No one really knows this. Miao and Aunt Lian were originally from other villages. When they got married, Old Lady Lian and Old Lady Shen were already at loggerheads with each other. Whenever they met on the street, they would curse at each other - mainly Old Lady Lian cursing Old Lady Shen.

Second Aunt Lian took a sip of water to moisten her throat: "It was because of the sale of Shen Xiaojuan this time that my mother-in-law brought up this matter again. She said that Shen Zhigao had an older sister named Shen Lingzhi."

"I know that. She married and moved to the county town." Miao said, "I just haven't seen her very often. She didn't come when I got married, and she didn't come when Shen Zhiwei got married later. Two or three years after I got married, when Qing Ge was born, Shen Zhigao took me to visit him in the city, and I saw her that time. She doesn't interact much with her parents' family." Miao once thought that this elder sister-in-law had married and moved to the city, and was unwilling to interact with the poor relatives in the countryside.

Thinking of this, Miao's heart sank. In fact, Miao Qiuduo was like that, wasn't she? But as an elder sister, she is shortsighted. She can think of others when she wants to, but when she thinks of her own sister, she is unwilling to think about that.

But now listening to what Second Aunt Lian said, maybe Shen Lingzhi has other hidden secrets?

"Of course!" Second Aunt Lian slapped her thigh. "I just heard from my mother-in-law! With the old Shen family's character, how good can they be to girls? Shen Lingzhi has been doing all the housework since she was a child. She is a very capable and good girl, and she is also pretty and handsome."

Apart from anything else, the Shen family members were quite good-looking. Miao was quite fond of Shen Zhigao's looks at the beginning, and later Li Jiaofeng was the same. Although Shen Zhiwei is a quiet and cowardly person who cowers all day long, he is not ugly when he raises his face.

"My mother-in-law has chosen this Shen Lingzhi." Second Aunt Lian lowered her voice, as if she was afraid that someone might hear her: "The wife chosen for my eldest uncle was not Wang, but Shen Lingzhi. If Old Lady Shen didn't like my eldest uncle, she would have rejected him directly. A family has a daughter and hundreds of families want her. No family can choose a girl just because they like her. But at the beginning, she had already found a familiar family to visit and ask about the situation, and Old Lady Shen had already agreed. During the autumn harvest that year, my eldest uncle left his own land and went to the old Shen family's land to show his courtesy. He and Shen Lingzhi liked each other very much. Later, my mother-in-law said that she would find a Feng Shui master to calculate the date and let the matchmaker propose marriage. This also means that she values ​​Shen Lingzhi."

As a result, during this period of time, Mrs. Shen suddenly married Shen Lingzhi to a widower in the county town. The marriage was arranged very quickly. By the time the Lian family learned the news, Shen Lingzhi had already been carried away in a sedan chair.

"My mother-in-law was so angry that she went to ask for an explanation. The old Shen family said that there was no engagement and they had the final say on who their daughter married. The old widower in the county town was already over 30 years old, and Shen Lingzhi was only 17 years old. He probably didn't want to do it, so he never returned to the village after that. My mother-in-law said that the old widower in the county town had paid a lot of money, and Shen Lingzhi was almost sold. Otherwise, the old Shen family would have built a brick house the next year and bought an acre of land, becoming a wealthy family in the village? Since then, our family has stopped associating with the old Shen family, and my mother-in-law has also become enemies with Old Lady Shen. Every time she sees her, she always thinks of this incident."

To Old Mrs. Lian, it wasn't just that her daughter-in-law ran away, but also that the Shen family had trampled on the face of the Lian family and looked down on them! How could she swallow this?

"Ah, this!" Miao was shocked. When she married Shen Zhigao, it had been two or three years since Shen Lingzhi got married, and it was the matchmaker from Lantang Village who arranged their marriage. I only knew that this family was considered well-off in Lantang Village, with a lot of land and a well-built house. So this is how it came to be?

"The matchmaker wants to make the deal happen and get the matchmaking money, but he only talks about the good things. How could he tell us the dirty stuff?" Second Aunt Lian sighed. If the Miao family knew that the Shen family was a family that sold their daughters, they would definitely not be willing to marry into the Shen family. Think about it again, how could Mrs. Shen, who is so stingy, be so wealthy that she would marry a daughter-in-law from Shiqu Village? I guess everyone in Lantang Village knows each other well, and no one is willing to marry a girl to his family, so they can only think of other villages!

Miao recalled the days when she lived in old Shen's house. Sometimes, Old Lady Shen would go to the county town to get some scraps of cloth, old clothes, or some usable, second-hand household items. More often than not, they would come back empty-handed, cursing and muttering over and over again that they had raised an ungrateful person in vain. Perhaps it was not enough that they sold their daughter to an old widower, they also wanted to squeeze her blood out of her bones and marrow, and if they failed to do so, they would get angry and humiliated.

"My mother-in-law said that Shen Lingzhi was really a good girl. My eldest uncle felt uncomfortable for half a year after that, and then he talked about this Wang family again." Second Aunt Lian sighed. Although she was annoyed with Wang, she didn't know whether it was better for Wang to be her sister-in-law or for Shen Lingzhi to be her sister-in-law. Although Wang had various problems, they were just minor quarrels at home. Although they were annoying, they did not cause any serious consequences.

In the case of Shen Lingzhi, although she is indeed a good girl according to what Old Lady Lian said, marrying her will make him inseparable from the old Shen family. Now the Shen family has to sell Shen Xiaojuan to pay for Shen Qiang's medical treatment. If they really get married, can they not go to their family and borrow money?

On this day, Zhao Ai Ye, who had lived in her mother's house for several months, finally returned to Old Shen's house. It’s not that he was finally willing to give in, but he had been like half crazy ever since Chen Xiaojuan was taken away by the human traffickers. But even though he was half crazy, perhaps because the shadow cast on him by Old Lady Shen was too heavy, and he paid such a heavy price for disobeying once, he could only chase after Shen Zhiwei, kicking, beating, crying and scolding him.

"I am so unlucky to marry you and your Shen family!" Zhao Aiye covered her face and cried for a while, then suddenly went crazy and beat Shen Zhiwei fiercely: "What did you say when we got married? You said you would treat me well for the rest of my life! I gave birth to Shen Zhuang, and you said I was your great contributor, and you would treat us well and give me the best! What about now? What about now? Why did I marry a coward like you who can't even protect your own child!"

He used to have a good relationship with Shen Zhiwei and his wife. No matter how much injustice he suffered at home, he never said such harsh words to Shen Zhiwei. I always feel that my parents-in-law are partial to me, and that my husband has a hard time too, so I always feel sorry for him more.

But Shen Xiaojuan was sold out, and Zhao Aiye was completely crushed. Why do women and boys marry men? Isn't it because they are weak and want to find someone to rely on so that they won't be bullied anymore? For this reason, many women and men endure being beaten by their husbands, because they think being beaten by their husbands is just being bullied by one person, but if they don’t have a husband, anyone in the world can bully them! It is better to be bullied by one person than to be bullied by everyone.

But what about Shen Zhiwei? He is not someone she can rely on at all. If something happens, he won't stand in front of her to fight for her. Anyone can bully them! Shen Xiaojuan was sold. What else did he do except kneeling and begging like himself? They are all grandchildren of the Shen family. Why should their own children be sold to save their eldest uncle’s children?

"You are incompetent, and you have caused my mother and I to suffer with you..." Zhao Aiye's eyes were almost blinded by tears. Shen Zhiwei just sat there, motionless, and allowed him to kick and hit him without moving an inch. Finally, Zhao Aiye was tired of beating him and collapsed on his shoulder: "Father, what should I do... That bitch Li Jiaofeng gave birth to a sickly child. If she can't be cured this time, does that mean our Dazhuang will be sold to pay for her child's treatment? Does that mean I will be sold to pay for her child's treatment? We are all the flesh and blood of the Shen family, why..."

Shen Zhiwei finally moved. Zhao Aiye's tears soaked the clothes on his shoulders. He gently held Zhao Aiye in his arms, as if to comfort her and himself: "No, no...it will end..."

At night, Lantang Village, which had experienced a period of bustle, finally became quiet. In order to save money on lamp oil, most families went to bed before it was completely dark, or whispered village gossip in their beds. Or maybe after working all day, he falls asleep as soon as he touches the pillow and soon starts snoring.

The Shen Qing family no longer cared about the money for lamp oil. Shen Qing even got a lot of candles from the small commodity wholesale market, including white candles and red candles used in incense shops, as well as exquisitely designed scented candles, which he placed at home for use.

Miao got an empty bowl and placed a lit candle in it. The wax that rolls down accumulates in the bowl, and then you can roll a piece of cotton thread and put it in, and it can be used for a long time. This is called saving when possible and spending when possible.

Although she had escaped from the Shen family, what happened today still made her feel uncomfortable. It was difficult for her to say that she sympathized with Zhao Aiye and Shen Xiaojuan, but there was indeed a sad feeling stuck in her heart that made her feel suffocated. In addition, Miao Qiuduo's change made her sad and angry. She couldn't sleep at all, so she took the half-finished needlework and sewed a few stitches by candlelight.

Suddenly, a woman's scream was heard from afar in the village. It was so piercing in the quiet night that Miao was so frightened that the needle pierced her fingertips, forming a blood bead as big as a grain of rice.

Shen Qing also heard it in the west room, so he got up, put on his clothes and lit the oil lamp in the room. "What's wrong?"

Miao held up her finger in a daze: "I don't know. Listening to the sound, I don't know if I'm overthinking it, why do I feel like it came from the old Shen family?"

If it were someone else's house, Shen Qing would have gone out with a lantern to see what was going on. That’s how it is in the village. If something happens, the neighbors will call and the whole village will come together to deal with it. If a thief breaks in, it will not be a small matter for each household, but a big matter for the whole village.

But when Shen Qing heard Miao said it was the old Shen family, he didn't want to get close. He paused and said, "I'll go to the workshop next door and tell Miao Yu and the patrol team to go and take a look. There is a patrol team in the village now. In addition to protecting the workshop, they also have to take care of the affairs of the village. They take my money every month."

Miao stared at the bright red spot on her fingertips and nodded distractedly.

Shen Qing fastened his clothes. The spring night was chilly, so he dug out a thin coat and put it on. At this time, there had been a lot of noise in the village, as if someone had started a fight. As soon as Shen Qing walked into the yard, he heard Miao Yu knocking on the door outside: "Aunt, brother, are you asleep?"

"I'm awake." Shen Qing responded and opened the door: "What happened in the village?"

Miao Yu hesitated for a moment before figuring out how to call Li Jiaofeng: "The woman who married the old Shen family, holding the child, said she wanted to see you."

As soon as the news came out in the village, Miao Yu sent someone to check it out without Shen Qing's instructions. But before the person who was checking came back, a figure was seen running towards this side recklessly.

Shen Qing discussed with the villagers about forming this patrol team in order to protect the safety of his home and the secret recipes of the workshop from being prying eyes. This area has always been the most heavily guarded. It was late at night, and even if they were from Lantang Village, it would not be possible for them to sneak over here. After all, who knew if there would be one or two traitors in the village?

Miao Yu quickly stopped the person, but when the person raised his face, it turned out to be Li Jiaofeng, holding Shen Qiang in her arms. The child was already weak, and normally his crying was not much louder than a cat's meow. Now, his crying was not even louder than a cat's meow, and he only made a few weak grunts.

"Why are you here?" Miao Yu was Miao's nephew. He felt disgusted when he saw Li Jiaofeng. "It's good enough that we don't come to your house to beat you up. How dare you come? Get out of here!"

Li Jiaofeng recognized Miao Yu and knew that he was Miao's nephew from her mother's side who was hired by Shen Qing to be the patrol leader. Normally, she would avoid them when she saw the patrol team, but there was really no other way now. Her face was full of tears, and she wanted to kneel down to Miao Yu: "Please let me see Shen Qing. I am a bad person, a bastard, and a worthless person. I am sorry for your aunt! But this child is Shen Qing's biological brother, and he will be able to help Shen Qing when he grows up! Please let me see Shen Qing, I beg you!"

Miao Yu held a big stick in front of him and said, "Do you want to get out of here or not? My brother has severed his relationship with the Shen family. What is that thing in your arms? What does it have to do with my brother? Didn't your family sell a girl today to get that money? It's not enough to subsidize your gold nugget, and you still want to blame my brother!" He glanced at the swaddling clothes in Li Jiaofeng's arms. The half-grown bear boy had no sympathy at all. He sneered with a hint of malice, "My brother only has one biological brother, who has died a long time ago. You are trying to make connections here, but don't curse your own child."

These words seemed to wake Li Jiaofeng up. She gritted her teeth, knowing that the Miao family wanted her and her children to die, and would not have the slightest sympathy. Playing the victim would not have any effect, so she said, "Just go and answer. I have something to say to Shen Qing. Doesn't he want to know who killed Shen Zhang in the first place? If you delay this conversation, Shen Qing will not forgive you!"