Zhang Yanni was married off to a lame man from a neighboring village by her adoptive parents when she was just 12 years old.

But fate had other plans. On the way to the wedding, she was kidnapped by bandits and held captive in a dark house in the mountains. She resisted the bandits' abuse and attempts to assault her, struggling desperately with them. In the end, she was shoved hard and knocked unconscious against a rock.

The kidnappers thought she was dead and considered her bad luck, so they simply threw her into the grass on the hillside to be eaten by wolves.

Fortunately, she was discovered by a farmer who was cutting firewood on the mountain and called the police, which saved her. Otherwise, she might have really met with misfortune after dark.

Zhang Yanni sat in the police car on her way to Yaoping Village, still shaken. She could imagine what it would be like to get home.

When she was four years old, she was abducted by human traffickers and taken to the home of her adoptive father, Jia Dongshan. At that time, she was too young to know where she was and would only cry and look for her mother.

Jia Dongshan had two sons but no daughters, so he bought Zhang Yanni, a little girl, for a small amount of money, named her Jia Yufeng, and raised her as his little darling.

When she first arrived at her adoptive parents' home, their attitude towards her was alright. But after her younger sister, Jia Yulian, was born, her adoptive parents seemed to become completely different people.

Her adoptive mother, Hao Caimei, especially disliked her. She not only required her to get up early every day to pick vegetables and feed the pigs, but also made her do all kinds of housework such as washing dishes and sweeping the floor.

Even in the dead of winter, she was made to wash clothes in the yard. The pain from the icy water stinging her hands is still etched in her memory.

Occasionally, he would sneak out to play with the village children, but if caught, he would be whipped with willow branches and scolded for being lazy.

Going to school was out of the question. Even looking at the new books her younger sister received at school in the evening would get her scolded by her adoptive mother for being restless.

The village children sometimes bullied her, chasing after her and cursing, "Nobody wants a child they picked up." Gradually, she realized what it meant to be a child they picked up—that she could never truly become a member of this family, at most just a little dog they bought.

She never wanted to get married in the first place.

If it weren't for her adoptive parents' desire for the bride price from the groom's family, which could be used to help their brothers get married, they would have forced her into the marriage through crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide.

They even scolded her for eating and drinking for free for so many years without giving anything back, asking how she could so submissively marry a cripple.

Zhang Yanni was kind-hearted. Having lived with her biological parents for so many years after leaving them, she always felt indebted to them for raising her and, having no way to repay them, agreed to the arrangement.

After crossing the mountain, the village came into view. From a distance, you could see bright red silk hanging on the lintel, and a crowd of people stood under the two bright red "double happiness" characters. As the police car arrived, the crowd grew even larger.

After getting off the bus, Zhang Yanni realized that her red shoes had turned blackish-gray. Passing through the dust that hit her face, she quickly touched her hair.

A crowd swarmed over, but no one said anything. Those on the periphery just watched the spectacle, pointing and whispering among themselves.

"Which of you is Jia Yufeng's family member?" Police officer Liang Jiaheng broke the silence first.

"I am the father of this child, and this is my wife." Jia Dongshan was still slightly reserved when he saw the police, while Hao Caimei followed behind with her hands in her sleeves and didn't say a word.

In this era, especially in rural areas, people still harbor fear towards those in uniform.

When many people see the police coming, their minds might race as they try to recall everything they've done recently, to see if they've done anything wrong or broken the law.

"Here's what happened: Jia Yufeng was kidnapped on her way to her wedding, but she has been rescued after a fellow villager reported the incident to the police."

I brought her back this time to explain the reason to your family, so you wouldn't worry.

She was quite frightened; you are her family, so you should comfort her.

Liang Jiaheng's words were like a royal decree. Jia Dongshan repeatedly praised them, and even Hao Caimei forced out a few words of "Good leader."

"Dad, Mom," Zhang Yanni addressed the two people in front of her, but before she could finish speaking, the groom's family came out and interrupted her with a commotion.

"We can't go through with this wedding. The bride has been kidnapped and we haven't seen her all day."

They were brought back almost dark, and judging from their disheveled appearance, they must have been abused by the bandits.

"We can't marry an unclean woman. You must return my betrothal gifts immediately!"

"Yes! This marriage cannot go through; it must be called off!"

"We only want virgins, not women who have been violated."

"You're talking nonsense. Stop trying to smear our family. You were the ones who rushed into the marriage, and now you're the ones who want to call it off."

"Yu Feng was taken away by you this morning, so she's already part of your family. Don't even think about asking us to return the betrothal gifts."

Upon hearing that the betrothal gifts were to be returned, Hao Caimei disregarded whether it was the police or not and started jumping up and down, cursing loudly.

She was known as a shrew in the surrounding villages, so the villagers were used to this kind of scene.

“My wife is right. A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl. You take her away in the morning, and that's considered her entering the family.”

"Yu Feng is already part of your family. You two should handle this yourselves; our family has no right to interfere."

Although Jia Dongshan spoke slowly and leisurely, Zhang Yanni was so astonished that her jaw dropped.

It seems that her adoptive parents don't care at all about her kidnapping; they're just worried that the bride price will be taken back. They haven't defended her at all, and all they talk about is the bride price.

This damn bride price! How did I end up with such a heartless relative?

"In short, nothing you say will make a difference. We're not going through with the marriage. We haven't even gotten the bride yet, and you still want to take our dowry?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!