Sometimes, being born beautiful can be a blessing, but other times, it can bring disaster.
For someone like Anso, a handsome and gentle man, having a face as beautiful as a flower attracted the attention of many women in a female-dominated world. Among them was Lingsan.
Lingsan liked Anso's looks. One day, she started touching him inappropriately. Anso was weak and couldn't fight back.
People in the village saw this happen. From then on, they began to doubt Anso's reputation.
Soon after, Lingsan came to Anso's home to propose marriage, saying all kinds of sweet and convincing things. Anso's family didn't like it but had no choice. If the village found out, Anso could be punished, even drowned in a pig cage, and his entire family would be shamed.
Anso could only accept it. This was the path fate had chosen for him. He had no choice, no power to resist.
In this world where women ruled, people always said, "A good man doesn't disobey a woman." Even if the woman was clearly in the wrong, people would still blame the man, saying he lacked moral virtue.
People might say they're fair, but when they see an unmarried man having contact with a woman, deep down they still judge him.
But on the day of the wedding, Lingsan suddenly spoke badly about Anso, blaming him and calling him shameless. Anso couldn't take it and cried.
Anso's aunt, Anru, got so angry that she fought Lingsan in front of all the guests. She beat Lingsan until she cried out loud in pain.
After that, the two families completely broke off. Anru swore that she'd never accept Lingsan as a daughter-in-law again.
But time dulls all things…
Over two years passed. Anso's elderly parents never stopped worrying about the son who had cut ties with them after getting married.
One rainy morning, his parents finally packed some money and food and walked step by step through the muddy roads to visit their son at the Ling family's home.
They wanted to see how he was doing…
At the Ling household, Lingsan hadn't been coming home for days. Anso still took good care of his mother-in-law, father-in-law, and son. He wanted to find Lingsan but had no idea where to look—she never told him.
He didn't dare ask. If he said the wrong thing, she would hit him.
Sometimes she stayed out all night claiming to hunt. She would return the next day with a lot of game, so Anso didn't question it. But this time, three whole days had passed with no sign of her.
Anso started to worry.
Even though she didn't treat him well, wasn't that how most women treated their husbands in this world?
Still, Lingsan was his wife. If something happened to her, he would be left alone and easily bullied.
So that rainy day, he put on his raincoat and stepped outside to look for her.
Just as he opened the door, he saw two figures walking toward the house—a man and a woman.
The woman was Lingsan. But the man beside her, Anso didn't know.
Once inside, Lingsan took off her rain hat and pointed at the delicate young man beside her.
"This is Liutao, my new husband. From now on, you're all brothers in this house."
Anso had just stepped inside and taken off his raincoat when he heard those words.
He stood frozen, staring at her, speechless. He didn't know what to say.
Lingsan didn't care how he felt. She continued, stabbing deeper into his heart.
"It's fine that you can't give birth to a daughter. Liutao is already pregnant, and the fortune-teller said it's definitely a girl."
Anso looked at her, feeling like she was a stranger.
He couldn't see the woman he once married. Back then, she didn't hit or yell at him. When they shared a bed, she swore she'd treat him well forever…
As a man, he married and followed his wife. At first, he really cared about her and even forgave how she treated him before marriage.
But now?
She hadn't looked at him with warmth in a long time. He could feel it—her eyes were full of disgust, especially after he gave birth to their son.
She lost her temper all the time, and he endured it just to keep the family together.
And now—Liutao?
Who was that? Probably some courtesan with a fake name from a brothel.
Yes, a brothel.
You could tell from his flashy clothes. He hadn't even changed before coming here.
No wonder Lingsan was always broke, stingy even when their son was sick. No wonder she disappeared for days and never explained.
Heh.
What a joke.
What a stranger she'd become.
Anso just wanted to let his heart die, so he wouldn't feel pain anymore.
He regretted believing her lies before the wedding.
In all these years, had she ever kept a single promise?
He hadn't been living like a real person—just surviving.
Lingsan saw him crying and felt annoyed.
Liutao was pregnant with her child. Their family was about to have a daughter! And Anso, as the older husband, welcomed the new one by crying?
So unlucky. All he ever did was cry!
"What the hell are you crying for? I'm having a daughter, and you can't even say something nice! You won't even take care of the baby in his belly. All you do is cry!"
The more she scolded, the angrier she got. Then she slapped Anso hard across the face.
This man only behaved after a good beating!
"Ah—!"
The door was open, and the rain outside poured down harder with each shout from Lingsan.
Heavy drops like red dates slammed into the ground, as if they were trying to punch holes into it.
Anso was thrown out of the house with that slap. He fell down the steps into the muddy courtyard, soaked in rain and dirt. His light blue clothes were quickly soaked through.
Lingsan stood at the doorway with her hands on her hips, looking down on him without a trace of pity.
Just then, Anso's aunt Anru and her husband Zhengyun arrived in the pouring rain and saw everything.
Since entering the village, Anru had been nervous. Her right eyelid kept twitching. She and Zhengyun rushed straight to Lingsan's house.
They had just arrived when they heard Lingsan yelling inside, just like the day of the wedding two years ago when the families fought.
Anru had held in her anger toward the Ling family for a long time. She thought if her son was doing okay, she'd bite her tongue, apologize, and try to get along.
After all, if the families stayed on bad terms, it would only hurt Anso.
If things stayed tense, other boys could visit home during festivals, but her son wouldn't even dare say he missed them.