Chapter 80 Girl
Li's mother already had Li San Niang, her youngest daughter, whom she doted on since childhood. So, seeing the widow Jin's appearance, she understood everything perfectly.
The old man didn't stop his son in the yard just now, and now that Widow Jin is acting like this, it's likely that after the old man's son had his thoughts and told the old man, the old man had already told Widow Jin who He Xiaoniang would end up with.
Widow Jin naturally knew that she was not a good mother. Faced with Li's mother's accusing gaze, she stopped looking at He Xiaoniang and turned to face her newborn son.
Before Li's mother could speak, an older woman of similar age led two young men into the house. As soon as the two young men entered, they rushed towards Widow Jin, calling out, "Mother, Mother." It turned out that these were the two sons she had with the old man.
"Taoniang, Wang Dalang said that you agreed to marry Xiaoya to him? Tell me the truth, is this true or false?"
Tao Niang, who is the biological mother of He Dalang and He Xiaoniang, was being questioned by the widow Jin. She rolled her eyes and mumbled something unintelligible.
"Say it out loud! Say it out loud!"
"Ah, yes, I agreed to marry Xiaoya to Wang Dalang! With the family like this, Xiaoya has an older sister and three younger sisters, what could I do? Marrying her to Wang Dalang means she'll stay at home, and the family needs Wang Dalang's labor." As she spoke, Jin Tao showed the old woman the one she was holding.
"Little girl is only eleven! She's only eleven! Are you even her real mother?! How can you be such a heartless mother!"
Li's mother, who was standing nearby, was also dumbfounded. She really didn't expect that Jin Tao would so brazenly abandon her own son.
Just now, I saw that old man's son, Wang Dalang, looking like he wanted to force himself on her, but the little girl was only eleven years old and hadn't even had her first period yet; she was still a child!
The old woman also looked shocked. Then, without saying a word, she stepped forward and said to He Xiaoniang, "Little girl, come to my house. I'll take care of you."
Before He Xiaoniang could reply, the old woman stepped forward, picked up the thin, stick-like He Xiaoniang, and walked out of the house.
Li's mother followed them into the courtyard and saw that they were still at an impasse.
“My wife agreed, and even the little girl’s own mother didn’t object. What are you outsiders doing here pretending to be so philanthropists?”
"Even if Tao Niang agrees, so what? I, Wang Cuihua, will not agree!"
Seeing Wang Dalang trying to snatch her away, Wang Cuihua hugged He Xiaoniang and backed away. Suddenly, a man who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old jumped out from the crowd, shouting, "Wang Dalang, how dare you touch my mother!"
As he spoke, he slapped Wang Dalang on the back with a palm as big as a fan. Wang Dalang had no time to react and took the blow.
With a tall, burly man standing in front of her, Wang Cuihua felt even more confident. "That girl is only eleven! Are you an animal? Even if she were a complete stranger, let alone your sister, she's only eleven! How could you harbor such malicious thoughts!"
Just as Wang Dalang was about to retort, three more men of different heights suddenly darted out from the crowd. The one in front was a burly man with a dark face carrying a hoe, followed by two younger men.
When Wang Cuihua saw that all her family members had arrived, she was no longer afraid.
The burly, dark-faced man glanced at Wang Dalang and asked, "What's wrong? Are you trying to bully my wife?"
"Fifth Uncle, no, it's all a misunderstanding. I didn't dare to touch Auntie. In fact, your eldest son slapped me."
Upon seeing this, Li's mother realized that Wang Dalang and the burly man with the dark face were probably related by blood in Xiliu Village. No wonder Wang Cuihua dared to snatch He Xiaoniang.
The burly, dark-faced man glared at the old man squatting silently on the ground beside him, who was looking down at the ground and refusing to speak.
The burly, dark-faced man turned to the only old man sitting on the stool and said, "Third Grandfather, look! We can't let such a filthy thing happen in our Xiliu Village. If something like this happens, won't our village be laughed at? Our village girls won't be able to find good families, and which girl from another village would want to marry a boy from our village!"
Upon hearing this, the village chief thought to himself, "That's absolutely true. If Wang Dalang really succeeds, what future will Xiliu Village have? I still have three grandsons to marry off."
Seeing that her husband had persuaded the village chief, Wang Cuihua stepped forward, hugged He Xiaoya, and said, "Third Grandpa, my family is short of a mother. They don't want Xiaoya, but my family does. From now on, my family will raise Xiaoya. We just need them to provide an adoption certificate."
The village chief thought Wang Cuihua's suggestion was good. It would be a win-win situation, resolving the trouble and finding a good place for the poor girl, Xiaoya.
"I disagree!"
This voice came from Jin Tao, who had just given birth and was holding a baby in her arms, with two young men following behind her.
“I carried Xiaoya for ten months and gave birth to her. My family raised her until eleven. You think you can just take her away if you want her?”
With bloodstains on his face and his clothes torn, He Dalang was initially afraid that his younger sister would be given away. However, when his mother came out and said she disagreed, he felt a little relieved. Before his smile could fully appear on his face, he heard Jin Tao continue, "Why write an adoption agreement? Give me ten taels of silver, and the little girl will be yours."
He Dalang stared wide-eyed in shock, looking at his own mother in disbelief as she was about to sell his younger sister.
“Mother, don’t sell the little girl, please don’t sell her. I will raise her. I will farm the land to support her.”
He Dalang, who was only thirteen years old, had just fought with Wang Dalang and was beaten black and blue but hadn't cried. But when he heard that his mother was going to sell Xiaoya, he burst into tears.
Hearing Jin Tao's cold words about selling her child, Wang Cuihua hesitated. Ten taels of silver was no small sum. She had three sons. The eldest son had already found a wife and would be getting married next year. The two younger sons would also be finding wives in a few years.
The bride price, building a house, and so on all require money. Although the family has many able-bodied men and can live a more comfortable life, it's not a family that can just take out money whenever they want.
Before Wang Cuihua could recover from her confusion and hesitation, the burly man with the dark face said to Jin Tao, "In the countryside, even if you really sell your child, you won't get ten or three taels of silver. My family will pay for it, but you have to write a contract and go to the yamen to sign it. If you think it's okay, we can go to the city to do it this afternoon."
Finally, with the village chief as witness, a villager who had attended school wrote a contract, selling He Xiaoniang to Wang Cuihua for three taels of silver. From then on, He Xiaoniang's life and death were no longer related to Jinniang's family.
Since the villagers couldn't write, they all pressed their fingerprints on the paper.
"Third Grandfather, I'll have to trouble you again. I'll borrow a donkey cart this afternoon so we can go to the government office in the city to sign the contract."
The village chief nodded, put his hands behind his back, and led a group of young men away.
Seeing that He Xiaoniang had finally found a way to survive, Li's mother went back into the house to pack her basket, took the fifty coins Jin Tao had given her, and left.
By then, Li's mother had arrived home before noon. Even after returning home, she was still upset and felt nauseous because of He Xiaoniang's affair, which made Li's sister-in-law and the others worry.
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