Chapter 6: Shi Damei 2

6. Shi Damei 2

Whenever the topic of Damei'er's marriage was mentioned, Shi Shun would fall silent.

Back then, his family couldn't scrape together enough for Tian-shi's bride price, and he truly had taken a liking to Tian-shi's looks and couldn't bear to let her go... As luck would have it, Carpenter Ge, who was working away in a neighboring village, returned home to visit his old mother. Upon learning that the Shi family was scrambling to raise a bride price to marry off a daughter, he sent someone as a matchmaker, saying he was willing to pay twenty new silver dollars as the bride price to marry Damei'er!

Twenty new silver dollars! It would have been a ghost's work for Old Man Shi and Lady Li not to be tempted! Shi Shun was so excited he couldn't sleep for several nights in a row!

On the first night of her marriage, Damei'er cried in the east room and laid everything bare. She had seen long ago that her parents and brother had already agreed to Carpenter Ge's proposal in their hearts; it was just that everyone was afraid of bearing an unpleasant reputation, so they had forced her to be the one to speak up and agree! Shi Damei herself didn't want to be a burden to the family, so she treated it as fulfilling her parents' wishes and fulfilling her brother's! But she insisted that when her younger sister married in the future, she must choose carefully, so that Shi Ermei would not have to suffer like her!

At that time, Old Man Shi sat by the edge of the heated kang, head bowed, puffing on his pipe in silence, while Lady Li and Ermei'er stayed with Damei'er to wipe away her tears. Shi Shun, overcome with shame, hid in the west room, clutching his head as a few manly tears fell! He knew Damei'er was afraid of making things difficult for their parents; after all, he was the only male in the family, and if she had insisted on making a scene until his parents forced her to remarry, it would have likely damaged the family's bonds!

After her marriage, Shi Damei went to live in the county town with Carpenter Ge and the two sons and one daughter from his previous marriage. Carpenter Ge's old mother was unwilling to leave the old house in the village, so she was cared for by Carpenter Ge's younger brother and his wife. When the villagers gossiped, they said Carpenter Ge didn't feel safe leaving his young wife at home for fear of something happening, which was why he took his new bride and the children into the county.

It had been about a year since Shi Damei married, and including this recent incident with Shi Ermei, she had only returned to her parental home three times. Each time, she brought plenty of things and was dressed quite well. But everyone knew the truth: what kind of comfortable or happy life could an eighteen-year-old girl lead, marrying a man in his thirties with a limp, only to become a stepmother to three children!

Only Tian Laidi was short-sighted; seeing that Shi Damei dressed neatly and cleanly and never returned home empty-handed, she believed Shi Damei had married well!

Shi Shun was, after all, a grown man and could not speak bluntly to his wife about such things, but hearing his wife say such unconscionable words made him feel uneasy in his heart!

"What are you dazing off for?" While Tian Laidi was wailing about her grievances, she noticed her husband wasn't responding and was merely staring blankly. Enraged, she raised her foot and kicked Shi Shun, crying again, "How can your family marry a wife like this? Daughters who are married out are treated like treasures, while daughters-in-law are treated like grass! Tomorrow, I'm going back to my parents' house! I won't stay here to take this kind of anger from your family!"

Tian Laidi thought that if she mentioned going back to her parents' house, Shi Shun would approach her just like before, holding her and coaxing her with sweet words. She would then take the opportunity to persuade him to agree to let Ermei'er marry her foolish younger brother, and then the issue with the father-in-law and mother-in-law would be easy to resolve!

But Shi Shun glanced at the fake-crying Tian Laidi, rolled over onto the kang, and threw his back to his wife!

"You!" Tian Laidi was stunned. Under the moonlight, she glared angrily at Shi Shun's back, but found herself unable to speak!

It seemed her husband and her in-laws were of one mind! They were unwilling to marry Shi Ermei into the Tian family!

Tian Laidi felt both angry and anxious! She was angry that her husband was not on her side, and anxious that if even the matter with Shi Ermei fell through, how long would her brother have to remain a bachelor? Would he really have to buy a wife from the other side of the mountain and bring her home?

If a woman of unknown background was brought home, what if she ran away one day when no one was watching?