In ancient times, the marriage between a man and a woman was determined by the orders of the parents and the matchmaker, but the marriage decided by the parents was not necessarily a satisfactory one.
1. Marriage that fell from the sky
In ancient times, there was a family named Yun in Xishan, 40 miles away from Jinan. The man in this family died young, leaving only a mother and daughter to depend on each other. Fortunately, the family had a strong economy and had no worries about food and drink.
In the blink of an eye, the daughter of the Yun family is now 18 years old. Miss Yun is as cute as a hibiscus, but it is a pity that such an outstanding girl has not yet found a satisfactory husband. .
Miss Yun’s marriage has become a concern for Mrs. Yun. In fact, she has been looking for a husband for her daughter very early, but she has always been unable to find a suitable man. As a result, in the blink of an eye, Miss Yun has reached 18 years old.
You know, at that time, 18 years old was considered old. If she didn't get married, she would be called an old girl. Mrs. Yun became very anxious when she thought about this.
On this day, the mother and daughter of the Yun family came to Mount Tai to make a wish. Because they heard that the gods on Mount Tai were very spiritual and would respond to requests, the mother and daughter came here to pray for the gods to bless Miss Yun and find a good husband as soon as possible.
The mother and daughter climbed the mountain for half a day. After kneeling and worshiping, they walked back. They were both exhausted and exhausted, so they slowly walked down the mountain.
Strangely enough, they came to whatever they wanted. On the way down the mountain, a young man with handsome features appeared behind them.
The young man followed the mother and daughter silently. As Mrs. Yun and her daughter walked, they talked about choosing a son-in-law, thinking that kneeling down sincerely today would definitely be effective.
This young man saw an opportunity, stepped forward to talk to Mrs. Yun, and even took the initiative to help them get their things. When Mrs. Yun took a look at the young man, she found that he was pretty good-looking and smart, so she had a good impression of him and chatted with him while walking.
Then I learned that the young man’s name was Liang Youcai. He was 23 years old this year. His parents died early and he had no brothers or sisters. He lived alone. He usually made a living by carrying burdens and selling small groceries. He was a salesman.
After Mrs. Yun chatted with Liang Youcai, her favorable impression of Liang Youcai became stronger because she found that this young man was not only smart, but also well-spoken, well-behaved, and well-controlled.
She thought again, since he carries loads and sells goods every day, it means that this young man is a hard-working person, not a lazy person. Such a young man, apart from being poor, is good in other aspects and is suitable to be his son-in-law. < /p>
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Yun immediately beamed with joy and said, "I think it will work. Since your home is in Mount Tai, why not let me arrange the wedding for you right now."
When Miss Yun heard that her mother had betrothed herself to someone she just met so easily, she quickly stopped her, but Mrs. Yun didn't take it seriously, saying that her vision was correct, and she still persisted.
2. Wedding marriage
After the three of them came down the mountain, they first went to Miss Yun’s uncle’s house in Jinan and exchanged birthdays and horoscopes with them. The next day, Mrs. Yun settled her daughter at her uncle's house, and then went to Liang Youcai's house to check on her. She saw that the Liang family was very poor, almost to the point of having nothing but bare walls. Although Mrs. Yun was a little surprised, she didn't take it seriously. She thought that if she was poor, she would be poorer. Anyway, her family was rich, so as long as she was nice, it would be fine.
Mrs. Yun was in charge now, buying many things for the Liang family and repairing the house. A few days later, the daughter was sent over, along with a large dowry. Worried that her daughter would be too busy with household chores, she even sent a maid, so that her daughter and son-in-law could live an easy life.
On the night of her wedding to Liang Youcai, Miss Yun told him that her name was Yun Cuixian, and she told him solemnly that although she did not fall in love with him, since she had married him, she hoped that Liang Youcai would marry him. You can fulfill your duty as a husband and live a down-to-earth life. Liang Youcai agreed with a sincere face.
With the dowry given by Yun Cuixian’s mother’s family, Liang Youcai’s quality of life suddenly improved several levels, and he no longer had to live the precarious and miserable life before. After marriage, Liang Youcai changed completely. He no longer carried the burden of selling goods. Instead, he stayed at home all day, and gradually became mixed up with a group of friends.
This group of people does nothing serious all day long. They either gather in groups to gamble, or go to entertainment venues to drink wine and eat, drink and have fun all day long. Liang Youcai spent a lot of Yun Cuixian's dowry without feeling distressed at all, let alone making plans for the future.
Yun Cuixian failed to persuade him, but also saw through his face, so she put all the dowry away and no longer let Liang Youcai use it at will. As a result, Liang Youcai did not stop, but tried every means to steal his wife's delicate jewelry and sell them.
No matter how much dowry you have, you can't resist such flower arrangements. Less than a year later, there was not much left of Yun Cuixian's dowry. All the money was spent and valuable items were sold. Liang Youcai often abused his wife because he had no money to spend.
3. Selling his wife for money
One of Liang Youcai’s fair-weather friends gave him an idea, “Since your wife is as beautiful as a fairy, why not sell her? If you work as a concubine for a wealthy family, it's no problem to sell it for more than a hundred taels. If you sell it to Firework Alley, it's no problem for you to sell it for a thousand taels. As long as you have money, you can be as cool as you want."
Liang Youcai heard this idea. Although he didn't say it with his mouth, he was willing in his heart. After returning home, he would deliberately sigh in front of his wife and talk about the lack of money at home. He would also often lose his temper for no reason and scold his wife for beating the maid. Yun Cuixian knew at a glance that he didn't have a good idea in mind.
That day, during dinner, Yun Cuixian deliberately tried to test the situation and said: "Now that our family is in financial difficulty and unable to survive, why don't you sell the maid."
< p> After hearing this, Liang Youcai sighed and said, "You can't even sell a maid for a few bucks, so what's the use of it?"After a while, Yun Cuixian said again, since I married you, there is no point in living like this. Otherwise, just sell me to a rich family. Become a concubine, so that you will be rich and I won't have to suffer.
Liang Youcai's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he grabbed his wife's hands excitedly.
The next day, Liang Youcai found a middleman. The man came to his home to look at Yun Cuixian and discussed the price with Liang Youcai. The middleman saw that Yun Cuixian was beautiful and was very satisfied, so he immediately wrote contract. Yun Cuixian quietly eavesdropped on their conversation and discovered that she was not selling herself to a wealthy family, but to a brothel.
However, Yun Cuixian pretended to be calm and did not cry.
4. Self-rescue by wit
She told Liang Youcai that since it had been decided that she would leave with him in two days, she wanted to go back to her parents' home. After being sold, I don’t know if there will be a chance to return to my parents’ home.
Liang Youcai hesitated, neither saying yes nor saying no. Yun Cuixian knew that Liang Youcai was afraid that Liang Youcai would refuse if he returned to his parents' home, and the effort would be in vain. So I promised that since I agreed, I would not regret it. In this way, the couple hired a carriage to return to their parents' home that day.
The carriage did not arrive until midnight. Liang Youcai got out of the carriage and took a look, and was shocked. I saw the Yun family's high-gate courtyard, which was very grand with tall buildings, and servants and women walking around to serve.
It turns out that although Liang Youcai has been married to Yun Cuixian for a year, he has never been to his mother-in-law’s house. When he got married, Yun Cuixian was married from his uncle’s house in Jinan. After the marriage, Liang Youcai visited her several times. She proposed to take Yun Cuixian back to her parents' home to visit relatives, but Yun Cuixian found reasons to block her. Liang Youcai only knew that the Yun family was wealthy, but he never expected that they were so rich.
When Mrs. Yun saw her daughter and son-in-law coming in the middle of the night, she knew there must be a reason. Yun Cuixian told her mother about her life after one year of marriage and the fact that she had been sold to a brothel by her husband. After Yun Cuixian finished speaking, she took out two gold ingots from her clothes, slapped them on the table and said: Finally, I no longer need to hide my money, and return it to my mother.
After Yun Cuixian said this, she asked Liang Youcai: "You are a sweaty salesman. Before, your family had nothing. I married you, and you relied on my dowry to get married." You have lived a life without worries about food and clothing, but you want to sell me today, where is your conscience?" Liang Youcai lowered his head and said nothing.
At this time, the maids and servants at the door of the house heard what happened to their young lady. They were so angry that they couldn't help but come in, surrounded Liang Youcai, and beat him randomly with one punch and one kick.
5. Evil will be punished
Liang Youcai was covered in bruises. Later, he fell asleep sitting in the front hall in a daze. When he woke up the next morning, he found that he was actually in a It is on a barren mountain, surrounded by cliffs. There is no one around, and there are no houses.
He waited for most of the day before a woodcutter passed by, and then he followed the woodcutter down the mountain in a daze.
Liang Youcai returned to his home. Everything he could sell had already been sold out. He was the only one in the dilapidated home. He fell ill and had no food or drink. He survived by begging from neighbors. . After he recovered from his illness, he had nothing and became a beggar on the street.
He remembered the friend who had persuaded him to sell his wife in the past, and his teeth itched with hatred, so he deliberately rushed over to the friend while he was walking on the street and stabbed the man to death.
Liang Youcai, who committed a murder on the street, was arrested and taken to the county government office. He died of illness in prison not long after.
Conclusion
This story comes from "Yun Cuixian" in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio".
In fact, on Mount Tai that day, Liang Youcai had already seen Yun Cuixian. He found that Yun Cuixian was very beautiful, so he couldn't help but deliberately knelt behind Yun Cuixian and wiped her oil when he knelt down. Yun Cuixian concluded that he was a man of bad character, but unfortunately Mrs. Yun did not know about it.
Liang Youcai saw that the Yun family’s mother and daughter were well-dressed and came from a wealthy family, so he deliberately followed them all the way up the mountain. He also overheard their conversation and knew that the young lady was anxious to choose a son-in-law. He also heard Mrs. Yun mention that she only wanted a son-in-law. He valued people and didn't care about his family background, and then he deliberately showed off in front of Mrs. Yun. It can be said that this marriage was obtained by Liang Youcai's hard work and disguise.
Liang Youcai was a man with quite a bit of cleverness and tricks. He relied on his cleverness to marry Bai Fumei, allowing himself to rise to the top and get rid of poverty.
But he is always a villain without great wisdom, with bad conduct and ungratefulness. This kind of person lacks foresight and the overall situation. They only value the immediate pleasure and are willing to do whatever it takes for their own interests. They are destined to have no good results.
And Yun Cuixian is an independent and resourceful girl. When in danger, he didn't panic, could deal with it calmly, and managed to escape cleverly to protect himself.