Chapter 573: 573 The child who carries a mountain 2
She listened quietly, not asking any questions.
He continued, “At that time, the Xiao Family had three acres of paddy fields, worth forty-five taels of silver. When my parents were alive, they didn’t leave much behind, just an old residence. Chuan and I paid for the three acres of paddy fields with the money we earned; Qinghe was still young then. The Liu Family asked for one hundred taels of silver as a betrothal gift, which I couldn’t afford even if I sold everything I had. Besides, I couldn’t sell the house left by my parents. Half of the paddy field belonged to Chuan as well. After spending all the silver taels on the fields, if I sold them, I would have at most twenty-something taels.
The Liu Family was extremely dissatisfied with the amount, urging me to gather more money. I had no other option but to plead with the Liu Family, promising to treat Haitang well and make up for the betrothal gift gradually in the future once I had money.
Finally, the Liu Family agreed to marry Haitang to me. However, before I could rejoice, one day, Haitang’s parents came to me in a hurry, saying a villain from a neighboring town had taken a fancy to Haitang and kidnapped her to a deep mountain, asking me to save her. When I went to rescue Haitang in the mountain, I happened to come across a bear, and I killed the bear blind with my bare hands, but ruined my left face in the process.”
My face was ruined for the sake of saving Haitang. I thought she would treat me well, but to my dismay, she despised me for my disfigurement and ignored me from then on. I begged her to be more considerate for the sake of our child, but she said… the child wasn’t even mine. She had been with me a month earlier, but she had already been pregnant for two months. Since the child’s father refused to take responsibility, she pinned the child on me instead.”
Su Qingyue listened with a puzzled look. “Second brother, are you a fool? Don’t you know that the child isn’t yours? She was already pregnant when she started seeing you, and she wasn’t pure. Weren’t you aware of this?”
“I knew.” He closed his eyes in pain. “After we did ‘that’ in the cornfield, I knew she wasn’t pure, and I was unhappy. She cried miserably, saying that she had been assaulted by a villain when she went to visit relatives in another town. She initially wanted to die, but because I was in her heart, she chose to live. I believed her words. Even though she was no longer pure when she was with me, I accepted it.”
She propped up her chin. “From the sound of it, you really were a good man, second brother.”
“Later, she looked down upon me, and since the child’s biological father was willing to marry her, she finally confessed that the child wasn’t mine. She hadn’t been defiled by any villain; she had a relationship with Landlord Wan Fangcai from the neighbouring town. Wan Fangcai’s main wife wouldn’t allow her to marry into the Wan Family as a concubine, and Wan Fangcai was also fearful of his wife. So she had no choice but to pin her child on me. Her being tied up in the deep mountain wasn’t done by some villain either, but by two henchmen sent by Wan Fangcai’s main wife.”
After listening, she understood. “Later, Wan Fangcai still defied his fear of his wife and married Liu Haitang as his concubine. As for you, second brother, you were left with a scar on your left face. A year later, big sister got married, sold all three acres of the Xiao Family’s paddy fields, took the money and left. Big sister never came back.”
He nodded, his eyes filled with pain. “I ruined my face for Liu Haitang, yet she kept calling me an ugly savage… an ugly ghost. Everyone in the village was afraid of me. During that time, the villagers avoided the Xiao Family at all costs. However, since Chuan was eloquent and good-looking, he often interacted with the villagers while selling goods. Gradually, the villagers no longer avoided the Xiao Family. My heart was filled with despair, and I had given up hope of getting married and having children.”