Chapter 153 – Plan
“You stole it?” Wei Rou’s voice trembled slightly, her eyes filled with astonishment.
In her impression, this third sister had always been timid and especially afraid of Mother Wei. Even if she were pushed to the brink, she wouldn’t dare steal from Mother Wei, let alone a key.
“How could you? Why?” Wei Rou asked.
Wei Sanmei kept her head low, her figure appearing thin and fragile in the moonlight, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
Her hands were tangled together, as if struggling with herself, trying to find the right words.
After a while, she slowly raised her head and whispered, “Because…”
“Because…”
After hesitating for a while, she finally spoke, “Because I don’t want to be forced to marry someone I don’t want to.”
Hearing this, Wei Rou’s eyes widened slightly, her astonishment deepening.
It was at this moment that Wei Rou realized her third sister, who usually seemed quiet and unassuming, actually had such strong opinions.
But it made sense too. In this family, if you didn’t have your own opinions and just listened to Mother Wei, it was a dead end.
The third sister, now fourteen years old, was soon to be married.
Indeed, no one wants to be forced into a marriage they don’t want.
Perhaps the third sister also felt they might share a similar fate in the future, which is why she helped her.
Thinking like this, Wei Rou could understand.
“Alright, thank you for this time. You’ve helped me, and if you ever need anything in the future, I’ll be there for you too.” Even if they were sisters, Wei Rou didn’t want to owe anyone favors.
Wei Sanmei still kept her head low, softly acknowledging with a quiet “Mm.”
Wei Rou had long been accustomed to her third sister’s demeanor. Despite her hungry stomach, she didn’t pay any more attention to her.
Taking the key, she quickly opened the cabinet.
At a glance, she saw the bowl of fish soup placed right at the front.
The soup still had a few pieces of fish floating in it.
Even though the soup had cooled by now, for Wei Rou, who hadn’t eaten anything else these past few days except for some pastries, her hunger was so intense that she didn’t care about such details.
She immediately took a sip of the fish soup, then picked up the chopsticks and started eating without lifting her head, devouring it hungrily.
Wei Rou, with her back to Wei Sanmei, didn’t notice that as she took the first sip of soup, Wei Sanmei behind her, who had been bowing her head, slowly raised her head and looked at her.
In the moonlight, her eyes reflected a deep gaze, and her face was partly obscured by her hair, making it hard to discern her emotions at that moment.
Her lips moved as if whispering something silently, yet it seemed like she said nothing at all.
Wei Rou was just too hungry. Even though the fish soup and fish were cold, she found them delicious, especially considering the scarcity of meat in this era and in their household.
However, just after finishing the meal, she felt a momentary dizziness.
Wei Rou shook her head to try to alleviate it, but the dizziness only grew worse, and the bit of strength she had gained from the soup vanished once again.
What’s happening? What’s wrong with me? Even if I’m starving, it should have happened earlier, not now.
I just drank the fish soup; I shouldn’t be feeling so hungry anymore.
But the dizziness in her head was getting worse.
Wei Rou’s hands dropped the bowl and chopsticks weakly.
And Wei Sanmei, who had been behind her, appeared beside her at some point, quickly reaching out to catch the bowl before it hit the ground.
Wei Rou’s body began to lose balance, as if she were about to fall.
“Big sister, I’m sorry.”
“I just don’t want to marry someone I don’t want to marry.”
Wei Sanmei whispered to her, her timid eyes filled with apology.
What does this mean? Why is she apologizing to me?
Just then, another person appeared in the kitchen again, slowly approaching Wei Rou from the darkness.
It wasn’t until the moonlight fell on that person that Wei Rou could barely make out who it was through her dizziness.
It was her mother.
Mother Wei slowly approached Wei Rou, a smug smile on her face. “You stubborn girl, still trying to defy me.”
“I’ll make you marry; you better obey and get married.”
“Still daring to argue with me.”
“I’ll have to show you my methods.”
“Mother, I…” Wei Sanmei timidly stepped forward, her eyes questioning as she looked at Mother Wei.
Mother Wei waved her hand. “Alright, go back to sleep. Don’t worry, you handled this well. I won’t marry you off to Lame Old Six.”
Lame Old Six was a crippled widower in his forties in the village, who had been married three times.
His first wife had h*nged herself after he beat her.
The second wife drowned herself in the river after he beat her.
The third wife, terrified by him, ran away.
Despite Lame Old Six owning a large brick house and having money, no girl dared to marry him.
Marrying Lame Old Six was a death sentence.
“Thank you, Mother.”
Wei Rou looked at the two people in front of her, her eyes slightly widening. At this moment, she understood everything.
“You two, you…”
So, Wei Sanmei and Mother Wei were in cahoots.
So, Wei Sanmei’s statement about not wanting to marry someone she didn’t want to marry wasn’t about sympathizing with her elder sister. She genuinely didn’t want to marry Lame Old Six under Mother Wei’s arrangement.
Therefore, Wei Sanmei chose to obey Mother Wei’s orders and conspire against her elder sister.
And she, unbelievably, fell for it.
No wonder Wei Sanmei apologized to her.
Wei Rou felt utterly ridiculous.
She wanted to say something, but at this moment, she seemed to have lost the strength to speak.
Her legs gave way, and she fell to the ground with a thud, sitting there in shock.
Not only that, but Wei Rou also suddenly felt a wave of heat throughout her body, with an urge to splash cold water on herself and rip off her clothes.
But she had no strength.
Wei Rou knew she had been dr*gged.
It must have been in that bowl of fish soup.
But it was too late now.
She felt weak and feverish, unable even to raise her hand, looking utterly vulnerable.
“Is it done?” At that moment, two more people entered the kitchen.
One was a man Wei Rou didn’t recognize, and the other, the one who had spoken earlier, turned out to be Yang Zhiwen.
“It’s done, it’s done. Take her away,” Mother Wei said to Yang Zhiwen with a fawning smile.
“Brother, carry her away,” Yang Zhiwen instructed the man.
“Carry her away, carry her away, hehe…” The man chuckled foolishly, following Yang Zhiwen’s command.
This man was none other than Yang Zhiwen’s mentally disabled older brother, Yang Zhigang.
Yang Zhigang was about to lift Wei Rou.
No, no, I don’t want to go…
Wei Rou screamed frantically in her mind.
But her mouth hung open, unable to utter a word.
She turned her pleading gaze towards Mother Wei and Wei Sanmei, hoping they would save her.
Mother, Sanmei, please save me. I really can’t go.
If I go to the Yang family, I might be humiliated, even killed.
Please, I beg you, save me. Don’t make me go.
Wei Rou’s tear-filled eyes pleaded desperately, looking pitiful enough that a soft-hearted person might have been moved to help her at that moment.
But Mother Wei and Wei Sanmei, who had conspired together to set this trap, were not the type to have a change of heart.
Upon seeing Wei Rou’s pleading gaze, Wei Sanmei looked away guiltily and lowered her head.
Mother Wei, on the other hand, completely ignored her.
This is so twisted! And she blackmailed her own child to do this deed. Threatening to marry her off to a man that beat his wives so terribly, two left this world and one ran away. Whose to say she still won’t do it?
I hope Mother Wei suffers a terrible fate for her cruelty, even threatening to marry off her other daughter to an old, abusive, lame man. She knows the type of fate that would await her daughter if she married him, yet is willing to do it without a second thought. If I was in such a situation, I would try to escape in the dead of night or probably just try to take Mother Wei’s life in secret to prevent such a horrible fate. If it couldn’t be prevented, though, then I would just kill the old man before it gets too late and make it look an accident or something; even if the truth is discovered, it’s better than being abused to death.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀
You wrote exactly what I thought. If I were the youngest, I would get married and kill the old man in a way that no one would find out it was me, then I would keep the house and the money.
Wei rou although I hate you for scheming againg the innocent Xu Fanghua, I still don’t want you to suffer at the ahnds of those brothers. You should have gone to the police 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ don’t you know, when you encounter trouble goong to the police is the best option. They can’t force you to marry….
Just like domestic violence is not a crime at that time (at least in novels). As long as the beaten person is not dead, it will go under family conflict without consequences. While it can be reported, it will most likely be ignored, with light punishment like reprimand, and victim will be ostracized by society as “unfilial” afterwards. Parents have full authority over their children, including food destribution and their marriage, however unfair (as far as I understand, the law at that time is pretty vague, so while selling people is forbidden formally, everyone still does it under pretext of bride price and filial piety). Running away from home is also problematic in terms of identity (they basically have no personal identification documents except family registration/marriage certificates/work ID, traveling without introduction letters is also forbidden, whether to issue the letter is totally up to local authorities). Because of collective property and identity problems, you can’t even go and earn food for yourself