"...But ever since his grandmother died, Shi Tou has become invisible in that family. He can't get food, and he doesn't even have a decent set of clothes. His two younger brothers and sisters all have new clothes, but he doesn't. He does all the dirty and hard work around the house. His mother treats him like her enemy and mistreats him relentlessly..."

"They take out their frustrations on that kid. Shitou is about fourteen or fifteen years old, and he wears his father's hand-me-downs. He's always hungry and cold. His younger siblings are all chubby and healthy, and they only do simple chores. He does all the work. Eventually, everyone couldn't stand it anymore, so the village chief used his connections to get Shitou into the army," Aunt Liu sighed heavily.

"I've never seen a mother treat her son like this!" Aunt Liu said angrily, then looked at Xia Lan, her eyes darting around as if casually inquiring. "Girl, the Qin family told the villagers that they gave your family two hundred yuan as a bride price to marry you, and they're saying they've been very generous to Shi Tou. Is that true?"

“It’s fake,” Xia Lan said, exposing the lie directly.

“I’m an orphan. My father was killed by a tiger, and my mother, heartbroken, followed him. I was all alone. Then my uncle and aunt tried to seize my parents’ property. They moved into our house and married me off to Qin Yu without asking for a dowry. On my wedding day, I found out I had been married off. I couldn’t bear it and jumped into the river. If Qin Yu hadn’t gone into the water in the dead of winter to pull me out, I would have been dead.” Xia Lan said slowly with a sorrowful face.

Aunt Liu stared wide-eyed as if she had learned a major secret, completely unaware that things were actually like this, and that there was so much exaggeration in the Qin family's words.

"What a tragedy! Qin Tao and Wang Guihua keep going around the village saying they spent two hundred yuan to marry Shi Tou off his wife!!" Aunt Liu stomped her feet in anger. The Qin family was despicable. "And your uncle too, not only did he occupy your house, but he also forced you to marry him off like that..."

Xia Lan gave a bitter smile and lowered her head sadly. "Auntie, I'm an orphan. He's using the guise of doing what's best for me, but nobody believes me. I'm all alone, and they all take advantage of me. They think everything in my house is theirs. They're just bullying me because I have no one to rely on..."

"It's like a rotten bamboo shoot after the start of summer—rotten to the bone." Aunt Liu was so angry that she slapped her thigh. Anyone in Xia Lan's shoes would be furious if they encountered such a thing.

“Luckily, I am now married to Qin Yu. Qin Yu is kind enough to take me in. Otherwise… I don’t know where I would go. I was just thinking about whether I should go to my parents…” Xia Lan wiped her eyes. Qin Yu, who was chopping wood, saw Xia Lan’s actions, threw down his axe and immediately came over.

"What's wrong?" Qin Yu frowned as he watched Xia Lan wipe away her tears. "Why is Aunt Liu crying?"

"Girl, you've married Shi Tou, so you're now one of us from Shanghe Village. This absolutely can't be left like this! You wait, I'll go find the village chief for you!" Aunt Liu got angrier and angrier. Now that Xia Lan was one of their villagers, she had to get the village chief to stand up for her if she was bullied!

"Shitou, keep an eye on Xia Lan and make sure she doesn't do anything foolish. I'm going to find the village chief right now." With that, Aunt Liu stormed off.

"I've told you everything they were hiding. Will you blame me?" Xia Lan looked up, her face devoid of any tears.

Qin Yu paused, listened to her words, and gave her a deep look. "I won't blame you."

"But my mom will definitely come and scold you! Don't come out of your room for the next couple of days." Qin Yu knew his mother's temperament well. The Qin family valued their reputation, and since Xia Lan had told everyone about this, his mother would definitely hold Xia Lan accountable.

"What do you think if I become a shrew and yell at her?" Xia Lan blinked her big eyes, and Qin Yu was stunned, a little confused. "What did you say?"

"This person's brain is full of water, and it's made them change their gender. I think I was too cowardly before. I don't want to be bullied like that anymore. I was so moved by Aunt Liu's behavior just now. What do you think about me imitating Aunt Liu's cursing?" Xia Lan's words made Qin Yu fall silent.

"It's fine." Qin Yu looked at Xia Lan's petite, weak, and pitiful appearance, and didn't dare to tell her the truth.

The way she's acting now, if she were to imitate Aunt Liu's cursing, would make her seem like a child wearing an adult's clothes, lacking any aggression and even provoking people to attack her.

"Really? You think it's good too?" Xia Lan mistakenly thought Qin Yu supported her, and her eyes sparkled.

Looking into those big, watery eyes, Qin Yu couldn't tell the truth anymore. He swallowed hard and nodded against his will.

"Xia Lan! What nonsense are you spouting! Your family clearly took two hundred yuan from me, how can you say it didn't happen? Aren't you ruining the reputation of our Qin family? You're just making things up like a sieve floating in the river—a turtle-made sieve." Qin's mother rushed over angrily, reaching out to pinch Xia Lan.

Without saying a word, Qin Yu immediately shielded Xia Lan behind him, and Qin's mother instantly changed direction, pinching Qin Yu.

Qin Yu let his mother pinch him, but he wouldn't let her touch Xia Lan.

Xia Lan saw Qin's mother pinch Qin Yu's flesh and twist it viciously. If she had pinched her, it would have hurt her to death.

"You're the one talking nonsense! You said you gave two hundred, how did you give it? Cash or goods as payment? Tell me everything, and I'll check it against you one by one!" Xia Lan slapped Qin's mother's hand down hard and pulled Qin Yu to her side to prevent Qin's mother from hitting Qin Yu.

Qin Yu's eyes lit up when he saw Xia Lan protecting him.

Xia Lan glanced at the aunts who had followed Qin's mother and immediately raised her voice, deliberately saying that the matter had been exposed.

"You...you little slut!" Qin's mother choked. She hadn't given any money at all, so she couldn't say anything when suddenly asked to. She reached out and pinched Xia Lan again.

Xia Lan got angry too, picked up a broom and hit Qin's mother's hand hard.

"What's wrong with you? Why do you keep reaching out to strangle people? I barely escaped death. If you dare to do this again, I'll fight you to the death! I'll drag you down with me to the underworld!" Xia Lan threatened fiercely, hands on her hips.

"Oh dear! What a terrible thing! What kind of wretch did I marry? There's no justice in this world! My daughter-in-law beat her mother-in-law... I'm so unlucky!" Qin's mother sat down on the ground and began to wail.

Xia Lan looked at Qin's mother, who was trying to scam him, and then turned to Qin Yu and started hitting him.

“If your mother wants to hit me, I’ll hit you. Look at what kind of mother you are. You’re just trying to save your own vanity by telling everyone that you spent two hundred yuan to marry me. And what happened? I didn’t get a single penny. I even had my family’s property swallowed up and jumped into the river. And you, you’re the one who pulled me out. Now everyone knows that you’ve taken me. I can’t even marry someone else now.”