen and Liu Yiyi greeted them with smiles and welcomed them into the house. The matchmaker, quick-witted and eloquent, lavished praise on the Yang family's wealth and Yang Laosan's "steadiness and reliability," before presenting Chen Xiufen with a heavy red envelope.

"This is a deposit of ten taels, a small token of Boss Yang's appreciation. The remaining ten taels will be presented immediately after the newlyweds enter the household."

Chen Xiufen held the red envelope, smiling, but her palms were slightly hot. Then, both parties wrote down Chen Shujie's and Yang Laosan's birth dates and times on red paper and exchanged marriage certificates. The wedding date was set for six days later, said to be an auspicious day suitable for marriage.

Throughout the entire process, Chen Shujie stood by the kitchen door watching, as if observing someone else's affairs. No one asked her if she was willing, nor did anyone care what she thought. She was merely a name written in ink on that marriage contract, a commodity bought with ten taels of silver.

The day after the engagement, Chen Shujie changed into clean clothes and told Chen Xiufen that she wanted to go for a walk in town. Chen Xiufen rummaged in her pocket for a while, then took out fifty coins and handed them to her.

"Spend it sparingly."

Chen Shujie took the copper coin and went straight into Yang's rice shop.

Inside the shop, the shop assistants were moving sacks of rice, while Yang Laosan sat behind the counter drinking tea. He saw a little girl come in but didn't recognize her.

"Buy rice?"

"I am Chen Shujie."

Yang Laosan put down his teacup and looked her up and down. Thirteen years old, thin, with a pointed chin, but her eyes were quite bright.

"Oh, it's you." Old Yang remembered that this was his bride-to-be, who would be his new wife in six days. He flicked his fingers on the abacus, a slight smile on his face. "The betrothal gifts have been exchanged, and our status has been settled. What brings you here? Is there something you need?"

Chen Shujie didn't respond to him. Instead, she stood in front of the counter and explained what had happened.

"The betrothal gift is twenty taels. I can't control that my parents took ten taels as a deposit. But on the wedding day, give me the remaining ten taels of silver and don't give them to them."

Yang Laosan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. He pulled out a silver ingot from under the counter and pushed it over.

Need money? Here, take it. Come back for more if you need more.

Chen Shujie didn't touch the money.

"I don't lack money. I just don't want the money I earned from selling myself to end up in someone else's pocket."

Yang Laosan's laughter stopped.

He took another look at the girl in front of him. Thirteen years old, standing straight, her voice without a sob, and her eyes without resentment. She was just calm and even, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

But the more it's like this, the more heartbreaking it becomes.

Yang Laosan took the silver back and nodded.

"Alright. On the day of the wedding, I'll give you ten taels of silver in front of everyone. As for whether you can keep it, that depends on your own abilities."

Chen Shujie curtsied and turned to leave the rice shop.

When she reached the street corner, she squatted down against the wall and finally couldn't hold back her tears.

Over the next few days, the second branch of the Chen family appeared busy, but in reality, they were making preparations in a rather empty manner. Although Liu Yiyi was unwilling, she eventually finished making her wedding dress. The stitches weren't very fine, and the bright red fabric was embroidered with ordinary mandarin duck patterns. At least she had a new dress that she could wear.

Chen Xiufen rummaged through two of Chen Shujie's half-worn clothes and found an old wooden box that used to store grain. She wiped it clean and used it as her dowry.

Chen Shujie had nothing to pack or say. She simply folded the two old clothes and put them in the wooden box.

Old Chen came to check on it once, leaning on his cane. He sighed, took out five hundred coins from his belt, and placed them on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Grandpa doesn't have much money, you take it."

Chen Shi also came over, left five hundred coins, stood for a while, opened his mouth, but left without saying anything.

A thousand coins.

Besides the thousand coins, there was nothing else. Chen Shujie silently put it away, found a sturdy piece of coarse cloth, carefully wrapped it, and placed it at the bottom of the wooden box.

On the sixth day, the actual wedding day, the sound of firecrackers came from the village entrance just as dawn broke.

Yang Laosan sent a bridal sedan chair carried by four people, two musicians, and a servant who scattered auspicious fruits. The gongs and drums were deafening, and auspicious fruits were scattered all over the ground. The village children chased after the sedan chair, their hands full of candy as they grabbed them.

The villagers flocked out to see what was going on.

"Wow, the Yang family certainly has quite the grand scale."

"Of course, the rice shop owner in town is rich."

"It's just that the groom is a bit old..."

"As long as you have money, that's all that matters. So many girls want to get married but can't."

The bridal sedan chair stopped at the entrance of the Chen family compound. Yang Laosan got off the carriage behind the sedan chair, wearing a new robe. Although his belly was a bit big, he still looked like a human being.

He stood at the gate of the courtyard, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and handed out celebratory fruit to everyone he met, calling out "Big Brother," "Big Sister-in-law," "Uncle," and "Aunt" loudly.

Chen Xiufen urged Chen Shujie from inside the room to change into the wedding dress embroidered by Liu Yiyi. The red was almost blinding, and the size was slightly ill-fitting. With her head down, she covered her head with the half-new, half-old red veil herself, and with Chen Xiufen's help, she slowly moved out of the door and into the sedan chair.

Just as the sedan bearers were about to lift the sedan chair, Yang Laosan suddenly raised his hand.

"etc."

He took out a red cloth bag from his pocket, and in front of dozens of people in the courtyard, walked to the sedan chair and lifted the curtain.

"Shujie, this ten taels of silver is for you. Keep it safe."

The courtyard fell silent.

It immediately caused an uproar.

"Ten taels of silver? To be given directly to the bride?"

"Wow, Mr. Yang is so generous!"

"This girl is lucky; she'll be living a life of luxury after marrying him."

Under the veil, Chen Shujie reached out and took the heavy red cloth bag, her voice soft: "Thank you." She clutched the bag tightly in her hand; inside was the only thing she could hold onto that truly belonged to her.

Chen Shuyan stood at the back of the crowd, his face darkening inch by inch.

He nudged Chen Xiufen, who was standing next to him, with his elbow.

"Mother, what happened to the ten taels of silver? Were they given to her?"