Yun Suiwan took a flatbread and gave one to each of the two children. "Eat up, don't be picky. The most important thing for us now is to survive."
The little boy looked at Yun Suiwan with teary eyes, "Sister, can we escape?"
Yun Suiwan patted the boy's hair. "Okay, I'll help you escape."
The little girl glanced at Yun Suiwan and asked, "How long can you pretend to be sick?"
Yun Suiwan broke off a piece of bread. The coarse grain bread made her throat hurt when she ate it for the first time, but she swallowed it with force. "Don't worry, I have a way."
Just then, a woman in her fifties or sixties, leaning on a wooden cane, walked over with a hunched back.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Yun Suiwan immediately began coughing repeatedly.
"Kid, you're not sick, you don't need to pretend."
Yun Suiwan was stunned for a moment.
“I was also abducted here back then, and I have lived here for thirty years. Sanzi is my son.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Suiwan immediately looked at the old woman warily.
The old woman's face was etched with the deep marks of time, her hair was gray but still quite clean, her eyes were somewhat cloudy, and even her tone of voice carried a hint of vicissitude.
As the year draws to a close, the clouds fall silent.
The old woman continued, "I used that trick of yours before." As she spoke, she grinned, "But it's not a long-term solution."
"Child, you need to find another way as soon as possible."
Yun Suiwan was very wary of the old woman in front of her, especially since she was the mother of this human trafficker. How trustworthy was she?
"Are you worried I'll harm you?" the old woman asked with a smile, her slightly cloudy eyes now seeming to hold a touch of melancholy in her laughter.
Yun Suiwan kept her mouth tightly shut and didn't say a word.
The old woman then looked at the two children, "These two little ones, only this girl is useful, no one wants the boy."
Upon hearing this, the little boy immediately hid in Yun Suiwan's arms.
"Why?"
Yun Suiwan asked.
"Why? Because when the girls grow up, they can get married and have children. Some of the girls we abduct, around fourteen or fifteen years old, can have babies the following year."
Upon hearing this, Yun Suiwan clenched her fists. She hadn't seen the actual situation, but just hearing about it made her scalp tingle.
The usually cool little girl probably understood what the old woman meant, and she couldn't help but back away.
This isn't some remote mountain valley; it's a living hell.
"I don't believe it! Isn't anyone going to take care of this?"
"Manage? How can we manage it? Haven't you heard the saying 'the emperor is far away, and the people in remote and impoverished areas are often unruly'? The nearest town is 80 kilometers away, and the main mode of transportation here is the bicycle. Once you leave the village, the road is deserted. Do you think any abducted person has the stamina to run 80 kilometers?"
The old woman's tone was somewhat sarcastic.
Sparks flew in Yun Suiwan's eyes; she couldn't help but feel angry at the old woman's indifference.
"Child, faking illness won't work."
"What's the use of that? Obeying? I advise you not to waste your energy. I won't stay here for decades like you."
Yun Suiwan replied sharply.
Upon hearing this, the old woman smiled at first, then straightened up, leaning on her wooden cane, her face stiffening. "Child, you can't keep up the pretense of illness. You will experience everything I have experienced."
Yun Suiwan glared at the old woman, but she didn't say anything more.
Given her current situation, there's no point in wasting her breath arguing with the old woman.
"Grandma, Grandma! Can you help us?" The little boy suddenly cried out, "If your son needs money, my dad can give it to him."
The old woman looked at the little boy for a while, then said slowly, "Will your father save you?"
The little boy nodded vigorously, "Yes, my dad can!"
"oh."
After saying that, the old woman turned and left.
Watching her unsteady movements, Yun Suiwan felt a little anxious; the situation here was worse than she had imagined.
Feigning illness may provide temporary safety, but it's not a long-term solution.
The people here aren't stupid; on the contrary, they are exceptionally vicious.
The little girl clung tightly to Yun Suiwan, her head bowed and silent, seemingly frightened by the old woman's words.
Yun Suiwan hugged the two children and asked, "What are your names?"
"My name is Huo Chengze, you can call me Zeze, sister."
"Ye Shengqian," the girl replied.
"Okay, Zeze, Qianqian, you two need to follow my instructions from now on. Trust your sister, we will definitely leave here safely."
Zeze's eyes were swollen like walnuts from crying, and he nodded, choking back tears.
Qianqian pursed her lips, her little face looking unusually serious.
Yun Suiwan leaned against the haystack, comforting her two children. She chewed on a coarse grain cake and began to think.
It seems that this place has a long history of trafficking women.
Therefore, the argument that one should seek help from the villagers is invalid.
Should we fire it out?
Two fists can't fight four hands, and given my current physical condition, not only will I not be able to escape, but I might also provoke them.
And so, the three of them spent the morning in the cowshed.
It wasn't until the afternoon that the trafficker Sanzi arrived, carrying three flatbreads, which he threw in like he was feeding a dog.
Yun Suiwan had already smeared two clumps of mud on her face, making her look even more disheveled.
Sanzi glanced at her, muttered "worthless piece of trash" under his breath, and left.
Zeze picked up the pancake and blew on it carefully. "Sister, Qianqian, here you go."
Looking at the coarse grain pancake in her hand, Yun Suiwan thought that even if she wasn't beaten to death, eating like this every day would eventually lead to malnutrition.
The three of them finished their lunch with difficulty. Around dusk, the weather suddenly changed, and a heavy rain began to fall.
The raindrops pattered down, splashing mud balls onto the ground.
Yun Suiwan hurriedly led her two children to huddle inside the cowshed, but unfortunately the cowshed leaked and the place was low-lying, so in no time their feet were covered in mud.
"Child, come inside quickly!" It was the old woman calling from the doorway.
Looking at the heavy rain, which wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and even if it did, they wouldn't be able to sleep well at night, so they decided to take a risk.
Yun Suiwan, carrying a child in each hand, rushed into the heavy rain.
The ground was muddy, and as she approached the door, Yun Suiwan slipped and fell to the ground.
"How are you? Are you alright?"
"fine!"
The two children said in unison.
"Quick, come inside!"
Yun Suiwan scrambled to her feet, looking utterly disheveled.
After they entered the house, the old woman poured them three cups of hot water.
"Drink some hot water. If you get sick, it will be even harder for you to escape."
At this moment, Yun Suiwan looked as if she had rolled around in a mud pit.
"I've prepared some clean clothes for you to change into first," the old woman said, putting down the clothes and going to the main room.
As the year draws to a close, Yun can no longer afford to worry about anything else; he absolutely cannot afford to fall ill now!
"Change your clothes."
The two children obediently took the clothes, and Zeze turned his back to them.
Yun Suiwan had just taken off her shirt when she heard, "Holy shit!"
She turned around and saw Sanzi standing at the doorway, carrying a bottle of liquor, half of his body covered in mud.
Yun Suiwan frowned and grabbed her clothes.
Looking at her fair shoulders, Sanzi's murky eyes suddenly lit up.
"Damn it, even if he's a consumptive, I'm going to give him a go!"
After saying that, he took another big gulp of wine, then smashed the bottle and rushed into the house.
\u0006\u0006\u0006\u0006\u0006\u0006
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com