“Deadweight?”
Information flashed through Jin Feng’s mind.
The issue of more women than men in the Kang Dynasty had persisted for years, and the bride-sending teams couldn’t fully resolve it.
Each year’s bride-sending team saw only a small portion picked in the first round.
For instance, this time, over twenty girls had come, but Jin Feng’s group consisted of only four men.
To absorb these unmarried women and stimulate population growth, the Kang Dynasty officials encouraged taking concubines. As long as you could support them, there was no limit to how many concubines you could take.
After Jin Feng and the others made their choices, villagers watching could also select any girl or girls as concubines, and the chosen girls couldn’t refuse.
However, adding another person to a household meant an extra mouth to feed and an additional tax each year, so few dared to take concubines.
Thus, many eligible girls, even after joining the bride-sending team, remained unmarried.
Though this was due to objective reasons, they still faced a twenty percent tax penalty.
Such girls were called “deadweight.”
Guan Xiaorou was a well-known deadweight nearby, having joined the bride-sending team four times in a row and still unmarried at eighteen.
Her failure to marry wasn’t due to poor character or laziness but because she couldn’t be exposed to sunlight, especially in summer. A few minutes under the scorching sun would cause her skin to redden, swell, or even blister.
In the Kang Dynasty, such people were called Night Charms, meaning ominous beings who couldn’t face light and could only live in darkness.
Guan Xiaorou’s family had once been fairly well-off, able to afford a pound or two of meat during the New Year. But since she turned sixteen, the extra twenty percent tax each year had made life increasingly difficult, to the point where even one meal a day was hard to sustain.
To make matters worse, her younger sister had suddenly contracted a strange illness last year, suffering from trembling, cold sweats, and occasional fainting.
These were seen as proof of her being an ominous person.
Ignorant farmers, who would dare marry such a woman?
“What Night Charm? It’s clearly just sun sensitivity. Some sunscreen would fix it. Feudal superstitions ruin lives!”
Jin Feng felt some sympathy for the girl.
The village chief, holding a bowl, walked side by side with the bailiff captain.
“Old rules, draw lots. One stripe picks first.”
The four men took turns drawing a paper slip from the bowl.
Jin Feng opened his slip, revealing four stripes, meaning he’d pick last.
He didn’t mind much, as if he and another chose the same girl, they could compete, so the order didn’t matter greatly.
The village chief glanced at their slips and smiled at Hunchback Li Shitou, “Shitou, you’re first. Choose.”
Before Li Shitou could speak, Guan Xiaorou suddenly rushed out of the line.
“Big Brother, I can weave cloth and eat very little. Please, give me a chance to live. I’ll work hard, serve you like an ox or horse to repay your kindness!”
To bolster her appeal, she gritted her teeth, adjusted her patched clothing, and revealed her curvaceous figure to show she was fertile.
“My goodness, that figure is unreal!”
Her loose clothing had hidden it earlier, and Jin Feng hadn’t noticed how stunning Guan Xiaorou’s figure was.
Ample where it should be, curved where it should be, slender where it should be.
An angelic face, a devilish body, a melancholic aura, a true goddess!
But the villagers didn’t approve, cursing Guan Xiaorou for shamelessness.
“Get back in line!”
The bailiff barked.
Guan Xiaorou obediently returned to the group, her face flushed as if bleeding, her body trembling slightly, yet she still looked up at Li Shitou.
If she could, she wouldn’t want to be called shameless, but she had no choice.
For two years, she’d spun thread day and night. Even so, her sister-in-law beat and scolded her daily, and her brother and parents did nothing.
Before leaving, her sister-in-law had said if she couldn’t marry this time, she shouldn’t return home but go with the bailiffs to the county, to be sold to a brothel.
This was often the final path for deadweight girls.
If they couldn’t marry and couldn’t afford the tax, they could sell themselves to the government-run brothels, exempting them from taxes.
Guan Xiaorou would rather die than sell herself to a brothel.
But dying wasn’t easy either.
If she took her own life, her family would be held accountable, facing at least a hefty fine.
That would be great unfiliality.
Guan Xiaorou returned to the line, and the bride selection continued.
The village chief nudged Li Shitou.
Li Shitou avoided looking at Guan Xiaorou and pointed to the sturdiest girl in the line.
His parents nodded in approval.
Rural folk valued a wife’s sturdiness, work ethic, and fertility. They were genuinely worried Li Shitou might impulsively choose the beautiful Guan Xiaorou.
Next was Zhang Mancang.
Zhang Mancang stepped forward, glanced at Guan Xiaorou, his expression complex.
Guan Xiaorou’s face shifted, and she slightly lowered her head.
Just when Jin Feng thought Zhang Mancang would choose her, he pointed to another sturdy, fertile-looking girl.
Next was Rogue Xie Guang.
Xie Guang approached, scrutinizing each girl closely, lingering on Guan Xiaorou.
His lecherous, rude gaze filled her with instinctive disgust, making her want to retreat.
But to marry, she suppressed her revulsion, stubbornly raising her head to meet Xie Guang’s eyes.
She’d already decided that if Xie Guang chose her, she’d take her own life afterward. That way, her parents wouldn’t be implicated.
As for affecting Xie Guang, she didn’t care.
Guan Family Bay was close to River West Bay, and she knew what kind of person Xie Guang was.
A lazy thief who harassed young wives and girls.
Several girls she knew had been harassed by him while gathering wild vegetables.
Getting such a scoundrel implicated would be doing the public a service!
“Why are you staring at me? Trying to seduce me?”
Xie Guang smirked lewdly, “Seduction won’t work. I wouldn’t dare marry a jinx like you. But if you go with the officers to the county brothel, I might visit to patronize you. You’d better serve me well then.”
“You… you…”
Tears welled up in Guan Xiaorou’s eyes.
“Are you choosing or not? If not, get lost. Stop wasting everyone’s time with your nonsense.”
Jin Feng couldn’t stand it.
Jin Feng, a self-proclaimed scholar, valued words over fists. He’d often been bullied by Xie Guang and usually avoided him in the village.
But today, this coward dared insult him publicly. How could the great Rogue Xie tolerate it?
Rolling up his sleeves, “Hey, you penniless scholar, itching for a beating again?”
“Stop!”
The village chief stepped between them, shouting coldly, “Jin Feng, get back in line. Xie Guang, hurry up and choose. Don’t waste the officers’ time!”
He emphasized “officers.”
Xie Guang, though a scoundrel, wasn’t stupid. He realized Jin Feng was baiting him.
Zhang Mancang and Li Shitou had chosen quickly, but Xie Guang had dawdled, and the bailiffs were growing impatient.
If he’d hit Jin Feng in front of them, it would be disrupting the bride-sending team, a serious offense.
Cursing Jin Feng inwardly, Xie Guang randomly pointed to a relatively delicate-looking girl.
“Jin Feng, your turn!”
