Chapter 2

I don’t have many possessions.

Just a few pieces of clothing, and the few taels¹ of silver I’ve managed to save over the years.

I originally intended to keep this silver to buy myself a decent hairpin before my wedding.

Or perhaps to keep it for emergencies after I marry Lu Zhao.

Right now, he is only an unranked Clerk, with meager pay, and in the future, there are bound to be places where he’ll need to spend some money.

I know that a few taels of silver won’t be of much help.

But I have my skills, and he has his salary.

In this small town, at the very least, we wouldn’t starve.

After we get married, we’d have a son and a daughter.

The son would study and learn to read just like Lu Zhao.

As for a daughter… I wouldn’t let her turn out like me.

I would cherish her, dress her in warm and beautiful little jackets, and style her hair in the prettiest fashion of the times.

Days are made to be lived, after all.

And they would only get better.

…

All these years, I have thought that perhaps Lu Zhao didn’t like me as much as I liked him.

But I never imagined that he would break off our engagement for the sake of my elder sister and me.

All his efforts to get into the County Office were for one purpose: to find faults with Squire Qian’s family.

Only then could my elder sister, who deeply regretted agreeing to become a concubine, escape from the Qian Family.

The day my sister returned, Lu Zhao gazed at her with tenderness, protecting her in his arms.

The whole family was overjoyed.

Only I was left, feeling so wronged I didn’t know where to begin.

As I picked up my third bowl of noodles, Granny Liu couldn’t help but ask, “Did your father scold you again?”

“A daughter as obedient as you-how could he bear to lay a hand on you…?”

I poked at the noodles in my bowl, saying nothing.

“Li, be good, just hold on a little longer. Once you marry Young Master Lu, everything will get better.”

“Young Master Lu works at the County Office now, and he treats you well. Even Lin Tieshan, your father, wouldn’t dare go too far. Our Li is a blessed girl…”

So they all believed that Lu Zhao treated me well.

In these three years, he never once lost his temper with me.

On holidays, he would come visit the elders in my family, and he would take me out to see the lanterns on the street.

Everyone in town knew that Young Master Lu was a refined and handsome gentleman, gentle by nature-one of the rare good men in Changning Town.

It was just a pity that his family was poor, with an elderly mother who was ill and temperamental all year round. That’s why I was able to catch such a break.

Who could have known that his visits to my parents were just to catch a glimpse of my sister?

When he took me out to admire the lanterns, it was only because my sister had not yet returned, and he wanted to hear some news about her from me.

He let me help take care of his mother at his house, wash clothes and cook for him… all because I was like an unpaid servant.

“…I broke off the engagement.”

“What!”

Granny Liu was so shocked she could barely hold onto her bowl.

“How could the engagement be broken? Did Young Master Lu mistreat you?”

This question tugged sharply at my heart.

Holding my bowl, I thought I’d finish the last sips of soup before answering.

But the more I drank, the saltier and more bitter it became.

Was it just Lu Zhao who wronged me?

My father, my mother, and my sister…

They all wronged me.

Footnote:

1. Tael(两):The “tael” is a traditional Chinese unit of weight that has been used both in ancient and modern times. Its weight has varied across different historical periods and regions. In ancient times, 1 tael ≈ 37.5 grams, while in modern times, 1 tael ≈ 50 grams. The text uses the ancient standard.