Chapter 1: The Ugly Daughter-in-law

Someone tripped her, and her round, chubby body arched forward as she lunged out, landing face-first in the dirt amidst a chorus of jeers.

Her forehead struck the hard ground with a heavy thud, a crisp sound followed instantly by the appearance of a large, red, swollen lump.

The things she had been clutching in her palms scattered everywhere—wild hawthorns, their skins broken and flesh mashed, rolling into the dust.

Grimacing in pain, she clumsily scrambled to her feet. Like a dog, she knelt on the ground, picking the hawthorns out of the dirt near the villagers' feet one by one. Ignoring the mud clinging to them, she clutched them in her palms and giggled foolishly, as if she were holding the greatest treasure in the world.

The villagers nearby pointed and whispered: "Who knows what kind of wicked deeds the old Yang family did in their past lives to raise such a fool of a daughter. A teenage girl, yet her mind isn't even as developed as a five-year-old's. She can't even speak properly, her mother has to wait on her for every basic need, and she can't even manage to shoo birds away from the threshing floor. All she does is wander around the village all day. I heard she almost fell into the manure pit behind the village the other night... And now, look at her, she’s found a few rotten hawthorns somewhere. Look at that silly expression, clutching them like they’re some kind of treasure!"

"Aye, who’s to say otherwise? Being a fool is one thing, but she’s also gluttonous. Her daily rations could feed a grown laborer. Just look at her, she’s become so fat!"

"The dozen or so people in the Yang family eat from one big pot. I heard her parents are afraid she won't be full, so they save their own rations to feed her. She only just finished lunch, and she’s probably hungry again. With all those wild hawthorns, she’ll burst!"

Mu Zichuan stood on the outskirts of the crowd, watching the disheveled, chubby girl sitting on the hard-packed mud. Her coarse cloth clothes had long since lost their color, and her matted hair looked like a bird's nest, stuck with bits of leaves and straw.

She must have crawled under someone’s stove; her dirty, blackened, pancake-like face was smeared with snot and drool, and the eyes embedded in the folds of her fat were dull and vacant.

On Mu Zichuan’s refined, handsome face, his thick, attractive brows furrowed in disgust.

He gripped the blue cotton schoolbag his mother had sewn for him and quietly took a step back.

Inside the bag were a few volumes of the Four Books and Five Classics. It was the end of the month, and the school always gave two days off. With the autumn harvest underway, the teacher was heading home to farm, so the school was closed for two days.

He truly didn't want to pass through here, fearing he might run into her, but this hard-packed mud path was the only way into the village.

It was autumn now, and golden rice paddies lined both sides of the road. An autumn breeze blew, sending waves of gold rippling under the sunlight.

Someone with sharp eyes suddenly spotted him.

"Fatty, look, who is that?"

A sense of foreboding rose in Mu Zichuan’s heart. He turned to run, but someone with malicious intent grabbed him and shoved him into the crowd, pushing him right in front of her.

"...Hehe... Husband..."

A glimmer of light seemed to ignite in her dull eyes. With a *splat*, she spat out the half-chewed hawthorn pulp in her mouth and scrambled up from the ground, excited.

Before he could steady himself, her chubby body lunged at him. His vision darkened as he was tackled to the ground by brute force.

The back of his head hit the dirt, making him see stars. Her thick, meat-shield-like bottom pressed against his chest like a collapsing mountain, and he nearly lost his breath.

*Smack...*

A loud sound landed on his face. He instinctively wiped his cheek; it was sticky and wet, covered in her saliva, and the disgust made his stomach churn.

She sat astride him, dancing with joy like a child, making incoherent sounds: "Hus-band..."

"Sweet, for you... eat..." Her blackened little hands held out a handful of wild hawthorns she had just picked from the dirt. She grinned at him, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and the stench wafting from her nearly made him faint.

Seeing that he wouldn't open his mouth to take the hawthorns, she giggled foolishly and snatched the blue schoolbag from his side.

*Riiip...*

The strap of his brand-new bag snapped. She didn't care; she dumped the books and papers out onto the ground and began stuffing the dust-covered hawthorns into the bag one by one...

The villagers nearby understood what was happening and burst into laughter.

"So that’s it! Fatty was waiting at the crossroads for her little husband to come home from school? This fool, who needs her mother to wait on her for everything, actually knows how to care for her husband. Hahaha, she’s truly single-minded!"

"Mu Zichuan, you’re a lucky one! Look at this child bride your family picked for you. You haven't even married her yet, and she can't wait to take off your pants and consummate the marriage!"

"We couldn't even get half a hawthorn from her, but your wife really dotes on you. You’d better eat up, boy, so you have the strength to consummate the marriage!"

"I think you should forget about taking the scholar exam. Just bring Fatty into your home. Your wife is broad-shouldered and wide-hipped—she’ll bring prosperity to your family. Who knows, you might have a son as soon as she enters the Mu household..."

"..."

Mu Zichuan’s refined face turned beet red. With a surge of strength from somewhere, he shoved the chubby girl, who was still sitting on him and stuffing hawthorns into his bag, hard to the ground.

"Waaa..."

She was flipped over, the ground trembling slightly. She lay on her back like a turtle, wailing loudly.

He scrambled up, not bothering to brush the dirt off his clothes, and snatched the schoolbag from her dirty, short, fat fingers.

"Still crying, you fool! If you touch my things again, I’ll kill you!"

He roared at her viciously.

Seeing his flushed, ferocious face, she seemed to sense his anger. She stopped crying, pouting and looking at him timidly.

Seeing that he ignored her, she shoved her dirty fingers into her mouth and gave him a fawning smile. A trail of crystalline drool ran down her filthy chin and into her blackened neck.

It would have been better if she hadn't smiled; that smile was foolish through and through.

He was trembling with rage.

No matter how diligently he studied at school, or how much he was praised by his teacher and admired by his classmates, the mere thought of this child bride his family had arranged for him made his future feel bleak.

His long, slender fingers gripped her dirty cheeks tightly. He stared at her viciously, his voice a low, grinding whisper that only the two of them could hear: "Stop haunting me like a ghost. I’m begging you. If... if you really care about me, then go die. Go jump into that pond. Let me go, and perhaps I’ll remember you for the rest of my life."