Chapter 1 Seller

In March, on the barren green field ridges, a girl in a gray jacket was running madly, her steps were very messy.

Even though she fell a few times along the way, it couldn't stop her from moving forward in a disorderly manner.

"Eleven, Eleven, something big has happened."

Chen Shiyi, who was chopping wood on the hillside behind the mountain, immediately stopped his brisk work and looked towards the source of the sound.

"Chun Ni, what happened?"

Chunni stopped in front of Chen Shiyi and spoke breathlessly.

"My mother urged me to come here and told you to run away quickly. Your mother is going to sell you."

Chen Shiyi was stunned for a moment, then bent down and chopped wood as if nothing had happened.

Chunni was anxious.

"Your mother is about to sell you, and you're still here chopping wood for her?"

Chen Shiyi numbly repeated the movements in his hands.

"Isn't this a long time coming?"

"you…"

"If I don't finish chopping wood, I'll get beaten again when I get home."

Ever since his father died of a sudden illness half a month ago, Chen Shiyi knew that this day would come sooner or later.

Her biological mother died early, and her father remarried, so she had a stepmother.

Her stepmother gave birth to two sons and one daughter for her father. She worked hard and made great contributions. Therefore, in this family of six, she was the only labor force besides her father.

The stepmother had a pleasing mouth and always told everyone that Eleven was well-behaved and sensible. But behind the scenes, the scars on Eleven's body never disappeared.

escape?

Where can I escape to?

She was an orphan girl, with no money in her pocket and no clothes on her body. She might be frozen to death in a corner on a cold winter day and eaten by wild dogs.

Here, at least there is a roof to shelter me and a broken wall to keep out the wind.

She just wants to survive.

On the way back, Chunni kept chattering in my ear.

"If you are sold, you are no longer a person, but an object that can be killed at will."

Chen Shiyi smiled scornfully.

"I am not a human being now, at most I am an animal. Oh, no, animals are worth more than me. Chunni, I am fine with anything as long as I have something to eat."

Back in the dilapidated yard, Chen Shiyi put down the firewood. A boy who was taller than her was holding a porcelain bowl and slurping porridge, swallowing dates whole.

"Why is there so little firewood today? Are you being lazy again?"

Chen Shiyi was silent. No matter how much firewood they chopped, they would always complain that it was not enough. When people’s hearts were bad, it had nothing to do with the amount of firewood.

"I'm talking to you, are you deaf?"

Chen Shiyi took a deep breath, turned and spoke to the boy.

"Your mother wants to sell me. From now on, you have to do the wood-cutting work by yourself."

"What?"

Chen Shiyi took some water, washed his face, cleansed his hands carefully, and then walked out of the yard.

the boy asked hurriedly.

"Where are you going?"

Chen Shiyi's eyes were very calm.

"Let's go see where your mother sold me. Do you want to go with me?"

Xiangyang Village hasn't been this lively for a long time.

Under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village, almost all the villagers gathered, with their eyes wide open and their ears pricked up, listening to Lu Er Niang and the matchmaker bargaining.

"My daughter is well-known in the surrounding area. She is a good worker, well-behaved and sensible, and pretty. If you buy her, you will definitely make a profit."

Old Mrs. Cai Ya sat on the oxcart, picking her yellow teeth with a fake smile on her face.

"Everyone who sells their daughter says the same thing. There aren't many good ones out there. Let's wait and see."

Chen Shiyi, who arrived late, pushed through the layers of bustling crowd and walked to the side of Lu Erniang.

When Mrs. Cai, who was sitting opposite, saw this, she was stunned. She pointed at Chen Shiyi and asked Lu Erniang in disbelief.

"Is this the daughter you want to sell?"

Lu Erniang smiled so hard that her teeth were showing.

"That's right, I'm right, my daughter's beauty and that thing in heaven..."

"Stop, stop, stop..."

Mrs. Cai's face turned very ugly.

"Don't compare yourself to Chang'e. She doesn't have the money. I can pick up a skeleton from a mass grave and it will be prettier than your daughter. Get out of the way. You are wasting my time..."

Lu Erniang hurriedly chased after him.

"Auntie, auntie, listen to me..."

Lu Erniang chewed her tongue a few times in Cai the matchmaker's ear, and the matchmaker's expression looked a little better.

Looks like it should be done.

Chen Shiyi's eyes were dark as he looked at the matchmaker not far away and waved at him.

"Child, come with me, old lady."

child?

Only those who are loved and cared for by their parents can be called children.

People without parents have another name: orphans.

Behind me, a clear child's voice was heard.

"You son of a bitch, you're finally leaving. You've been eating and drinking for free at my house all day, you don't even have the guts to do it..."

Chen Shiyi stopped suddenly, turned around, and walked towards the little boy who was talking.

She grabbed the child by the collar, raised her fist and hit him.

Lu Erniang was horrified when she saw that her baby was beaten by that little bastard, and her face was distorted with anger.

Chen Shiyi was pushed away by the people who were trying to persuade him to cross the fence, and he spat at Lu Erniang's family.

"You are the one who was raised by a bitch. Your whole family is the one who was raised by a bitch."

Lu Erniang was so angry that she rolled up her sleeves and was ready to fight with Chen Shiyi.

Mrs. Cai snorted and stopped Lu Erniang.

"I've given you the money. She's already mine. How dare you lay a hand on my people? Don't you consider your own worth?"

Mrs. Cai glared at Chen Shiyi.

"Why don't you get in the car quickly? Do you still need me to invite you again and again?"

There were several girls of similar age on the ox cart, sharing the same fate as Chen Shiyi.

The ox cart was shaking violently. She looked back at the village. The dilapidated mud houses and the old banyan trees were swaying and moving away.

The sorrow of the past has gone, but will the unknown future still be bleak?

On the way, Chen Shiyi asked Mrs. Cai carefully.

"Are we going to be sold to a brothel?"

Mrs. Cai, who was still dozing off, slightly opened her drooping eyes, glanced at Chen Shiyi nonchalantly, and said lazily.

"Oh, you don't deserve it."

Then he asked the burly man sitting next to him.

"Why did I nod and agree to take this inferior product? I'm afraid it will hurt myself. I, Cai Po, have never done a business at a loss."

The man grinned widely, and the scar on his forehead looked extremely ferocious.

"What are you afraid of? If you can't sell them for a high price, just stuff them deep in the mountains. There are plenty of lame people, widows, widowers, those with special hobbies, and those poor brothers who can't find wives. You won't be disappointed!"

They chatted and laughed cheerfully, and with just a few words, they determined someone else's miserable life.

No wonder the little girls in the car all had eyes as red as rabbits.

Chen Shiyi would never cry.

When my father was still alive, I cried so many times. He would always suck on his cigarette, with a hint of numbness flashing across his cloudy and gray eyes, and he would sigh heavily.

"Just bear with it. Every girl has gone through this."

When Daddy was alive, he was not her support. Her tears were just water. After a certain period of time, they would no longer flow out. Even if they did flow out, the wind would blow away without leaving any trace.

On the day of Daddy's funeral, Lu Erniang scolded Chen Shiyi for being heartless and for not even crying when Daddy died.

What's there to cry about!