Chapter One： The Twins Come into the world

I am a twin with my younger brother. On the day we were born, a fortune-teller passing by to ask for water stared at us in our swaddling clothes for a long time and blurted out, "Two stars descend to the earth, one auspicious and one ominous. A baleful aura obscures the sun, and the truth is hard to discern." My parents, already favoring sons over daughters, firmly believed that my younger brother was the lucky star, while I was the source of bad luck. They even intended to abandon me in the mountains to fend for myself. Fortunately, a hunter from a neighboring village found me while going into the mountains and rescued me, then took me to Grandpa Li Zheng. My parents, regarding me as a burden, would rather let me stay with Grandpa Li Zheng than take me back home.

Grandpa Li Zheng puffed on his water pipe and said unhurriedly, "Raise her for a few years. Maybe she can be sold for some money later." My mother rolled her eyes and retorted angrily, "Even if we sell her, we have to feed her first. There isn't enough food for our Guangzong as it is!" My younger brother is named Fan Guangzong, with the implication of bringing honor to the family. As for me, I didn't even have a name. In my parents' eyes, I was just a burden that could be discarded at any time. Grandpa Li Zheng took another couple of puffs on his pipe and continued, "I'll have a word with the schoolteacher. Let your Guangzong go to school." Upon hearing this, my parents' eyes lit up instantly, as if they could already envision the scene of my younger brother becoming a high-ranking official and the whole family enjoying a life of prosperity. Just like that, I was lucky enough to survive and was given a name—Fan Daya.

In Jinli Village, only the wealthy Yu family sent their son to school, and my parents envied them deeply. With the help of Grandpa Li Zheng, Fan Guangzong entered the school at the young age of five. At the same time, I started to learn how to do household chores. From cutting pig grass and cleaning the chicken coop to climbing onto a stove taller than myself to cook while standing on a stool, I did every task with proficiency. In order to send my younger brother to school, my parents spent almost all their savings, yet they had no complaints. After all, in their view, studying was a matter of great prestige.

On the first day of my younger brother's school, my parents carried him and walked from the village committee to the village head, telling everyone they met. They almost wanted to beat gongs and drums to announce this "good news." As for me, I went to cut pig grass before dawn. After feeding the pigs, I cleaned the chicken coop, and then climbed onto the stove to cook for the family using that huge pot that could fit me inside. "Our Guangzong is blessed with great fortune. He will surely become the top scholar in the imperial examination and a high-ranking official in the future, allowing us all to live a good life!" My parents often talked like this, as if it were already a certainty.

In order to earn more money to support my younger brother's schooling, my father took out the last bit of savings at home and borrowed some silver. He gave the money to an acquaintance to do business, full of anticipation for the dividends. However, unexpectedly, the acquaintance's business failed, and he actually ran away with the money. When the creditors came to our door to demand repayment, my parents hid themselves away, leaving me alone to deal with the situation. In order to pay off the debts, my parents scraped together money from all sources and hid for over a year before finally managing to pay off the debt. My mother held me responsible for this and said viciously, "It must be you, this ominous star, who has ruined all the luck in our family! Otherwise, how could the business fail so suddenly?" My father also echoed beside her, "If it weren't for you, this ill-fated girl, would our family be in such a mess?"

My younger brother saw that his classmates in the school all came from well-off families and lived in big houses. After coming home, he cried and made a scene, insisting on having a big house too. In order to satisfy my younger brother's request, my father handed over the farmland to my mother to manage and went to the town to do manual labor himself. But he got into a fight with others over a singing girl while drunk and was beaten until his leg was broken. He lay at home for half a year. The family borrowed money everywhere and barely managed to save my father's leg, but the tuition fee for the school was still outstanding, and the teacher had urged several times. My parents blamed each other and quarreled all day long. In the end, they took out all their anger on me. "Sell her. We can not only get some money to subsidize the family but also get rid of this burden. It's a win-win situation!" My parents discussed and decided to sell me to a brothel.

When I learned about this, I pleaded with them bitterly to sell me as a maid instead. My mother sneered and said, "How much money can you get by being a maid? The brothel will give dozens more taels of silver!" They were determined to sell me to a brothel. I tried to run away but was caught. My mother picked up a stick and beat me violently. My father also slapped me several times. I staggered and fell to the ground, bleeding from my head. Then, they tied me up with a hemp rope and prepared to take me to the brothel to sell me. Just then, a thick and deep voice came from the crowd, "I'll buy her."

The one who spoke was Yu Beiguo, the eldest brother of the Yu family. He blushed and stammered, "I... I want to buy her as my wife." In the end, Yu Beiguo paid two taels of silver. Under the witness of Grandpa Li Zheng and several village elders, he took me away. My mother said sarcastically on the side, "You Yu family bought this ill-fated girl. If something goes wrong later, don't come to us. We won't return the money either!"

Yu Beiguo was going to serve in the military, leaving behind his sick mother and young brother at home. Before leaving, I gave him the copper coin that I had always worn to keep myself safe. He promised to send money back on time. I also promised him that I would take good care of this family. Since Yu Beiguo left in a hurry, we didn't have time to hold a wedding ceremony. My mother-in-law asked my younger brother-in-law, Yu Beijing, to hold a rooster and perform the wedding ceremony with me. Yu Beijing was only in his teens, tall and slender, with a thin face and a pair of bright eyes like stars in the sky. During the ceremony, he was so nervous that his face turned red. As soon as the ceremony was over, he ran away quickly. My mother-in-law and I couldn't help but laugh.

After a short rest, I began to get busy. I did the laundry, swept the floor, pulled weeds, watered the plants, and fed the chickens, cleaning the house thoroughly inside and out. My mother-in-law felt sorry for me and quickly told me to rest and treat my injuries. She even borrowed herbal medicine from the neighbors for me to take. The next day, I woke up a bit late due to the exhaustion of the previous day. My mother-in-law was not at home, and only Yu Beijing was reading in a corner of the yard. In order to have better light, he moved the table and chairs into the yard and sat upright, looking very focused. When he saw me wake up, he pointed to the bowl of rice paste on the table, indicating that I should eat it.

I had just drunk half of it when I saw Auntie next door running in with my mother-in-law on her back in a hurry. My mother-in-law's eyes were closed, her hair was disheveled, and there were cuts on her body. Auntie gasped for breath and said, "Your mother-in-law went to the mountain to dig wild vegetables early in the morning and accidentally slipped and fell." My mother-in-law was already in poor health, and this fall made her condition even worse. I wanted to invite a doctor, but Yu Beijing showed a troubled expression and said, "There is no extra money at home now."

It turned out that my mother-in-law's family was wealthy when she was young and had accumulated a lot of wealth. But later, my father-in-law lost money in business and passed away due to illness. My mother-in-law's health also deteriorated day by day and she needed to take medicine all year round. In addition, Yu Beijing's schooling also required expenses, and the family could only rely on Yu Beiguo's manual labor to make a living. Life was very difficult. Those two taels of silver were almost the last savings of the Yu family. No wonder Yu Beijing didn't go to school today. It must be because there was no money to pay the tuition fee. And my mother-in-law, despite her frail body, went up the mountain to dig wild vegetables, just to add some food to the family.

After thinking it over, I decided to go back to my parents' home to borrow one or two taels of silver and planned to pay it back with both principal and interest after earning the money. But as soon as I got back to my parents' home, my mother scolded me harshly, "You're this ill-fated girl. As soon as you got married, you brought bad luck to your mother-in-law and made her fall! How dare you come back to borrow money? Get out of here quickly!" As she spoke, she picked up a stick beside her and swung it at me. This time, for some reason, I managed to dodge it. When my mother saw this, she became even angrier, "You heartless thing. Your wings have grown strong since you got married? How dare you dodge!" She rushed towards me. I sidestepped, and my mother couldn't stop herself and fell to the ground directly. She simply sat on the ground and wailed loudly.

At this moment, a thunderclap came from the sky, followed by a flash of lightning. The sky grew darker and darker, and it seemed that it was going to rain soon. I knew that there was no hope of borrowing money, so I turned around and walked back. Not long after, the raindrops as big as soybeans poured down, and I was soaked through. When I passed a bridge, I suddenly heard someone calling for help under the bridge. I took a closer look and saw that it was an old man who had fallen into the water. Without hesitation, I rushed over to pull him up, but the river water rose rapidly in an instant, and it could wash us away at any moment. I exerted all my strength and finally managed to pull the old man out, but he fainted. Helplessly, I had to carry him back home.

When Yu Beijing saw me in such a sorry state, he was taken aback for a moment. I felt a bit 心虚 and was just thinking about how to explain when Yu Beijing brought two bowls of ginger soup, "Quickly give this to the old gentleman to drive away the cold. This bowl is for you." I didn't have time to drink the ginger soup and rushed into the house to change my clothes. When I came back, the old man had already woken up. It turned out that he was from a neighboring village and was visiting relatives in the village. Unexpectedly, he encountered heavy rain and accidentally fell into the river. The old man was extremely grateful to us. After learning that my mother-in-law was ill, he offered to help treat her. Only then did we know that he was actually a famous doctor in the city.

The old man carefully diagnosed my mother-in-law's illness, prescribed a prescription, and also intended to give us the valuable medicinal herbs in his bag. I politely declined but only asked him to teach me how to identify medicinal herbs. It rained heavily for three days, and I studied with the old man for three days. The old man was amazed at my learning ability and even invited me to be his herbal medicine assistant. But I only wanted to cure my mother-in-law's illness and save enough money to let Yu Beijing continue his studies, so I declined his invitation.

After the rain stopped, I went into the mountains to dig for medicinal herbs with dry food. The old man said that my body was weak and it would be best to buy some tonics for nourishment. But the Yu family was penniless, and where could we afford tonics? I remembered that I had heard someone say before that there might be precious medicinal herbs in the mountains, so I went to give it a try with a glimmer of hope. After digging for a day, my body was covered with mosquito bites and I had several cuts on my body, but I only found some common medicinal herbs. Seeing that it was getting darker and darker, I quickly walked back home. However, I accidentally tripped and fell into a big pit and fainted.

When I woke up again, the sky was already faintly bright. I realized that I had slept in the pit for a whole night, and my mother-in-law and Yu Beijing must have been extremely worried. I quickly picked up the scattered medicinal herbs and limped back home. From a distance, I saw a lot of people gathered in front of the house. My mother's voice was particularly harsh, "What are you looking for? That little wretch might have died in the mountains. It would be better if she did. Then she wouldn't be a burden to us anymore!" My mother-in-law was so angry that she trembled all over, "How can you say such things about your own daughter?"

I suppressed the anger in my heart and appeared in front of everyone. It turned out that because I hadn't returned for a long time, my mother-in-law was so worried that she asked Grandpa Li Zheng to mobilize everyone to help look for me. My mother was afraid that my father and younger brother would be in danger and had been obstructing them all the time. When they saw that I was safe and sound, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and dispersed one after another, and my mother left while cursing.

Yu Beijing had been out looking for me all night and rushed back as soon as he heard the news. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, and his eyes were slightly red. When he saw me, a trace of joy flashed in his eyes. I comforted my mother-in-law and Yu Beijing, and then took out the medicinal herbs I had dug. Just then, a ginseng rolled out from the pile of medicinal herbs. My mother-in-law was both surprised and delighted, "Daya, where did you dig this out?" I was also at a loss. I clearly only dug some common medicinal herbs. This ginseng was probably brought out by me when I climbed out of the pit by chance.

My mother-in-law examined the ginseng carefully and said, "This ginseng is probably more than 20 years old and has a good appearance. It can be worth at least thirty or forty taels of silver." Yu Beijing took me to sell the ginseng at the herbal medicine shop in the town. The shopkeeper of the herbal medicine shop was very happy to learn that I had learned to identify medicinal herbs from the old doctor and gave us fifty taels of silver. I was overjoyed. After buying the tonics, I took Yu Beijing to the school to pay the tuition fee.

As soon as we arrived at the school gate, we saw Fan Guangzong standing there with a sign with the character "punishment" hanging around his neck, and my father was constantly pleading with the teacher who was holding a teaching stick. Yu Beijing whispered to me, "This is the punishment of the mysterious plaque. Only students who have committed serious mistakes will receive such punishment. If he can pay a large sum of penalty silver, he may still be able to continue studying in the school."

Fan Guangzong had sharp eyes and saw me at a glance. He shouted loudly, "Fan Daya, do you have any money? Hurry up and pay the penalty silver for me!" The eyes of everyone immediately focused on me. My father also saw me and hurriedly came over to grab me, "Daya, the Yu family must have given you a lot of silver. Take it out quickly and pay the penalty silver for your younger brother!" I shook my head vigorously, "I don't have any silver." My father became furious immediately, "Don't you see your brother suffering? He is a scholar. How can he endure such humiliation?" As he spoke, he was about to grab my basket and was still cursing.

Just then, Yu Beijing stepped forward and blocked in front of me, "She is now a member of my Yu family, and the silver cannot be disposed of without permission. If you want it, for the sake of you being her father, you can write an IOU, but the interest cannot be less by even a single cent." I nodded quickly. My father pointed at me and cursed, "You unfilial girl. You won't even help your own father and still want an IOU and interest. Have you lost your conscience?" As he spoke, he raised his hand to hit me. Yu Beijing grabbed his wrist and said coldly, "You tried to sell your daughter into a brothel before. What right do you have to put on the airs of a father now? Your daughter is hardworking and sensible, yet you tortured her in every way. Your son is good for nothing and lazy, but you doted on him excessively. This is all the consequences you deserve!"

The people around started to talk and cast contemptuous glances at my father and Fan Guangzong. The teacher also said seriously, "The punishment of the mysterious plaque is to make students realize their mistakes. It's not something that can be resolved by paying silver. If one doesn't even understand this truth, reading more books is also in vain." The teacher firmly wanted to expel Fan Guangzong from the school. My father and Fan Guangzong were so anxious that they jumped up and down and cursed me for bringing bad luck. I secretly felt relieved in my heart. After paying the tuition fee, I pulled Yu Beijing and left.

Later, I didn't know what method my parents used, but they actually managed to let Fan Guangzong continue studying in the school. Yu Beijing was also going back to the school. While helping him pack his things, I reminded him, "Fan Guangzong has a small heart and loves to hold grudges. You have to be careful of him playing dirty tricks." Yu Beijing smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. He can't cause any real trouble." But I still felt worried.