Chapter 1 Dawn broke as Qiu Yuruo began her hunger strike...
As dawn broke, Qiu Yuruo hadn't eaten for three days. Her stomach was burning with hunger, and she was experiencing waves of heart palpitations, but she wanted to hold on a little longer.
Everyone who was supposed to go out had gone out, and the courtyard became quiet. Qiu Yuruo had a hazy dream in which she actually starved to death, and then somehow she was thrown into the river. Qiu Yuruo woke up with a start.
Whether she was frightened by the dream or her body had reached its limit, she felt extremely panicked.
Hearing no movement at the door, and suppressing her heart palpitations and dizziness, she took out a palm-sized half of a thin pancake that she had hidden under the straw mat, tore off a piece, put it in her mouth, and chewed it slowly.
The palpitations only subsided after I ate half of the pancake.
Only then did she have the strength to take out a broken jar from the corner under the bed, which contained water that she had hidden beforehand.
The jar wasn't big, and it had a hole in the middle. She had already taken a sip of the water she had stored there yesterday, so there wasn't much left.
Qiu Yuruo first took a small sip, then a large sip, before putting the broken jar, which only had a little water left, back down and swallowing it little by little.
After drinking some water, I went back to bed and lay quietly, thinking about how Xiao'e on the street had persisted for three days before her mother finally softened and didn't marry her off to that old widower.
Qiu Yu encouraged herself again and again, telling herself to persevere a little longer, and maybe her grandparents would soften their hearts!
Just then, the door was kicked open with a bang, followed by the shouts of Grandmother Zhou: "You're trying to scare me with a hunger strike, aren't you? I'm not afraid! You brat, let me tell you, even if you starve to death, you'll still be carried to the Su family!"
These words, like needles, no longer hurt Qiu Yuruo, but they pierced her last hope.
Qiu Yu sighed; it seemed the hunger strike plan was going to fall through.
She closed her eyes, ignoring the incessant shouting and cursing, and began to think about what to do next.
Qiu Yu Ruo has been in the Great Yong Dynasty, a dynasty that never existed in history, for seven years. The original eight-year-old girl with the same name had died because she was overwhelmed with grief after her parents and younger brother died unexpectedly. She developed a fever and no one cared about her, so she followed them to the afterlife.
When she opened her eyes again, she was now a modern-day Qiu Yuruo, who had just come of age and was also an orphan who had died in an accident.
The accident involving the parents and younger brother occurred during this era. The younger brother, who was three years old, had a high fever. It was during the busy farming season, and the parents had been working until late at night when they finally got permission from their grandmother to take their brother to see a doctor. However, they fell into the river while taking a shortcut. Their bodies were not found until the afternoon of the next day.
The little girl lost her parents and younger brother in a single day, and was even scolded by her grandmother as a cursed star who had caused the deaths of her parents and brothers.
Little Qiuyu couldn't understand why her grandmother, who didn't want to delay the autumn harvest and prevented her parents from taking her younger brother to see a doctor during the day, causing them to take her brother out at night and fall into the river because they couldn't see the road clearly, was blaming her instead.
The little girl was heartbroken and helpless. She knew that no one in her family would protect her anymore. Only then did she understand why her childhood playmate, Xiaocao, had died of illness less than half a year after her mother died.
It turns out that it's really hard for children to survive without the protection of their parents!
The little girl was sad, upset, and scared, which eventually led to a high fever and convulsions.
When Qiu Yuruo, who was hit by a gravel truck, woke up in ancient times, she received the memories of the little girl. In her coma, she experienced all of the girl's past joys, present sorrows, and fears.
Countless images from past and present lives played in my mind, and finally, my modern parents and my current parents appeared, saying together, "Ruoruo, you must protect yourself, eat well, and grow up well."
Qiu Yuruo gritted her teeth and opened her eyes. She wanted to live, to live up to the chance of rebirth given to her by God, and to live up to the expectations of her parents.
She endured countless hardships, heard countless curses, and suffered countless scornful looks. She finally grew up, healthy and without any illness or disaster. How could she possibly die just because she was forced to marry someone she didn't want?
Grandmother cursed a few more times before being persuaded to leave by her third aunt who had come over.
The room fell silent again. Qiu Yuruo declared her hunger strike plan a failure and now had no choice but to marry him.
The Su family, whom she was to marry into, was originally a family that she, an orphan girl, could only dream of.
My cousin was the one who arranged the marriage between our family and the Su family. In fact, given the circumstances of both families at the time, my cousin's marriage to the Su family was considered a step up for her.
The Qiu family was only slightly better off than the average farming family, and their businesses were all passed down from their ancestors. The cousin's advantage was that she had a father who was educated.
The Su family, however, was a newly established family in the area. In previous generations, they had not lived well. Later, Su Yunting, the man her cousin was engaged to, had a father who went out to do business with relatives and earned a considerable fortune, which also supported his son's education.
The two families were able to discuss marriage because Su Yunting's grandfather didn't want his grandson to marry a woman from another place, and wanted to arrange a local wife for him before he went away to take the college entrance exam.
However, before the marriage was settled, Su's father's health deteriorated. The family wanted to cancel the marriage, but unexpectedly, Su Yunting, the person to be betrothed, passed the imperial examination and became a scholar.
They wanted to finalize the marriage, but Su's father disagreed. Before the two families could resolve their differences, Su's father passed away.
Qiu Yuruo originally thought that with the passing of Su's father, Su Yunting would have to observe filial piety, and there was no need to discuss the marriage again.
Unexpectedly, the Su family suffered a series of misfortunes. First, Su Yunting accidentally fell and fell into a coma. Then, his mother, unable to withstand the continuous blows, also passed away.
In order to avoid taking over Su Yunting and his younger siblings, the old man of the Su family thought of his own family, who had previously been engaged to them in marriage.
Su Yunting has been in a coma for more than two months. The doctor said that the chances of him waking up are slim, and he might just die one day. Naturally, his uncle is unwilling to accept this.
However, the Su family was determined to find a wife for Su Yunting so that they could get rid of the burdensome children like Su Yunting and his siblings, so Old Man Su came to make trouble every day.
Grandfather was worried that if their quarrel went on for too long, it would damage the family's reputation, so he promised the Su family that a girl from his side would be married off to them.
Qiu Yuruo sighed again. In the end, she was the one who had to marry into the family.
Just as Qiu Yuru was thinking about how to negotiate with her family, her third aunt, Guo, came in with a bowl of noodle soup.
Guo placed the noodle soup on the table, came to the bedside, and said to Qiu Yuruo, "Get up and drink some noodle soup. You're not afraid of death, so how could marrying into the Su family be worse than death?"
Although Qiu Yuruo has already decided to marry him, she cannot show it now.
He said weakly, "His house has such a big pit, what difference would it make if I jumped in or died?"
Guo said, "You child, you used to be so clever. Why did you get so stubborn this time? No matter how big the pit is, there is hope as long as you are alive. If you die now, who will burn paper money for your parents during Qingming and Zhongyuan Festivals?"
When she mentioned her parents, even though Qiu Yuruo thought she could take it all in stride, she couldn't help but shed tears.
Qiu Yuruo's tears made Guo secretly breathe a sigh of relief. It's not that she can still be sad, it's that she can't care about anything.
"It's a bit difficult to marry into that family, but my son-in-law is a scholar, so no one will dare to bully him easily. It's tough now, but once he wakes up, he can become the top scholar in the imperial examination..."
Qiu Yuru interrupted her wishful thinking: "Even if I can wake up, my family will never let me marry into their family."
Guo: "...No matter what, you have to be alive to have a future."
Qiu Yuruo twitched the corner of her mouth and said slowly, "No one wants to die if they can live."
Hearing that she was showing signs of relenting, Guo quickly said, "Life might be a little tough after you get married, but it won't be so tough that you can't survive. If you can get through these few years, life will get better."
"No matter what, you should eat something first. If you really ruin your health, it will be hard to recover later!"
Qiu Yuruo suppressed her body's instinct to eat with reason. Thinking about what she had just said, she found a suitable reason for herself to stop starving herself. She said slowly, "This marriage is my eldest sister's. If it weren't for her negotiating the marriage with the Su family, our family wouldn't be being harassed by the Su family now."
My third aunt is right. For the sake of my parents and younger brother having a lineage, I can't die. I have to marry in place of my eldest sister, but I have to live after I marry her. So the dowry prepared for her must be the same as hers for my marriage.
Guo: "...I'll talk to the old lady for you."
Qiu Yuruo looked at her and said, "It's not to help me. If I didn't have that dowry, I wouldn't have lived a good life even if I married into the Su family. Rather than die suffering, I'd rather die now. If I die, I don't know who will marry into the Su family."
Guo's eyes widened: "You!"
Qiu Yuruo stopped talking and simply closed her eyes, refusing to look at her.
After calming herself down, in order not to let this affect her own daughter, Guo could only grit her teeth and say, "Fine, I'll find a way to let you take your dowry with you."
Qiu Yuruo then opened her eyes, her usual gentle smile returning. "Then I'll have to trouble you, Third Aunt."
When Guo saw Rou Shun, who had once been so pleasing to the eye, she felt a lump in her throat.
Qiu Yuruo couldn't let her hold a grudge against her: "If Grandmother is willing to find me a good family, I don't want to trouble Third Aunt like this."
So don't blame me for threatening you. Blame whoever brought this trouble upon you.
Guo cursed the eldest son's whole family in her heart, but when she looked at Qiu Yuruo, who had been starving for three days and had no energy, she felt much better.
"I can't bring up the dowry issue first. After you've eaten, go and talk to the old man yourself. I'll put in a good word for you then."
Regardless of whether her third aunt could help with the dowry request, Qiu Yuruo decided not to continue her hunger strike. After her third aunt finished speaking, Qiu Yuruo replied, "Okay."
Guo breathed a sigh of relief, helped Qiu Yuru sit up, and then, fearing that she might not be able to hold the bowl, fed her herself.
Qiu Yu drank half a bowl of noodle soup and then stopped, asking her third aunt to put it on the table so she could drink it later.
I haven't eaten for three days, and my stomach is so empty that even acid can't come out. Drinking too much at once will really make me sick.
If Qiu Yu was willing to eat, the hunger strike would be over. Guo Shi said, "Then you can drink first. There's still some in the pot. I'll get you another bowl later."
Qiu Yuruo hummed in agreement.
After leaving, Guo went directly to the main room where her parents-in-law lived.
Inside the main room, the elderly couple were sitting there discussing something. Before they could ask, Guo said, "Father, Mother, Yu Ruo is willing to eat."
After listening, Old Mrs. Zhou first snorted before saying, "I knew she was just trying to scare me. Just like her jinxed mother, she doesn't learn any good things, only these tricks to manipulate people!"
The old man tapped his cigarette holder and said, "Alright, that's enough."
Grandma Zhou pursed her lips and didn't continue speaking.
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