Chapter 76 Selling Daughter
The sun made the bluestone road hot, and the ox cart slowly drove into the county town.
Li Zhaodi clutched Feng Lan's clothes tightly the entire way, her small body trembling slightly with nervousness and anxiety. She didn't dare look at the bustling street scene around her, but simply lowered her head to look at her shoes, which were full of holes and exposed to the toes.
When they arrived at Fenggu Embroidery Shop, Daya and the others had already cleaned the shop thoroughly. Seeing Feng Lan bring back a strange and timid girl, the sisters gathered around curiously.
"Mom, what is this?" Daya asked.
Feng Lan touched Li Zhaodi's head and briefly told her her life story.
After hearing this, the daughters all looked at Zhaodi with sympathy. Erya, in particular, remembered her own experience of being nearly sold and felt the same way. She took Zhaodi's hand and whispered to her, "Don't be afraid. This will be your home from now on."
Feng Lan first took Zhaodi to the bathhouse in the backyard and let her take a nice hot bath. She then found some old clothes that were too small for Daya and gave them to her to change into.
Although the clothes were a bit loose, they were clean and tidy, and made the girl's pale face look a little more rosy.
When Zhaodi walked out from the backyard, Daya came over with a bowl.
In the bowl, there was a big, white, plump steamed bun, still steaming.
"Eat quickly, you must be starving."
Daya stuffed the bowl into her hands.
Li Zhaodi looked at the white flour buns in her hand, and then at the sisters in front of her who were smiling at her like fairies. Her nose felt sore and tears fell like beads with broken strings.
She is so hungry.
She couldn't remember the last time she had a full meal, let alone the white flour buns that could only be smelled during the Chinese New Year.
She didn't eat immediately. Instead, she knelt down in front of Feng Lan with a plop, raised the bowl in her hand high above her head, and kowtowed heavily.
"Aunt! You are my second parent! Zhaodi will work like a slave for you in this life to repay your kindness!" The girl's voice was tearful, but she spoke with great determination.
This sudden action startled everyone.
Feng Lan quickly stepped forward and helped her up: "What are you doing? Get up! It's just a steamed bun, how can it be worth such a big gift?"
"It's worth it! It's worth it!" Zhaodi said crying.
"At home, my father couldn't even give me enough to eat. He...he also said that I was a money-loser and would sell me for food sooner or later...It was you, Auntie, who saved me, gave me food, and clean clothes to wear. You are a living Bodhisattva!"
Seeing her sobbing and frail figure, Feng Lan felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She hugged Zhaodi in her arms and patted her back gently:
"Okay, it's all over. From now on, you can stay here peacefully and learn skills from your sister Daya. With your aunt here, no one will dare to bully you anymore."
After much persuasion, Zhaodi finally stopped crying and ate the steamed bun in small bites. The look of cherishment on her face was heartbreaking.
Feng Lan arranged accommodation for Zhaodi in a small house in the backyard of the shop, where she lived with Daya and the others.
Looking at Zhaodi, who finally had a little smile on her face after finding a place to stay, Feng Lan felt that everything she had done was worth it.
However, she ultimately underestimated human greed and Li Guaizi's shamelessness.
The next day, just after dawn, Chen Kangbo opened the door of the shop and prepared to sweep the floor, but he was so shocked by the scene before him that he froze in place.
I saw a crowd of people kneeling on the ground in front of the shop door!
A rough count revealed seven or eight households, each consisting of a man with one or more skinny, pale girls. As soon as they saw the door open, they burst into tears and howled.
"The Cumber family! The Fenglan family! Please, have mercy on me!"
"Yes! Please be kind and take our daughter in too! We really can't support her anymore!"
One man was even more direct. He pushed his daughter forward and cried out in tears, "Feng Lan, I heard from Li Guaizi that you are kind-hearted and can't bear to see children suffer! Look at my daughter. If she doesn't have anything to eat, she will starve to death! If you don't take her in, I will sell her to a brothel today to exchange for food!"
"Yes! Us too! If you don't accept them, we'll have no choice but to sell them!"
As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately attracted a lot of support.
Those girls were pushed out like commodities by their own fathers. They were so scared that they trembled and dared not even cry out loud.
This is not asking for help at all, it is clearly a naked moral kidnapping!
Feng Lan came out of the house upon hearing the sound, and when she saw this scene, she felt a headache.
Li Guaizi!
She knew that the scoundrel would spread the news after taking the money! He was going to put himself on the fire!
He used his own daughter to exchange for a steady supply of 200 coins. The villagers followed suit and also wanted to use their daughters as tools to exchange money, so they sent them to her!
"Dad, Mom..."
Li Zhaodi also ran out. Seeing this scene, especially hearing those people shouting that they came here because of her father's words, her little face turned pale in an instant.
It was her, it was she who implicated my aunt's family!
She knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to Feng Lan and Chen Kangbo:
"Aunt, uncle, I'm sorry! It's all my dad's fault! It's all my fault! Please drive me away! Leave me alone! Please!"
Feng Lan looked at Zhaodi, who was kneeling on the ground crying heartbreakingly, and then looked at the fathers outside the door who were eyeing their daughters covetously and using them as bargaining chips. The anger in her heart was gradually replaced by coldness.
She helped Zhaodi up and glanced coldly at the people outside the door.
"You want to sell your daughter, don't you?"
Her voice was not loud, but it carried a chill that instantly silenced the wailing at the door.
"Okay." Feng Lan nodded. "Since you want to sell it so badly, I'll help you."
Everyone was stunned.
Feng Lan continued, "Didn't you say you wanted to sell your daughter to a brothel? Don't bother. I'll help you make the contact."
"I'm sure you've all heard of Madam Zhang from the county government office. I have some friendship with her. I'll hand your daughters over to her, and she'll decide whether to sell them as maids or somewhere else."
"As for the price, it's definitely fairer than if you sold it yourself. What do you think?"
When these words were spoken, the men were dumbfounded.
Their original intention was to threaten Feng Lan by selling their daughter, forcing her to accept their daughter like she did with Li Zhaodi, and then give them some money.
They didn't really want to sell their daughter! Especially to a place like that!
"Not the Combers. That's not what we meant."
The man who had been shouting the loudest just now suddenly stuttered.
"Oh? That's not what you mean?" Feng Lan sneered. "You want me to take them all in, and then give you money every month like I did to Li Guaizi?"
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