When a tough approach didn't work, Li's mother resorted to a softer one, crying and begging. The Li family made a fuss for a long time, and Gu Shi Yi saw that if Li Yaner continued to be kept like this, her internship would fall through. He suggested to her,
"Just pretend to agree with them for now, find a way to steal your ID card, and then we can run away!"
Li Yaner, resilient at heart, took Gu Shi Yi's advice and pretended to agree. She also managed to coax Li's father into asking the Wang Family for a substantial bridal price and claimed she had yet to receive her diploma,
"The family has spent so much money on my education. If I don't get the diploma, wouldn't that money be wasted?"
Li Yaner's words struck a chord with Li's father. He stared at his daughter for a long time and said viciously,
"If you dare to run away, I'll break your legs!"
Li Yaner was long accustomed to his fierce appearance. She nodded in apparent obedience, but inside, she sneered. After getting her diploma from school and giving up the internship, she took a night train and quietly fled. She was gone for three years, during which she found a job in a place far from home and settled down.
If she had never returned, none of the subsequent events would have happened. But Li Yaner ultimately failed to resist her compassion. She casually contacted an old primary school classmate online and learned that Li's mother had cancer and didn't have long to live. The news troubled Li Yaner, and after much deliberation, she considered going back. Only Gu Shi Yi felt something was amiss,
"Your primary school classmate is from the same town, right? Seems like they're even related to that family. Could they be deceiving you?"
Li Yaner had also considered this possibility,
"But... what if it's true?"
After several days of hesitation, Li Yaner still decided to go back. Her plan was to secretly visit the hospital, leave some money for Li's mother, and then leave. But as soon as she entered the hospital room, she was caught by Li's father!
Li's father sneered and slapped his daughter twice,
"You think you can escape from me! Even if you run away, I have ways to bring you back!"
And so, Li Yaner was forced back home.
On the groom's side, the man had a notorious reputation. No decent family in the locality would consent to marry their daughter to him. However, the groom had truly taken a fancy to Li Yaner, the university graduate,
"I may be a rogue, but marrying a university graduate makes me proud. That's something I can boast about for the rest of my life!"
Thus, the groom's side never lost hope and kept pressuring Li's father. After three years, they finally managed to deceive the daughter into returning!
On the wedding day, Li Yaner was forced to change into her dress and put on makeup. Flanked by two burly middle-aged women, she was taken and locked in the bridal chamber. Desperate, she paced the room, clutching a small mirror—the only thing she'd managed to hide in her shoe's sole when all her belongings, like her ID and cell phone, were taken away.
"What do I do? What do I do? Shiyi, what should I do?"
Meanwhile, Gu Shi Yi was panicking too, thinking,
"I'm powerless from this distance. Despite my martial skills and Taoist techniques, I can't help her!"
As she paced back and forth, hands behind her back, the two of them fretted. Eventually, Gu Shi Yi thought of a plan,
"Don't panic. Listen to me..."
...
Since the groom's family was powerful and influential, nearly half the town attended the wedding banquet. By the time the feast was over, it was already midnight. Li Yaner did not dare to undress; still in her bright red traditional bridal dress, she sat on the bed pretending to doze. When she heard the messy footsteps outside, she sat up abruptly. Soon after, the bridal room's door creaked open, a man with an uneven gait, followed by a crowd of relatives, entered. Some young men grinned as they tried to come in, but were stopped by Li Yaner's new mother-in-law,
"All of you, get out! Anybody who dares to disturb the bridal chamber tonight, I'll break his legs!"
This old woman was notoriously fierce, and her reputation was known far and wide. No one dared to make a fuss and scattered with laughter. Once everyone left, the groom stumbled in drunk. Seeing Li Yaner sitting anxiously on the bed, he chuckled and locked the door behind him,
"University graduate... university graduate... I've married a university graduate!"
As he lurched toward her, reaching to touch her face, Li Yaner held back her disgust and let his greasy hands touch her, trembling as she forced a smile,
"You... you... sit down first!"
The man laughed and plopped down beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist. He scrutinized Li Yaner's makeup, which made her face look like a monkey's rear end, and frowned disdainfully,