The Ugly Bride Lights the Way to Protect the Green Mountains

Nizi, a Yi woman from Da Village in Jijie Township, Yangbi, is considered “ill-omened” because of the birthmark on her cheek. After marrying into the Zhao family, she suffers her mother-in-law Zhao Guifang's cruelty and the villagers' rejection, yet establishes herself in the mountain village through her expert knowledge of medicinal herbs and bamboo weaving. Then strange events strike Shiping Mountain: herbs in the old forest wither in patches, white mist rises from the village well every night, and the cries of a child echo through the valley at midnight. The villagers point to Nizi as the “jinx.” Determined to prove her innocence and protect the mountains that sustain them, Nizi braves the pressure and ventures into the old forest to investigate. She accidentally discovers that Li Kun, the owner of a quarry, is using occult practices to disguise his theft of a rare mineral vein buried deep beneath the mountain as supernatural phenomena, while damaging the environment.

As the investigation unfolds, Nizi and her husband A Qi grow from a couple who barely get along into true partners. Together with villagers including the old hunter Uncle Yan and her friend A Duo, who awakens to her ancestral heritage as a Yi priestess, they face cave expeditions, terrifying mine shafts, and riddles surrounding Yi village rituals. They not only gather irrefutable proof of Li Kun's illegal mining but also uncover the truth about A Qi's grandfather, who disappeared thirty years ago: Li Kun's father and his associates murdered him to stop him from interfering with their mining. In the end, Nizi exposes the conspiracy and shuts down the quarry. She helps the villagers prosper by establishing a bamboo-weaving cooperative, and her relationship with her mother-in-law thaws until they are as close as mother and daughter. She gives birth to a son, Shanzi, and helps bring about several happy love stories, including those of A Duo and Chen Yang, a geological engineer, and Uncle Yan's granddaughter Xiaoya and A Ming, a young man who has returned to start a business. Amid lush mountains and clear waters, Shiping Mountain achieves a balance between ecological protection and people's livelihoods, while Nizi transforms from a “plain bride” into the village's steadfast protector. My new work is out! Come read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you enjoy it. Your support motivates me to write, and I'll do my best to tell every story well!