Chapter 98 Girls Always Have to Get Married
Afterwards, Jiang Tang accompanied Yang Suzhen to search many places, especially a river near the village commune. The two searched along the river for more than an hour, but they still did not find the thirteen or fourteen-year-old child.
“Zhao Di…Zhao Di…Zhao Di…please come out soon…please come out soon…Zhao Di…”
Jiang Tang and Yang Suzhen called the little girl's name - Chen Zhaodi.
Chen is a common surname in the nearby villages. Many people have the surname Chen, such as Chen Taohua, whom Jiang Tang had met before.
As they walked, it was already noon. Jiang Tang and Yang Suzhen were both starving, but there was still no sign of the little girl.
Yang Suzhen's expression changed from initial anxiety to silence. Deep down, she was suppressing countless worries. She was afraid that the little girl might become so depressed that she would jump into the river.
Jiang Tang still held on to his original opinion, analyzing the on-site environment.
"Comrade Yang, we've searched the area near the river and haven't seen anything. If the little girl really wanted to jump into the river, it would have made a lot of noise, and passers-by would have seen her. But it was so quiet along the way that no one noticed. Don't think too much about it. Maybe she's just in a bad mood and hiding out of spite. Let's go back and look for her in the village."
When Yang Suzhen first met Jiang Tang, Jiang Tang said the same thing and asked her to go back to the original place to look for it.
At that time, Yang Suzhen didn't believe it. She was sure that the child must have run away, so she searched along the river.
Now, after getting nothing... she looked up at Jiang Tang, treating what Jiang Tang said as a life-saving straw. Maybe... she could believe it, maybe the little girl really went back.
"Okay, let's go back and take a look. Comrade Jiang, I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time. I'm alone——"
"It's okay. I don't have anything to do today, so I'll go with you."
Jiang Tang said so.
They braved the scorching sun, quickened their pace, and walked towards the next village.
After walking a distance, Jiang Tang gradually encountered other people who were in a hurry. Regardless of their age, they all called Yang Suzhen "Sister Yang". When Yang Suzhen saw them, she immediately asked, "Where is Zhaodi? Did you find Zhaodi?"
Jiang Tang realized that it was not only Yang Suzhen who was looking for the child. The entire village was mobilized to look for a child, but after such a long time, no one had found the little girl.
“Wuwuwu… Wuwuwu… My daughter… My daughter… Zhaodi… Zhaodi… My daughter…”
As he was walking, Jiang Tang suddenly heard a cry.
Jiang Tang looked at Yang Suzhen beside him in confusion, "Sister Yang, isn't Zhaodi your daughter?"
Seeing Yang Suzhen so anxious just now, she thought that Yang Suzhen had lost the child.
Yang Suzhen shook her head. "Zhao Di is not my daughter. I'm just helping someone find a child."
Zhaodi's mother, who was sitting on the ground wiping her tears, got up immediately when she saw Yang Suzhen and asked, "Sister Yang, have you found Zhaodi? Have you found Zhaodi? Is my Zhaodi back?"
"Zhaodi hasn't been found yet." Yang Suzhen sighed.
Upon hearing this, Zhaodi's mother sat down on the ground again, wiping her tears and crying, "...Zhaodi, my daughter...where are you going...I was wrong...I was really wrong...I won't force you to get married...I won't force you..."
Yang Suzhen said in a serious tone, "Mrs. Chen, Zhaodi is only fifteen years old this year. How can you marry a fifteen-year-old girl to a cripple for the sake of two sheep?"
Cripple?!
These two words immediately stimulated Jiang Tang's brain.
At this time, Jiang Tang finally understood why the little girl Chen Zhaodi ran away from home, and even suspected that she was depressed and committed suicide.
That’s fifteen years old! Fifteen years old!
Zhaodi's mother sat on the ground, weeping bitterly, looking filled with remorse, but she kept saying, "Our family is poor, and there's nothing we can do... Girls always have to get married... With two sheep, Zhaodi's brother can go to school..."
These words, heard in the middle of the day, chilled one to the bone.
Jiang Tang also noticed that there was a middle-aged man sitting at the door of the house smoking a pipe. The man looked sad, but in fact he was indifferent. Many villagers were helping to find the child, but as Chen Zhaodi's parents, these two people just stood there waiting for news.
After hearing what Zhaodi's mother said, Yang Suzhen also frowned.
"What's wrong with the girl? Isn't she your relative? How could you do such a foolish thing?"
Zhaodi's mother cried and said, "All the girls in our village are like this... They all get married at this age... Who would have thought Zhaodi would be so stubborn and disobedient? I'm her biological mother, how could I possibly harm her?"
"If I were Zhaodi, I would just jump into the river and die."
Amidst sobbing, Jiang Tang's cold voice suddenly rang out.
Because Jiang Tang came here with Yang Suzhen, Zhaodi's parents didn't notice Jiang Tang's existence at first until Jiang Tang said this.
Zhaodi's mother still had tears on her face. She was stunned and looked at Jiang Tang in disbelief.
It seems like he is saying, how can you, a fair and innocent little girl, say such cold-hearted words.
Jiang Tang was not polite at all. He snorted sarcastically and continued.
"Am I wrong? You parents are willing to push your daughter into a fire pit just for two sheep. Instead of going into the fire pit, it's better for her to die and be reborn. If she is reborn, maybe she will have parents who truly love her, which is much better than living in the fire pit."
After these words, the hypocritical masks of this incompetent couple were completely torn off.
"You...you...who are you? What gives you the right to brag here? Don't think you're great just because you came here with Sister Yang." Zhaodi's mother got up from the ground and pointed at Jiang Tang. "Which girl in the village isn't like this? The man I found for Zhaodi may be a cripple, but his family has five acres of land and a cow. After she marries him, she'll have enough to eat every day. What's wrong with that?"
"Since you think it's so good, why don't you marry him? Don't you have a son? Why don't you send him over?"
Jiang Tang continued to retort coldly.
"Why didn't Zhao Di meet you? You clearly knew it in your heart. You kept saying you were wrong, but why didn't you take any real action? Where are those two sheep? Return them. Besides the sheep, did you really not take any betrothal gifts?"
"I...I...I..." Zhaodi's mother stammered, not knowing what to say.
Jiang Tang said, "Sister Yang is right here, how dare you lie to her face? Your Zhaodi is now missing and dead, and there's no one to marry her. You took her money, and you think she's willing to let it go and not ask for the betrothal money back? Is there such a good thing in the world? I advise you to make it clear as soon as possible to avoid conflicts later."
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