When Yan Ping'an turned fifteen, she tried to engineer an accident with Chen Dafuren, the wealthy man she had long set her sights on, hoping to become his concubine.
But something went wrong. The one she lured there was a handsome young man in fine clothes who looked like the Chen family's scholar son. He was young and good-looking, so she figured he would do.
Under the bright moon and sparse stars, the drunken young man pushed open the door. He caught a flash of white before he could make out what it was, then heard a girl's scream.
Gu Yin was stunned. He had come alone to the banquet, but left with a wife.
Yan Ping'an was stunned too. She had hoped to marry into the Chen family and live well, but now she could only marry the poor scholar famous throughout the southern part of the city.
The real young master of the Chen family was still there, cheering them on. "A talented man and a pretty girl, a perfect match!"
Gu Yin couldn't afford to offend Chen Hao, so he swallowed his anger and promised to take responsibility for Ping'an. Ping'an could only grit her teeth and accept the marriage.
And so the two of them married, neither willing.
On their wedding night, both were disgruntled and quickly started arguing.
Gu Yin called Ping'an crude.
Ping'an snapped back, "If I'd known it was you, I'd have locked the door!"
Only then did Gu Yin realize she had her eye on Chen Hao and that he'd been caught up in the wrong-place, wrong-time mix-up. His face flushed with anger, and he called Ping'an shameless.
Ping'an threw a pillow in his face. "You were the one who went into the wrong room!"
Gu Yin hadn't expected Ping'an to be so rough. Clutching his bleeding nose, he glared at her with red eyes and growled, "You're impossible!"
On their wedding night, they both cried: one from anger, the other from pain.
Gu Yin thought, I'm doomed. My career prospects are ruined.
Ping'an thought, I'm doomed. There goes my chance at a good life.
Ping'an soon discovered that Gu Yin wasn't as poor as she'd thought. With a little compromise, they could make it work.
But then she accidentally learned that on the day of the Chen family's banquet, Gu Yin had dressed himself up to charm the Chen family's young lady. She hadn't been the only one who mistook someone for another person. He'd had his own ulterior motives too.
So they were two of a kind after all.
Ping'an judged Gu Yin by her own standards. If she were him, she would definitely get rid of this awful wife before passing the imperial examinations.
So Ping'an took the initiative and proposed three rules: they would divorce no later than three years from then. Gu Yin readily agreed.
After the wedding
Ping'an: I'll earn my own money, and you can study. Neither of us takes advantage of the other.
"Are you eating at home? I'll cook. Pay me for the grain."
"What, you want me to do the laundry? Fine, that'll cost you."
"Scholar Gu, you're going to pass the provincial exams and become an official someday. You wouldn't take advantage of me, would you?"
Gu Yin didn't want to make things complicated, so he dutifully paid up.
"Let's have braised pork for dinner. Thanks."
It took Ping'an just two years to save enough to support herself. Half joking, she held up a finger to Gu Yin. "Give me a thousand taels, and I'll agree to divorce you."
But Gu Yin gave her a cold smile. "You want me to give you money so you can support some other man? Forget it!"
Ping'an: "Fine, fine. So you want to play dirty? From now on, don't even think about getting rid of me without ten thousand taels."
Gu Yin: ...Weren't you going to explain this other-man business first?
Gu Yin never understood why it was so hard to change his wife's opinion of him. He was a hardworking, ambitious man with no bad habits, and even after becoming an official, he never took a concubine. Surely that made him a good husband.
Theme: Life is unpredictable. Keep hope in your heart and live earnestly
