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Chapter 2818 A Difficult Start, Kind-hearted Xian'er

"Mother!" Zhu Chuanwen, wearing what could be temporarily called shoes, arrived at the room next door where his parents lived.

The family home also had few pieces of furniture, but it did look much tidier, and the most eye-catching thing was probably the few bags of grain on the ground.

"Mother...are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Why are you up so early today?" Chuanwen's mother was sitting cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed). When she saw the child lift the curtain and enter the room, she quickly wiped her face and forced a smile.

On the table in the middle of the kang (a heated brick bed), there were scissors and several large red "double happiness" characters.

As a woman, she was unsure whether her husband, Zhu Kaishan, was alive or dead four years ago. Although she told others or comforted herself that he had gone to Northeast China to make his way in the Northeast, she had no idea whether he was alive or dead.

She usually doesn't dare to show weakness in front of children, but she also has her own hardships and grievances.

"Mother, I..." Zhu Chuanwen stared at the "double happiness" character, about to say something.

However, Wen's mother had clearly misunderstood something, suppressing her grievances and forcing a smile. "Wen'er, don't worry, I've already collected almost all of the millet from the Tan family with the neighbors!"

"Tomorrow, we'll find the village's suona band and borrow a mule from your third uncle's house. Then we'll bring Xian'er back in a big, lively celebration!"

"Let me tell you!" As she said this, Chuanwen's mother's eyes revealed determination. "Xian'er is a good girl. After you marry her, you must treat her well!"

Despite having a thousand words to say, Zhu Chuanwen seemed to have a lump in his throat at this moment, unable to utter a single sentence.

The grain on this ground was probably all scraped together by the villagers from the bottom of their pots. Since most of the people in Zhujia Village are surnamed Zhu, they are basically all related. The saying "when one family is in trouble, help comes from all directions" is not just an empty phrase. This is the role of clan in this era.

His mind was a bit muddled, and Zhu Chuanwen had no desire to go back to sleep. "Mom, I'm going out to check the land!"

"Wen'er, don't overwork yourself~"

"Ugh!"

To be honest, the Zhu family wasn't considered too poor in the village. At least their courtyard was neat and tidy, their three rooms were well-organized, and they also had five acres of farmland.

In peaceful times, if you put in the effort throughout the year, you might even have some savings.

Alas, droughts, locust plagues, and man-made disasters are happening one after another, and all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies are increasing one after another. The grain produced here is simply not enough to feed us.

In addition, the three young men of the Zhu family were all big eaters, and no amount of grain could fill their stomachs.

"Send a message!"

"Uncle Jiang~"

"Second Master, you're up early!"

Zhu Chuanwen walked along the village path, his worn-out shoes constantly getting pebbles stuck in them. Everyone in the village was related or kin, and they would greet each other when they met.

Lost in thought, I walked silently forward, and before I knew it, I had arrived outside the village.

The villages of Zhujia Yu and Tanjia Zhuang are quite close, separated only by a pond. I remember the pond always having waves, and the children from both villages would play there when they were young.

However, due to the drought, the pond has dried up and the silt is emitting a faint stench.

Zhu Chuanwen ignored these details and sat on the big rock, thinking about the way out for the future. The system had already issued a task, but it would not be easy to protect this little family in this chaotic world.

"Brother Chuanwen!" A soft voice interrupted Zhu Chuanwen's thoughts.

Looking back, I saw a young girl standing not far away. Although her clothes were a bit worn, they were very clean.

Xian'er wasn't like a weak girl. The Tan family had once been a wealthy family, though they had fallen on hard times. But even a lean camel is bigger than a horse; she was tall and had very bright, lively eyes.

She had not yet experienced hardship, and her eyes were still filled with longing for the future. Because she was about to get married, she stood there, fiddling with the hem of her clothes, her cheeks still showing a little shyness.

In this era, there seems to be an invisible wall between men and women. Even though the two are about to get married, in this land of Qilu, the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, they are afraid of being gossiped about by others.

So Zhu Chuanwen didn't rush over, and the two talked from a distance of more than 10 meters.

"Xian'er, what brings you here?"

“I…I heard it from Shunzi in the village, that you’re sitting here all by yourself!”

Feeling the girl's concern, Zhu Chuanwen's lips curled up and a smile appeared on his face.

But then Xian'er's bright eyes suddenly became conflicted, and the next second it was as if she had made a decision. "Brother Chuanwen, don't worry, if Auntie really can't raise enough grain, I'll tell my dad that we've already... we've already done that, and then he'll have to marry her whether he wants to or not!"

The girl's image was etched deeply into Zhu Chuanwen's heart at that moment.

Xian'er is Chuanwen's fiancée. Logically speaking, the two of them were childhood sweethearts and should have had a happy life together since they were young. But fate is cruel.

The once-fertile land of Qilu suffered a once-in-a-century drought, and the crops failed completely. Now, in rural areas, weddings no longer emphasize dowries; all that matters is food, because only with food can one survive.

Moreover, Xian'er has an older brother who is not yet married. Tan's father hopes that Xian'er will marry out in exchange for a bushel of millet, and then use that bushel of millet to help his son get married. To be honest, this request is not too excessive, at least it doesn't involve exchanging a daughter for a marriage.

What is a marriage exchange?

This involves a bad habit in rural areas that persisted for over a century, even into the millennium, and still existed in impoverished regions.

It's like neither family can afford to get a wife, and since you have a younger sister and she has an older sister, they just swap wives like that, saving the bride price. At that moment, the woman seems to be treated like an object, regardless of whether the other party is lame, deaf, or blind.

In the TV series "Crossing the Guandong", the person with the most tragic fate is probably Xian'er. Her life is full of ups and downs, and she has been through life and death several times. Although she is intelligent, hardworking, kind, and brave, she still suffers a lot of torment and torture. She attributes all of this to "fate".

She often says, "We all have to accept our fate. This is how my life is going to be." This statement is both helpless and realistic.

However, the kind-hearted Xian'er is also resolute and decisive. After her marriage was blocked by her father, she unexpectedly learned that the Zhu family was going to venture to Northeast China. She chased after them all the way to the dock without hesitation.

Ultimately, she had no choice but to travel overland to Northeast China instead of boarding the ship. On her journey to Northeast China, she and Chuanwen depended on each other for survival, begging for a living along the way. However, their luck was bad, and their path of begging was extremely difficult.

Later, Chuanwen fell ill, and Xian'er had no choice but to sell herself to pay for Chuanwen's medical treatment. For example, there is a scene in the drama where Xian'er is kneeling by the roadside with grass stuck in her hair, waiting for someone to buy her so that Chuanwen can be treated.

This scene brought tears to many people's eyes.

Later, Xian'er cured Chuanwen by selling herself into servitude, but she felt she was no longer worthy of him. Therefore, she parted ways with Chuanwen.

Finally, Xian'er's sick husband secretly released her, and Xian'er continued her wandering life. On the way, she encountered the Wang family opera troupe and begged the troupe leader to accept her as an apprentice.

But just as Xian'er's life was starting to improve after she became a star, a bully threatened her master's life and demanded to take her for himself. Left with no choice, Xian'er was violated by the bully.

After that, Xian'er went to the forest farm and survived by the skin of her teeth. She worked as a maid in the Wen family for eight years. In the end, fate played a cruel trick on her, and she had no choice but to go up the mountain to become an outlaw and become the second-in-command who was a powerful figure in the area.

This life was legendary, yet it was also filled with suffering.

To be continued...

(End of this chapter)