Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Yan Lijun’s Emotional Journey

Yan Lijun spent her days at home in tears, with none of the joy a new bride should feel. She had no idea what awaited her after losing the bride price—what kind of life she would face once she married into the Xu family.

If the Xu family was easygoing, at most they’d just scold her a bit. But if they truly came to resent her, she feared she’d never know a peaceful day for the rest of her life. The thought alone terrified her.

She hadn’t attended her younger brother’s betrothal ceremony, already harboring deep resentment toward her soon-to-be sister-in-law, who hadn’t even entered the family yet. She had used her own pregnancy to threaten her parents, only to end up ruining her own life.

Seeing their daughter cry her heart out, Yan’s parents finally couldn’t bear it anymore. They searched everywhere among relatives and friends, but only managed to borrow a watch voucher.

Pooling together what little money they had left, they scraped together enough to buy her a watch, so at least she wouldn’t go to her new home empty-handed and could give some sort of explanation to her in-laws.

Yan Lijun knew that even this watch wouldn’t erase her in-laws’ resentment, but it was better than nothing, so she accepted it.

Her younger brother’s wedding was set for the same day as hers.

The whole family was worried—what if, on the wedding day, Xu Huaiyu came to fetch the bride and found that the bride price he’d given was gone? What if he made a scene? What would they do then?

According to local custom, the bride price was sent to the bride’s family at the time of engagement, and then, on the wedding day, it would be ceremoniously moved from the bride’s home to the groom’s, making a show of it. Some parents might keep a thing or two for themselves, but most, out of love for their children, would return everything untouched.

But just then, someone from Xujia Village came with a message: Xu Huaiyu had injured his foot while up in the mountains and was now bedridden.

Still, the Xu family wanted the wedding to go ahead as planned. The only thing was, Xu Huaiyu wouldn’t be able to come fetch Yan Lijun on the wedding day—they hoped she could find her own way to Xujia Village.

This nasty trick was, of course, Liu Guifang’s idea. She believed Yan Lijun’s bad luck had brought misfortune to her son, so she was determined to make things difficult for her new daughter-in-law.

The messenger had expected to be thrown out—after all, what family would let their daughter go to her husband’s home by herself, especially a city girl? If she had to chase after her own marriage, would she ever have a good life?

Unexpectedly, the Yan family—relatives of the Xu Party Secretary—agreed cheerfully and even saw the messenger out politely.

Strange things happen every year, but this year there seemed to be more than usual.

For the Yan family, this news was a blessing. They’d been worried that Xu Huaiyu might cause trouble when he came to fetch the bride, ruining their son’s wedding. Now, thanks to fate, he couldn’t come at all—what a relief!

The only downside was for their daughter. This was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and it was turning out so shabby—she didn’t even have anyone coming to fetch her.

The family’s money had been used up on all the recent events. After discussing it, Yan’s mother decided to sell the pair of gold earrings she’d brought as her own dowry years ago, exchanging them for a few dozen yuan to give her daughter as a nest egg. She was afraid that, because of the bride price issue, her daughter would be resented by her in-laws and have a hard life.

At least with some money in hand, she wouldn’t go hungry. Besides, both she and her husband had jobs—if worst came to worst, they could move to the city and leave it all behind.

But her son-in-law was another matter.

The night before the wedding, Yan’s mother pulled her daughter aside for a private talk.

“Lijun, you’re getting married tomorrow. Don’t look so down.”

“Easy for you to say, Mom. Have you thought about what I’ll do after I marry over there?” Yan Lijun felt deeply resentful of her parents’ favoritism, but for the sake of family ties, she couldn’t bring herself to break with them completely.

She’d always thought her parents were open-minded and treated all their children equally—after all, they’d let her finish high school, which was proof enough. But now she felt, painfully, the difference between sons and daughters. When it came to choosing between her and her younger brother, her parents didn’t hesitate to choose him.

They even used their past affection as leverage to force her to give in.

Family love? She didn’t want it anymore.

“I know you’ve been wronged, but your brother’s in-laws really are capable of anything. If he doesn’t get married, he’ll spend his life as a convict. He’s the only son in the Yan family—how could your father and I bear that? If we had the money, we wouldn’t have touched your bride price. I truly want the best for you.”

“So you can’t bear to ruin my brother, but you can bear to ruin me? Money, money, money—ever since I started working, I’ve handed over my wages to you. Dad works too. There’s no way we don’t have any savings! And if worst comes to worst, we could sell this house to pay for my brother’s wedding. The truth is, you just can’t bear to part with the house or with my brother—but you can bear to sacrifice me. You know full well what will happen to a woman whose entire bride price is kept by her family, but you still force me to swallow my pride.” Yan Lijun’s anger reached its peak.

Her mother, feeling guilty, didn’t dare meet her daughter’s eyes.

She really couldn’t bring herself to break up the family and leave everyone homeless just to fill this hole, especially since her daughter was about to get married anyway.

Sometimes, it’s better not to look too closely at things—otherwise, you’ll see just how ugly human nature can be.

Even parents, when there are multiple children, can’t treat them all equally—it always comes down to weighing pros and cons.

“Wasn’t it just that you and that Xu boy hit it off at the right time? What’s the point of saying all this now? Get some rest. You have to get up early tomorrow.” Her mother left the room in a hurry, afraid to see the mockery and disappointment in her daughter’s eyes.

Was she really wrong?

No, this was how things had always been. A married daughter is like water thrown out—eventually, she’d have to rely on her son, so she had to stand firm.

Could the family really not scrape together the money if they tried everything?

No.

It was just that, since her daughter happened to have a bride price, they took it for granted, dressed it up as poverty, and used it all—claiming they had no choice.

Yan’s parents did love her, but not enough—when it came to her brother, she always had to give way.

Watching her mother flee, Yan Lijun curled her lips into a bitter, mocking smile.

From now on, she could only rely on herself.

The next morning, her younger brother dressed up and went out to fetch his bride.

Yan Lijun watched the lively scene outside, feeling as if none of it had anything to do with her. She quietly got herself ready, putting on thick makeup to hide her dark circles and swollen eyes.

The woman in the mirror showed no trace of happiness—only disappointment and fear for the future.

Her dowry consisted of a few old clothes and a quilt, all packed into a small bundle.

She kept the watch and her nest egg close.

Her father had borrowed a leather suitcase from a relative to keep up appearances, instructing her to bring it to the Xu family and to be sure to return it when she came back to visit.

If it weren’t for the distance between the county and Xujia Village, her father might have made her walk there to get married.

In the end, they found a friend with a bicycle to give her a ride.

No relatives or friends accompanied her, no flowers or applause, not even a string of firecrackers. She left home quietly and alone.

As she stepped out the door, she turned to see her mother pouring a basin of water at the threshold—a symbol that a married daughter is like water thrown out.

Yan Lijun felt chilled to the bone."