Marrying a Sickly Man to Ward Off Bad Luck - Chapter 1

It was early spring.

The mountain forest was thick with mist. A frail figure carrying a bamboo basket dashed down the mountainside. The mist billowed from his mouth, blurring his vision until the path was nearly lost to his sight. He stumbled occasionally, only to scramble up quickly and continue his desperate descent.

Just moments ago, Brother He from the neighboring house had rushed into the mountains to deliver a message: his second uncle’s family could finally no longer resist marrying him off. Had it been to a decent family, it might have been endured, but they intended to give him to the old widower living at the edge of the village.

That widower was over forty years old and hideously ugly. He spent his days in a drunken stupor. He had married several times before, but not a single wife had survived his hands.

How could he marry such a man?

This was clearly pushing him into a fiery pit.

Over the years, living under someone else’s roof, he had endured everything that could be endured and yielded everything that could be yielded. He had worked like an ox or a horse for them, yet they still wanted to gnaw on his final bit of value. No matter what, he could not accept this.

Though the path down the mountain grew more treacherous, he did not dare stop. He had to go back and find out for sure whether this was true or false.

He ran back to the front door, gasping for air. Before he could steady his breathing, a piercing laugh erupted from inside the house, sounding as if a goal had already been achieved.

“I’m back!” He stood in the courtyard and took a deep breath, suppressing the metallic taste of blood in his throat. His dark, thin face bore a slight flush from the run, making him look exceptionally honest and simple. “Aunt, I have something I want to say.”

“You’re back just in time! Hurry up and meet your guest!” His second aunt, Wang Xiaohua, walked out with a smile. Behind her followed the old widower himself. “Brother Wang has spoken up; he wants to marry you into his home! You will be living in luck from now on!”

As she spoke, Yuan Zhao’s gaze shifted toward the man. His flushed face instantly turned deathly pale. He had not expected the man to show up at the door so soon. From the sound of it, the matter was already settled.

Yuan Zhao shook his head in a daze. “I won’t!”

“What is that supposed to mean?” The widower frowned in immediate displeasure. “You did not have this settled with him?”

“No, no!” Wang Xiaohua hurried to soothe him, then turned to Yuan Zhao with a look of annoyance. “What is wrong with you, child? Older men know how to cherish people. Why are you not grateful?”

A look of sorrow crossed Yuan Zhao’s youthful face. “Cherish them to death? Aunt, it is not like you do not know that he beats people!”

Wang Xiaohua stole a glance at the widower before shouting sternly, “Which wife does not get a beating now and then? You will not even have to serve your parents-in-law; you just need to serve your man well. That is not much to ask!”

“Even if I could, I would not do it for him! He is not a good person! Did all the women who married him before not die? Or is it that you want me to die too, Aunt?” Unable to bear it any longer, Yuan Zhao questioned her with a choked sob. “Did you not say yourself before that he does nothing but drink and kill? Why are you making me marry him now?”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Wang Xiaohua scolded.

Widower Wang unfastened the wine flask at his waist and took a swig. His murky eyes stared intently at the sobbing Yuan Zhao. A Ger of this age truly looked the most appetizing to him. He spat on the ground, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and sneered. “Wang Xiaohua, I do not care about your family drama. Either way, you asked me for ten taels, and I have scraped the money together. If this marriage does not happen, you had better wait for me to deal with you!”

“You are going to hit someone just because they will not marry you? Is there no justice or law left?” Yuan Zhao looked at him in disbelief, feeling a strange sense of tragedy. How had he been targeted by such a foul old man?

Widower Wang was momentarily stifled, not expecting this little Ger to try and pressure him with talk of the law. But he figured once the boy was married to him, everything would be according to his word. Even the most upright official finds it hard to settle domestic disputes. Once the doors are closed, even the Heavenly Emperor could not easily interfere. That was exactly why no one had ever looked into the deaths of his previous wives.

Yuan Zhao had always been well-behaved and obedient. Wang Xiaohua had not expected him to talk back like this and was instantly enraged.

“Do not you start trouble with me! You will marry whether you want to or not! Are you waiting until you are eighteen to pay even more poll tax? Do not forget, your and Yuan Yuan’s household registration documents are still in my hands! If I say you marry, you marry!”

A sudden chill crowded into Yuan Zhao’s chest. The biting wind felt like a dull knife carving into his heart. He had thought there was still some family affection left with his second uncle’s household, but now he saw the truth clearly.

He would not marry.

However, his and Yuan Yuan’s registration documents were indeed with his aunt. Because they had been young when their parents died, the village chief could only hand those items over to their elders. Now, it was being used to hold them hostage.

“Aunt Xiaohua! That is no way to speak. Where in the world is there a rule that says you can force a cow to drink by pushing its head down?” A youthful voice drifted over from the neighbor’s house. “You have been spending the inheritance left by Uncle Dawu and the others, and now you want to sell their child. I say, man proposes but God disposes!”

The voice was cut short as someone stopped the speaker.

The neighbors could hear everything. They despised Wang Xiaohua’s conduct, but in the end, it was someone else’s family matter. No matter how much they disapproved, they could not interfere. However, those words reminded Yuan Zhao of something. He and Yuan Yuan were not just penniless orphans living on charity. When their parents died young, his uncle and aunt had clearly been eyeing the money their parents left behind when they promised to take good care of them.

Now it seemed it was all lies.

He angrily wiped away his tears. “I said I won’t marry, and I won’t. Aunt, do not push things too far. I can support Yuan Yuan now. At worst, we will just move out and live on our own. Consider this kinship severed!”

He was easygoing and gentle, but that did not mean he was a fool. If they forced him to marry Widower Wang, they were forcing him to die. What was the point of maintaining a relationship with such relatives?

But mentioning the severing of kinship was a serious matter. In all the years this village had existed, no one had dared to utter such rebellious words.

“I think you have completely lost your mind!” Wang Xiaohua could no longer restrain her temper. She began to scream and curse in a shrill voice. “Who do you think you are, talking back to me? Arranging a marriage for you is giving you face! Look at yourself, you are dark and scrawny. If I do not arrange things for you, you will never get married in this lifetime! What right do you have to act grand in front of me? You want to move out? You ungrateful white-eyed wolf! Why do you not just go to heaven then?”

This frantic barrage of insults hammered against Yuan Zhao’s heart, making him tremble with fear. Tears began to flow, but he wiped them away quickly.

Suddenly, a small, thin figure rushed out from the house and threw himself into Yuan Zhao’s arms, sobbing. The small body shook like a sieve because he was clearly terrified. Yuan Zhao could not stand to see Yuan Yuan suffer. It only hardened his resolve.

“I won’t marry, no matter what you say. Since you are so desperate for money, Aunt, why do you not marry Xiangxiang off instead?” Yuan Zhao stared with reddened eyes. “You clearly know he is a drunken mess. You do not want your own daughter to enter a fiery pit, yet you will throw someone else in!”

Having said his piece, he knelt down to comfort Yuan Yuan.

“Do not be afraid, Big Brother is here.” Yuan Zhao patted him gently. “I have something to do right now. Can you go back inside? Take the things I told you about before, the things that belong to us, and pack them up.”

“Okay,” Yuan Yuan sobbed.

“Remember, only what belongs to us. If you cannot find something, look carefully.”

“I remember,” the boy replied.

Yuan Yuan sobbed as he returned to the house to pack in their small woodshed. Remembering his brother’s instructions, he crept stealthily toward the main room.

With such a commotion, the village chief was naturally alerted. Furthermore, Yuan Zhao had spoken of severing kinship, which was an act of great impiety. The village chief hurried over. Seeing the group at a standstill in the courtyard, the village chief was visibly frustrated. Without a word of inquiry, he began berating Yuan Zhao immediately.

“Zhao-ge’er, I have to say this: how old are you now? You actually have the nerve to talk back to your elders! You should do whatever your elders tell you. Your uncle and aunt raised you; think of this as repaying them. The village watched you grow up. How did you turn into such an ungrateful wolf?”

In his eyes, the fault lay entirely with Yuan Zhao.

Yuan Zhao felt an invisible fire in his chest, urging him to argue, to scream, or to curse. But he could not yet. He had to wait a little longer.

“I was raised by my parents’ money,” Yuan Zhao added quietly after the chief finished.

His uncle’s family had taken his family’s money and land, so they were obligated to raise them. It was their duty, yet they acted as if he were a burden. Moreover, over the years, he had taken on almost all the labor for his uncle’s household. Even if they tallied the debt, it was he who was being cheated.

“You!” The village chief was silenced by the retort and could only change the subject. “Regardless, your aunt is your elder. You cannot simply sever kinship!”

“Chief, would you be willing to marry your daughter to Widower Wang?” Yuan Zhao asked plainly.

The village chief immediately frowned and scolded, “Stop talking nonsense!”

Yuan Zhao gave a low, soft laugh. “You all know exactly what kind of man he is.”

Even in this open courtyard, he could feel those murky eyes sizing him up with a gaze that made him incredibly uncomfortable. He did not dare imagine how miserably he would die if he truly married that man.

The atmosphere grew stagnant. The cold wind blew against everyone’s faces. With the village chief present, no one dared to continue the shouting match for a moment. The old widower also saw which way the wind was blowing. Even the village chief could not suppress this little Ger; the marriage likely would not happen. But he was truly unwilling to let it go.

“I won’t marry. I would rather die than marry.”

“Why are you so stubborn!” The village chief frowned with a look of disdain. “Children in every family listen to their elders, yet you are nothing but trouble. If you keep this up, I am afraid you won’t even be allowed to stay here!”

“Then I will leave. I will sever the kinship,” Yuan Zhao spoke with resolve. He would not marry, period.

This nonchalant statement reignited Wang Xiaohua’s fury. She pointed at Yuan Zhao and screamed, “Then get out! Get out of my house right now! This is my home! I have raised you for two years and you are this ungrateful? What do you think you are? If it were not for the fact that your parents died early and we got money for raising you, do you think you would be worth anything at all!”

The words were harsh and ear-piercing, but Yuan Zhao acted as if he had not heard them. His eyes remained fixed on the house. After a moment, as if receiving a signal, he immediately headed inside. Not long after, he emerged with Yuan Yuan, who was carrying their packed belongings.

Seeing him prepared to leave, the old widower realized something was wrong. This was the posture of someone running away. How was he supposed to get a wife now?

“What are you doing!” The village chief frowned, his tone softening slightly. “If you are unwilling, then you are unwilling. We can discuss it further. Your aunt meant well; why must you be so headstrong?”

“I can support my younger brother now,” Yuan Zhao said softly. He had only been willing to stay at his uncle’s house because he had been too young back then to take care of Yuan Yuan properly.

Wang Xiaohua thought he was just putting on a show. She stood under the eaves with her hands on her hips, looking on with contempt. “Leave if you are so capable! I want to see which family would take in an ungrateful wolf like you! When you are starving to death, come back and beg me. Maybe then I will consider feeding you some swill!”

“How can you say such things!” the village chief interrupted, frowning.

“It is the truth! I want to see where they can possibly go once they leave us!” Wang Xiaohua snorted meanly, as if she had already predicted their doomed future.

Yuan Zhao led Yuan Yuan toward the gate. Before they could leave the courtyard, they bumped into several people: a blind man and a woman leading a girl. The woman glanced inside, then looked at Yuan Zhao and asked softly, “Is this the home of Yuan Daguang?”

“Yes!” Wang Xiaohua answered quickly, running over. “What is the matter?”

“I am looking for a young Ger named Yuan Zhao,” the woman said warmly, though she looked clearly anxious.

Yuan Zhao was startled. “That is me.”

The woman’s face lit up with joy. “Truly? Old Master, did you truly calculate correctly?”

“I did,” the old blind man replied, then looked toward Yuan Zhao. “If I remember correctly, were you born at noon on the 19th day of the 4th lunar month?”

Yuan Zhao sensed something was happening. He did not answer directly but asked instead, “Why?”

The woman hurried to explain the situation. In short, her son was bedridden with an illness and needed someone with a matching horoscope to marry him immediately to bring luck and drive away the sickness.

“I was born on the date you mentioned,” Yuan Zhao replied, his voice trembling as he tried to keep his expression calm.

Hearing this, Yuan Yuan looked up at him in surprise. He remembered his brother’s birthday was definitely not the 19th of the 4th month. Yuan Zhao tightened his grip on the boy’s hand and stated with absolute certainty, “I was born on the 19th day of the 4th lunar month!”

“Wonderful!” The woman finally smiled.

Yes, it was wonderful. Yuan Zhao blinked his dry eyes. Just when he thought they would have nowhere to go, a stroke of luck had arrived. His parents surely did not want him and Yuan Yuan to sleep on the streets.

Wang Xiaohua had caught on. She narrowed her eyes. “So, you are taking him away to bring luck? That is fine, but give us the money!”

“Do not give it to her!” Seeing the woman reach for her purse, Yuan Zhao shouted to stop her. “I have no relation to them anymore. You cannot give her the money!”

“You little brat!” Wang Xiaohua cursed.

The woman seemed to grasp the situation. She took a piece of broken silver from her purse but handed it directly to Yuan Zhao. “Since we are taking you back to bring luck, this shall be the betrothal gift. Since you have nowhere to go right now, why do you not come home with me immediately?”

Yuan Zhao took the silver in a daze, clutching it tightly in his palm. A smile involuntarily spread across his face.

“I will go with you.”

“You little brat, once you leave, do not you ever come back!”

As if anyone would want to.