The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Practically everyone in Liu Shu Village knew about Aunt Sun’s family, and Cui Mei knew too. When Cui Mei had suggested the match to Zhou Feng’er, she hadn’t done it with the best intentions. Zhou Feng’er only knew the man was from Liu Shu Village; she had no idea he was paralyzed.

She had taken a liking to Gu’er, seeing that she was a capable girl who could take good care of her son after marrying into the family. She was simply looking for someone to wait on him. So, even though Zhou Mazi of the Zhou family was a bad person and demanded a lot of money, she accepted it. Never mind forty or fifty yuan; she would pay sixty or even eighty, as long as Gu’er could truly take good care of her son. She would just see it as buying a long-term caretaker for him.

The Zhou family had no idea that Aunt Sun’s son was paralyzed. Neither Zhou Feng’er nor Zhou Gu’er knew.

Zhou Mazi didn’t know either. Though even if he did, as long as Aunt Sun was willing to pay—say, fifty yuan—he would likely have agreed on the spot to marry Gu’er off.

Seeing that the prospective family had already visited, Gu’er brought up the topic of going to the city with Zhou Mazi again.

This time, Zhou Mazi didn’t object.

Three days after the prospective family’s visit, Gu’er went to the city.

She visited several places. The wholesale price for plain ice popsicles was two cents, red bean popsicles were three cents, and sweetened banana popsicles were five cents.

Gu’er also went to every popsicle stand to ask for their prices. Plain ice popsicles generally sold for three cents, while red bean and banana ones sold for five. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

There were relatively few vendors selling popsicles from pushcarts. The ones she did see just parked their carts in a single location. Gu’er wandered around for a long time and only spotted two popsicle vendors, but their business seemed pretty good.

Gu’er was exhausted from running around all day, but she was in high spirits. ’This is totally doable,’ she thought. On a good day, she could definitely make a few yuan. Even on a bad day, she could still earn several dozen cents.

While Gu’er was in the city researching popsicles, Aunt Sun had already sent a message to Cui Mei. The message said that the Zhou family’s second daughter was not suitable; she had her eye on the eldest daughter instead. She wanted Cui Mei to ask the Zhou family if a match was possible. If so, she would send a formal matchmaker to their home with a proposal.

Cui Mei was surprised and rather annoyed that Aunt Sun had chosen Gu’er. She hadn’t wanted Gu’er to marry into Liu Shu Village. The only reason she’d told Zhou Feng’er about the family in the first place was because Zhou Feng’er had promised to help her "deal with" Gu’er. However, Cui Mei disliked Li Hua and the whole Zhou family, so she would never have recommended a good match for Zhou Feng’er. ’Besides, what kind of decent family would be interested in the Zhous anyway?’ she mused.

But on second thought, Cui Mei relaxed. ’Even though Aunt Sun chose Gu’er, and marrying into that family means she won’t have to worry about food or clothing, she’ll be marrying a paralyzed man. Her life will be ruined.’

’Besides,’ she schemed, ’when I go to the Zhou house, I can tell Zhou Feng’er that Gu’er stole her marriage prospect. Zhou Feng’er will absolutely despise Zhou Gu’er then and will definitely try to get back at her. All I’ll have to do is sit back and watch the sisters tear each other apart.’

Cui Mei cheered up at the thought and immediately headed for the Zhou residence.

The moment Cui Mei explained the situation to Zhou Mazi and Li Hua, Zhou Mazi began nodding eagerly, pressing to know how much money Aunt Sun was willing to pay.

As long as the price was high, he didn’t care which daughter he married off.

Li Hua felt a pang of anxiety. ’It would have been so much better if they had just asked for the eldest daughter from the beginning,’ she thought. Instead, they had first expressed interest in the second daughter, only to switch to the eldest. She agreed that the eldest daughter should be the first to marry, but she knew her second daughter would be furious. ’Their relationship is already strained. Won’t this make them enemies?’

Standing just outside the door, Zhou Feng’er was stunned. ’They chose Zhou Gu’er!’ A tidal wave of hatred crashed over her. ’Zhou Gu’er stole my man! She stole the good fortune that was meant for me! How could I not hate her for this?’

The fury in Zhou Feng’er’s eyes burned hot enough to melt steel. She clenched her fists tightly. ’I was originally going to wait until the engagement with the family from Liu Shu Village was settled before dealing with Zhou Gu’er, but now I have to move my plan up. If I wait until they finalize everything, it will be too late.’

’Zhou Gu’er, I’ll make you regret this!’

Unable to wait another moment, Zhou Feng’er left the house and went straight to find Zhou Mei.

When Zhou Mazi heard Aunt Sun was willing to offer a bride price of forty to fifty yuan, he let out a smug chuckle. He felt incredibly clever for having turned down Zhang Da. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have landed such a profitable match now.

"Cui Mei," Li Hua began, "a family from Liu Shu Village could marry any girl they want. Why did they choose our Gu’er? How old is the man? Is there... anything wrong with him?"

Li Hua was uneasy. No one had told them anything about the prospective groom, and she needed to be sure. If there was something wrong with him, she couldn’t give her consent.

"What? You think you’re in a position to be picky?" Cui Mei sneered. "If they hadn’t taken a fancy to Gu’er, do you think I’d even bother coming to your house? Who do you think you are? You think your Gu’er is that special? Honestly... Fine, fine. I’ll do you a favor and tell you. I’ve seen the young man. He’s twenty-two and very handsome. It’s not that he can’t find a wife—plenty of women would love to marry him. He’s just set on marrying someone beautiful. Your Gu’er is just lucky she was born with a pretty face. Otherwise, you think she’d have a chance to marry into such wealth?"

Cui Mei’s face was a mask of contempt, but inwardly she was ecstatic. ’There’s no way I’m telling Li Hua he’s paralyzed,’ she thought.

Zhou Mazi cut in, glaring at Li Hua. "Why do you women talk so much?" he snapped, then turned to Cui Mei with a greasy smile. "Sister-in-law, don’t mind her. We’re counting on you for this. You’ll have to put in a bit more work for us. You see, we’ve raised Gu’er for so many years, and she’s a good earner. We’re reluctant to marry her off so soon. Could you talk to the groom’s family and see if they can raise the price a little? You know we still have Feng’er, Du’er, and Cai Zi to provide for. Money is tight. If you can get us another ten or twenty yuan, I’ll be sure to remember this favor, sister-in-law."

Cui Mei rolled her eyes at Zhou Mazi and made a couple of sarcastic remarks, but she agreed to go back and talk to Aunt Sun about increasing the bride price.

Zhou Mazi happily saw Cui Mei off. He then warned Li Hua to stay out of it and just listen to his arrangements. Humming a tune, he headed out to find someone to drink with.

Li Hua still didn’t quite understand why such a well-off family would choose them. But then she thought about how pretty Gu’er was, and how diligent and hardworking. ’Maybe that’s exactly the kind of daughter-in-law they want,’ she reasoned. And while Cui Mei’s character was questionable, she was still family, her own sister-in-law. ’Surely she wouldn’t do anything to harm her own niece.’ With that thought, Li Hua felt her worries subside.

But as she dwelled on it, her eyes began to sting, and tears welled up. The daughter she had raised for more than ten years was about to get married. From now on, she would belong to another family, and Li Hua wouldn’t be able to see her as often. Her heart ached as if a piece of it was being carved out, and she was overcome with the sorrow of letting her go.

Then again, she thought of Gu’er marrying into a good family where she would be comfortable and no longer have to endure the beatings and abuse at home. For that, she was truly happy for her daughter. For a while, Li Hua found herself both crying and smiling until she finally got her emotions under control. She wiped her tears and returned to her chores, but it wasn’t long before someone called her away.