Chapter 2 The Missing Daughter
This number was astronomical in that era of scarcity.
At that time, the Lu family was just an ordinary farming family, making a living by farming.
The whole family works hard all year round to earn about 100 yuan.
Such a heavy cost left them helpless.
what to do?
With the marriage on the verge of falling through, Lu Weidong, the father, secretly sold his eldest daughter, Lu Xiuwei, without telling his wife.
That was Lu Fuquan's older sister—their twin daughter.
By the time Shen Cuifen learned of this, it was too late.
My daughter was taken from home a few hours ago and has since disappeared.
She suddenly felt as if the world was collapsing.
"Lu Weidong, how could you do such a thing!"
Grandma Shen's eyes were red from crying, tears streamed down her face, and her voice was almost hoarse.
"You're a father, how can you bear to give your child away for money?!"
As she spoke, her emotions ran high, and she rushed forward, angrily questioning her husband, Lu Weidong.
Lu Weidong seemed impatient and dodged away in a flash.
“I sent Xiuwei to do a good deed for them! You have to understand, how could a family that can afford eight hundred yuan for a wedding be so poor?”
He spoke while frowning.
Grandma Shen missed her target, then, with red eyes and baring her teeth, lunged at him again.
"Stop making excuses! I don't know a thing about their names or which street they live on. Isn't this blatant child trafficking?"
She was so angry she almost jumped up and down.
This time, Lu Weidong didn't dodge, and his face was immediately scratched by the fingernails, leaving several bloody marks.
"Mom—please stop fighting!"
At this moment, Lu Xiuye, who was only 15 years old, was so anxious that she kept crying and her voice became hoarse.
Ten-year-old Lu Fuhua was so frightened that he sat down on the ground and burst into tears.
Lu Weidong covered his bruised cheek, furious.
"Then tell me, what are we supposed to do! If I don't give Xiuwei to that guy, can you borrow money from your family? We're so poor we can't even afford to eat, what's the point of saving face?"
The moment those words were spoken, the air seemed to freeze.
Grandma Shen was stunned for a moment, then took several steps back.
"What's the deal with these two brothers? Who sold themselves to two men?"
"You don't believe me? How can a girl be worth eight hundred yuan? What do you think they're after? It's just that the two brothers chipped in to marry her. You can be secretly happy about it. Anyway, the girl's already been sent away. What else can you expect me to do?"
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Shen froze on the spot.
The biological father sold his young daughter to two men, claiming it was for her own good.
"You beast! I'm going to kill you today!"
Old Mrs. Shen's eyes were bloodshot, and she almost lost her mind. She rushed to the door, grabbed an axe that she usually used to chop firewood, and swung it at Lu Weidong without saying a word.
"stop!"
All the children watching were terrified.
Just as the gleaming axe was about to strike,
Lu Zhongping, who had been standing at the entrance, suddenly made his move.
He grabbed Lu Weidong's arm and yanked him to the side.
The axe narrowly missed Lu Weidong's head.
He was pulled so suddenly that he fell heavily to the ground.
But in any case, he survived.
"Have you all made enough of a scene? If this continues, what will happen to my marriage if my eldest sister can't get married? And what about Fuhua and Xiuye's studies?!"
The one speaking was the youngest son, Lu Fuquan.
He could no longer contain his long-suppressed frustration. He took a step forward and rushed to Old Lady Shen, snatching the axe from her hand.
He swung his hands forcefully, and a loud "bang" echoed.
The heavy axe was thrown hard to the ground.
Old Mrs. Shen could no longer hold back her anger. She raised her right hand and slapped Lu Fuquan hard across the face without any hesitation.
Her hand fell heavily, and Lu Fuquan's face instantly turned red.
Why do you think Old Lady Shen would get so angry?
The axe in her hand originally belonged to her eldest daughter and was meant for self-defense.
"You and your son are exactly the same!"
Old Mrs. Shen shouted angrily, her voice trembling.
"She's your own sister! She's the person who's loved you the most since you were little, and this is how you repay her? How can you say such heartless and inhuman things? Are you even human?!"
The slap that landed on his face felt like a blow to her own heart.
After saying this, Grandma Shen's chest heaved, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Honestly, she felt a pang of heartache at that moment.
An indescribable sense of sorrow welled up in my heart.
She couldn't help but wonder how many sins and immoral things she had committed in her past life had led her to be reborn into such a family in this life!
In all his life, when has Lu Fuquan ever suffered such injustice?
At home, whether it's my mother or my siblings.
Which one of them wasn't carefully coaxing him?
But now, he was slapped in the face by Old Lady Shen in public, his cheeks turning bright red.
He was instantly enraged, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, and he raised his arm, his fists clenched tightly.
"Oh no! Someone's been killed! Someone's been killed!"
Just then, a scream came from the courtyard gate.
Then came the sound of children crying and sobbing.
Grandma Shen was the first to react, but was so frightened that her mind went blank.
When she came to her senses, she looked down at the ground and was surprised to find that her youngest son, Lu Weidong, had fallen to the ground at some point.
Even more horrifying, blood was gushing out around his body.
Lu Weidong stared straight at the sky with his eyes wide open.
It's obvious that it's already stopped breathing!
It turned out that in the chaos just now, Lu Fuquan had pushed him in a fit of rage.
He lost his balance and fell backward.
Then, the back of his head struck a sharp, protruding rock on the ground.
This year was like a nightmare for the entire Lu family.
Because of that argument, the Lu family's youngest and healthiest son died.
The news spread quickly, and it became a hot topic of discussion in the village and town.
Because the consequences of this matter are extremely serious.
Ultimately, it was determined that Lu Fuquan, who committed the assault, must bear full legal responsibility.
So that year, Lu Fu was only seventeen years old and was sentenced to ten years in prison and sent to a labor reform farm.
He spent ten long years in prison.
Although Shen Cuifen's actions were somewhat extreme, they did not directly lead to Lu Weidong's death.
Nevertheless, the police believed that she was overly emotional during the argument and was at fault to some extent.
Therefore, she was given an administrative penalty of 600 yuan.
Lu Weidong's younger sister, Lu Xiuwei, suffered a severe physical and mental shock due to her inability to accept the enormous blow of her brother's death.
She became dazed and listless.
Not long after, he suddenly ran away from home and has been missing ever since.
Neither her relatives nor her neighbors could find out where she had gone.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
