Chapter 16 of the Dark Lady
The midday sun was bright, almost blinding, but it left only a narrow sliver of light in the small room. It was a room built against the wall of the main house, less than six square meters, barely big enough for a small bed. Gao Xing had lived here for twenty years, hiding within this small space almost all her joys and sorrows.
Gao Xing curled up in bed, cradling a pilled panda stuffed animal. It was the only toy she had brought from the main house. Ever since her younger brother, Gao Wang, was born, Gao Xing had given up her room to him and moved into this little room.
The door opened from the outside, and Gao Wang placed an iron box on the ground. Inside the box was some rice and leftover vegetables, with a pair of chopsticks on top.
Gao Wang said nothing as he pushed the iron box into the room and prepared to lock the door again. Just as the light at the doorway was about to disappear, Gao Xing suddenly rushed over. She pushed the door open and was about to step out of the room. A rough hand grabbed her neck and then threw her back into the room.
Gao Wang, who was standing outside the door, was hit in the face by the door panel that was suddenly pushed open. He withdrew his hand and rubbed his cheek.
Gao Wang said angrily, "You still want to run away? I'll go back and tell Dad, and he'll break your legs!"
Gao Xing stood up from the ground and tried to push the door open again: "Let me out, why did you lock me up?"
Gao Wang held the door with one hand and blocked the crack with his body. He deliberately left a gap for Gao Xing, but at the same time blocked the way.
Gao Wang said impatiently, "Why? Because you are shameless! I have never seen a woman as shameless as you! You are shameless and you bring shame to your family too!"
Gao Wang became angrier and angrier as he spoke. He pushed Gao Xing to the ground, slammed the door shut, and then locked it tightly with a big lock.
Gao Xing slowly rose from the ground. The iron box had been knocked over. On the rough cement floor, a few pieces of dried mud mixed with food looked rather disgusting. There were no cleaning tools in the room, so Gao Xing could only use the scrap cardboard under the bed to move the things on the floor back into the iron box. It was a bit dirty, but she was used to it. During the days she'd been locked up, she'd eaten, drank, defecated, and urinated in this small room. This had been going on for years, the only difference being whether the door was locked or not.
She was born this way, and she was used to it.
According to her family's plan, she would go to the city to study at a junior college for a few years, then return to the village to marry into a better family and receive a larger dowry. However, in the past few years, she has seen many different lives and realized that the world is much bigger than Paradise Town.
Zhou Hao was her classmate and her first love. Gao Xing had imagined countless times how they would live together and what names they would give their future children. In a girl's heart, marriage is romantic, but in the eyes of a family, it is a reality. Zhou Hao was a poor boy, scared away by the bride price the Gao family offered. Gao Xing didn't understand why the bride price and dowry were so important when they were willing to get married. So Gao Xing chased him out that day. Even without her family's blessing, she wanted to start a life of her own with Zhou Hao...
The window of the room was on the west side. It was a small sliding window, and now it was also locked. Gao Xing picked up the chopsticks on the ground. She used the chopsticks to press against the lower edge of the window frame, and then used a dictionary as a hammer to pry slowly and forcefully. The wall was made of red bricks and had not been repaired for many years. The connection between the window frame and the wall was already somewhat rotten. Gao Xing had been prying day and night with a pen, chopsticks, and anything else she could find these days. She had to get out today. Before Gao Xing was dragged away by Gao Wang who was chasing her that day, she had secretly agreed with Zhou Hao that Zhou Hao would wait for her at the station at the foot of the mountain at seven o'clock tonight. They would meet there.
Was the sunset's light red or a warm yellow? Gao Xing, emerging from the window frame, was suddenly dazed. For so many years, she had always been the obedient eldest daughter in the family. Now, if she really ran away from here, the road ahead would be completely unknown. Gao Xing glanced back at her little room, then turned and walked towards the sunset.
Gao Xing arrived at the station, where people were coming and going, and it was a busy time. Gao Xing looked around but didn't see Zhou Hao. She looked up at the sun that hadn't set yet, maybe it was still early. She had been running all the way without a break, and she hadn't eaten all day, so she was tired and a little dizzy. She wanted to find a place to sit for a while, but she was worried that Zhou Hao wouldn't see her when he arrived, so she leaned against a tree and waited quietly. She was very thirsty, and she had no money on her. Now she was truly penniless. Gao Xing thought, maybe this is the price of freedom, but everything will be fine in the future.
Gao Xing stood quietly beneath the tree, watching the bustle of people fade to a moment of solitude, the vibrant fish-scale clouds transforming into a dark gray sky. Her thoughts shifted from excitement and agitation to anxiety and unease, but her eyes shone with a glimmer of hope. Gao Xing stood quietly beneath the tree, unsure how long she had been standing there. She was afraid that if she sat down, Zhou Hao, who had just arrived, would miss her because of traffic, misreading the time, or something else. This guy was coming, and she was going to make him suffer… So Gao Xing thought, smiling.
A calloused hand grabbed Gao Xing's hair from behind and pulled her back. Gao Xing couldn't help but scream in pain. She realized that there were four or five people standing behind her, and the one who grabbed her hair was her father, Gao Shuigen.
Gao Shuigen's face was even darker than the sky. He just grabbed Gao Xing's hair and walked back.
Gao Xing cried out in pain. Recognizing several people around her as her neighbors, she called for help. They looked at each other and didn't intervene. That afternoon, after the Gao family discovered Gao Xing had escaped, they mobilized half the village to search for her, claiming she had been "abducted." Although these people didn't see any "human traffickers," they felt it was a family matter, so they couldn't intervene.
From then on, Gao Xing returned to square one amidst the dragging, threats, and mocking stares. She had desperately turned her head, hoping to see a figure appear at the station and rush over to save her. Even if the final outcome was tragic, it would be worth it. But what she saw was an increasingly dark darkness.
The lamp above my head emits a warm light.
Gao Xing was thrown into the middle of the room, where she lay motionless and silent. Gao Shuigen shut the door tightly and sat quietly smoking. Gao Wang leaned against the door, expressionless. Gao Xing's mother, Zhu Yinghua, kept cursing her daughter.
Tired of scolding, Zhu Yinghua pointed a broom at Gao Xing and said, "The family needs to build a house and pay the bride price, but you don't care at all and just give it to them! You have no conscience. Can't you think about your brother?"
Gao Wang's marriage had been arranged, and the Gao family was planning to build a new house and prepare a betrothal gift for their son. The money was to be paid from Gao Xing's betrothal gift. Unfortunately, Gao Xing chose a poor man who couldn't afford the betrothal gift, which made the whole family very dissatisfied with Gao Xing.
Gao Xing knew this very well. She focused her eyes on her mother's face and asked, "From childhood, I have lived to make my brother prosperous, right? Now, can you please make me happy for once? Just once? Let me go."
Zhu Yinghua swung the broom and hit Gao Xing, cursing as she hit him: "Are you crazy about men?"
"Money-losing thing!" Gao Wang came over and followed his mother to kick Gao Xing.
Gao Xing held his head and rolled on the ground after being beaten, but he didn't make a sound.
"That's enough!" Gao Shuigen glared at them, and Zhu Yinghua and her son stopped.
Gao Shuigen flicked the ash from his cigarette and said, "Son, your family is doing this for your own good. Don't you think about how you can live a good life in the future if you follow a man who can't even afford a betrothal gift?"
Gao Xing raised his head slightly and asked: "Dad, how much money do we need to give to our family so that we can live a good life?"
Gao Shuigen glanced at Gao Xing and said, "All these worries have been taken care of by your family. I think Zhu Shun is a good candidate. His family is rich and has no elders. We are not worried that you will be bullied if you marry him."
Gao Xing felt a pain in her heart, a tearing feeling: "Have you ever worried about me? If you really are worried, then let me go. I'll go out and find a job. I'll pay the betrothal money myself, okay?"
Gao Shuigen extinguished the cigarette in his hand: "Don't you understand what I'm saying? I provide you with food, drink, and schooling, and yet you betray an ungrateful person?"
"Why are you saying this to her? She deserves a beating!" Zhu Yinghua raised the broom in her hand again and smashed it down hard.
Gao Shuigen turned his head and whispered, "Don't hit me in the face. I'm going to get married in a few days."
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