Somewhere in this world, there is a man named Xiaoqiang. I, a rural guy who grew up in the depths of the mountains, was dragged into the whirlpool of life because of the simple and simple logic of the family - marrying a daughter-in-law has to pay a high bride price.
My home is a dilapidated wooden house nestled between the mountains. The custom here is that the bride price is a façade, an honor, and a burden. My parents were simple farmers, and they had worked hard all their lives to save only a few meager savings. But even then, with their hopes, I packed my bags and crossed the Pacific Ocean to work in a completely unfamiliar country.
As I said, the bride price in the countryside is not a small amount. 400,000, which is an astronomical amount to my family. You may ask, why do you have to marry a daughter-in-law? In fact, just like you and me, who doesn't want to have a companion, and who wants to live alone?
In my hometown, there are more men and fewer women, and matchmakers don't even want to introduce me to someone. In desperation, I followed my parents' proposal and went overseas. Although the work there is hard and tiring, I have been gritting my teeth and persevering, just to save enough "marriage money" that makes people laugh and cry.
After a few years in a foreign land, my hair has become gray, and my face has been carved with furrows. By the time I finally saved up enough for the bride price and returned to my hometown, I was a person who could not be called a young man in my native language. Being older and single in the village almost meant finding a wife, but I found her anyway – a woman from a second marriage with her daughter.
Our relationship didn't start off badly, and I'm grateful that I was able to find a place to belong in these years. I don't mind her past, and I'm even secretly planning that my daughter will be able to receive a high bride price when she is older. In addition, she is willing to charge me less than 100,000 yuan in the bride price, and said that she will return it to the family at that time, which fills my heart with hope. But in fact, this preconceived happiness is just a bubble.
Soon after we got married, I asked about the 100,000 bride price that I had promised to return. She told me that the bride price belonged to her family, and she would not pay back a penny. It made me angry and we argued. She had a tough attitude and even threatened to divorce if she was dissatisfied. I was staggered that this seemingly absurd scene is actually an unfortunate reality: a person's hard work and expectations are out of balance in the trade-off.
Yet, even though anger and surprise filled my chest, I chose to endure. Not for anything else, just because I don't want to disappoint my parents and let my efforts go to waste. But I made it clear in my heart: since your family wants a high bride price, you have to do your duty for me and my parents. Because isn't that what you have to do when you marry a daughter-in-law?
Day after day, ordinary life passes away in constant disputes. Two years later, she brought me two children, but the balance of the family has bottomed out. In desperation, I packed my bags again and embarked on the road to make money. Because I know that for the sake of this family, for the sake of these children, I can't stop. No matter how bumpy the road ahead, I will keep going. This is my story, a story of family emotions full of twists and turns.