Chapter 2: Agreement

Qiu Yuruo rested for a while before finishing the remaining half bowl of noodle broth.

Madam Guo came out from the main hall and entered the small half-room where Qiu Yuruo lived. When she saw the empty bowl on the table, she said, “I’ll go get you another bowl.”

Three days of starvation couldn’t be made up with just one meal. Qiu Yuruo simply replied, “Let’s wait a bit.”

Seeing how weak she still looked, Madam Guo felt a twinge of sympathy, but still said, “The old master is waiting for you in their room.”

But Qiu Yuruo no longer responded as obediently as before. She only said lightly, “Wait until evening. I still can’t get up right now.”

Having received her response, Madam Guo didn’t press the matter. “I’ll bring you another bowl of noodle broth before making lunch. Drink it in portions. You should be able to get up by evening.”

Qiu Yuruo responded with a quiet “Mm.”

Over the past few days, Qiu Yuruo’s resistance to the marriage had made Madam Guo realize that she wasn’t the weak and submissive girl she had once assumed.

Whether it was using hunger to protest or her threat from earlier, it all revealed that she had both resilience and cunningness.

With a disposition like that, plus looks that surpassed her cousin’s, if Su Yunting ever woke up, Qiu Yuruo’s days wouldn’t be too bad.

Since there was a chance she could turn her life around, Madam Guo wanted to show a little kindness: “It’s not that Auntie doesn’t want to cook something better for you, but after starving this long, your stomach can only handle plain noodle broth. Once your appetite recovers in a few days, I’ll make you something good to build your strength back up.”

Since they were now allies, Qiu Yuruo accepted her goodwill, smiled, and said, “I know. In this whole family, no one treats me as well as Auntie. What I said before was wrong—please don’t hold it against me.”

What she said wasn’t just for the sake of benefits. Although Madam Guo had her own calculations, she had never actively bullied her. In truth, she really was the only one in this family who had treated Qiu Yuruo halfway decently. So when Qiu Yuruo said those words, she meant them sincerely.

Madam Guo hadn’t gone out of her way to help Qiu Yuruo, but she had never hurt her either. Faced with Qiu Yuruo’s genuine sentiment, she felt a little guilty.

Seeing her in her current state, she also felt a bit of pity. But if she pitied her too much, her own daughter might be forced to take her place. So she simply left behind a quick, “Rest well,” picked up the bowl, and turned to leave.

Before lunch, Qiu Yuruo drank another bowl of noodle broth in two portions. It had been sent over by her younger male cousin, Ersheng, from Third Aunt’s side of the family. He also brought her lunch.

Since she had already decided to marry out, Qiu Yuruo no longer dwelled on it. She focused solely on recovering her strength as there was still a tough battle ahead tonight.

After eating lunch, she finally regained a bit of energy. Once Ersheng cleared the bowls and chopsticks away, Qiu Yuruo forced herself to get out of bed and move around the room twice despite her dizziness.

That morning, she had felt her body was on the verge of collapse. Now, after a few bowls of broth and two meals, she hadn’t fully recovered, but she had the strength to walk normally.

Urged by her in-laws, Madam Guo came to fetch Qiu Yuruo to the main hall. Sooner or later, this had to be dealt with. Qiu Yuruo didn’t resist and followed her aunt into the room.

The head of the Qiu family was Qiu Yuruo’s grandfather, Old Man Qiu, whose full name was Qiu Zhaoshan. He was in his fifties and had married Old Lady Zhou. They had three sons and a daughter. The daughter, being the eldest, was already married and rarely returned except during the New Year.

The eldest son, Qiu Qishan, was the most favored by Old Man Qiu. He had been sent to study at the private academy from a young age. It was his daughter who had originally arranged the engagement with the Su family. Now that the Su family was pushing the matter, they were trying to make Qiu Yuruo take the fall.

Qiu Qishan’s wife was Madam Zhang. They had one daughter and one son—the daughter a year older than Qiu Yuruo, and the son half a year younger.

Qiu Yuruo’s father was the second son. The youngest was Qiu Qiyong.

Qiu Qiyong’s wife was Madam Guo, and they had one daughter and two sons. The daughter was a year younger than Qiu Yuruo, the elder son was ten, and the younger son was five.

When Qiu Yuruo entered the main hall, not only were her grandparents there, but so were her eldest uncle Qiu Qishan, her aunt Madam Zhang, and her third uncle Qiu Qiyong.

Qiu Yuruo respectfully greeted everyone. Old Man Qiu responded and told her to sit down first.

Seeing her sit obediently, with no further resistance in her demeanor, Old Man Qiu finally said, “To marry a scholar is your good fortune. Once you’ve married and become an adult, you mustn’t act willfully anymore.”

Qiu Yuruo chuckled inwardly. What a great blessing, then shouldn’t that have gone to your eldest son’s daughter? Why not let her go enjoy it?

No matter what she thought, Qiu Yuruo’s expression didn’t change. She obediently replied, “Understood.”

Then she looked up at Old Man Qiu and said, “Grandpa, you once said that marrying into a scholar’s family would come with a dowry of ten taels of silver. Now that their family has fallen on hard times, could we add a little more?”

The ten taels had originally been promised for his eldest granddaughter. When he decided to substitute Qiu Yuruo, he hadn’t planned to give any dowry at all.

Compared to his deceased son, Old Master Su was a shameless scoundrel. Not only did he come to force the marriage, he refused to provide a betrothal gift, claiming that his late son had already brought many things over, far more than a typical betrothal.

Old Master Su had argued shamelessly, accusing the Qiu family of accepting gifts without delivering a bride as well as wanting to accept two betrothals for the same daughter and saying even people who sold their granddaughters didn’t behave like this!

Old Man Qiu couldn’t outargue or out-stubborn him, and finally had no choice but to agree to marry off one of his granddaughters.

Now, Su family had provided no dowry, and Qiu Yuruo had the audacity to not only ask for one—but even wanted more.

Old Man Qiu was about to refuse, but his wife Old Lady Zhou couldn’t hold back. She stood up and pointed at Qiu Yuruo’s nose, cursing. “Are you still dreaming? How dare you even think about asking for more dowry? Don’t even talk about more—you, who grew up eating our food for free, have the nerve to ask for any dowry? Why don’t you go look in a mirror and see what kind of worthless thing you are? Are you even worth ten taels of silver? And you dare ask for more!”

She scolded without restraint, and only when her words turned truly vulgar did Old Man Qiu finally say, “Enough. That’s enough.”

With her husband speaking up, Old Lady Zhou glared at Qiu Yuruo one last time and sat down.

Over the years, whenever Old Lady Zhou was in a bad mood, Qiu Yuruo had always been her punching bag. Whether there was a reason or not, she could be scolded all the same.

In her past life, Qiu Yuruo’s parents had gone out to work, so she too had lived with her grandparents. Though that grandmother had favored her younger uncle’s son, she’d never randomly scolded her.

When Qiu Yuruo first reincarnated into this world, every time she was cursed by Old Lady Zhou, she felt she was teetering on the edge of a breakdown. She even fantasized about setting the whole house on fire.

In the end, she couldn’t bear to lose her life and gave up the idea of locking the family’s doors at night and burning everyone alive.

Since she couldn’t destroy everything, she could only endure when Old Lady Zhou’s bad moods led to another scolding.

After years of being cursed, she had gone from gritting her teeth in silence to simply tuning it out—mentally wandering off until it was over.

So Old Lady Zhou’s entire tirade, Qiu Yuruo completely ignored with her head down, neither looking at her nor hearing her words and her mind elsewhere.

Only when Old Man Qiu stepped in did she lift her head again and gently said, “Grandfather, I’ve never thought to ask the family for a dowry. After Father passed, I knew how painful it was for you to bury your own son and then raise me. How could I demand anything? But if I go to the Su family with nothing, I might die of exhaustion or worse, starvation.”

Mentioning her late father stirred the last remnants of paternal feeling in Old Man Qiu. Considering the Su family’s current state—sick, young, and entirely dependent—without a bit of silver to rely on, it truly wasn’t clear whether Qiu Yuruo would survive.

No matter how little he valued her, she was the only bloodline left by his second son. Having raised her this far, he didn’t actually want her to die. What’s more, marrying her off to the Su family did help ease their family burden.

After a moment’s thought, Old Man Qiu said, “Su Yunting is a scholar. For you to go without anything does look bad. But the most we can manage is ten taels of silver. That’s already the limit of what this family can afford.”

That was exactly what Qiu Yuruo had been aiming for. Asking for more earlier had just been a tactic to prevent him from giving less.

Now that he’d agreed, Qiu Yuruo quickly spoke before Old Lady Zhou could cut in again. “I knew Grandpa still remembers my father. If I can share his burdens, then it’s my father fulfilling his filial duty even after death.”

By showing willingness to marry, Qiu Yuruo finally satisfied Old Man Qiu.

A man who cared about saving face, having her agree voluntarily was far better than dragging her into the bridal sedan in tears.

Seeing her husband’s reaction, Old Lady Zhou swallowed back what she had wanted to say.

Qiu Yuruo had shown weakness to Old Man Qiu, but when she turned to her eldest uncle, she shed all softness and said solemnly: “Uncle, since I’m replacing Cousin in marrying into the Su family, when will I receive the dowry that was prepared for her?”

Naturally, her uncle didn’t want to give it and looked to his wife.

Eldest Aunt Zhang smiled kindly and said, “Yuruo, the family has already given you your dowry. The things we prepared for your cousin should stay with her.”

Qiu Yuruo’s face remained expressionless. “My parents are both gone. I agreed to marry in my cousin’s place as a way to repay Grandpa and Grandma. The silver he’s giving me is because I’m his granddaughter and the only legacy left by my father. What Eldest Aunt Zhang is saying, then, is that my uncle is sending his dead brother’s daughter to marry a dying man in place of his own child that too without any compensation. Is that right?”

That was an enormous accusation. Qiu Qishan had studied since childhood and passed the Tongsheng exam (preliminary level). Ever since then, the family believed he was destined to become an official.

Although he had repeatedly failed the Xiucai exam (next level up), he still had to protect his reputation as a scholar.

Even though what Qiu Yuruo said was exactly what he was thinking, it couldn’t be said out loud.

He was furious at her for always pretending to be quiet and meek, when in reality, she was quick-witted and sharp-tongued.

He hurried to defend himself, “Child, you’ve got it all wrong. What your aunt meant was, the dowry we prepared for your cousin might not suit you. I was just thinking of putting together some things that would be more useful for you.”

Qiu Yuruo didn’t even listen to what he planned to give her. She replied directly, “You’re right. The things you prepared for Cousin are all high-end items, those things won’t be useful in the Su family anymore. So let’s go with what Aunt said earlier. Cousin’s dowry was worth over twenty taels of silver. I’m an orphan, not as distinguished as Cousin, so just give me twenty taels in cash for my dowry.”

After speaking, Qiu Yuruo looked straight at him with unwavering eyes.

She didn’t yet have the ability to take revenge, but the silver she would get it.

Cultural Notes:-

• Tongsheng: The lowest level of students in the imperial examination system—pre-qualified to take the official exams but not yet granted any title.
• Xiucai: The next level in the imperial exam system, granting minor privileges and social status.