At 5 pm in the afternoon, Baozi's maid Hua'er, as usual, carried a basket to the night market about a hundred meters away to buy vegetables. This was what she did every day, picking out fresh ingredients at the night market and buying enough for the day.
Although Huaer opened up a small vegetable plot in the backyard of the county government office and raised a few chicks, the vegetables have not grown up yet. In addition, the growth of the vegetables has been affected by the floods. At present, the vegetables cannot be self-sufficient and the chicks have not grown up yet.
Every time she goes out, there will be a guard following her not far away for protection. Huaer has gotten used to it now.
After about an incense stick of time, Huaer came back from the evening market with a basket of vegetables, which were fresh and juicy. The guards who followed behind her were holding two large carps and a white-striped chicken, and they kept a distance of about three meters from Huaer, following her closely.
"Dad, please don't, please don't... ... don't sell me to Yichunlou to sell my smiles. That old woman Wang Ya always sends the girls she buys to Yichunlou. Dad, please... ... don't..."
Just when Hua'er was about to reach the small gate at the backyard of the county government office, a young girl dressed in coarse cloth and with messy hair staggered over from a side path in panic, sobbing and crying as she ran, and looked back to beg. However, she slipped after running a few steps, and fell to the ground with a scream.
She fell right down about three or five meters away from the painting. The girl was crying with tears in her eyes, a typical country girl appearance, with slightly dark cheeks covered with dust, and a blush from working in the fields. She was vaguely pretty, but her clothes were not very clean and were wrinkled, with traces of farm work.
The officer following behind Hua'er was very cautious at first and quickly approached Hua'er to protect her. After seeing that the person coming was a weak woman, he felt there was no danger and took two steps back.
After the girl fell, a man came running from the side path. He was thin, about 40 or 50 years old, wearing dirty and torn clothes, with a face full of hatred and resentment, and looked weathered.
"Cui'er, Daddy really has no other choice. God has given us no way to survive. We can't make ends meet. We can't even afford to eat. Your mother is sick again. If you don't give her money, the doctor won't give her medicine. And your brother, you love him the most, but you are willing to watch him starve to death."
The middle-aged man walked forward, grabbed the girl's hand, and dragged her while sighing heavily.
"Dad, if you want to sell me, please sell me to an ordinary family. Just please don't sell me to Wang Yapo, she is the matchmaker of Yichunlou. If I fall into her hands, I will be sold to Yichunlou. Dad, how can you not know what Yichunlou is? If I am sold to Yichunlou, how can I survive? I can only sell smiles to others, and anyone can bully me. I will be ridden by thousands of people and slept with by thousands of people. I will be tortured to death."
The girl kept shrinking back, trying not to get up from the ground, as if the ground could give her safety. She grabbed the man's sleeves with both hands, raised her tearful face, and begged bitterly. Her voice was as mournful as the autumn wind blowing through the bamboo forest, and the tears on her face were like a flood that had burst a dam.
"Cui'er, Daddy doesn't want to sell you to Wang Ya Po, but there's nothing he can do. Other families dislike you because you're a widow, so they're only willing to pay 5 taels of silver at most. Only Wang Ya Po is willing to pay 10 taels of silver because you look decent enough. Your mother's medical treatment alone costs more than 5 taels of silver in our family, not to mention your brother and our family to support. If you're only sold for 5 taels, what's the point? We can only sell you to Wang Ya Po."
The middle-aged man pulled the girl up with force and said to her with a helpless and resolute look on his face.
"Dad, I'm not begging you not to sell me. I'm just begging you to sell me to someone else. Don't send me into the fire pit."
The girl cried with tears and snot, and grabbed the middle-aged man's sleeves tightly with both hands, begging bitterly.
"Cui'er, this is fate. There's nothing I can do. Daddy is sorry for you. I will be your slave in the next life."
The middle-aged man was almost in tears, but he still shook his head cruelly and insisted on pulling the girl up.
This girl is so pitiful. Seeing this scene, the chubby little maid Huaer couldn't help but have tears in her eyes.
The guards behind him saw this and lowered their guard. Before the flood, he had seen many people selling their children. It was not surprising that poor families could not survive when they encountered difficulties. After the flood, the number of people selling children increased a lot more than usual. The day before yesterday, Mr. Zhang from their village sold his five-year-old son, in order to earn some money and find a way for his son to survive.
As long as it is not a crime such as forced buying or selling or abducting women, the government will not intervene.
At that time, they would hand over the money and the person, and sign a contract to sell themselves. From then on, their fate would be controlled by their masters and they would no longer have freedom.
"Cui'er, your parents treated you well. They say a married woman is like spilled water. But your husband died on the day you got married. Your in-laws scolded you for bringing you back home, but your parents took you home and raised you. Now there's a natural disaster and your mother is sick again. We can't make ends meet anymore. There's really no other way. Your mother's life is hanging by a thread, and we just need money to buy medicine. Cui'er, your father really has no other choice. From childhood to adulthood, I've never begged you before. Today, I'll beg you just this once. I beg you, Cui'er..."
As the middle-aged man was talking, he knelt down, tears streaming down his face that showed a look of deep hatred and bitterness.
"Dad... Dad, please get up. Your daughter agrees. Your daughter agrees... Woo woo woo..."
Seeing the middle-aged man kneeling down with tears streaming down his face, the girl's defenses seemed to be broken, and she knelt down and cried.
"Cui'er, Daddy is sorry for you... If you want to blame or hate someone, just hate me. It has nothing to do with your mother or your brother..."
"Dad, I don't blame you. I blame the world. This is my fate..."
For a moment, the father and daughter hugged each other and burst into tears in front of Huaer. It was so sad to hear and cry.
"Which one, which one... Don't be sad..."
Hua'er had already started crying. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief, walked forward with red eyes and called softly.
The father and daughter raised their heads and cried, their eyes looking at Huaer with empty eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to listen to your privacy. Well, you'd better not sell your daughter. How can you send your own daughter into the fire pit? I have ten taels of silver. You can use it for emergency. Go home and live a good life..."
Hua'er said with red eyes, took out a ten-liang silver note from her sleeve and handed it to the two of them.
"ah?"
Both father and daughter were more surprised than delighted.
"Thank you so much, benefactor, thank you so much, madam is really kind-hearted... We kowtow to you..."
The girl reacted first and pulled the middle-aged man to kneel and kowtow. The middle-aged man also reacted and kowtowed.
"Hurry up and take it home. Your mother is still waiting to see a doctor and get medicine. There is no time to waste..."
Huaer reached out to pull the girl and handed the silver note to her.
"My benefactor, although I can't read, I know shame. I'm not a beggar, so how can I take your money for nothing?"
The girl cried and shook her head, refusing to accept it.
"Yes, we are poor but ambitious. We can't take the money from our benefactor for nothing." The middle-aged man also shook his head resolutely.
"You guys should go home quickly, your mother is still waiting to see a doctor and get medicine..." Hua'er was so anxious that she was about to cry.
"Dad, this silver is for you. Take it home to treat mom's illness, and buy some food for your brother. I will sell myself to you, my benefactor, and work like a slave for you all my life to repay you for your kindness. Dad, this is the last time I will call you dad. From now on, I am your slave, and you can do whatever you want with me. I have no relationship with you anymore, and you and I will just accept our fate."
The girl bit her lip and made up her mind. She took the banknote from Huaer, stuffed it into the middle-aged man's hand, and said to him with a determined look.
"Ah? No need, really." Huaer waved her hands repeatedly.
"Then I don't want this banknote anymore, Dad. Just sell me to Wang Ya. Let a thousand men ride on me. This is my life..."
Hearing this, the girl shook her head vigorously, took the banknote back from the middle-aged man's hand while crying, and stuffed it back into Hua'er's hand. She cried to the middle-aged man with a look of resignation and sadness.
"Ah?! I'll buy it, I'll buy it..." Hua'er couldn't help but say anxiously when she heard that the girl wanted to sell Yichunlou herself.
So, Huaer went out to the night market to buy vegetables, chickens and fish, and on the way back she bought a young girl who was sold as a slave.
"Dad, please go now. From now on, I have nothing to do with you. Whether I live or die in the future, it's up to fate."
The girl stood at the door of the backyard of the county government office with her face covered by her sleeves. After saying goodbye to the middle-aged man, she turned around and walked into the backyard resolutely.
Under the sleeves, the corners of his lips were raised, and with his head lowered, no one could see his pair of fox eyes, which were exceptionally bright.