Li Xiucai's grandfather had the foresight to find a wife for Li Xiucai's father and leave him enough money.
When he was still alive, Li Xiucai's father had lived a good life, just as he had imagined. But …
After his grandfather passed away, Li Xiucai's father had no one to keep him in check. He was like a wild horse that had escaped its reins and eventually developed an addiction to gambling.
Gambling was an invincible word. No matter how much money one had, as long as one was involved in gambling, it would be nothing more than a bubble.
Li Xiucai's father had gambled away all the wealth that Li Xiucai's grandfather had left him in just one year.
In the end, he even racked up a huge debt.
If Li Xiucai's mother had not sold off the family's belongings to pay for her dowry, Li Xiucai's father would not have been able to keep his hands.
From then on, Li Xiucai's life became extremely difficult.
Li Xiucai's father had no money and his mother had told the people at the gambling den that if Li Xiucai's father were to continue racking up gambling debts, she would not acknowledge any of them. With nowhere else to gamble, Li Xiucai's father began to slowly make a living.
Unfortunately, he had been a pampered son of a wealthy family and was unable to carry anything. Life had forced him to bend his back.
Although Li Xiucai's father was literate, that was all he could do. It was impossible for him to write letters on behalf of others. In the end, he found himself a job carrying goods.
Although it was tiring, he could still earn some money.
After Li Xiucai's father had shown his talent in studying, Li Xiucai's father, who had been sighing about his inability to study, showed his manly side for the first time. No matter how hard or tiring life was, he would pay for Li Xiucai's education.
Li Xiucai did not let him down. He had been his teacher's favorite student since he was young.
After Li Xiucai passed the examination, Li Xiucai's father was overjoyed and said that there was hope for the Li family.
While Li Xiucai was planning for his bright future, his father was unable to work because of an accident.
Li Xiucai had been spoiled by his family because of his good grades. Now that his family could no longer provide for him, his life had taken a turn for the worse and he would throw a tantrum all day long.
Moreover, the girl he liked was going to marry someone else, which made him even more upset.
When Li Xiucai was at the end of his rope, his wife's father took the initiative to visit him. Not only did he give him a beautiful wife, he was also willing to sponsor him so that he could pass the imperial examinations and attain scholarly honors.
Li Xiucai had suffered enough without money. Although he was very concerned about the fact that his wife was born into a merchant family, who wouldn't go against money? Soon after, he took her as his wife.
However, if a person looked down on you, he wouldn't think highly of you just because you gave him money.
Moreover, the more money his stepmother's father gave her, the more Li Xiucai looked down on her.
That was because the more money his stepmother's father gave him, the more it meant that he was worth that much money. There was even less need for him to take his stepmother seriously.
Because no matter what he did, his wife's family would cling tightly to him.
His poor wife's parents always thought that as long as they treated Li Xiucai well, Li Xiucai would treat his wife well.
They didn't expect that the better they treated him, the less Li Xiucai cared about his wife and the more he looked down on her.
Although Li Xiucai had been stunned by his wife's beauty on the first day of their marriage, he had quickly changed his mind about his wife's identity.
He was sick of his wife's identity. As his wife's parents treated him better and better, he also looked down on his wife more and more.
Even though they had servant girls and servants, Li Xiucai's mother still made his stepmother personally wash the dirty clothes of the entire family in order to torture her.
His stepmother had been spoiled since she was a child and had never done any household chores. When had she ever washed clothes? Naturally, she couldn't wash them clean.
Li Xiucai's mother said that if her stepmother couldn't wash the clothes clean, she wouldn't be able to rest.
His stepmother had been forced to wash the dirty clothes for an entire day in the backyard.
She could still force herself to endure during the day, but when night fell, she couldn't help but start sobbing.
When Jiujiu heard her crying, she climbed up the rockery and sat on the wall. She looked at her sobbing stepmother and asked, "Why are you crying?"
Her stepmother was in the middle of crying when she suddenly heard someone speak. She looked up and saw a delicate little ball sitting on the wall and asking her why she was crying.
Although Jiujiu was already sixteen years old, she was still delicate and looked like a child no matter how one looked at her.
When the stepmother saw Jiujiu sitting on the wall, she hurriedly ran over and said anxiously, "Miss, why are you sitting on the wall? Hurry and get down. Don't fall."
Jiujiu didn't answer her. She only looked at her and continued, "Why are you crying?"
The stepmother wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned her head away. "I'm not crying. I'm afraid you heard wrong."
"But I heard you crying in the courtyard just now."
Jiujiu cocked her head, a puzzled expression on her fair face.
The more Jiujiu spoke, the more sorrowful the stepmother's heart became.
Even the little girl next door had heard her crying. There was no reason why her family couldn't hear her crying. They didn't come out. It could only mean that they wanted to see her cry.
Her husband, the person closest to her in the world, could only watch helplessly as his mother tormented her. He would rather stay in the room than speak up for her. It was clear how cold his heart was.
When she thought of what her father said when she got married, the stepmother felt even worse.
However, she couldn't wash her dirty linen in public. Even if her heart was filled with pain, she still couldn't say it out loud.
The stepmother laughed bitterly. "Miss, I'm fine."
"Why are you crying if you're fine?"
"I thought of some sad things. That's why I'm crying."
"What sad things?" After Jiujiu finished speaking, she looked down at the basin of dirty clothes and frowned. "You were washing clothes just now?"
The stepmother nodded. "Mn."
"Are you crying because you can't finish washing clothes?"
Although she was crying for this reason, she didn't know why, but when Jiujiu said it out loud, she felt an inexplicable sense of shame.
The stepmother's cheeks reddened. She shook her head in denial. "No, no. I was crying because I thought of some sad things."
She couldn't tell this little girl that she was crying because she didn't know how to wash clothes and was tortured by her mother-in-law. She was sad and helpless.
This little girl looked so young and innocent. She shouldn't be experiencing the evils of the world at such a young age.
Jiujiu was about to continue asking when Qingyan suddenly screamed behind her. "Ah, Miss, why did you run into the wall? Someone come, Miss ran into the wall."
Jiujiu was speechless.
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