Lin Xi's sudden departure startled Luo Shuzhen. Knowing Lin Xi was going to find Zhu Xiuli, she followed without a second thought.
"Sister Lin, I'm a local. For some matters, it might be much better if I communicate with them." Luo Shuzhen followed firmly behind Lin Xi.
Lin Xi thought for a moment and agreed. Although the dialect is generally the same throughout Yunnan Province, there are still slight differences. And the mountainous areas are certainly a bit different from the outside.
Lin Xi drove her towards Kaoshan New Village.
Even after dark, the traffic on the road didn't seem to lessen. Lin Xi weaved through gaps, shortening the forty-minute journey to twenty minutes.
In the afternoon, it had been bustling with wedding festivities, but by evening, the place had quieted down. Zhu Xiuli had already taken off her cheongsam and changed into everyday clothes. She was helping her mother-in-law and sister-in-law clean up the things used for the daytime banquet.
Her face showed no particular expression, but she worked deftly. Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were chatting about household matters, nothing more than the mother-in-law instructing the daughter-in-law on how to serve her husband and care for her children.
One set of words, meant for two pairs of ears. Zhu Xiuli kept her head down, pretending not to hear her mother-in-law's pointed remarks. Her sister-in-law also stayed silent; being lectured by their mother-in-law was a daily routine.
The car pulled over by the gate of her house. Luo Shuzhen ran into the courtyard first. "Zhu Xiuli!"
Zhu Xiuli looked up sharply, seeing Luo Shuzhen and then Lin Xi entering behind her. She sprang to her feet.
"Shuzhen, Sister Lin." It was unclear which of the three children had started calling her 'Sister Lin' first, but now all three addressed her that way.
Lin Xi nodded to her. Looking past the messy courtyard and all the obstacles, she walked up to Zhu Xiuli. "Your Teacher Lu Shenzhi repeatedly urged me to bring you all back to school. I've already taken Li Qiang and Luo Shuzhen. I've thought it over and over, and I just can't leave you behind. Tomorrow we still have to pick up the other two students Teacher Lu mentioned. Zhu Xiuli, do you still want to go to school? If you do, there's still a way to manage everything."
Zhu Xiuli was in her final year of high school, barely eighteen years old even by the most generous count. The legal marriage age in the country is 20, so Zhu Xiuli is legally still unmarried. Furthermore, China had long abolished the provision for common-law marriage.
If Zhu Xiuli truly wanted to leave, Lin Xi would give her one last chance.
Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law had seen Lin Xi at noon; they had even discussed her then. After all, Lin Xi was good-looking, clearly well-off and educated.
They really hadn't seen such a tall, pretty girl around these parts before.
Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law had felt quite pleased then, since Lin Xi was a friend of her younger daughter-in-law. Even though she hadn't stayed for the meal, in their village, she was still a novelty, someone people would talk about.
In the afternoon, Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law had felt some goodwill towards Lin Xi, but now there was none left. "Who are you? Zhu Xiuli is already married. How can you come here trying to break up a marriage, telling her to go to school? What's a girl need with so much schooling? No matter how much she studies, won't she just end up married anyway?"
Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law had a loud voice, and her shout brought the people from the main room outside.
There were four or five of them. One was holding a long water pipe, watching while taking deep, gurgling puffs.
Lin Xi ignored the mother-in-law. She only asked Zhu Xiuli, "Do you still want to go to school?"
Zhu Xiuli's hands were still wet with dish soap. She nodded. "Yes."
Putting everything else aside, Zhu Xiuli wanted to study. She knew this was her last chance. She wiped her hands on her apron. Her face felt cool; she reached up and touched it, realizing tears had, at some point, streaked her cheeks.
Ignored by Lin Xi, Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law planted her hands on her hips, ready to start shouting. On the porch, the man smoking the water pipe spoke up. "Li Dagen's wife, don't make a scene in the courtyard."
As soon as the man finished speaking, the person standing next to him glared at Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law and snapped, "Womenfolk, no sense of propriety in speech or action."
Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law shut her mouth, swallowing her words resentfully. The man with the water pipe tamped down the tobacco in the bowl again. "Young lady, if you have business, come inside and talk."
He turned and went inside first. Zhu Xiuli tugged Lin Xi's hand. "That's the village party secretary of Kaoshan New Village."
Hearing this, Lin Xi felt steadier. Holding Zhu Xiuli's hand with one of hers and Luo Shuzhen's with the other, she walked up the steps and into the house.
Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law stopped working too. After telling her elder daughter-in-law not to slack off, she also followed them inside.
The sofa in the room was an old style from many years ago, covered with a velvet throw blanket embroidered with a peony pattern symbolizing prosperity. The man with the water pipe sat down heavily on it. The other men found random stools to sit on.
Lin Xi looked around and pulled a stool to sit near the door.
After a series of "gurgle" sounds, the village party secretary of Kaoshan New Village placed his water pipe on the ground. The pipe, over eighty centimeters long, stood upright on the floor without wobbling.
He clapped his hands lightly and looked at Lin Xi. "Young lady, I am Li Sanhai, the village chief and party secretary of Kaoshan New Village. May I ask your name?"
The party secretary's attitude was calm, and his gaze held no malice.
Lin Xi looked at him and said, "My name is Lin Xi. I was entrusted by Zhu Xiuli's teacher, Lu Shenzhi, to take Zhu Xiuli and the others back to school."
The party secretary nodded. "Then why didn't that Teacher Lu come himself?"
"Over a month ago, he was in a car accident and passed away." Lu Shenzhi had been hit by a drunk driver on his way home.
Come to think of it, several people in the group had already died in traffic accidents. At such a moment, Lin Xi's thoughts couldn't help but wander for a second.
The party secretary had thought the teacher named Lu Shenzhi was just busy, which was why he sent Lin Xi to fetch the students. He hadn't expected the teacher to be gone. The party secretary felt a pang of sorrow.
He looked at Li Dagen sitting to his left. "Elder Brother, what are your thoughts?"
Everyone in Kaoshan New Village shared the surname Li, all descended from the same ancestor. However, over the generations, the family had branched out, and most were now beyond the third or even fifth degree of kinship.
Li Sanhai and Zhu Xiuli's father-in-law were cousins.
"She is my family's daughter-in-law now, how can she still go to school?" Li Dagen's tone was forceful, and he glared fiercely at Lin Xi. In Li Dagen's eyes, Lin Xi was practically no different from a villain who breaks up a loving couple.
The village party secretary looked at Lin Xi again: "Miss Lin, you heard it too. Zhu Xiuli is already married to our Li Dongsheng. Their marriage was arranged by both families sitting together, matching their birth characters and going through the proper six rites. You have no relation to her, and yet with just empty words you say you want to take her away to study."
"You should know, her family received 35,000 in bride price. And today's banquet also cost a lot of money. Most importantly, our neighbors took time out of their busy schedules to attend this wedding."
"They just gave their gifts, ate the meal, and left during the day. Now, by evening, you say the wedding is void and you want to take the bride away. That's not right, is it?" The village party secretary's face still wore a smile, but his eyes had grown sharp.
Lin Xi met his gaze directly. "But your wedding is illegal. Zhu Xiuli is not yet eighteen; she is still a minor."
She didn't say anything more after that, but someone who could become village chief and concurrently serve as party secretary in this era should understand the law. Lin Xi remembered that the party secretary of their own Lotus Flower Village had to go to the city every month to study laws and regulations. Da Bao had even mentioned to Lin Xi several times how Gu Dahong was going bald from the torment of those laws. She also said that most of the laws and regulations Gu Dahong and the others were studying now concerned women and children.
Li Sanhai did understand. He and the village chief had studied laws and regulations quite well. He knew what Lin Xi left unsaid.
If she couldn't take Zhu Xiuli away today, then she would report this matter to the Women's Federation.
The Women's Federation might seem to have little presence, but if they really wanted to get something done, it could be very troublesome. Especially in recent years with the newly appointed chairwoman of the Women's Federation, who was said to have been transferred from another city. She had done exceptionally good work with the Women's Federation in her previous city.
According to someone Li Sanhai knew, if that chairwoman also performed well in the Women's Federation work in Meng City, she would soon become a People's Congress representative for Yunnan Province. In a few years, she would be transferred to work in Spring City.
Seeing her career path so smooth, and coming back to the matter at hand, Zhu Xiuli was not yet eighteen, still a minor. The law protects minors; even murder wouldn't get you the death penalty. If that woman seized on the topics of violating a woman's will and forcing a minor, making a huge issue out of it, it would blow up.
Then it wouldn't just affect him, Li Sanhai. In their area, which village didn't have a few girls forced into marriage before reaching the legal age? Once you pull up one radish, you bring mud with the others. His days wouldn't be easy afterward either.
If possible, Li Sanhai didn't want to provoke such a person, and he certainly didn't want to become the first fire she lit upon taking office in Meng City. He had worked his whole life here for reputation; he wanted to retire peacefully, not have his late reputation ruined.
But he also couldn't just let Lin Xi take the girl away so easily. If Lin Xi took Zhu Xiuli away without a fight, how would he carry out his work in the future? How would he maintain the authority he had built over a lifetime in Kaoshan New Village?
After all, authority is hard to build up, but destroying it is all too easy.
"What's all this nonsense for? We've given her too much face." Men in the mountain areas mostly cared about face. Someone coming to his door on his son's wedding day to take away his daughter-in-law was, to Li Dagen, a blatant slap in the face.
Those sitting in the living room were all prominent figures in Kaoshan New Village. Li Dagen felt he had lost face in front of them.
He was eager to reclaim his lost dignity. From the day Li Dagen could remember, the education he received was that women were inferior to men.
Based on Li Dagen's observations, the people around him indeed all had men being more dominant than women. Not just in their village, but even in the big cities outside it was pretty much the same.
The big cities outside talked about gender equality, but how could men and women ever truly be equal? Just like the bosses at the factory where he used to work.
Both husband and wife went out to work, earning similar wages. The man would come home and lie on the bed, while the woman, after putting down her bag, had to wash vegetables, cook, mop the floor, and do laundry. Not much different from their rural areas.
So Li Dagen didn't take Lin Xi seriously at all. Lin Xi, like other women, was someone he could mold and shape as he pleased. Just like his own wife; if she was disobedient, a beating would set her right.
Li Dagen walked step by step towards Lin Xi, a bloodthirsty glint flashing in his eyes. Luo Shuzhen and Zhu Xiuli's hearts pounded violently. They knew all too well what that expression on Li Dagen's face meant.
Though terrified, the two still shakily moved to stand beside Lin Xi, trying to shield her.
Two scrawny high school girls—Li Dagen didn't give them a second thought. Lin Xi stood up.
She was wearing a set of grey tapered-leg athletic wear, with relatively lightweight sneakers. This outfit was sent to her by Ye Bingbing. It was from a brand in her world that specialized in producing clothes for soldiers and athletes.
The quality was excellent, the price wasn't high, and it was breathable and comfortable to wear.
Looking at Li Dagen walking towards her, Lin Xi felt a bit excited. She had been practicing the Yi Shu Thirteen Forms for a while now. These days, it only took her thirty minutes to complete one full set.
Her ability had greatly improved, and her strength even more so. But because her own area was just too peaceful, she couldn't find anyone to practice on.
She wasn't the type to go looking for trouble, nor had she thought about stirring things up outside. But if Li Dagen came to her, that was a different story.
Luo Shuzhen and Zhu Xiuli, pulled behind Lin Xi, still tried to step forward to protect her, but it was too late. Li Dagen's palm was already raised high.
Li Dagen was excited. He had never hit a woman other than his own wife and daughter in his life. Lin Xi's face was truly beautiful, her skin exceptionally fair and delicate. As Li Dagen swung his hand, he even wondered if his slap would bounce off her cheek.
He thought it probably would. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Li Dagen felt his body fill with power.
The palm was getting closer and closer to Lin Xi's face.
The sounds of "Thud, Smack, Aah!" rang out in quick succession.
Li Dagen was seen flying backward, crashing into the opposite altar table, and then falling to the floor.
Lin Xi gently lowered her raised foot. Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law screamed and ran towards Li Dagen, who lay on the ground clutching his chest, feeling as if he couldn't even breathe. His back had just slammed into the altar table, knocking the wind out of him.
Village Party Secretary Li Sanhai, along with the other men in the room, stood up. The smile vanished from the village chief's face, while the other three men glared darkly at Lin Xi and her two companions.
Zhu Xiuli's sister-in-law stopped washing dishes and hurried back to her room to check on her daughter. Her daughter had just fallen asleep; she hoped she hadn't been woken by the noise. As she opened the door, she saw her husband putting on his clothes and heading for the living room. Just as she entered, her brother-in-law was also walking that way.
Once inside her room, Zhu Xiuli's sister-in-law let out a heavy sigh of relief, only to immediately feel her anxiety surge again. She didn't have Zhu Xiuli's education; her family hadn't let her continue past the first year of middle school. She stayed home helping with chores for two years before going out to work.
As soon as she turned eighteen, she was called back to be set up on blind dates. After meeting just twice, she was married into the Li family. Her daughter was now three years old, and she herself was only twenty-one.
Her son was taken care of by her mother-in-law. Every year, after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, she and her husband had to leave for migrant work. Their combined monthly wages were only about seven or eight thousand yuan.
Whenever she was exhausted from work, she would wonder why she couldn't have stayed in school. She wished she could be like those office clerks, with their easy jobs and carefree lives.
She thought it was good that Zhu Xiuli could go study. Their mountainous region was vast, and it was better for girls to get out whenever possible.
Sitting by the bed, she looked at her daughter and gently kissed her tender little cheek. She hoped her daughter could study hard, get an education, and leave this place.
Just like the girl who came looking for Zhu Xiuli. When she told Zhu Xiuli that as long as she wanted to study, they could find a way, she seemed to be glowing.
Lin Xi was unaware of Zhu Xiuli's sister-in-law's thoughts. The atmosphere in the living room was now tense and confrontational.
No one was backing down. Li Dagen had been helped up by his wife. The moment he sat steady, he slapped her across the face. The middle-aged woman who had been so fierce outside the courtyard gate now had blood at the corner of her mouth from the blow but didn't dare utter a word.
Zhu Xiuli held Luo Shuzhen's hand tightly. In that moment, both of them understood clearly once again: if they didn't want to live this kind of life, they had to study hard and leave. Go to bigger cities.
"Zhu Xiuli, come here." Hearing her name, Zhu Xiuli turned her head. It was Li Dongsheng.
Living in neighboring villages, Zhu Xiuli knew him. He was two years older and had hated school even in elementary, always causing trouble and defying teachers. In middle school, he ran with the older boys.
Zhu Xiuli had seen them several times, "teaching lessons" to others behind the dormitories or in the bathrooms. His reasons for picking on people were absurd—maybe someone just made eye contact, or he didn't like the way they walked.
She had always despised bullies. Zhu Xiuli never dreamed she would end up married to Li Dongsheng.
Zhu Xiuli would not go over, nor did she want to. Lin Xi was standing up for her in her in-laws' home. The only thing she could and would do was stand firmly behind her. To do otherwise would be a betrayal of Lin Xi's actions tonight, no matter what she said or did.
She turned her head away, refusing to look at Li Dongsheng again. Li Dongsheng had never been so blatantly ignored. Since graduating middle school and going out to work, he had even found himself a "big brother" figure. Back in Guangdong, who didn't give him a second look when he walked by?
A fierce glare crossed his face. He lifted his foot and aimed a kick at Zhu Xiuli. He did like Zhu Xiuli—otherwise, he wouldn't have spent thirty-five thousand in bride price to marry her. But that liking didn't mean she could challenge his authority.
Li Dongsheng had long considered Zhu Xiuli his property. And he knew exactly how to deal with his property.
Lin Xi had been watching him closely. The moment he kicked out, she pulled Zhu Xiuli to her side, turned, and delivered a kick of her own, landing it squarely on Li Dongsheng's shin.
A crack sounded, followed by a scream. Li Dongsheng hopped on one foot, clutching his leg and spinning in pain.
Li Sanhai's view of Lin Xi changed completely. He had initially thought this young woman was rather arrogant, daring to come deep into another village at night to take away a new bride. But those two kicks changed his mind.
She definitely had some skills.
Li Dongsheng's older brother, Li Qiusheng, wanted to avenge his brother and father. He started forward but was stopped by Li Sanhai's call.
Li Sanhai was a man with experience. From Lin Xi's swift, precise, and powerful kicks, he knew she was undoubtedly trained in martial arts.
Having Li Dagen and Li Dongsheng test her was enough. If Li Qiusheng went too and was also subdued by a single kick from Lin Xi, their family would lose all face in Kaoshan New Village.
Not that they had much left now, anyway.
Li Sanhai truly had authority in Kaoshan New Village. At his call, Li Qiusheng immediately stopped, though he glared at Lin Xi with intense resentment.
Li Sanhai smiled again. "A guest is a guest. There's no need for such violence. Li Dagen's wife, hurry up and serve some tea for Miss Lin and the other young lady."
Li Sanhai took the lead in sitting down. Lin Xi watched him for a few seconds, then sat as well. Luo Shuzhen helped the trembling Zhu Xiuli to a seat.
Li Dongsheng's kick had held no restraint, and the viciousness on his face was clear to Zhu Xiuli. She knew that if she didn't escape the Li family, she would become a second version of her mother-in-law.
She, too, would be beaten anytime, anywhere. She would resist, but she knew her resistance would only bring harsher beatings. The mere thought filled Zhu Xiuli with despair.
Zhu Xiuli's mother-in-law, Zhang Xiaoqin, heard Li Sanhai's words. She glanced at Li Dagen, and seeing he didn't object, she swiftly went to the altar table to pour tea.
In the glass cups printed with a "Flowers Blooming in Wealth" pattern, the black dried tea leaves turned yellow, stretching their bodies freely in the hot water.
"Miss Lin, I can see it now. You're determined to take Zhu Xiuli away today. It's true, as you said, the marriage between Zhu Xiuli and our Dongsheng isn't protected by law. But we spent real money to bring her into our family."
"For us mountain folk, earning money isn't easy. Over thirty thousand yuan plus the banquet costs add up to forty or fifty thousand. We have to save for many years for that sum. How do we settle this account?" Li Sanhai looked at Lin Xi and said slowly.
His thinking was simple: the person was gone, so the money they had spent must be recovered. It was impossible for Lin Xi to take Zhu Xiuli away without spending a single cent.
"Third Brother, this won't do. Zhu Xiuli is already our family's daughter-in-law. How can we let them take her away?" As soon as Zhang Xiaoqin heard Li Sanhai's words, she jumped in to object.
This time, Li Dagen did not refute Zhang Xiaoqin. This man had the so-called 'way of being a person' all figured out. The things he couldn't easily say, he let Zhang Xiaoqin say them.
To him, Zhang Xiaoqin was not only his possession but also his punching bag and his pawn. She did all the offending tasks. If anything went wrong, he could righteously pin all the blame on Zhang Xiaoqin.
As the saying goes, when men scheme against women, they are full of cunning.
Li Sanhai glanced at Li Dagen and said, "Big Brother, Sister-in-law, let me put it to you plainly. The legal marriage age in the country is twenty for women and twenty-two for men. The state does not recognize de facto marriages."
"That is to say, this daughter-in-law of yours, without a marriage certificate, is not legally yours. If she runs away, legally, you have no recourse." Seeing that the situation could not be resolved amicably, Li Sanhai quickly chose the side more advantageous to himself.
This statement was clearly beyond Zhang Xiaoqin's comprehension. She looked at Li Dagen. Li Dagen, who worked on construction sites outside all year round, knew about these things. But in their area, wasn't this how everyone took a daughter-in-law? Why was his family so unlucky?
His chest and back still ached faintly, and Li Dagen's face was dark. He glanced at Zhang Xiaoqin.
Zhang Xiaoqin did not disappoint Li Dagen: "If other families all take wives this way, why can't our family do the same?"
Zhang Xiaoqin was truly indignant. The reasons she had brought Zhu Xiuli into the family were, firstly, because her younger son liked her, and secondly, because Zhu Xiuli had a soft temperament and was hardworking.
Zhang Xiaoqin least valued Zhu Xiuli's education, but she herself knew that the reason Li Dagen had agreed to a thirty-five thousand yuan bride price was precisely because he valued Zhu Xiuli's academic ability.
Li Dagen hoped the children Zhu Xiuli bore would also be studious. They might say that education is useless, especially for women, but everyone understands that for a farm boy to make something of himself, he must study hard.
It has always been this way since ancient times.
Li Sanhai shot her a look of disdain. "That's because no one pursued the matter. If someone does, and the bride taken in is unwilling, that's enough to land someone in serious trouble."
Anything that forces a woman against her will is unacceptable. If investigated thoroughly, it's all illegal. Li Sanhai knew there was even a crime called marital rape in this world. If he tried to explain this to these people, they definitely wouldn't understand what marital rape is. They would only ask, if you take a wife, what's the point if you don't do that?
"And this Zhu Xiuli, she's not even of age yet. Do you know what 'minor' means? A minor under eighteen, even if they commit murder, cannot be sentenced to death." Li Sanhai wanted to exaggerate the severity of the matter.
Otherwise, wouldn't it make him seem incompetent?
"You better think carefully. If they refuse and report this to the police, you could be detained. They might even slap you with a charge of human trafficking." Li Sanhai felt there was nothing wrong with his statement.
Taking in an underage daughter-in-law who doesn't want to marry, after spending so much money—insisting it's human trafficking isn't entirely unreasonable.
Li Sanhai's previous statements hadn't held much deterrent power for Li Dagen and the others, but they knew exactly how serious a matter human trafficking was.
Ten years ago, there was a village in the mountains behind them. Since the eighties and nineties, the entire village had been engaged in human trafficking. A decade ago, during an anti-trafficking campaign, they were targeted. All the men in the village went to prison. The ringleaders got the death penalty, and none of the other men have returned yet.
Some women involved in the cases are also still serving sentences. Not only that, it's said their children and grandchildren for three or four generations are barred from taking civil service exams or joining the military.
How terrifying is that? Li Dagen still hoped his grandchildren would bring glory to the ancestors.
Zhang Xiaoqin also knew of her husband's this ambition, so she shut her mouth.
Seeing them fall silent, Li Sanhai nodded in satisfaction inwardly. Then he looked at Lin Xi. "Miss Lin, you can take the person, but you must compensate us."
The implication was that thirty-five thousand wouldn't be enough for Lin Xi to take the girl away.
Lin Xi had already anticipated this. She nodded. "How much do you want?"
Zhu Xiuli pursed her lips, glanced at Lin Xi, and as she lowered her head, she felt particularly wronged and couldn't help but cry.
Her parents had married her off for thirty-five thousand yuan. To put it nicely, it was marrying her off; to put it bluntly, it was selling her.
But Lin Xi, a complete stranger, was willing to spend a high price to redeem her.
Li Sanhai didn't speak. He glanced at the couple, Li Dagen and his wife. Zhang Xiaoqin directly made an outrageous demand: "One hundred thousand."
Zhang Xiaoqin had never seen one hundred thousand yuan, but that didn't stop her from asking for it.
As soon as she spoke, the influential figures from Kaoshan New Village who were present frowned. Li Dongsheng had already been helped away by his brother Li Qiusheng.
Lin Xi laughed. "Secretary Li, your asking price is quite steep."
Li Sanhai thought the couple would ask for fifty thousand at most, but they directly demanded one hundred thousand. One hundred thousand yuan! He really dared to ask. You could marry two or three wives with that.
Perhaps because everyone's gazes were too strange, Li Dagen said, "Final offer. Eighty thousand yuan. Give me eighty thousand, and you take Zhu Xiuli. Whatever happens to her afterwards has nothing to do with our family."
Lin Xi didn't speak, looking at Li Sanhai.
Li Sanhai felt utterly disgraced at this moment. He was really annoyed with Li Dagen for failing to read the situation. One hundred thousand, eighty thousand—he truly dared to ask.
Li Sanhai glared fiercely at Li Dagen and said, "Our bride price was thirty-five thousand. That's a known figure; you can inquire about it. The banquet costs, the hired car fees, we'll calculate that as fifteen thousand. Plus, we need ten thousand for travel expenses to go apologize to each family of the guests who came today. You give us sixty thousand, and that's it."
In the isolated small mountain village, the village chief and the party secretary held unprecedented power. For a matter involving tens of thousands of yuan like this, Li Sanhai didn't even need to discuss it with Li Dagen; he could make the decision directly.
Li Dagen opened his mouth, then closed it again. Sixty thousand yuan was a significant amount. Besides the actual cash paid out, the cost of the wedding banquet wasn't much—the pig was raised by the family, so were the chickens and ducks, and the vegetables were homegrown too. All calculated, the money spent on today's relatively decent wedding roughly balanced out with the cash gifts received.
The idea of going door-to-door to apologize was even more of a joke; it wasn't as if they weren't giving return gifts anyway.
Lin Xi glanced at Zhu Xiuli, whose eyes were swollen from crying.
Lin Xi sighed. "Fifty thousand. I can only offer fifty thousand. But I am absolutely taking her away."
By slashing the price by ten thousand yuan in one go, Lin Xi made it a decision Li Sanhai couldn't make alone. He looked at Li Dagen.
Li Dagen lowered his head, doing the math. His final conclusion was that paying the extra fifteen thousand wouldn't leave his family at a loss.
He wasn't a fool either. The fact that Lin Xi could even offer fifty thousand showed her determination. Li Dagen thought Lin Xi was naive and wanted to take advantage of her, but he also knew you couldn't push people too far.
Otherwise, they might do anything. His own son's generation was hopeless, but he still wanted his grandchildren to have a chance to succeed.
"Fine, fifty thousand it is," Li Dagen agreed. Only Zhang Xiaoqin was unwilling. With this incident, wouldn't she be the laughingstock of the village from now on?
But clearly, her opinion wasn't important, and no one cared about it.
The group headed to the village committee of Kaoshan New Village. Li Sanhai drafted the agreement, with Lin Xi making additions on the side. Then Lin Xi asked for Li Sanhai's bank card number, transferred the money on the spot, and had Li Sanhai issue a receipt. Everyone present wrote down their names and pressed their fingerprints.
Lin Xi gave Luo Shuzhen a phone and had her record the entire process from the moment they entered the village committee.
Witnessing this series of actions, Li Sanhai was somewhat impressed. Lin Xi was both brave and shrewd. A pity she wasn't his daughter. If she were, he would have done everything to support her education and help her leave this place.
After securing all the evidence, Lin Xi drove away immediately. Zhu Xiuli didn't ask to go get her belongings.
She knew that at this moment, it was better for them to leave quickly. Besides, the three thousand yuan her mother had given her as emergency money was with her, carried on her person.
After driving a long way and confirming no one was following, Lin Xi asked Zhu Xiuli, "What about the thirty-some thousand your parents took? Do you want it back? If you do, I'll turn the car around right now."
Zhu Xiuli shook her head. "No, Sister Lin. Let that thirty thousand be the price to sever my ties with them. Deep down, I've always known they raised me just so that one day they could use me to get a bride price for my brother."
"My parents were good to me, but they were even better to my brother. My brother is over twenty now, but he can't do a single chore around the house or in the fields. As for me, I've had to do everything since I was old enough to understand. I knew it all along, but in that situation, I had no choice but to lie to myself."
Zhu Xiuli was soft-hearted, but even she could grow cold: "When I agreed to marry Li Dongsheng, that's what I thought—those thirty-two thousand would buy an end to all future feelings between me and my parents. From now on, except for their old age or a serious illness, I won't be involved."
"It's not like they didn't have thirty thousand. They go out to work every year; how could they not save up thirty thousand?"
It was just the circumstances at the time—her father's nagging, her mother's tears and kneeling—that made her give up on herself and forced her to compromise.
She wiped her tears, took out the paper and pen she had just asked Luo Shuzhen for, and under the dim light in the car, began writing an IOU, stroke by stroke.
"Sister Lin, I can't let you pay this money for me. I'll write you an IOU. After I graduate from university, I'll repay you these fifty thousand within two years." Fifty thousand was a huge sum for Zhu Xiuli, so she couldn't let Lin Xi pay it for her.
This fifty thousand wasn't ordinary money; it was her path to a better life. This price, no one else could pay for her, nor should they.
Being bargained over like goods—twice was enough. Zhu Xiuli swore that from now on, she would never let herself fall into such a situation again.
Lin Xi glanced at her in the rearview mirror. Seeing her determined gaze, and not wanting Zhu Xiuli to develop a habit of getting something for nothing, she agreed.
After dropping them off at a hotel, where Luo Shuzhen and Zhu Xiuli shared a bed, Lin Xi didn't sleep at all.
She was afraid the people from Kaoshan New Village might play dirty and try to snatch Zhu Xiuli back in a night raid. That's how it always happened in TV dramas and novels.
While staying awake, Lin Xi told Lu Shenzhi about Zhu Xiuli's situation.
Seeing that Zhu Xiuli was willing to write Lin Xi an IOU, Lu Shenzhi smiled: [Lu Shenzhi from the World of Schemes: They are all children with spirit. If they lacked it, I wouldn't have asked you to find them.]
Lu Shenzhi came from the mountains himself. No one knew better than him how difficult it was to leave them, especially for girls. If their hearts were even a little softer, they would be trapped in the web of false affection woven by their parents.
[This child Zhu Xiuli is soft on the outside but tough inside. Once she decides something, not even nine donkeys could pull her back. She is soft-hearted, but if her bottom line is crossed, her heart becomes harder than stone.] Over the years, Lu Shenzhi had never been wrong about judging people.
Reading Lu Shenzhi's words and recalling Zhu Xiuli's demeanor in the car that night, Lin Xi felt he indeed had a keen eye for character.
The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Lin Xi took them downstairs for rice noodles. Li Qiang had known since last night that Lin Xi and the others had gone to fetch Zhu Xiuli.
He hadn't dared to sleep, leaning against the door listening for any movement outside. He also didn't dare to chase after them like Luo Shuzhen did. He lived here; he knew that while Lin Xi and Luo Shuzhen could do such things, he couldn't.
Because in this place, men and men were in a competitive relationship. If he went to Li Dagen's house, Li Dagen's entire clan would twist the focus onto something else entirely.
They would think he was there to steal the bride, escalating the conflict. The whole village wouldn't let them leave.
After breakfast, Lin Xi drove them to pick up the other two students. Compared to Luo Shuzhen and Zhu Xiuli, their situations were less complicated.
The reason they couldn't attend school was none other than poverty. When Lin Xi conveyed Lu Shenzhi's offer to support their education, the two of them packed their schoolbags without a second word and followed Lin Xi.
Their parents called after them, but they paid no heed.
Lin Xi drove them to Meng City No.1 High School, the best public school in the city, where the finest teaching resources were concentrated.
Lin Xi explained the situation to the gatekeeper, who immediately called a teacher from the senior year. Shortly after, Teacher Chen arrived. Upon seeing Luo Shuzhen and the others, Teacher Chen's tears instantly streamed down her face.
Teacher Chen held Luo Shuzhen's hands, hugged Zhu Xiuli, and then led them in a bow to Lin Xi.
"Thank you," she said, "for bringing them back to the classroom." It was so difficult for children from the mountains to get an education. Teachers like her had visited their homes, but no one was willing to send them back to school.
For the teachers who had taught them for three years, Zhu Xiuli and the others' arrival was an unexpected joy.
In that moment, the tears everyone had been holding back finally fell. Lin Xi was deeply moved by the sight of the entire group bowing to her in unison.
"I'm acting on someone else's behalf," Lin Xi said. She knew that if it weren't for Lu Shenzhi's task, she might never have noticed children like these.
"We judge actions, not intentions," Teacher Chen said to Lin Xi. Without waiting for a reply, she turned to the students. "The school has kept your student registrations. Go now, go to your classes, pick up your books, and prepare for the college entrance exams."
Luo Shuzhen and the others bowed to Lin Xi once more, then, making promises to each other, ran toward the teaching building.
They chased one another, running toward the sunlight, racing against their own fate.
