Chapter 1

On the wedding night, my rural mother-in-law laid a white sheet on the bed, saying it was a local custom.

Not knowing any better, I didn't think too much and spent a loving night with my husband.

Who knew that the next day, my mother-in-law would hold up the white cloth, point at my nose, and call me a whore, humiliating me to the extreme!

During college, I dated a boyfriend, but we didn't even hold hands before ending things quickly.

Later, under Chen Gen's relentless pursuit, I was moved and married him.

No matter how I explained, my mother-in-law kept insisting that not having blood meant I wasn't a virgin.

My husband, Chen Gen, didn't speak a word in my defense. The disdain in his eyes seemed to want an explanation from me too.

My heart was dead. Is virginity really that important?

Do the solemn vows and passionate love weigh less than a thin membrane?

"Fine, if that's the case, then let's divorce."

The wicked mother-in-law sneered, "Want a divorce, huh? Fine, but your family has to pay us two hundred thousand!"

What! I married into their family; my parents didn't ask for any dowry for the sake of my future, and even gave ten thousand as a dowry. How could they ask for money for a divorce now?

"You're crazy for money!"

Slap!

My retort was met with my husband's slap; Chen Gen pointed at my nose, "How dare you talk to my mom like that?"

"Does your mom even listen to reason?" I asked, covering my face, forcing back tears, barely able to believe the man in front of me was my newly-wedded husband.

"Parents are always right! Whatever my mom says is correct!"

Chen Gen shouted viciously, adding disparagingly, "Second-hand goods."

The male genes' inherent brutality and harshness were a crushing intimidation to a woman like me.

Every time I resisted, it only led to even more severe beatings.

Mrs. Chen, smugly crossing her arms and casting sidelong glances, started tallying up with me, "My son is the only college graduate in the village. After the divorce, he'd be a second marriage and married someone as shameless as you. It's so disgraceful. How could he possibly find a pure bride again without giving more dowry? That's all because of you, so of course, you have to pay!"

I could only suffer in silence, hoping to plead with Chen Gen alone, to part peacefully.

However, Chen Gen glared at me and wouldn't come home on the second night of our marriage.

Mrs. Chen sent me to bring him back, only for me to find him drunk at a widow's restaurant, laughing and joking, holding her close with a bunch of rowdy friends.

As soon as I spoke, he slapped me and drove me away. The widow sat brazenly in Chen Gen's lap, mocking me.

When Mrs. Chen saw I hadn't brought Chen Gen back, she scolded me for being useless, for not keeping my husband.

She even said I deserved it, calling me shameless trash and that it was right for my husband to find another woman.

A few days later, she dismissed the household maid, making me take on all housework.

In my free time, I had to massage her shoulders and legs, serve tea and water, and any slight mistake would be met with a torrent of insults and curses.

At meal times, I wasn't allowed to sit at the table and could only eat what they left over.

Family shame shouldn't be spread outside, and with no close relatives after getting married here, I had no courage to resist, so I could only hide away and cry privately.

Every night, Chen Gen would come home drunk, and after losing at cards, he would vent his anger on me, hitting and pinching, and forcing me to sleep with him.

Just putting on lipstick would earn a scolding from Mrs. Chen for being shameless, and wearing a short sleeve in the summer meant she called me indecent.

Every time, she would leave the door open and shout, making sure all the neighbors knew.

Not long after getting married, people in the village started gossiping about me like I was Pan Jinlian; the village hooligans would tease me when I went shopping, claiming that with such a big chest, I must be wild.

A month later, I was pregnant. I thought having a child might cause Chen Gen to restrain himself slightly, but when he heard the news, he merely tossed back coldly, "Go to the hospital and get it done tomorrow."