A crowd had tightly blocked the doorway of the house.
Shen Wei frowned inwardly.
The elderly woman was the village matchmaker, often arranging marriages for the local girls. With a beaming smile, she beckoned Shen Wei, "What are you standing around for? Hurry inside and fetch us some water."
Yuan Fu refused to open the door.
Shen Wei said, "I don’t wish to marry. Please don’t linger at my doorstep."
The matchmaker pointed at Shen Wei and said to the middle-aged man, "Look, Xi'er is just shy. All girls act this way before marriage."
The middle-aged man was a fellow villager, known to everyone as Old Huang.
Old Huang’s shifty eyes roamed over Shen Wei, gleaming with calculation.
Two years prior, Old Huang had taken a wife. During childbirth, his wife suffered complications, and the family chose to save the child. The result was a fatal hemorrhage, leaving behind two frail sons.
With two precious boys now in his possession, Old Huang’s back straightened with pride, feeling esteemed in the village.
But soon, Old Huang realized that without a wife, the two infants could only be cared for by elderly relatives. Returning from fishing, he had no warm meal waiting, and the children grew gaunt.
At over forty, burdened with elders above and children below, no girl dared marry into his household.
His gaze soon fell on Yuan Xi'er, a girl from the same village. Xi'er had no parents, only a younger brother, and was strikingly beautiful. She would make the perfect wife—docile, unable to fight back, with no family to defend her.
Old Huang paid the village matchmaker a sum of money.
And so, today, the group arrived in force to propose marriage.
"He’s nearly fifty! How can he marry my sister?" Yuan Fu’s small face flushed red with anger.
The matchmaker chuckled, "Older men are better—they know how to cherish their wives."
Yuan Fu snapped, "Then why don’t you marry him? Let him cherish you instead."
The matchmaker glared at him. "Foolish child, spouting nonsense. I’m arranging a match for your sister. Go inside and bring out some stools, then boil water."
No sooner had the matchmaker spoken than another group appeared at the village entrance.
Another bachelor from the village had arrived with his family to propose.
The two groups clashed, instantly trading insults at the top of their lungs.
"I saw Xi'er first! What right do you have to snatch her?"
"I brought a matchmaker today—I was here before you!"
"You’re halfway into the grave already! Take a piss and look at yourself!"
The fishing village was small, and the commotion at Shen Wei’s door quickly drew the attention of the entire settlement. Many of the village’s aging bachelors, who had long eyed Shen Wei, now crowded in, joining the shouting match.
The village had far more men than women, and with its preference for sons over daughters, female infants were often drowned in the sea while males were cherished. Over time, the village had accumulated at least a dozen aging bachelors.
Other fishing girls wanted nothing to do with them, so they set their sights on Yuan Xi'er. Now, these bachelors and widowers swarmed outside Shen Wei’s home, their quarrels escalating into brawls as they fought over Xi'er’s "ownership."
Amid the chaos, Shen Wei and Yuan Fu shut the door, barricading it with a wooden beam.
"A-jie, how can they treat you like this? You’re a person, not a fish!" Yuan Fu wiped away furious tears.
Shen Wei sighed inwardly.
Human nature was inherently vile.
Her original plan had been to recover in the fishing village, gathering seafood with her brother to earn money. Once they had saved enough, she would leave for Qing State.
She couldn’t wait for Li Yuanjing to rescue her.
Relying on others was never as reliable as relying on oneself.
But Shen Wei had underestimated the depravity of the village. No matter how clever she was, staying here long-term meant she could never survive unscathed under the gaze of these predators.
She had to leave the fishing village—the sooner, the better.
"Little brother, how much money do we have left?" Shen Wei pulled Yuan Fu deeper into the house, speaking in hushed tones.
Yuan Fu dragged out a wooden box from under the bed and counted the copper coins inside. "Including today’s earnings from selling clams, we have three hundred coins. A-jie, you were seriously ill not long ago, and we spent a lot."
Prices in Donglin State differed from those in Qing State. Here, copper coins weren’t worth much—a string of cash was only a hundred coins.
Shen Wei quickly calculated the value of three hundred coins. It wasn’t enough to reach Qing State, but she had made up her mind. She had to leave this wretched village. She could head to Donglin’s capital, where she had a branch of her business.
Over the years, with no wars between nations, Shen Wei’s commercial empire had flourished across the continent. Even in Donglin’s capital, she had shops.
If she could reach the branch, she could find a way back to Qing State.
"Pack our things and prepare food. We leave after dark," Shen Wei instructed.
Yuan Fu’s face paled, but after a moment, he nodded firmly. "Wherever A-jie goes, I go."
By now, the noise outside had quieted. The fishermen’s brawl had drawn the attention of the village’s respected elder, the old village chief, who stepped in to end the farce.
Of course, the chief wasn’t intervening for Shen Wei’s sake.
He gathered the bachelors and urged them to sit down and calmly discuss who would marry Yuan Xi'er.
After hours of squabbling, no agreement was reached.
Every man wanted Xi'er for himself.
Finally, someone couldn’t resist suggesting, "Why don’t we each take her for a year? This year, she stays with me. Next year, she goes to Old Huang’s. She can bear children for all of us. She has no parents—we’d be doing her a favor by taking her in."
Silence fell over the group.
The old village chief puffed on his water pipe, his murky eyes shifting, but he offered no objection.
The golden sun slowly sank into the sea, and darkness crept in.
...
When night fell, Shen Wei didn’t immediately flee with her brother. That would be too risky—too easy to be noticed.
Instead, she had Yuan Fu pretend to go night-fishing on the beach, "discovering" a giant clam.
Yuan Fu carried a large bundle of belongings, deliberately shouting at the door, "A-jie! I found a huge clam! It’ll fetch a fortune!"
Shen Wei opened the door, feigning excitement. "Really? Let’s take it to the county market right away!"
Yuan Fu pretended to hesitate. "Shouldn’t we wait until tomorrow?"
Shen Wei replied, "No! If it dies overnight, it won’t sell for much. Come on, we’re leaving now."
Their voices were loud enough for the neighbors to hear. Sister Qiao, the fisherwoman next door, irritably opened her window and sneered, "A lousy clam—what’s the big deal? Keep it down! You’re disturbing my sleep."
Yuan Fu scratched his head sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. I’ll be quieter—Sister Qiao, you rest. A-jie and I are off to the night market."
With their belongings on their backs, Shen Wei and Yuan Fu vanished into the night.
Sister Qiao curled her lip, muttering "trash" under her breath before slamming the window shut.
