The Little Husband from the Monk's Household

Xu Tian is a famously handsome young man from the village. Seeing that his adopted son was growing ever more clever and attractive, Xu Laohei began thinking of finding him a good match in one of the neighboring villages, so he could make a tidy sum from the betrothal gifts. As it happened, Hu the Butcher, a fat, big-eared man from the next village, was about to take a third concubine, and he had his eye on Xu Tian.

So he arrived at Xu Laohei's door with a pig and twenty taels of silver to propose. But who in the village didn't know that Hu the Butcher made his two concubines work for the household while they were still recovering from childbirth? Xu Tian refused to marry him. In a fit of pique, he ran away on a dark, stormy night, only to be rescued from bandits by a monk.

After the monk escorted him back to the village, Xu Tian learned that Xu Laohei had died after accidentally rolling down a hillside while searching for him.

The villagers all called Xu Tian an unfilial, ungrateful man who brought death to his own family. Some even led the way in blocking him at the village entrance, refusing to let him return.