From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

At first, Su Li didn’t understand what she meant.

’Didn’t have ”that”? What ”that”?’

Su Li blinked. ”What?”

Humiliation washed over Wu Xia’s face, her complexion turning shades of red and white as she gritted her teeth and spoke.

”It’s... that thing. The one... down there.”

Wu Xia couldn’t bring herself to say any more.

She looked as if she wished she could burrow into the ground. She bit her lip so hard it left a deep indentation, and her knuckles turned white from clenching her fists.

A flash of insight struck Su Li, and she suddenly understood.

”Are you saying Zou Liping has no male anatomy?”

Shock was written all over Su Li’s face, but her tone became serious as she asked the question.

Seeing the expression on Su Li’s face and hearing how clearly she’d phrased it, Wu Xia blushed but also relaxed a little. She mustered her courage and nodded.

”Yes, Cousin-in-law... he doesn’t have... he doesn’t have it.”

Wu Xia had finally voiced the problem that had been weighing on her heart for nearly a year. An indescribable sense of relief washed over her, and she poured out the whole story in one go.

”Before, when I heard Mom and Grandma say how great Zou Liping was, and he seemed fine to me too, I thought everything would be wonderful. But then on our wedding night, I...”

Wu Xia had been both nervous and excited about her marriage, but her wedding night dealt her a harsh blow.

Before the wedding, her little aunt, like many mothers, had given Wu Xia a vague premarital talk. Wu Xia had listened with a beet-red face but had gotten the general idea.

But on their wedding night, Zou Liping didn’t touch her.

No, that wasn’t quite right. He didn’t *not* touch her. Zou Liping did everything else—he even took their clothes off—but he just didn’t take that final step.

Wu Xia was confused. She felt like something was wrong but convinced herself that this was just how it was.

When she returned home for the customary newlywed visit, her little aunt asked if it had hurt. Perhaps because her own daughter was also married, the aunt spoke more bluntly, telling Wu Xia to look after herself and not endure any suffering.

Hearing her little aunt’s question, Wu Xia’s heart sank. She knew something was wrong.

Afraid of worrying her aunt and family, Wu Xia didn’t mention that the marriage hadn’t been consummated. She returned to the Zou Family home with a heavy heart.

After that, Wu Xia suppressed her shyness and, figuring it out on her own, tried to initiate consummating the marriage with Zou Liping. She cast aside her modesty, but... Zou Liping still didn’t take her.

Later, the women in the village who had married young would tease her. To poke fun at the new bride, they spoke quite bluntly, saying they hoped she’d get pregnant soon and so on.

Wu Xia’s heart grew heavier and heavier. She didn’t know what Zou Liping was thinking. He didn’t seem dissatisfied with her, but he didn’t seem satisfied either.

A month of this went by. Then, one time, Wu Xia accidentally touched Zou Liping ”down there” and discovered she couldn’t feel anything.

Of course, Wu Xia had never seen what an adult man looked like, but she had seen little boys running around with their bare bottoms her whole life. She knew that a man shouldn’t be... empty there.

Wu Xia’s doubts and anxieties grew. After enduring for another month, and after being asked about pregnancy again, she finally couldn’t resist seeking the truth in the middle of the night.

She finally got a clear look. She saw that Zou Liping truly didn’t have ”that thing,” but he wasn’t built like a woman either.

In short, he had no male anatomy, but he wasn’t a woman either.

Zou Liping was flat-chested and had a bit of a beard on his chin. Apart from being a little thin, he looked just like a man... but he wasn’t.

Wu Xia, who had never heard of being intersex and had only heard of ”stone maidens,” was scared out of her wits and collapsed onto the floor.

The thud woke Zou Liping up.

When Zou Liping woke up and saw the horrified look on Wu Xia’s face, as if she’d seen a ghost, and then glanced down at his own pants, he knew instantly what had happened. His expression changed drastically, and without a second thought, he threw a punch.

Wu Xia was knocked unconscious. When she woke up the next day, she was met with the sight of a grim, red-eyed Mrs. Zou.

Mrs. Zou had always been a bit gloomy, but she had been decent to Wu Xia and hadn’t tormented her. Wu Xia never knew her mother-in-law’s gaze could be so terrifying.

Beside her, Zou Liping stood pale-faced, looking just as grim.

”You shameless hussy! Don’t you know married life requires restraint? How could you be so wanton?”

With that one sentence, Mrs. Zou settled the matter. ”From now on, you’ll sleep in separate rooms. You’re only allowed to be together twice a month.”

”Mother-in-law, Liping... he doesn’t have...” Wu Xia was still in shock, trying to tell Mrs. Zou that something was wrong with her son.

”Doesn’t have what? How many men have you seen? All men are like that,” Mrs. Zou declared, shutting down the conversation.

It was true that Wu Xia had never seen another adult man, so she could only shut her mouth, her heart full of unspoken worries. There was no one she could talk to about something like this.

But from that day on, Wu Xia’s life of suffering truly began.

For reasons unknown, Mrs. Zou and Zou Liping began to beat and curse her at the slightest provocation. At first, it was just with their hands, but later they started using thin switches.

”A new wife has to be beaten! A disobedient wife has to be beaten! You beat her and beat her until she’s broken in, then she’ll be obedient and good.”

They never struck heavy blows, but they hit her frequently. Zou Liping, in particular, even began beating her at night.

Wu Xia couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to go back to her family, but she was forbidden from returning home.

”Once you enter the Zou Family’s door, you are one of us. Stop thinking about going back to your parents. Do you want to be divorced and sent home? If you’re sent back, how is a husband-jinx like you ever going to get married again?”

”How will your family live in the village after that? Just stay here obediently. Don’t feel wronged. Look at other families, look at how they beat their wives. We only lay a hand on you because you’re disobedient. Liping is good enough to you.”

Wu Xia knew Mrs. Zou was wrong, but when she looked at her neighbors, she saw that many women were beaten by their husbands. Besides, she didn’t want to worry her grandmother and the others again, so she endured it.

Plus, when Zou Liping wasn’t hitting her, he was actually quite good to her. And so, Wu Xia endured.

But that kind of life was unbearable. With this secret weighing on her, every day felt like a year. That is, until Wu Dong appeared.

During the days after Wu Dong brought her to the Imperial City, Wu Xia was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. She wanted to talk about the secret weighing on her heart but didn’t know how to begin.

She hesitated right up until Zou Liping and his mother arrived this time.

Seeing them again, Wu Xia truly didn’t want to go back to that stifling, twisted life. She couldn’t bring herself to talk to her aunt, so she decided she wanted to ask Su Li.

Su Li always seemed to know so much. Wu Xia thought that maybe Su Li would understand what she was talking about, so she mustered her courage and asked.

And as it turned out, Su Li’s reaction didn’t disappoint her.

Wu Xia told Su Li everything that had happened, including the things she found most humiliating to talk about, forcing the words out past her deep-seated shame.

As Wu Xia recounted her story, Su Li’s expression grew darker and darker.

”How outrageous! How could they bully someone like this!”

It was obvious—or rather, it went without saying—that Mrs. Zou must have known about Zou Liping’s condition. How could a mother not know something like that about her own son?

In those days, women gave birth at home. It wasn’t like later generations where you’d have all sorts of check-ups during pregnancy and deliver in a hospital.

Mrs. Zou must have discovered Zou Liping was intersex only after he was born. Giving birth at home would have made it easy to keep the secret. Since he wasn’t a girl, they probably just registered his legal gender as male.

His condition itself is a medical issue, not a fault. But their fault—their unforgivable fault—was knowing this and still targeting Wu Xia for marriage because of her situation. If they had married her and treated her well, that would have been one thing. But instead, they started abusing her after she discovered the secret.

It was... It was simply preposterous!