"Could she really be a jinx? I heard from the villagers that not only does she jinx her husbands, but she will also jinx her family and friends until she kills everyone around her. Mom, I'm afraid. Can we chase her out?"
"Silly girl, how can someone like her be a jinx?"
"But she got engaged three times in a row, and the men all died…"
A conversation sounded in Chen Baiyi's ear. She opened her eyes in a daze and heard her stepmother, Zhang Xiulan, scoff. "I did that on purpose."
"On purpose?" Chen Xinyue's stupid voice sounded in the room.
Chen Baiyi forced herself to focus. From the corner of her eye, she saw that the mother and daughter were sitting with their backs facing her. Presumably, they hadn't guessed that she would wake up so quickly. Zhang Xiulan boasted, "I've asked around beforehand every time. The men chosen for her were all about to die in the first place. That way, we can accept the dowry without actually having her marry them. After all, she still has to do labor for the family!"
Chen Xinyue was enlightened and she said in admiration, "Mom, you're really impressive."
Zhang Xiulan was smug. "Learn more from your mother. I'll talk to your aunt later and see if she knows any more men who aren't in good health. Then I'll get that good-for-nothing engaged again and charge an additional dowry."
Chen Xinyue was a little worried. "But no one in our village will dare to marry her."
"Then let's go to another village to search." Zhang Xiulan wasn't worried at all. "At most, we'll ask for less money. This time, we don't need a thousand. Eight hundred will do."
Chen Baiyi clenched her fists in anger. It turned out that she was sold out by Zhang Xiulan during these three engagements!
For her first two marriages, she was betrothed to upright families. After her husband died, even if they wanted to get back the dowry, Zhang Xiulan would throw a tantrum and refuse to return it no matter what. Her third engagement was to Li Zhimin. He was a sly and greedy person. He was almost thirty years old and had yet to find a wife. The Li family chose Chen Baiyi as his wife, then came to their house to propose marriage.
Chen Baiyi rejected him on the spot. In the end, after Zhang Xiulan heard about it, she took the initiative to ask for a thousand yuan as a dowry. Not long after the Li family gave the dowry, Li Zhimin drank too much one day and accidentally fell into the river, then he drowned.
Li Zhimin's mother wanted Chen Baiyi to put on mourning clothes, but Chen Baiyi said that she hadn't even married him yet so it was inappropriate. As the two of them pulled and tugged, Li Zhimin's elder brother punched Chen Baiyi and knocked her out.
When she woke up again, this was what she heard.
Chen Xinyue was still chattering as she asked, "Now that Old Madam Wang keeps asking us to return the dowry, what should we do?" Old Madam Wang was Li Zhimin's mother.
Zhang Xiulan was a little angry. "Her son just got unlucky and drowned to death on his own. It's not like I didn't want to marry my daughter to him. They were the ones who were in the wrong, so how could they have the nerve to ask for the dowry? If it were me, I would apologize to the girl's family and give them some compensation! After all, Chen Baiyi's reputation as a chaste girl has been ruined because of them."
Chen Xinyue was worried. "But the Li family is quite powerful now. What if they attack me?"
Old Madam Wang had the largest chicken farm in the surrounding villages. She had many workers under her and her family had many barbaric men. The punch they gave Chen Baiyi frightened Chen Xinyue.
Zhang Xiulan said shamelessly, "Anyway, I don't have money. They can ask Chen Baiyi for it themselves. It has nothing to do with us."
Chen Baiyi said, "You think it's okay just because you say so?"