She had to sneak over the wall just to take a peek at the muscles of those guards training bare-chested in boxing, which was extremely inconvenient!
However, Li Yaner disagreed,
"I actually think it's better where you are, where everyone upholds propriety and values the path, unlike the complete breakdown of manners and morals here!"
Talking about it, both felt they were born in the wrong place, wishing they could somehow switch with each other!
The Li family had always favored boys over girls, and after the birth of her brother, with elderly grandparents and parents busy making money, all the household chores fell on her young shoulders. She had to tend to both the old and the young, and despite this, she was often beaten and scolded by her father.
Li's father was a man of extremely volatile temper, especially after earning some money in town, he liked to indulge in a few drinks. Once drunk, he would beat and scold his wife and daughter, but he doted on his son extremely, constantly ruminating that he was the root of the old Li family, to the point where his indulgence led to his son causing trouble everywhere, much to the neighbors' dismay.
When Li Yaner turned twelve that year, her grandparents passed away one after the other. Without the old people at home, Li's father became even more unrestrained, and with the small town growing more open, barber and massage parlors started popping up, which Li's father frequently visited. It wasn't long before he started fooling around with other women. In such a small place, these kinds of things spread the quickest, and Li's mother soon found out. However, Li's mother was meek and timid, dared to be angry but not to speak out, swallowing her grievances, comforting herself by saying,
"I have a son to protect me; no matter how he fools around outside, he will come back for his son in the end!"
Li's mother wasn't wrong, however extravagant Li's father played outside, his son still needed to be provided for. Using business as an excuse, he would come back home to stay for two days a week and bring some money to support the family of three.
Li's mother was just an ordinary rural woman, having birthed three children, certainly, she couldn't compare to the looks and figure of those parlor girls, and Li's father didn't want to sleep with her when he came back. Instead, he would just drink, and after drinking, he'd go to sleep.
If he would only drink it'd be fine, but after drinking he would start to abuse them physically. Seeing the situation turn bad, Li's mother would take her son and hide away, while Li Yaner couldn't escape. She had to take care of Li's father at home, thus enduring a lot of beatings. Gu Shi Yi, witnessing this, felt both anxious and heartbroken. She taught Li Yaner some self-defense moves, but could only do so orally, through a mirror, which limited what she could teach.
She also wanted to teach Li Yaner some spells, but in that realm, spiritual power had long been exhausted, rendering spells useless even if learned. Li Yaner learned a few fancy but ineffective moves, and against Li's father, a solid man of one meter eighty, they were hardly practical. Any hint of resistance was met with even more violent beatings, and the next day, when Li's father sobered up and started berating, Li's mother would also join in scolding Li Yaner,
"What's the harm if your father hits you a few times? He gave birth to you, raised you, and can't even hit you now?"
"It's all your fault. Your dad works hard to make money outside, if he comes back and vents a bit by yelling or hitting, what's the big deal? Once he's ventilated, he won't run off again. Now he's gone to that woman again. If your dad abandons us three, what, me and your brother are supposed to survive on the Northwest wind?"
Li Yaner, frail and powerless, had no choice but to endure it all, hoping only to grow up quickly, take her little mirror, and leave this place far behind, never to return to this town again!
With such thoughts, Li Yaner studied very diligently, and her grades were always among the best. She did well in the college entrance exam and got accepted into a prestigious university. Originally, Li's father didn't want to support his daughter's education,
"Why should a woman study so much? Already eighteen, marry and stop eating my food for free!"
Business acquaintances persuaded him,
"Nowadays, everyone's children study. Your eldest daughter excels in her studies, just let her go to college. Being a university graduate, she can marry into a good family later, and with a good son-in-law, you'll have face, and it might even help your business!"
Thinking it made sense, and that marrying into a good family could help support his son as well, Li's father grudgingly financed her university education. What he didn't realize was that his daughter already despised her family to the extreme, determined never to return after graduating.