The man chuckled, revealing a set of large, yellow teeth, and said slowly, "We agreed before, two hundred yuan for a girl, right? But if the one you're holding is a boy, I can give you an extra hundred yuan! How about that, a good deal, right?"
As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on the child in Qian Daniu's arms.
"Absolutely not! This is my precious grandson, my son's only son!"
Qian Daniu shook her head without hesitation, her attitude exceptionally firm, as if no one could shake her determination to protect her grandson.
The man didn't give up easily. He patiently persuaded her, "Hey, sister, don't be so quick to refuse. Think about it, it's not like your daughter-in-law can't have children. Just let her have one more, right?"
"And look, I'll give you another hundred yuan." As he spoke, the man quickly pulled out ten more ten-yuan bills from his pocket and placed them neatly together with the previous two hundred yuan bills. The stack of bills looked particularly thick.
Qian Daniu's originally firm resolve began to waver. Her gaze unconsciously fell on the thick stack of banknotes, and a ripple of emotion stirred within her.
A conflicted look gradually appeared on her face, as if she were going through a fierce internal struggle.
At this point, the man pressed his advantage and continued to persuade her: "Oh, sister, look, you've even left them a daughter."
Having a daughter, they will definitely want to have a few more children in the future.
"Besides, only boys can carry on the family line, but our family has never had a son. If we could take your little grandson back with us, our whole family would love him like the apple of our eye!"
"Don't worry, your grandson will definitely enjoy a life of luxury and wealth in our family!"
Hearing the man's words, Qian Danu's heart stirred.
Yes, judging from how generous this man is, his family must be quite wealthy.
Otherwise, why would they be willing to spend three hundred yuan to buy a child? Thinking about it this way, if my grandson really went to their house, he might really have fallen into a lucky hole...
"Fine! You must treat my grandson very well. If you don't treat him well and I find out, I'll come knocking on your door."
Qian Danu reluctantly handed the child to him, then happily counted the three hundred yuan he gave her.
Shen Xiaoxiao sighed, "I never thought my brother would be sold like this. It must have been the same in my past life. No, it was simpler in my past life. My father wasn't around, and my mother died after giving birth. My family had no idea there was a boy in the family."
"So I had parents in my past life, and they were sold off by my grandmother like this?" The soldier breathed a sigh of relief.
Shen Zishan felt his heart turn ice-cold in an instant, as if he had fallen into an abyss. He didn't care about anything else and rushed into the ward like a gust of wind.
As soon as he entered the ward, he saw the poor child lying helplessly to the side, his small body looking so fragile.
Shen Zishan's eyes suddenly reddened. He rushed forward and, as if guarding the most precious treasure in the world, snatched the child back into his arms.
Then, he carefully turned around and looked at his daughter on the hospital bed. He gently and softly pulled her into his warm embrace.
At that moment, Qian Danu, who had been standing there the whole time, was completely dumbfounded.
Her eyes widened as she stared blankly at her son who had suddenly burst in. The wad of banknotes she had been clutching tightly in her hand seemed to have lost its support, scattering all over the floor.
After a long while, she seemed to snap out of a daze and stammered, "You... how did you get here?"
Shen Zishan's eyes were filled with endless pain and disappointment as he stared intently at his mother, who was once familiar but now felt like a complete stranger.
Her voice trembled as she said, "Mother, they are my own flesh and blood! I never imagined you could be so heartless as to want to sell my children!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Daniu's face turned extremely ugly, but she still stubbornly argued, "San'er... you are all still young, you can have another child later."
"Moreover, the village chief said that this year's harvest is really bad. Look at this money, it's enough for us to buy a lot of rice and grain. In this way, our family won't have to worry about starving to death."
As she spoke, she hurriedly squatted down, grabbed the banknotes scattered on the ground, and eagerly handed them to Shen Zishan.
Shen Zishan remained unmoved. He abruptly swung his arm, angrily interrupting Qian Daniu: "Enough! Stop talking! When has our family ever lacked money?"
"When we divided the family property a month ago, didn't we still have a lot of money? Wasn't that enough to buy food? These are my son and my daughter, and no one has the right to sell them!"
"Then if you don't want to sell your son, you can sell this money-losing commodity instead!" Qian Daniu was full of resentment, watching helplessly as the money that was about to be in her hands flew away. She was indignant.
At this moment, if Shen Zishan hadn't been holding his child tightly in both hands, he probably would have already rushed up and attacked Qian Daniu.
He stared wide-eyed at the heartless woman before him, angrily demanding, "Mother, how could you say such a thing? Whether it's a son or a daughter, they are all my own flesh and blood!"
"Today will be the last time I call you 'Mother.' After I return home, our mother-son relationship will be completely severed!"
After saying that, Shen Zishan closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and then emphasized again in an extremely firm tone.
Upon hearing this, Qian Danu was stunned, as if struck by lightning.
After a while, she came to her senses, then plopped heavily on the ground and began to throw a tantrum, crying and screaming all the while.
"Oh dear, my life is so miserable! I raised you with so much hardship, changing your diapers and feeding you every drop of water, and now you want to cut ties with me for these two brats! What's the point of me living? I might as well just die..."
While Qian Danu was crying her heart out, the surrounding crowd was also drawn to the scene, quickly forming a circle around the ward.
People whispered among themselves, pointing and discussing what was happening in the courtyard.
Faced with this scene, Shen Zishan remained expressionless and unmoved, as if all the noise and commotion outside had nothing to do with him.
At this moment, the man who bought the child began to panic as he watched the crowd grow larger and larger.
He hurriedly took a few steps forward and shouted, "I said, stop arguing! I've already paid, just give me the child now!"
As he spoke, he tried to reach out and snatch the child from the mountain's embrace.
Shen Zishan flashed his body and easily dodged the hand that was being reached out by the other party with a nimble sidestep.
After regaining his footing, he glared angrily and shouted at the newcomer, "Who did you give the money to? Go ask them for it back! These are my two precious children; I will never give them to you!"
At this moment, the crowd that had been watching the commotion suddenly realized what Shen Zishan meant and began to whisper among themselves.
"Oh my god, this is unbelievable! Someone is actually selling a child! Judging from the person's clothes and appearance, they don't seem to be from a poor family. How could they have gone to the point of selling their child?" Someone in the crowd spoke up first.
Immediately afterward, another voice chimed in, "That's right! If they can afford to stay in the hospital, how could they not even be able to raise their own children? What's going on? How could they possibly bear to sell their own flesh and blood?" The speaker was a woman in her forties, her face full of doubt and indignation.
Shen Zishan ignored what people outside were saying and just held his two children tightly in his arms.
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