In our village, there are three ironclad rules about daughters who marry: the bride price goes to the bride's family, and a daughter is water poured out, never to be reclaimed.
When I got married, my parents took the two hundred thousand yuan bride price to buy my younger brother a house.
After the wedding, my mother-in-law pressured me every day to “shake down” my family for money. “You helped pay for your brother's house, after all!”
When my brother needed money for his wedding, my father called late at night. “Doesn't your in-laws' family have an old house?”
Before I could even refuse, my husband's slap landed.
On a stormy night, I ran barefoot back to my parents' home, only to hear my brother sneer, “Sis, once a daughter is married off, she should know her place.”
As the courtyard gate slammed shut in front of me, I suddenly laughed.
So all along, I was the one who had been given a price tag.
---A novel that tackles deep-rooted social issues, filled with tragic force and a growing awareness of the need to break free.
