This gold lock was bought by her for her grandson, Xu Jiahao.

However, Jiahao was mischievous and threw the gold lock around his neck into the river the next day.

We searched for a long time but couldn't find it.

Four years later, a drought struck, and the river's water level dropped by more than half. The gold lock then leaked out and was found by a family she knew, who returned it to her. By then, Jiahao had grown up and no longer liked wearing jewelry, so the gold lock was put back in a box and has remained there ever since.

When she bought the gold lock, her son had not yet passed the imperial examination.

So the gold lock wasn't worth much; she remembered it was only about twenty taels.

It's perfect for giving as a gift.

Little Silver was very fast; he returned in less than fifteen minutes.

“Here, this gold lock is what I bought for Jiahao. Don’t think it’s cheap. This gold lock has protected my grandson and helped him grow up safely. I hope it can also protect your grandson. Keep it safe. When you come again, I will give him a big gift.”

“Oh, how could I complain? Anything your aunt gives you must be good. As soon as my grandson is born, I will put the peace lock on him. It is a treasure given to him by his great-grandmother Lian.”

The phrase "Grandma Lian" made Madam Fan beam with joy.

“I can’t wait to become a great-grandmother. Sigh, my grandson, all he does is play. The other day I introduced him to a nice girl, and he actually made her cry. He said she was ugly and not even as good as a prostitute. Can you believe it? He can’t even study properly and he’s so disobedient. He’s already seventeen. Other people’s grandsons have children at such a young age, but all he does is go to brothels and fool around.”

The thought that Yan Xia was about to become a grandmother, while her grandson refused to even get married, was unbearable.

Fan's face immediately fell into a worried expression.

"Don't rush, there are good girls ahead. Who knows, maybe one day Young Master Xu will suddenly become sensible and bring you back the top scholar in the imperial examination. Then he can marry you a princess as your granddaughter-in-law. Wow, how impressive would that be? Auntie, you would be a member of the royal family. At that time, even the highest-ranking officials would have to curry favor with you."

[Marry a princess? She'd be more like a roasted sweet potato than a top scholar! That brainless playboy Xu Jiahao, marrying a princess? He'd be a far cry from marrying a boar!]

Yan Xia said something that didn't match her true feelings.

Despite her flattering words, she secretly curses Xu Jiahao to the core.

Don't think she's forgotten.

The leader of the group of spoiled young men who ambushed her and Chang Yi in the alley that day was Xu Jiahao.

Their character has been corrupted.

Flowers with rotten roots will wither sooner or later!

The same applies to people.

"Haha, you're so sweet-talking, always good at making me happy. Alright, I'm tired too, I should take a nap. You should go back and pack your things. Your aunt is waiting for you to bring your grandson to Jiangnan County. Be careful on the road tomorrow. If you leave early and the city gates are not open, just tell the guards and they will open the gates for you."

"Okay, I understand. Auntie, you can rest now. I'll take my leave."

Yan Xia kept turning back to look at herself.

Only after leaving the Fan family's courtyard did he put away his smile and stride away without looking back.

"Look at this child, how reluctant she is to part with me. Oh, if only my son had married her back then, the house wouldn't be so quiet during holidays. But thankfully, Shan'er is back, and with Jiao Jiao around, it's a bit more lively. Alright, help me lie down on the bed."

After watching Yan Xia leave, Madam Fan instructed her personal maids, Xiao Jin and Xiao Yin, to help her to bed.

Three miles outside the city gate, an oxcart was traveling on a small road. The wooden frame of the oxcart was very old and covered with all kinds of dirt, which made the oxcart dark black. The driver was an old man, over fifty years old.

He had lost most of his teeth, and what remained were yellow, black, and rotten teeth. The old man's clothes were faded from washing and had several patches on them.

"Go back and take good care of me. If you give me a son, I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury. Don't worry, even though I'm old, I'm in great health. Tonight, hehe."

The old man was telling bawdy jokes to the woman behind the oxcart.

He was truly ugly; the wrinkles on his face were as rough as tree bark, and as he spoke, his eyes lewdly sized up the woman.

"Please let me go! I'm already a grandmother, how could I possibly give birth again? Take me to my son-in-law's house, and I'll have him give you some money. Please let me go, okay? I'll have my son-in-law give you five taels of silver, no, ten taels!"

The woman was bound hand and foot and lay on her side on the oxcart, unable to move.

"Let you go? Ha! You think I'd believe you? If I really sent you to your son-in-law's house, you'd definitely run away. I don't believe it."

The old man spat out a mouthful of thick, greenish phlegm and ignored the woman.

He turned his head and focused on driving the oxcart.

We're almost at his village.

He had several wives before, but none of them could bear children. They were all useless, and there was no point in keeping them. He tortured them to death.

The old man's father left behind several acres of prime farmland, which he also sold off.

The only valuable things in the house are this oxcart and the old, worn-out ox.

The money he spent on the woman was his last possession.

"After the autumn harvest, I'll sell the ox to save up some money for my son. You'd better keep your belly full, or I'll sell you and the ox together after the harvest. Don't blame me for being heartless then. You can still eat your fill here, huh? Once you're in that lowest-class cave dwelling, you won't even be able to cry!"

"Yaowu" and "yaozi" mean the same thing.

If we use a modern analogy, the top courtesan in a brothel is like a minor internet celebrity, costing tens or even hundreds of thousands of yuan to "play with." Ordinary prostitutes are like girls in business clubs, costing a few thousand yuan to take away. As for brothels, they're like out-of-town girls in red-house hair salons, costing two hundred yuan for an hour.

The cave dwellings were even worse than brothels, filled with women in their thirties and forties, and even some in their fifties, who provided sexual services to the poor, much like the decadent old ladies in the corners of modern parks, who could have some fun at fifty.

"Waaaaah, I don't want to go into the kiln, and I don't want to have your son, ahhh, help me—"

The woman behind the oxcart screamed in terror, crying and shouting for help.

"Smack—"

"Shut up, or I'll beat you to death."

The old man stopped the oxcart, got off, and slapped the woman hard across the face.

"Waaaaah!" The woman wept bitterly.

Seeing that she had shut up, the old man climbed back onto the oxcart and prepared to continue his journey.

Before the ox could even lift its leg, it was overtaken and stopped by a horse-drawn carriage.

Who are you? What do you want?

A man stepped out of the carriage and walked towards the old man, startling him into thinking he was going to rob him.

"Here's ten taels of silver. I'll buy her. Ten taels could buy two or three young virgins. Why be so fixated on her, right? So, are you selling her?"

The speaker was Deng Qiuzhi.

"Waaah, my husband, come save me! I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. From now on, let's live a good life together. I will never cause trouble again. I have seen through my mother and Guangyao. Don't worry, I will never help my mother's family again."