Here is the story of Chen Bai marrying into his wife's family.
It was a story Chen Wanqing had heard from her mother.
The story began with the great drought in Guanzhong, when the entire Chen family fled south for their lives.
Entire clans were escaping at the time, and the Chen family, of course, was no exception.
At the time, Chen Wanqing's paternal grandmother—Chen Song's biological mother—was still alive and six months pregnant. In an era when even strong men struggled to survive, it was next to impossible for a pregnant woman to stay alive.
Chen Song's mother died on the road. She went into premature labor but lacked the strength to deliver, and both she and the baby suffocated and died.
Sometime after, the matriarch, Mrs. Fang, joined them, all alone.
Not much was said of Mrs. Fang's origins; she was just another pitiful soul, traded for grain by her parents only to be abandoned again.
