The next day.  

Sihe Village.  

“Have you heard? Last night, Jiang An’an from the old Jiang family came out of the mountains with her clothes all disheveled—something must have happened!”  

“Really? Are you serious?”  

“Why would I lie to you? The village chief’s wife said Jiang An’an is definitely no longer pure!”  

“That’s so tragic!”  

“Tragic? What’s tragic about it? The village chief’s wife even said Jiang An’an is nothing but a seductive fox! Who knows, maybe she went up the mountain herself looking for men!”  

“But didn’t she just get engaged to the village chief’s son at the beginning of the year? What’s going to happen now?”  

“What can happen? With the village chief’s wife’s temper, would she ever accept a ruined girl as her daughter-in-law? I bet there’s going to be a huge scene!”  

Meanwhile, at the Jiang household.  

Jiang An’an lay on the bed, rubbing her sore waist, silently lamenting that one really shouldn’t overindulge in lust.  

Jiang’s mother looked at her daughter, thoughts swirling about the village gossip, unsure how to broach the subject.  

Their family was poor, barely earning enough work points to survive. That’s why her youngest daughter had been going up the mountain to catch wild chickens and pick mushrooms to feed the family.  

But she always came back before dark.  

Last night, however, she didn’t return even after nightfall.  

Later, Zhao Chunmei, the village chief’s wife, led a group of villagers to search for her. To everyone’s shock, they found Jiang An’an sitting on the ground, clothes in disarray. They accused her of promiscuity, but her daughter insisted nothing had happened, even threatening to kill herself in protest. The whole ordeal had been a huge mess.  

“Last night, did you really…”  

Jiang’s mother trailed off, feeling she shouldn’t ask, but the village rumors were spreading like wildfire!  

Her anxiety was unbearable.  

“My dear girl, don’t be like this. Whatever happened, tell your mother. I’ll stand by you no matter what!”  

She sat on the edge of the bed, hugging her daughter, tears welling in her eyes.  

But Jiang An’an froze. In her past life, she had been an orphan and had never experienced maternal love. Being held like this left her at a loss for how to respond.  

Just then, shouts erupted from outside.  

Jiang’s eldest son hurried in.  

“Mom, you’d better come out quick. The village chief’s wife is here. She says…”  

Jiang Dazhuang glanced at his sister and lowered his voice.  

“She says she’s here to call off the engagement and wants us to return all the betrothal gifts!”  

Jiang’s mother’s eyes widened in shock.  

What?!  

Call off the engagement?  

And demand the gifts back?  

Back then, the family was starving, which was why her youngest daughter had agreed to get engaged to the village chief’s mentally challenged son in exchange for a few bags of rice and flour as betrothal gifts.  

Now, with the family barely able to afford even wild vegetable buns, how could they possibly return several bags of rice and flour?  

Jiang’s mother turned to look at her daughter, sighed deeply, and stood up.  

Just as Jiang An’an was about to go out and confront Zhao Chunmei head-on, her mother said firmly, “Dazhuang, shut the door. Don’t let An’an come out. I’ll go talk to the village chief’s wife myself!”  

With that, she strode out into the dirt courtyard.  

Zhao Chunmei immediately stepped forward, relieved to see Jiang An’an wasn’t with her.  

Perfect!  

“The Jiang family has to give us an explanation for this! Do you have any idea how much shame your Jiang An’an has brought upon our family? We can’t even hold our heads up in the village anymore!”

She yelled loudly, practically pointing her finger right in Mother Jiang’s face.  

If she couldn’t deal with Jiang An’an directly, then she’d deal with Jiang An’an’s family instead!  

Mother Jiang sighed. “This… my daughter is innocent in all this!”  

“Innocent, my ass! Anyone with eyes can see what Jiang An’an’s like. Whether she was seducing men or not, she’s definitely not pure anymore! My son has stayed chaste and devoted to your Jiang An’an, and this is how you repay us? A woman who does such things—our family has a reputation to uphold! Jiang An’an will never step foot into our household again!”  

Mother Jiang clenched her fists.  

She had always thought the village chief’s dim-witted son wasn’t good enough for her daughter anyway!  

Stayed chaste and devoted? With that ugly face and that addled brain, who’d even want him?  

If their family hadn’t been starving back then, this engagement would never have happened in the first place!  

And now this woman had the nerve to come here shouting…  

“What, cat got your tongue? Feeling guilty, huh? Hurry up and call Jiang An’an out here. This engagement is off, and you’re returning every last bit of the betrothal gifts we gave you!”  

As she spoke, Zhao Chunmei made a move to push past her and storm inside.  

Mother Jiang quickly blocked her.  

“An’an is still in shock right now. Have some decency! If the engagement’s off, then it’s off. Talk to me about it!”  

Hearing this, Zhao Chunmei frowned.  

“Fine, then. Return the betrothal gifts—two sacks of coarse rice!”  

Mother Jiang lowered her head. “We were family for a time. You know how things are for the Jiang family right now. We really can’t return the gifts at the moment… Once the village distributes the grain at the end of the year, I’ll send it back to you right away. How about that?”  

But she didn’t realize—Zhao Chunmei had been waiting for exactly this.  

With a cold snort, Zhao Chunmei said, “Oh, so you can’t return the gifts, huh? Fine, I’ll be considerate of your family’s situation. Here’s the deal—my son will never marry Jiang An’an now. But my younger brother still hasn’t taken a wife, and he doesn’t mind that Jiang An’an’s been… tainted. Marry her off to him, and we’ll call it even—no need to return the gifts!”  

Her voice was loud enough that Jiang An’an, still inside the house, heard every word clearly. A flicker of confusion passed through her eyes.  

Yesterday, Zhao Chunmei had been dead set on accusing her of seducing men and wanted her drowned in a pig cage. Logically, she should despise her. Coming today to break off the engagement and demand the gifts back made sense—that was just her character. But why suddenly bring up marrying her off to this so-called brother?  

If she wasn’t good enough for the dim-witted son, why would she suddenly be acceptable for a brother who was presumably of sound mind?  

Something wasn’t right.  

Just then, Zhao Chunmei’s voice rang out again—  

“If you refuse even this, then return the gifts immediately! Otherwise, the Jiang family’s work points for this year will be wiped clean!”  

Her voice was deliberately loud, ensuring Jiang An’an heard every word.  

Jiang An’an listened as Mother Jiang pleaded meekly, but Zhao Chunmei didn’t budge an inch.  

Having their work points wiped clean meant that when the year-end distribution came, the Jiang family wouldn’t get a single grain of food. It was already late September—winter was approaching. By then, the entire Jiang family would starve to death.  

Zhao Chunmei was truly ruthless!  

Jiang An’an’s expression darkened. Yesterday, they failed to push her to her death. Today, they were forcing her to marry this “brother.” Step by step, they were tightening the noose—but for what?  

“Jiang An’an, I know you’re in there! My brother is doing you a favor by not looking down on you. Marry him, or your whole family will starve because of you! Still not coming out? What, you don’t want to return the gifts, but you won’t marry my brother either? Unless you drop dead, Jiang An’an, there’s no way out!”