When Eldest Uncle Xia and his family—Qiangqiang had hurriedly called them over—entered the door, they saw Wang Tao and Wang Zhigang standing beside Xia Li and immediately understood everything. The usually calm eldest uncle grabbed a broom and started hitting Second Uncle Xia. “You beast, how dare you! How dare you do such a thing?!”
Eldest Aunt-in-law, wiping away tears, accused, “Chengyao, do you have a heart? Wenyue was sold by you at sixteen, don’t you see what kind of life she had? How can you do such a thing again?”
Beaten by his sister and cousin, Second Uncle Xia screamed his innocence, “I really didn’t! Wang Zhigang is a boss, he’s rich, I never intended to harm Mianmian!”
“Rich! Rich!” Xia Wenyue snatched the feather duster from the stunned Xia Mian’s hand and hit him again. “All you care about is money! I was sold by you at sixteen for a bride price because the Mao family had money!”
“Don’t you know what kind of life I had in the Mao family?” Xia Wenyue’s tears flowed uncontrollably, but it didn’t stop her from hitting her brother.
Second Aunt-in-law Xia heard the commotion and rushed over. Seeing her husband being beaten, she quickly tried to intervene, “Hey, hey, what are you doing? Why are you hitting him?!”
But as soon as she approached, Xia Wenyue lashed out with a feather duster, “How dare you come here! I knew you had a hand in this! Dare to harm the children of the Xia family, I will beat you to death!”
Second Aunt-in-law felt a sharp pain on her face and fell to the ground, howling. Xia Wenyue grabbed the scissors from the windowsill and lunged at her, “Lin Meihua! I warned you, never mess with me again! I’ve already died once; I fear nothing now!”
“If I ever decide to end it all, I’ll make sure to drag your family to hell with me!” Xia Wenyue was nearly hysterical.
Second Aunt-in-law dared not mess around anymore and hurriedly scrambled away in a panic.
It turned out she was right. Xia Wenyue was serious. The scissors landed right where she had been sitting, chipping a large piece off the blue brick.
Terrified, Second Aunt-in-law ran toward Grandma Xia, “Mom, Mom, please do something about your daughter!”
But Grandma Xia dodged even faster, “She’s married; I can’t control her.”
Xia Wenyue laughed mockingly, throwing the scissors in the direction of the two women, “See? She didn’t protect me when I was sold by Xia Chengyao; why do you think she will protect you?”
In the end, Second Aunt-in-law didn’t dare use Grandma Xia as a shield—she couldn’t afford to take responsibility if the seventy-year-old woman fell.
But Grandma Xia, afraid of the scissors in Xia Wenyue’s hands, agilely hid behind her daughter-in-law, making her scream loudly in fright when the scissors cut her trousers.
The rest of the family was equally terrified. Eldest Aunt-in-law hurriedly pulled Xia Wenyue back, “Wenyue, Wenyue! Calm down, it’s not worth it to destroy yourself for people like them!”
Second Aunt-in-law took the chance to flee in a panic.
Xia Wenyue collapsed into Eldest Aunt-in-law’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably, “Sister-in-law, do you know what my life has been like? Do you know how I’ve survived?”
Eldest Aunt-in-law patted her back, crying too, “We know, we know. This is Chengyao’s fault. Whatever happens to him, it’s just his karma coming back to him, but you’ve worked so hard to rebuild your life, don’t destroy yourself now.”
Xia Hai and the others fell silent. Xia Wenyue was usually very tough and caring—it was hard to imagine that someone as vibrant as she had endured such suffering.
Xia Wenyue was the youngest child of her generation. She inherited Grandma Xia’s beauty, but her lively and capable personality came from her father. It was said she was a good student back then; with her grades, she would have no problem getting into a technical secondary school. She had a promising future ahead of her, but her life was ruined by her own brother’s selfishness.
Second Uncle Xia was eight years older than Xia Wenyue. Because of his bland look and miserly nature, he had trouble finding a wife. After Grandpa Xia passed away, Grandma Xia never cared about her children’s future, so Second Uncle Xia remained a bachelor at twenty-four. Desperate, he relentlessly pursued Lin Meihua, the eldest daughter of the Lin family—later known as Second Aunt-in-law Xia.
It was easy to tell what kind of family had raised someone like Lin Meihua. The Lin family had no criteria about the man who would marry their daughter. All they asked was a double amount of betrothal gifts—as long as the money was paid, they would immediately send their daughter packing to the groom.
The Xia family’s financial situation was considered well-off in Mingxi County. Grandpa Xia, knowing Grandma Xia’s nature, had arranged a sum for his second son’s wedding before he passed away. However, the bride’s family demanded double the usual amount. Despite Uncle Xia’s miserly nature, he couldn’t save that much money, and Grandma Xia wouldn’t spend her private savings on anyone, not even for her own children.
At that time, Eldest Uncle Xia thought about negotiating with the Lin family to lower the bride price, but unexpectedly, Second Uncle Xia quickly arranged a marriage for his youngest sister, Xia Wenyue, without consulting anyone in the family.
The Mao family was also well-known in Mingxi County—but not for good reasons. Although they were well-off economically, Old Lady Mao was notorious for her harshness. The two daughters-in-law of the Mao family were healthy and rosy when they first married, but after years of being treated like slaves, they were now just skin and bone. As time went by, their situation became the talk of the town, and no good families would marry their daughters into the Mao family.
Furthermore, the second son of the Mao family was also considered defective in the marriage market. His feminine appearance—derogatorily called ‘shemale’ in this era—gave him a terrible reputation throughout the county. Already in mid-twenties, he was still a bachelor and probably would remain so forever.
Second Uncle Xia offered Xia Wenyue as a bride for this second son.
And Old Lady Mao, upon hearing it was Xia Wenyue, agreed to the proposal on the spot. Xia Wenyue was well known for her beauty and smartness, and many good families were considering proposing on behalf of their sons, but she was still young. As such, everyone was waiting. After another two years or so, Xia Wenyue would be graduating from technical secondary school and start earning money, which would raise her value even further.
The shrewd Old Lady Mao knew that Xia Wenyue was not her son’s match. In order to prevent the Xia family from backing out, she gave the betrothal gifts directly to Second Uncle Xia, who kept the entire affair secret. Only after he used the money to propose to Lin Meihua’s family and everything became a foregone conclusion did the Xia family realize what a terrible thing he had done.
Even though people in Mingxi County generally get married early, they usually wait until the bride turns at least eighteen. Besides, Xia Wenyue was still in school and would have a bright future once admitted to a technical secondary school.
Eldest Uncle Xia and Xia Mian’s father immediately went to the Mao family to negotiate. However, if the Mao family were sensible, they would not have conspired with Uncle Xia to do such a thing. No matter what the Xia family said, the Mao family refused to have the betrothal gifts returned and insisted on Xia Wenyue becoming their daughter-in-law.
Xia Wenyue was left with no choice. She thought about running away, and the Xia family, not wanting her to suffer at a young age, supported her decision.
However, they underestimated Second Uncle Xia’s shamelessness. He anticipated Xia Wenyue’s escape might ruin his marriage plans, so on the day she escaped, he informed the Mao family, who then captured her.
The Mao family made a huge scene, and Grandma Xia, annoyed by the commotion, agreed to set the wedding date. The Mao family even kept someone to watch over Xia Wenyue. Having accepted the betrothal gifts, the Xia family was left with no options, and so, Xia Wenyue was forced to marry…
“Gu City is just twenty miles from our home… I haven’t been able to visit my parents’ house in ten years,” Xia Wenyue cried out loud. “I got pregnant and gave birth when I was sixteen…”
“I almost died when I gave birth to Huimei. That old hag despised me for giving birth to a girl and barely gave me food to eat during the confinement period.”
“But I don’t dare say anything; I have to endure it. If I don’t, my children will suffer even more…”
“Later I gave birth to Huilan. The old woman not only cursed me, but she also treated my children even more harshly. I wanted to die several times, but I didn’t dare. I was afraid that my children would be worse off if I were gone…”
“If I hadn’t risked my life that time, I’d never escape the Mao family’s grasp for the rest of my life…”
Recalling the past events, Eldest Uncle Xia couldn’t help but tear up. He raised his hand and slapped Second Uncle Xia hard.
Translator’s Note:
Hello, everyone! As I explained before, The Healer Demands Payment! is going to enter hiatus. After looking around for replacement and asking for suggestion, most of you suggest I take over abandoned titles, and it just happens that one of my favorite title has been abandoned for a few years now, so I feel comfortable taking it over. Here it is: Wake Up Male Lead, You Belong With The Female Lead!. What I love from this author’s novels are always the dynamics between the main couple and the twist incorporated into the seemingly typical cultivation world settings. Hope you can enjoy it as much as I did!
For this week only, there will be daily updates (5 updates), and then it will follow THDP’s update schedule: Tuesday and Thursday.
Enjoy~