Tao Hong walked over, holding a steamed bun in her hand, and handed it to Chun Yan.
Looking at the plump white steamed bun, Chunyan swallowed hard and refused.
"Sister Taohong, I can't accept it."
"You look down on me, you think I'm dirty?"
“No. I can’t take your food.” Chunyan shook her head; she saw how Taohong had paid the price for a bite to eat.
Chunyan felt she couldn't accept it.
"Take it, consider it my return to you." Tao Hong stuffed the steamed bun into Chun Yan's hand, then turned and walked towards Brother Ma.
Chunyan got up to return Taohong, but Ye Yunniang grabbed her.
"If you eat it, she'll feel a little better."
"I don't blame Sister Taohong. It was my own carelessness that led to this."
"Eat quickly, don't try to tempt us with those steamed buns," Wen Nuan urged.
Seeing the hungry looks from the others, Chunyan stuffed food into her mouth.
It was given to her by Sister Taohong; she can't give it to anyone else.
After the traffickers finished eating, Ye Yunniang and the others were put onto the carriage and continued their journey.
We endured the bumpy, potholed road until it got dark.
The carriage stopped by the river.
Ye Yunniang's assigned task today was still to gather firewood.
With people following behind her, Ye Yunniang dared not make a move and obediently gathered firewood.
After gathering firewood and carrying it back twice, Ye Yunniang was able to rest.
I had just sat down when I heard a humming sound next to me.
The woman who broke her leg last night has a fever. Someone is taking care of her, applying a towel to her head to bring down the fever.
Without medicine, whether a woman can survive depends entirely on whether she can endure it herself.
"Eat!" the monkey shouted.
Two women carried the bucket over.
Each person received a cornbread and a bowl of soup.
The fish wasn't prepared properly, and the fish soup tasted very fishy.
Ye Yunniang forced herself to drink two sips, but didn't drink any water at all.
After finishing the cornbread, rest for a while.
The human traffickers came and tied their hands and feet again.
This time, apart from Tao Hong and the woman with the broken leg, none of the other women resisted and obediently allowed themselves to be tied up.
The traffickers who tied the ropes were disappointed and hit the person hard.
The women were in pain from being tied up, and they let out a muffled groan, not daring to make any more noise.
Ye Yunniang and Wen Nuan leaned against each other.
Ye Yunniang glanced at the human traffickers not far away and asked in a low voice, "How much longer until we reach the border?"
"Can't take it anymore?"
"Hmm, how long?"
"One month."
"We'll have to endure this for another month," Ye Yunniang murmured.
"These days are tough, but at least we're alive." Wen Nuan gave a sarcastic smile.
Ye Yunniang turned to look at Wen Nuan, "Didn't you deal with your stepmother last time?"
"The old man was very protective. Before he could find an opportunity to make a move, he tricked her into being sold to the Xing family as a concubine."
"The Xing Tongpan family?"
"You know his home?"
"Yes, I've met Miss Xing. She's very flamboyant."
"You mean Xing Jinxiu. She's Xing Wenzhi's favorite. She's arrogant, domineering, and greedy for money."
She was behind my being sold.
Xing Jinxiu accepted 1,000 taels of silver from Wen Nuan's stepmother, just as Xing Yuanchang's concubine suffered a second miscarriage.
She, an unpopular concubine who had been infertile for many years, was made a scapegoat and pushed out.
Nuan's sale also implicated Ye Yunniang. It's amazing how things often unfold in unexpected ways.
"Do you still have Xing Yuanchang on your mind?"
“Who would care about a spoiled brat like him?” Wen Nuan looked at Xing Yuanchang with utter disgust.
If it weren't for her father's schemes, Wen Nuan would rather marry a beggar than enter Xing Yuanchang's backyard.
It was because Wen Nuan didn't hide her disdain for Xing Yuanchang that she was sold. None of the Xing family members tried to stop it.
"Wake up, wake up quickly..." The shouts interrupted Ye Yunniang as she spoke to Wen Nuan.
The two looked toward the source of the sound, but the woman with the broken leg did not react at all despite being shaken violently.
"She can't hold on any longer," Wen Nuan said calmly.
Ye Yunniang didn't say anything, but she agreed in her heart.
The monkey, a human trafficker, who was nearby, walked over.
What's all the noise about?
"Quick, quick, save her! She's unconscious and dying."
The monkey walked over, tested its breathing, and slapped itself a few times.
The woman with the broken leg did not respond.
The monkey went to Brother Ma to report.
"So what if he's dead?" Jin Laoliu said, seemingly unconcerned.
"Her death is your fault. You'll lose 30 taels of silver this time when the money is divided." Ma Ge's words killed Jin Laoliu's interest in watching the show.
"Brother Ma, that woman is average-looking, not worth it,"
"You're not convinced?"
"No, no. Whatever Brother Ma says goes." Jin Laoliu shrank back.
"It's confirmed he's dead. Bury him," Brother Ma instructed the monkey.
"Yes," the monkey replied, and went to the woman.
Once they confirmed the woman had died, they selected two strong men, dug a pit, and buried her.
"In their eyes, we are commodities when we are alive. They will just toss us aside when we are dead."
What are you trying to say?
"Don't make any rash moves," Wen Nuan said, then closed her eyes to rest.
Ye Yunniang looked at Wen Nuan and closed her eyes.
The further you go into the border region, the more convoys you encounter.
Because of natural disasters and man-made calamities, more and more people are selling their daughters and wives.
The number of people in Ye Yunniang's carriage increased from seven or eight to more than ten.
It was so crowded that you couldn't move once you sat down.
The carriage kept moving along the road without stopping.
He just wets his pants.
The smell inside the carriage was so foul it made people nauseous.
Ye Yunniang didn't want to wet her pants, so she refused to drink water. Her lips were dry and chapped, and she had lost a lot of weight.
With messy hair, even close friends might not recognize him.
Upon entering the frontier, the people inside the carriage were exhausted and emaciated.
The carriage stopped at a human trafficker's outpost.
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