Chapter 30: Negotiate with me? Who the hell do you think you are?
"Negotiate with me? Who the hell do you think you are?" The old lady glared at me. "I'm telling you, you're the one begging me now! Your parents' lives are in my hands! Get out of here and go to Zhang Quezi's house right now! Bring me the silver back! When I see the silver, I'll feel better and maybe I can even go to the county government office and plead for them so they can spend fewer years in jail. If you dare not go, or if you dare to play any tricks, you'll just have to wait for their bodies to be collected from the prison!"
The old lady spoke in a decisive manner, leaving no room for negotiation.
She calculated it correctly, and Daya didn't dare to gamble.
Daya's body shook and she almost couldn't stand.
She looked at the old lady's ugly face, looked at her sisters' terrified tears under the eaves, and thought of her parents...
Her world completely collapsed.
It turned out that in this family, she didn't even have the right to negotiate. Her sacrifice couldn't bring her parents peace, only a "maybe."
Endless sadness overwhelmed her like a tide.
"Okay... I'll go..."
She squeezed out these three words from between her teeth.
Then she turned around and walked towards the gate of the courtyard step by step like a puppet with its soul taken away.
Every step feels like walking on the edge of a knife.
She didn't look back or glance at anyone else.
When her figure disappeared at the gate of the courtyard, the old lady of the Chen family snorted triumphantly, sat down again, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and began her twisted "preaching" to the frightened little granddaughters.
"See? That's filial piety! That's understanding! You all should learn from your eldest sister in the future. Don't just eat all day long. Learn how to share the burdens of this family and your sixth uncle! Do you hear me?"
Several children covered their mouths tightly and didn't even have the strength to nod.
And Daya was walking alone on the road leading to the village entrance and to hell.
The early autumn wind was a little cold, and it blew on her thin body, making her shiver uncontrollably.
She didn't know how she got to Zhang Quezi's house. It was a dilapidated, mud-built courtyard with a crooked gate covered with yellowed paper.
She could smell a foul odor coming from the yard, a mixture of alcohol and sweat.
She could no longer hold back her tears, which rolled down like beads from a broken string.
She thought of her father. Although he was quiet, his hands were big and warm. Every time he touched her head, she felt at ease.
She thought of her mother. Although her mother had a bad temper, she would fight with the whole village for her. She would give her the few copper coins she had at home and ask her to buy candied haws.
Candied haws... She had never tasted a candied haws in her life.
Tears blurred her vision and she could not see the dilapidated door in front of her.
She knew that if she knocked on this door, her life would be completely over. She would become a cripple's appendage, a tool for childbirth, and day after day, amidst beatings, scolding, and hard labor, she would slowly wither and die.
But, Dad and Mom...
She couldn't let them go to jail.
Daya raised her hand and wiped the tears from her face.
When she opened her eyes again, there was only a dead, resigned gray in those once clear eyes.
She raised her thin, still slightly trembling hand and knocked hard on the wooden door that determined her fate.
"Boom, boom, boom."
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