Borrowing money, a close friend secretly lends her own.

"Yes, Chuan-er likes the big sister and wants to marry her." Jin Yanchuan nodded vigorously.

Zhou Yaru thought of the reputation of Meng Yougen’s family and felt a wave of worry in her eyes.

"Yaru, what's wrong?" Outside the door, a middle-aged man wearing a half-wooden mask walked in with a limp.

"Brother Ashan, Chuan-er wants to take a wife." Zhou Yaru stood up to help Jin Shan sit down.

Jin Shan, the master of the Jin household, had his face disfigured and his leg crippled for reasons unknown. Once, his scarred face had frightened the village children, leading people to block his door and curse him. Since then, Jin Shan had fashioned a simple wooden mask. Because their home was tucked away at the foot of the mountain, he rarely went out, and with only the reclaimed land behind the mountain to tend, no one saw him coming or going.

"It is a good thing for Chuan-er to marry. If the young mistress knew, she would be comforted in the afterlife." Jin Shan smiled, a rare occurrence. He spoke the last sentence so softly that only the couple could hear.

"But that Meng family..." Zhou Yaru recounted the details of the Meng household.

"Chuan-er, is she the only one you want?" Jin Shan asked.

"Yes, Father. Achuan likes the big sister." A man with handsome, well-defined features wore a dazed, innocent expression. Seeing this, Jin Shan and his wife felt a mixture of joy and sorrow.

"Yaru, then let us go and propose. Chuan-er only became like this later in life; their children will surely be healthy." Jin Shan looked at his wife.

Zhou Yaru understood. If Chuan-er’s children were healthy, perhaps in the future...

"Yes, then we shall find a matchmaker to propose," Zhou Yaru nodded.

"Mother, the big sister said her family is not very kind, and that we should prepare as much silver as possible."

The couple’s expressions turned awkward at the mention of the bride price.

"The big sister said no matter the amount, we should try our best to scrape it together, and once she arrives, she will earn money to pay you back," Jin Yanchuan added after a moment’s thought.

"It seems that girl has been having a very difficult time in the Meng household," Zhou Yaru murmured.

"How much silver do we have left in the house?" Jin Shan asked.

"Two taels and four hundred copper coins." Zhou Yaru felt anxious thinking about their current situation.

"I will go out and borrow some." Jin Shan turned and left. Although he rarely appeared in the village, there were still a few villagers he got along with well.

***

Jin Yan'an walked in, limping slightly: "Mother, why was Father in such a rush?"

Jin Yan'an was the second son of Jin Shan and Zhou Yaru, aged sixteen.

Jin Yanzhe brought the game he had caught into the kitchen and hurried into the room, asking his second brother the same question.

Jin Yanzhe was the fourth son, now thirteen. Today, he and his second brother had been hunting on the mountain and had caught five pheasants and three wild rabbits—a bountiful harvest.

"Your eldest brother wants to take a wife, and your father and I are preparing the bride price!" Zhou Yaru smiled. She felt it was a good thing for her eldest son to marry, but the bride price was a daunting challenge. Their family relied on the meager crops from the reclaimed land behind the mountain, and the small income the second and fourth sons earned from hunting was almost entirely consumed by…

Their youngest daughter, Zhou Qiao'er, heard the commotion and came over. "Mother, is it true that Eldest Brother is getting married?"

"Yes." Zhou Yaru looked at her young daughter, who was only ten and had to wake up before dawn every day to sew for a few meager coins.

"I have saved nearly eighty coins; I will give them to you." The little girl ran off as soon as she finished speaking.

Jin Yan'an and Jin Yanzhe also returned to their rooms to bring out their private savings, totaling over one hundred and twenty coins.

Zhou Yaru looked at her three sensible children, her heart filled with gratitude. Unfortunately, these two hundred-odd coins were but a drop in the bucket for a bride price.

"Yaru!" A woman’s voice called from outside.

"Cuihua, you are here." Zhou Yaru stood up to offer a seat.

"Auntie Cuihua!" The children greeted her and then left the room.

"Yes, yes!" Auntie Cuihua nodded.

"Yaru, Brother Ashan just came to my house to borrow silver from Maocai, saying it was for Yanchuan’s marriage. Is it true?" Auntie Zhang Cuihua looked skeptical.

"It is true!" Zhou Yaru nodded.

"Which girl is it?" Auntie Cuihua asked.

"From Mengjia Village. We haven't gone to propose yet, so we don't know the situation," Zhou Yaru admitted, feeling uneasy. After all, the character of the Meng family was not exactly stellar.

"This is my private money; take it for an emergency." Auntie Cuihua took out a purse containing a little over two taels of silver.

"Cuihua..."

"Do not say a word. Marriage is the priority. Life is lived one day at a time, and your family cannot continue like this." Auntie Cuihua interrupted her.

"Thank you." Zhou Yaru’s eyes turned red. She had wanted to refuse, but she needed the money too desperately. Yanchuan was the young mistress’s only flesh and blood. When she had been left to freeze in the snow, it was the young mistress who saved her, treated her, and nursed her back to health. Knowing she had nowhere to go, she had stayed by her side—eight years in total. The young mistress had treated her like a sister, never like a servant. She never expected that after following her mistress to marry into...

Now, even if Yanchuan wanted the stars in the sky, she would try to pluck them for him, even if it meant being shattered into pieces.

"Is Yaru home?" Another woman arrived.

"I am here. Mianhua, come in!" Zhou Yaru quickly wiped her tears.

"Oh, Cuihua is here too!" Li Mianhua acted a bit like a thief, but upon seeing the money bag on the bed, she suddenly understood.

Seeing the look in Li Mianhua’s eyes, Zhang Cuihua understood immediately.

"Cuihua is also giving Yaru money, I see. I do not have much; my mother-in-law watches the purse tightly. This is all I have saved over the years—one tael and eight mace. It is a small token of my heart." Li Mianhua took out a purse she kept hidden on her person.

Zhou Yaru could no longer hold back her tears; she covered her face and sobbed.

"Oh, Yaru, why are you doing this? You should be happy that you are about to welcome a daughter-in-law," Zhang Cuihua and Li Mianhua pulled her up to comfort her.

"Thank you both so much. I will try my best to pay you back as soon as I can." Zhou Yaru was deeply grateful to these good sisters. Since she had returned with the injured Jin Shan and Yanchuan, only a few families in the village had shown them kindness, inspired by the old Zhou family residence. When she was in need, the elders at the old residence never offered help; instead, they used the filial piety of the elders to suppress them, repeatedly taking things from their home whenever Yan'an brought back game.

The couple had resisted several times, but the old residence threatened to mobilize the clan to expel Zhou Yaru as a daughter who had married out. Jin Shan was an outsider and relied on Zhou Yaru’s status as a daughter of the village to have a place there, so their attempts at resistance had failed every time.

In this era, clan ideology deeply shackled their thoughts.

After talking for a while, Zhang Cuihua and Li Mianhua hurried away. Jin Yanchuan leaned against the doorway of the side room, watching the two aunts leave. Seeing his mother’s red eyes when she came out, his heart ached.

"Mother, why are you crying? Is it wrong for me to take a wife?" Jin Yanchuan stretched out his elegant, large hand; because he was too thin, every bone was clearly visible.

"No, Mother is just happy that you are getting married. Truly happy." Zhou Yaru patted the back of his hand, telling him not to worry.

"Oh!" Jin Yanchuan was happy again.