Her soul returned to another world, where she was gravely ill and beyond treatment. After countless pleas, her employer finally agreed to release her from service and let her go home, reunite with her family, and be laid to rest in her homeland, free of worldly ties.
Back in the countryside, she was surrounded by the love of her parents and brothers, and her health gradually improved. Her mother said she should still find a good man and get married...
Should she marry or stay single?
A husband means clothes and food. One cupboard stocked with oil, salt, sauces, and vinegar; a yard full of chickens, ducks, pigs, and rabbits; a few bowls’ worth of awful relatives; and a big pot of old grudges and new resentments.
Her reputation, her good name, society’s judgment, and her in-laws’ attitudes were all matters she had to face and take seriously.
“In the first half of my life, I had no say in my own fate. In the second half, I’ll rely on myself.”
Keep it up, Li Xin!
