At the head were Tian and Fat Aunt. Behind them were the village women who came to watch the fun, mixed with a few naughty kids. There was also a woman with a long horse - face and upturned eyebrows, about in her forties. She was sizing up Shen Yuning with raised eyebrows. The more she looked, the more pleased she seemed, though she tried hard to suppress it and put on a look of disgust.
Tian pointed at Shen Yuning and said to the woman, "Sister Zhang, this is my niece. She was brought up in the capital. She's so delicate. Look, she must be worth quite a bit of silver, right?"
Right in front of Shen Yuning, the two of them openly discussed how much she was worth. Shen Yuning wasn't angry. She just waited until they haggled and settled on twenty taels of silver. Then she gave a faint smile and nodded at the woman broker, "Auntie, you'd better be careful. Which rich master would be willing to spend twenty taels on a useless maid?"
Hearing her soft and pleasant voice, the woman broker was even more satisfied. "A maid? Selling you, who can't do any work, as a maid would make me lose a fortune. Don't worry. I'll surely find a good place for you."
The women behind burst into laughter, all laughing at Shen Yuning's naivete.
But Shen Yuning looked at her seriously, raising her eyebrows and saying, "In the Great Qi, when a citizen reaches the age of ten, their parents can sell them into slavery. If a woman wants to be sold as a concubine or enter the music and dance academy, she must give her consent. First, she's just my aunt, not my parents, so she can't make decisions for me. Second, I, Shen Yuning, will never agree to be a concubine or enter the music and dance academy."
Hearing this, Tian was extremely impatient. Her small bean - like eyes were opened much wider than usual. "Shen Yuning, do you think this is still the Marquis Xue's Mansion? This is Shenjiapo. Your parents are gone. I'm your elder, so I can surely make decisions for you. Moreover, we've never even heard of what you're talking about. Wherever you're sold, it's still a sale. You little girl even know how to scare people? Once you get there, there'll be plenty of ways to deal with you. Let's see what else you can use to scare people!"
Although Shen Yuning was used to keeping calm, she was only a fifteen - year - old girl after all. Her previous life had been so smooth, but now she felt that every step was difficult. No matter how calm she seemed on the surface, she was extremely scared inside. The laws and regulations of the Great Zhou that she was familiar with were of no use in this poor countryside, and few people would listen.
She forced herself to calm down and gritted her teeth. "My elder brother was just exiled. He's not dead. How can you make decisions for me?"
Tian looked at her as if watching a joke but ignored her. Instead, she said to the woman broker, "This girl is very stubborn. But the price we've agreed on, I won't reduce it by a single cent. If you're not happy, I can just find another broker."
The woman broker rolled her eyes. What worried her wasn't Shen Yuning's words but the fact that this girl had an elder brother. She quickly whispered, "Her elder brother..."
Tian patted her arm. "I'm her aunt. Everyone here can testify. Her elder brother committed a crime and was exiled for two years. It's not even half a year yet. At most, when he comes back, I'll give him a bit. After all, he has a daughter to be raised by my family. How would he care about this sister he's never even met?"
Only then did the woman broker feel relieved. She looked at Shen Yuning disdainfully and lifted her chin. "Are you going with me on your own, or do you want to suffer some pain before going with me?"
Shen Yuning's mind was racing. She felt that at this moment, she had nowhere to turn for help. The people in Shenjiapo were both poor and mean. None of the clan elders was reliable since she was a girl.
However, before she could think for long, a half - grown boy with a missing front tooth rushed in. There was a whip mark on his forehead, and he was out of breath from running. "Aunt, aunt, there's a group of wild boys outside. They've smashed our cart!"
The woman broker was startled. She didn't care about this beautiful girl anymore and ran towards the donkey cart at once. Her donkey cart was specially made, covered with thick felt cloth on the outside, and there were ropes, nails, and clubs inside, all prepared for those disobedient girls.
When she got outside, sure enough, she saw a group of ten - year - old beggars who had smashed her donkey and cart to pieces.
The woman broker shouted angrily, "Where do you little beggars come from? Are you tired of living?"
But when she was about to step forward, the leading beggar flicked his long whip, which landed right in front of the woman broker, kicking up the soil on the ground. The woman broker was so scared that she took several steps back. Fortunately, the people who came out later caught her.
Shen Yuning followed out later and was stunned when she poked her head out. The leading boy was none other than the boy she had saved by the stream that day. He had come to repay his kindness.
Because of this commotion, the woman broker didn't care about buying Shen Yuning anymore. After scolding and driving the beggars away with the people from Shenjiapo, she rushed to the veterinarian to check on her donkey.
Tian was extremely angry. She cursed Shen Yuning viciously. After she felt a bit better, she spat on the ground. "Shameless and low - class thing. You even seduce dirty beggars that everyone dislikes... When she comes again in a few days, let's see who can help you!"
Shen Yuning ignored her. She deeply felt that she couldn't stay in Shenjiapo anymore. Even if she became a person without a household register, it would be better than staying in this cannibalistic place. She simply tidied up the yard, then went out and dug out the bag of silver hidden beside the cannas in the depths of the bamboo forest next to the house. Then she sneaked back into the house.
As soon as she entered the house, she saw Yuanbao, still in a state of shock. Her cheeks were swollen, and there were scratches all over her exposed arms, with blood on her hands.
Yuanbao stared blankly at Shen Yuning, who was safe and sound. Tears welled up in her eyes all of a sudden. She staggered and fell to the ground. Shen Yuning let out a cry of alarm and quickly picked her up.
That night, Yuanbao had a high fever.
Shen Yuning invited the bare - footed uncle from the neighboring village. This uncle was kind - hearted. Looking at the child's condition, he sighed. Knowing that Shen Yuning had no money, he gave her a few bunches of herbs to make medicine soup and left with his basket on his back without even asking for a consultation fee.
Fortunately, the bare - footed uncle was capable. Although the herbs he gave were unknown, after drinking a bowl of the medicine, Yuanbao really had her fever go down.
Early the next morning, seeing that Yuanbao's condition had stabilized a bit, Shen Yuning, with two dark circles under her eyes, went out. She went straight to Fat Aunt's house and sure enough saw her naughty boy climbing a tree at the door.
Shen Yuning reached out and grabbed the little fat boy's ear and asked sternly, "Did you beat Yuanbao like that yesterday?"
The little fat boy cried out in pain. But as soon as he shouted, Shen Yuning spanked him. He gritted his teeth in pain and didn't dare to shout loudly. He kept begging for mercy. "No, sister, it wasn't me. It was really not me. It was Chutou from the second uncle's family who did it..."
Shen Yuning pushed him to the ground and looked at him unbelievingly. "Chutou is such a weakling. How dare he beat Yuanbao? Tell me, are you lying?"
The little fat boy quickly shook his head, covering his two ears. "No, no, it's really not, sister. Yuanbao heard the second aunt say that they were going to sell you, so she bit the second aunt. Then the second uncle caught her and hung her on the tree. Chutou hit her with a stick..."
Shen Yuning was stunned. She knew that Yuanbao had a bad temper and always caused trouble. She had been here for less than twenty days, and her relationship with Yuanbao wasn't really good. But she didn't expect that Yuanbao would bite the second aunt for her sake.
Her heart was filled with mixed emotions. She took care of Yuanbao, thinking that as an adult, she shouldn't be fussy with a child. It turned out that during this half - month of getting along, Yuanbao had regarded her as the closest person.
Because of Yuanbao's illness, Shen Yuning didn't have time to think about how to escape the fate of being sold by Tian. She quickly went to the end of the village to buy a block of tofu and went home to make tofu and cabbage soup for Yuanbao. Yuanbao didn't eat yesterday because of the illness. She drank up a bowl of the soup in one go, smacked her lips, and then looked at Shen Yuning longingly.
Shen Yuning thought for a while. Maybe she should go to the town to buy some meat? This child was too thin.
Just as she was about to go out, she heard Fat Aunt and Little Fat running over in a hurry. They slapped the courtyard door loudly. "Shen Yuning, you slut, come out! Are you tired of living? You bullied my Tiezhu. I'll fight you today!"
Fat Aunt was in a hurry. When no one answered after she slapped the door, she kicked it hard. But the courtyard door wasn't strong in the first place. With this kick, it cracked. Fat Aunt's foot got stuck in the door. She fell backward with her head hitting the ground hard, and her foot was still stuck in the door and couldn't get out.
It was summer. Fat Aunt was wearing a long dress outside, but only half - length pants inside. Her calf was caught by the cracked door, and many wood chips pierced into her leg. She howled in pain.
Shen Yuning wanted to go up and help, but was scolded by Fat Aunt, so she had to stand aside and watch.
When Little Fat went to call someone and they rescued Fat Aunt, Fat Aunt immediately stood up and pointed at Shen Yuning and shouted, "You slut, you made me get injured. I'm telling you, today you'll surely pay for it!"
After saying that, she came up to slap Shen Yuning.
Shen Yuning wasn't stupid. How could she let her slap? She immediately jumped to the side and simply rolled up her sleeves and pointed at Fat Aunt and scolded, "Aren't you ashamed, you old fatty? You kicked my door broken. I haven't even settled the score with you, but you're turning the tables on me! Why is the door broken? It's because you've been coming to bully Yuanbao every day and kicking the door!"
Fat Aunt never expected that this girl who always only talked about reason would scold today, and even call her an old fatty. How could she bear this?
She was injured, so she simply sat on the ground and howled, "Heaven and Earth, come and take a look! This slut has a big nerve. She's trying to kill me..."
But before her voice died down, Shen Yuning also plopped down on the ground and howled, "Heaven and Earth, please open your eyes and take a look! What kind of people are these? Seeing that there are only women and children in my family, they want to sell us if they want and beat us if they want. Poor my niece is still lying in bed. She was almost beaten to death! Heaven, are you not going to let us live?"
The people in Shenjiapo were all poor and tricky villagers, but there were also the village head and the clan leader to maintain order. Because of the evils committed by Shen Jingui and his mother, everyone didn't like Shen Jingui's family. But it wouldn't look good if the matter got too big. They would just be laughed at by the neighboring villages.
So everyone tried to persuade them to make up. They dragged and pulled Fat Aunt away. As for Fat Aunt's injury and Shen Yuning's door, they both had to accept their bad luck.
When most of the people had left, Shen Yuning stood up, patted the dust off her body, and sighed silently.
From childhood to adulthood, the etiquette and rules she had learned were to speak softly. But today she found that no matter how many great principles she talked about here, it was not as useful as throwing a tantrum.
At this moment, she herself didn't know whether it was helplessness or sadness.
The gate couldn't be used anymore. With a gentle push from Shen Yuning, the whole door collapsed. In fact, even if the door hadn't collapsed, the half - collapsed courtyard wall on the side had already left this shabby little yard with no cover at all. If there had been any valuable things in the house, thieves would have already broken in.
Anyway, there wasn't even any decent furniture in the house, so there was no need to be afraid. But that bag of silver, which she had hidden under the bed, still needed to be put in a safe place where she could take it away at any time.
Just as she was about to enter the main hall, she heard a deep male voice behind her. "Excuse me... Is this Shen Dalin's house?"