Chapter 2 Scarface. It was really miserable.
The pitch-black night seemed to swallow Qiu Xuan, and she froze in place as if she had fallen into an icy cave.
In the past few days since she came here, she has personally experienced the indifference and partiality of the Qiu family, but she did not expect that Lin Cuihua could be so shameless.
In order to save money, they even came up with the vicious method of using people to pay off debts.
And the original body’s biological father hasn’t refused!
Qiu Xuan endured the discomfort and continued to hide in the dark and eavesdrop.
Inside the house, Lin Cuihua yawned and said, "Tomorrow you go to the Zong family and ask if this is feasible. Anyway, they need money but not the person, but there is one."
Qiu Shitou, the original body's biological father, scratched his head and said hesitantly, "What if the Zong family... doesn't want to?"
After all, in their village, the betrothal gift for a girl from a good family is only three or two taels.
Lin Cuihua rolled her eyes at him and said, "If the Zong family doesn't want to, then go to the next village and ask Li Quezi. I heard that Li Quezi is currently planning something and is offering a betrothal gift of four taels."
Qiu Shitou hurriedly shook his head when he heard this. "How can I marry Li Quezi? He's an old widower, two of his wives have died, and he has a little boy at home."
Lin Cuihua was obviously feeling sleepy. She said impatiently, "Why are you reluctant to give it up? Then take out five taels of silver. If you can conjure up five taels of silver, that's fine, but you can forget about the money at home."
Ever since Lin Cuihua gave birth to Tiger, the family's money has been under her control. It would be harder than climbing to the sky to get five taels of silver from her.
Qiu Shitou knew there was no other way, so he said, "Okay, then I'll go to the Zong family and ask tomorrow."
Outside the house, Qiu Xuan had regained her composure. She knew that she couldn't escape this matter.
Either she would marry into the Zong family, or be sold to Li Guizi.
If we talk about other ways to survive, there is indeed one right now.
Although Datun Village is in the mountains, there is a small town ten miles away from the mountain. If you can run down the mountain and escape to the town, you may have a chance of survival.
Although she was penniless now, it would be difficult for her to survive even if she escaped to the town.
But Qiu Xuan couldn't bear to give up the opportunity and marry into the Zong family for nothing to pay off the Qiu family's debts.
The Qiu family, young and old, all bullied her as a girl and did not take her life seriously at all. If she did not do something now, she would never have the chance to take revenge in the future.
The next day, Qiu Xuan was awakened by the chirping of cicadas before dawn.
She rubbed her eyes, put on her clothes and climbed up from the kang.
She had a lot of things to do today, but in order to avoid being discovered by the Qiu family, she went to the kitchen to light the fire first.
While heating the meal, she quietly went to the backyard to get an egg.
While the Qiu family was still asleep, Qiu Yun put the eggs in a bamboo basket and covered it with a layer of straw, then tiptoed out the door.
She walked quickly along the way and soon arrived at the place where the eggs were hidden.
She looked around and saw that there was no one around, so she moved an inconspicuous stone with her hand.
There was a hole behind the stone, and her eggs were lying in it.
Including today’s, there are exactly four.
She originally wanted to take a few more today, but eggs are fragile, and if she took too many, everything would be gone after the bumpy ride.
After much thought, she decided to replace the eggs with rice and flour. The Qiu family measured everything, so she didn't dare take too much at once. She only grabbed a handful of rice and flour and put them in a cloth bag. She estimated that this would last for three to five days.
After hiding all the things, Qiu Xuan walked back. Thinking of the increasing amount of food in the small cave, a smile finally appeared on her face.
With these in hand, you won’t starve to death when you escape.
I was about to get home, but unexpectedly I bumped into Qiu Shitou who was about to go out at the alley.
Qiu Xuan naturally knew why Qiu Shitou went out so early in the morning, but she still pretended to be confused and said, "Dad, why are you going out so early? The food is still hot."
Qiu Shitou was in a hurry to go to the Zong family, but he was startled when he heard the word "Dad".
He glared at Qiu Yun and said, "What are you asking about, girl? Why don't you go home and watch over the stove?"
After saying that, he hurried out of the alley.
Let her watch the fire?
Qiu Xuan scoffed. If conditions hadn't prevented her, she would have wanted to burn down the entire Qiu family.
If she doesn't have a good life, then they can't have an easy life either.
Looking at Father Qiu's back as he walked away, Qiu Xuan knew that she didn't have much time left.
If she doesn't survey the terrain today, how will she escape in the future?
Thinking of this, Qiu Xuan did not go home anymore, but followed in the direction of Qiu's father.
There is only one mountain road outside Datun Village, but there are too many people walking on this mountain road. If she wants to run, she definitely can't take this road.
The safest way is to go into the mountains and walk down through the forest.
Qiu Xuan didn't delay and plunged into the forest. To ensure that she could walk back, she left a mark on the tree with her sickle every few steps.
There are large groups of trees in the mountains and forests. Even if a hunter comes in, he cannot guarantee that he will not go astray, let alone Qiu Xiu who has just arrived.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Qiu Yu finally realized something was wrong. She stood still. Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes ahead, as if some ferocious beast was approaching.
She raised her sickle in a defensive posture, her eyes fixed on the front. Fortunately, it was only a hare that ran past.
Qiu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and was about to move forward.
Unexpectedly, the next moment she missed a step and fell directly into a deep pit.
Fortunately, there was soil underneath, so the fall only hurt a little, but no bones were broken.
But how to get out became a problem.
Qiu Xuan stood up and walked around the deep pit twice. She observed carefully and tried to find a way to get out.
Unfortunately, the earth wall was too steep and there was no place to step. She tried three or five times, but each time she would fall down again before she was even a meter off the ground.
The earth wall was too slippery and I couldn't hold on to it at all.
But it's not safe to stay down there all the time.
Time passed little by little, the morning mist dissipated and the sun shone down.
Just when Qiu Xuan was about to take a break before continuing, a rustling sound came from above her head again.
Could it be a hare? Qiu looked up and saw a snake with red eyes, white edges, and a body of emerald green, coiled on a branch beside the pit, tongue spitting out its tongue.
Bamboo Leaf Green!
Qiu Xuan's hair stood on end, and cold sweat trickled down her spine. This snake, while beautifully colored, was venomous. If it bit her, she would surely die.
Qiu Xuan held her breath and gripped the sickle tightly with both hands. She was ready for the bamboo green snake to fall in.
As soon as it fell, she chopped it down.
Only when the snake dies can she live.
Just then, there was a "whoosh" sound.
An arrow flew over the pit, piercing the bamboo green snake and nailing it firmly to the earth wall.
Someone! The flame of hope slowly rose, and Qiu Yu excitedly shouted upwards, "Help!"
-
Zong Xiao had been eyeing the poisonous snake for a while. He followed it all the way here and only shot it with an arrow when he saw that the snake was coiled motionless.
This bamboo green snake is a poisonous snake, and its gall is the most expensive. It would be a shame if he didn't catch it if he happened to come across it.
Seeing that the snake was nailed to death and no longer moved, Zong Xiao quickly untied the sack and prepared to put it in.
Suddenly, a cry for help came from under Zhuyeqing. Zong Xiao frowned and slowed down his pace.
Human voice? Bamboo Green?
"Is anyone there? Help! I'm in the pit."
The sound rang out again, and Zong Xiao followed the sound and came over. He saw a thin girl waving and shouting for help in a deep hunting pit.
This place is so remote, I really don’t know how a girl like her could have fallen down there.
Zong Xiao saw her anxiety and said soothingly, "Someone is here."
In the deep pit, Qiu Xuan heard someone responding. She raised her head and stared upwards until she saw the person. Her excitedly waving hands stopped in mid-air, and panic came over her again.
Scar! A hideous scar running from his forehead across his left eye.
Qiu Xuan unconsciously stepped back until her body was pressed against the earth wall.
It's impossible not to be scared when a scarred man suddenly appears in such a place at such a time.
"You wait." The man above left this sentence and disappeared at the entrance of the pit.
After a while, the man came back with a vine rope in his hand.
Qiu Xuan thought it over again and again, and finally grabbed the vine rope and was pulled up by the man.
Just as she was about to thank him, she heard the scarred man say, "Don't come to the mountains alone in the future. There are many pits dug by hunters here. You're lucky today because they haven't had time to put bamboo under this pit yet."
"What will happen if we release the bamboo?" Qiu Yu asked.
Scarface glanced at her without saying a word, picked up the sack and walked away.
Driven by curiosity, she followed and saw a deep pit in the jungle five meters away, with a bloody smell spreading from it.
"Dead?" Qiu Xuan covered her mouth and nose, feeling nauseous.
"Yeah." Scarface jumped into the pit and quickly threw the dying hare out.
There were several bloody holes on the hare's body, obviously it was stuck on the bamboo blade when it fell.
Qiu Xuan felt a pang of fear in her heart. If she had just fallen into such a deep pit... would she still be able to survive?
The answer is obvious, no.
The hare was quite large, and it looked like the one Qiu Xiu had just seen.
Scarface put the hare into his backpack, and then filled the pit with some soil to cover up the smell.
"Which village are you from?" Scarface asked her casually, carrying the backpack on his back.
"Datun Village."
Scarface frowned. Datun Village was not close to here. How could a girl like her walk so far away?
"Did you go into the woods alone?" Scarface asked again.
Qiu Xuan was still a little afraid of him, so she lied, "No... I got separated from my dad."
Seeing Scarface about to leave, Qiu Xuan said again, "Brother, I'm afraid my father will be anxious waiting for me. Can you tell me how to get back?"
"Follow me."
The two walked one after the other for more than half an hour before they finally came out from the depths of the forest.
If they went further ahead, they would see the main road. Zong Xiao still had to check if there were any prey in other pits, so he didn't plan to send her off.
"You walk forward from here, and when you get on the main road, keep going up. You will see Datun Village in about a quarter of an hour," he said.
"Brother, thank you so much today." Qiu Xuan didn't expect that she actually met a good person, although he didn't look like one... and even looked a little fierce.
"This forest is full of traps dug for hunting. Be careful next time." After saying that, Zong Xiao picked up the sack and went into the forest again.
Qiu Xuan already knew the dangers in the forest and would not make the same mistake again. It was a pity that her only way to survive was gone.
If you can't escape through the mountains and forests, then you can only take the main road.
But if she escapes via the main road, the Qiu family will surely be able to bring her home if they send people to look for her. Then it won't just be a matter of marrying her off to pay off the debt.
Qiu Xuan knew in her heart that if she wanted to survive in this world, she had no choice but to return to the Qiu family.
She straightened her clothes to make herself look less disheveled, otherwise Lin Cuihua would definitely pull her ears and ask her all sorts of questions as soon as she got home.
She had already thought of her words along the way. If Lin Cuihua asked her, she would say that she had gone to pick fruit. As for why she came back so late, she would say that she was delayed in the mountains.
Thinking of this, she slowly pushed open the gate.
The scene before her really scared her. She saw Lin Cuihua, who used to curse, was now sitting under the eaves, chatting and laughing with Aunt Wang next door.
You know, Lin Cuihua usually looks down on Aunt Wang and has said many bad things about her behind her back.
Today is like this, the sun is rising from the west.
Seeing her come back, Lin Cuihua didn't ask her what she had been doing so early in the morning. Instead, she smiled and pointed to the kitchen and told her that there was a bowl of rice left in the pot.
Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary. Qiu Xuan had just entered the kitchen, and before the rice and soup were served, she heard Aunt Wang in the yard praising her, "You really work hard for this family. You even found such a good marriage for Daya."
Daya? Before Qiu Xuan could react, she heard Lin Cuihua laughing and saying, "She's the only girl in the family. How could we possibly let her marry into a poor family? Besides, we have Hu Zi at home. If Daya marries well, Hu Zi will have a good brother-in-law who can help him in the future."
Qiu Yan:...
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