Chapter 6: The Doomed Lonely Star

Good people don’t always get rewarded, but selfish individuals tend to have decent luck.

Zhao Jiagu, having money in his pocket, spent every day idling around the county and even encountered the benefactor he was destined to meet.

This person introduced him to a job working in the kitchen of the largest tavern in the county.

The salary was five hundred copper coins a month. This was a prestigious position— even those who grew up in the county often couldn’t find such a job, let alone people like them from the countryside.

However, the person had one condition: Zhao Jiagu would need to pay a deposit of ten taels of silver upfront. Of course, once he completed a full year of work, the tavern would return the deposit to him.

The tavern’s reasoning wasn’t without merit— after all, they weren’t familiar with him. Zhao Jiagu had been introduced by someone, and he had no prior experience working in a tavern. What if he quit after a few days, or made a mistake, or ran off and they couldn’t find him? It made more sense to hold a deposit first, ensuring his commitment. After a year, once the tavern confirmed there were no issues, the deposit would be refunded.

These details were written in the agreement, so Zhao Jiagu wasn’t worried about being tricked.

He immediately went home to ask Chen Shuilian for the money.

This was a great opportunity, so Chen Shuilian was naturally happy. But asking her for ten taels of silver was almost as difficult as asking for her life— she didn’t have that much silver.

Seeing her hesitation, Zhao Jiagu quickly spoke sweet words, saying that this was a rare opportunity. If he succeeded, he could settle in the county and bring her there to enjoy life, living like the county’s wealthy ladies.

Chen Shuilian was so moved by his words that she couldn’t help but dream of the future. With a heavy heart, she sold the family’s only three acres of land and gave him the money.

Zhao Jiagu took the money and immediately left, claiming that the journey from the county to the village was too far and inconvenient for him to return every day. He decided to stay in the county for now.

As for the family… he told her to let his wife take care of his mother in his stead.

Just like that, with his empty promises, Zhao Jiagu managed to deceive Chen Shuilian, who couldn’t stop praising him, calling him a good child.

Indeed, when blinded by love, everything he did seemed good.

Once Zhao Jiagu reached the county, he paid the deposit and started working in the kitchen.

Living alone in the county, he could enjoy a comfortable life on the five hundred copper coins a month.

This wasn’t just any tavern; it was the largest in the county. The work was stable, the pay decent, and he could save most of what he earned.

But he didn’t save; instead, he spent it all recklessly, without any thought of the land they had sold, or the future of his family.

Zhao Jiagu simply left, but the pressure of life fell on Zhao Maizhou.

Without land, there would be no food.

Quiet and reserved, Zhao Maizhou had no solutions and could only apprentice with the hunter from the village’s eastern end.

He hoped to find some fortune hunting in the mountains. He didn’t dare venture deep into the wilderness, but if luck was on his side, there could still be small gains. For now, he just needed to get by.

Zhao Jiagu’s absence brought some relief, though.

Otherwise, his older brother would always be a bottomless pit, never satisfied, and their mother would never let anyone say a word against him.

Zhao Maizhou thought he could live in peace like this, but one day, Zhao Jiagu returned.

And he brought with him a heavily pregnant woman.

She was a local from the county, named Liu Hong, the only daughter of the Liu family.

She had previously been engaged, but on the very day she married, her fiancé suddenly died unexpectedly.

Her in-laws thought she brought bad luck, so they sent her back to her parents’ home.

Ironically, just a few days later, her parents met with an accident, and the entire Liu family was left with only her.

Liu Hong held all the wealth of the Liu family, and without any relatives to help her, as long as she married, she could manipulate things as she pleased.

Such a woman should have been highly sought after, but unfortunately, her reputation as a “doomed lonely star” had spread throughout the county. No one brave enough would dare marry her.

But Zhao Jiagu, new to the county, was unaware. Somehow, the two of them hit it off, and before long, they were in a full-fledged marriage.

A few months later, Liu Hong’s belly began to show, and naturally, she demanded a formal title.

Zhao Jiagu, looking at the small courtyard in the county and then thinking of Liu Hong’s wealth, became somewhat tempted.

Not to mention, Liu Hong was also quite beautiful, presentable when out in public, and when compared to his wife at home, it was clear who stood out.

So, he decided to divorce his current wife and bring Liu Hong into the family.

As for his wife, who hadn’t done anything wrong, how to handle the divorce wasn’t his concern.

He was sure his mother would have a solution!

He packed his belongings and brought Liu Hong back to the village.

After half a year of absence, his return naturally caused some excitement.

However, when everyone saw Liu Hong holding onto Zhao Jiagu’s arm, they couldn’t help but furrow their brows.

In public, the two didn’t even try to hide their closeness, laughing and chatting in a very intimate manner.

As they approached, it became impossible to ignore Liu Hong’s large belly. This immediately caused a stir.

Zhao Jiagu’s first wife, Wang Miaomiao, was already beside herself with rage, losing all sense of reason as she began hitting and shouting at him.

Would Chen Shuilian just accept this?

She couldn’t help but join the fray immediately.

In the midst of their pushing and shoving, Chen Shuilian slipped and lost her balance, falling to the ground.

She hit her head on a stone and fainted.

Chen Shuilian never forgot that moment, as it marked the beginning of her miserable life.

In her past life, when Chen Shuilian awoke, she was furious and stubbornly believed that Wang Miaomiao had caused her near-death experience.

Although she had barely escaped from the clutches of death, spending a great deal of money, she felt that Wang Miaomiao was a curse upon her.

So, when Zhao Jiagu proposed to divorce Wang Miaomiao and marry Liu Hong, she didn’t oppose it.

Not to mention, Zhao Jiagu used the child Liu Hong carried as leverage, completely aware of her obsession with wanting to leave a legacy for the Zhao family.

As a result, no matter how much Wang Miaomiao resisted, it was futile. She was quickly driven out of the Zhao household, with no regard for all the effort she had put into the family.

At first, Liu Hong played the role of the gentle and demure wife, but she was inherently difficult to get along with. Once she saw Zhao Jiagu’s absolute authority in the household, she became even more spoiled.

Especially after she gave birth to a son, she felt as though she could do anything, even look down on others.

Fortunately, the couple lived in the county for most of the year, rarely returning to the village.

However, every time they did come back, Liu Hong would order her brother-in-law around to go hunt wild game for her and her precious son.

In the process, she would also make sure to put down the sister-in-law who had given birth to a daughter and wasn’t liked in front of Chen Shuilian.

Until one bitterly cold winter, when the snow had sealed the mountains, and even the old hunters stayed at home, Liu Hong still forced Zhao Maizhou to go up the mountain to catch wild game for her and her son’s feast.