In the Old Su Family’s home in Lihua Village, Chen Danou sat on the edge of the heated brick bed, smiling cheerfully at Old Su. "Aunt Su, do you think you could help me with something?"

Chen Danou had come today to discuss a marriage between her second son and Su Qing of the Su Family.

Old Su said, stone-faced, "You know as well as I do that our Old Su Family has already separated from that girl, Su Qing. These days, as her grandmother, I have no control over her. You have no idea how fierce that girl is now. If something goes wrong, she’ll pull a knife. So, let’s just drop the matter."

Even now, Old Su’s heart still trembled a little when she thought about the time Su Qing had pulled a knife.

"What? Pulled a knife?" Chen Danou’s expression stiffened. "What’s this all about?"

"What do you mean, ’what’s it all about?’ She pulled a knife, that’s what." As Old Su spoke of the incident, her face filled with resentment. "You haven’t seen how vicious that girl is. She looked like she wanted to hack someone to pieces with it."

"Ah, well..." Hearing this, Chen Danou began to have second thoughts. She hadn’t been very keen on Su Qing to begin with, since Su Qing wasn’t much to look at. Now, hearing that the girl was the type to pull a knife over nothing, she grew even more hesitant.

’If Su Qing really has such a temper that she’d pull a knife, could I, as her mother-in-law, even control her?’

But her son had his heart set on marrying Su Qing and wouldn’t consider any other girl. She was in a bind. After all, her youngest son was already of age, and if he didn’t get married soon, he’d become a laughingstock.

While Old Su and Chen Danou were talking in the room, out in the courtyard, the gate was quietly pushed open a crack. A woman, her face hidden by a scarf, furtively entered the yard.

In the kitchen, Tian Aixiang had gotten off work a little early to start preparing dinner. She grumbled under her breath as she bustled about. Ever since Su Tao had gotten married, all the household chores for this large family had fallen on her shoulders alone. Unless they were having meat—in which case Old Su would come into the kitchen to supervise her cooking—the old woman didn’t lift a finger. Tian Aixiang had to do chores first thing in the morning, and after returning from work, she still had to cook for the entire family. With such a mountain of work, she felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"Mom, Mom," Su Tao’s voice whispered from behind her. The sound made Tian Aixiang jump. She turned to see Su Tao. "Taotao, what are you doing back here now? It’s not a holiday or anything. Have you forgotten what your grandma said? Don’t come running back here for no reason. You’re a married woman now, part of their family. It’s not right to keep running back to your parents’ home."

"Mom, I came back in secret. Keep your voice down, don’t let Grandma hear," Su Tao said quickly to Tian Aixiang.

"You snuck back?" Tian Aixiang was alarmed. "You didn’t tell your in-laws you were coming back?"

"Mom, look." Su Tao, on the verge of tears from the injustice, pulled her scarf aside slightly, revealing a bruised and swollen corner of her mouth and livid marks on her neck.

Tian Aixiang was horrified and nearly cried out. She clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide as she whispered, "Taotao, this... how did you get hurt so badly?"

Su Tao wiped her tears. "Mom, the whole Sun family are monsters. Sun Dongshi is a fool, and he loves to hit people. He hits me for no reason. If I try to fight back, his parents hold me down and let Sun Dongshi beat me. It’s not just my face and neck, my whole body is covered in bruises from his beatings. And they won’t even treat my injuries, they just leave me to suffer. Mom, I came today because I want to ask you for some money. Please, can you give me some money? So I can go to the hospital and see a doctor, please?"

Although Tian Aixiang felt a pang of pity seeing her daughter beaten, giving her money was out of the question. In her eyes, Su Tao was now nothing but a sunk cost. After raising her for over a decade and spending a fortune, she hadn’t gotten a single cent of the bride price when the wretched girl got married. She did have a little money saved up, but it was all for her son. She certainly wasn’t counting on her daughter to support her in her old age.

"You silly girl, where would your father and I get any money?" Tian Aixiang shot Su Tao a glare. "Your in-laws gave you those injuries, so you should make your in-laws take you to a doctor. If they don’t agree, then make a scene! Where did all that troublemaking spirit you used to have go?"

"Mom, how am I supposed to fight the three of them all by myself?" Su Tao’s face flushed with anger. She had been beaten this badly, yet her own mother refused to help her in the slightest.

In truth, Su Tao had come for money today with another purpose in mind. Though she hadn’t been married into the Sun family for long, she couldn’t take it anymore. In such a short time, she had been beaten black and blue. She was genuinely afraid that if this continued, she would be beaten to death one day.

So, Su Tao wanted to run away. Far, far away. As for counting on her family to help her get a divorce, she didn’t even consider it. The Old Su Family had basically sold her to the Sun family. They had taken such a high bride price, given her a few ragged clothes, and sent her on her way. To rely on a family like that would be crazy.

So, she wanted to run. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

But to run away, she needed money. As for a letter of introduction, she couldn’t worry about that now. The priority was to get some money and leave this place. She’d figure out the rest as she went.

The Sun family kept their money well hidden; she had searched several times but found nothing. So, she had set her sights on Tian Aixiang.

"You should learn from Su Qing. If you can’t beat them, pull a knife! I refuse to believe they’d still be so arrogant if they saw you pull a knife." Tian Aixiang offered her daughter this piece of advice. In any case, there wouldn’t be a single cent of money.

"Su Qing, Su Qing." At the mention of Su Qing’s name, Su Tao’s face filled with resentment. She had once hoped Su Qing would be the one to marry into the Sun family and suffer, but now it was her.

To this day, Su Tao still believed that Su Qing had been behind the incident where she and Shitou were caught in bed together. But she had no proof.

"Mom, how can you bring up Su Qing? Su Qing has money, so she has confidence! What do I have? I was just sold off by you all! Do you feel no guilt spending the money you got from selling me?" Su Tao ground out, glaring at Tian Aixiang.

"You child!" Tian Aixiang felt uneasy under Su Tao’s gaze, but then she instantly felt righteous again. After all, she hadn’t gotten a single cent from the money they got for Su Tao. She slapped Su Tao’s shoulder. "What did I spend? That money isn’t in my hands."

The slap landed right on one of Su Tao’s bruises. She went pale with pain and hissed sharply.

Tian Aixiang felt even more uncomfortable and mumbled, "If you’d had the ability to make some other family come to our door and propose marriage, you wouldn’t have ended up marrying into the Sun family. Look at Su Qing. Such a well-off family wants to marry her, and even though she refused, they’ve come all the way to your grandma."

"What?" Su Tao was stunned. "When?"

"Right now." Tian Aixiang jutted her chin toward the main room. "They’re talking to your grandma as we speak. But I don’t think there’s much hope. Your grandma doesn’t dare provoke that girl Su Qing anymore."