Chapter 20: Going down the mountain. Where is the mule from the wedding day?
At night, Qiu Xuan was tidying up her bedding while talking to Zong Xiao about what happened that day.
"I didn't expect your second aunt to pay back the money so readily." Qiu Yun stuffed the one or two taels of silver into Zong Xiao's purse. Together with the money from the division of the family property, there were now nearly ten taels of silver in Zong Xiao's purse.
The two of them became "rich people" overnight.
Zong Xiao hesitated, "Actually... just pretend you didn't hear what these relatives said. They're not really doing this for your own good."
Qiu Xuan lay down in her bed, full of energy, "Aren't your second and third uncles your grandparents' biological sons?"
We are all blood relatives, how could it have come to this?
"People always change." Zong Xiao didn't want to tell Qiu Yun about the bad things that happened in his family in the past. Those things were not something that could be made public.
Qiu Xuan thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case.
Zong Xiao looked at her innocent face and warned her, "If Third Brother gets married in the future, don't take what outsiders say to heart."
"What can outsiders say?" After saying this, Qiu Xuan suddenly remembered what those women said to her when she was strolling in the village that day.
The pot fits the lid, and the Zong family still wants to marry into the Liu family...
So, did these outsiders ever deliberately say something unpleasant in front of Zong Xiao?
Qiu Xuan turned her head to look at Zong Xiao at the other end of the kang, only to see that the man was lying straight, his face facing the beam, and her expression could not be seen at all.
"Go to sleep. Our wall will be almost finished by tomorrow. I'll take you for a walk down the mountain."
Qiu Xuan became even more excited when she heard this. She could actually go to the foot of the mountain tomorrow. Once she got to the foot of the mountain, she could get on the official road. Once she got on the official road, she could... run.
But if she ran away, what would Zong Xiao do? He had just been separated from the family and would have to live alone in this small courtyard from now on.
Qiu Xuan felt a little reluctant. After spending so many days together, she had already discovered that this man was a kind-hearted person.
After thinking about it, she gave up the idea of running away. After all, if she could go down the mountain once, she could go down the mountain a second time. She was not in a hurry to leave for the time being.
The next day.
While having breakfast, Zong Xiao told a few people at the table about going down the mountain today.
I asked them if they needed anything to bring.
According to my grandmother, a matchmaker has already been hired and we are just waiting to get engaged some other day.
However, the things for the engagement day had not been bought yet. Originally, the grandmother thought of building the wall and yard before going down the mountain to buy them herself, but now that she saw Zong Xiao was going, she assigned the task to him.
"I want to go too, I want to go too." Zong Huaixue had only gone down the mountain once since she was born. At that time, she had a high fever and the doctor in the nearby village could not cure her illness at all.
Later, Zong Xiao carried her down the mountain and stayed in the town's clinic for three days before he rescued her.
She was young and sick at that time, so she had no impression of anything happening down the mountain.
Now when she heard that they were going down the mountain, she was also eager to go and see what was going on.
"You and grandma stay at home. The mountain road is so long that your legs can't move it. Don't go and cause trouble for your second uncle." The clan mother gave Zong Xiao a look, indicating that he should not agree.
Unexpectedly, this little girl was very smart and didn't even ask Zong Xiao for help.
She threw herself into Qiu Xuan's arms and called out sweetly, "Aunt, are you going or not? Huaixue wants to be with you."
Qiu Xuan didn't know whether to agree or not for a moment. If she didn't agree, it would hurt the little girl's feelings. She didn't want to be the bad guy.
She raised her eyes to look at Zong Xiao, waiting for him to make a decision.
Zong Xiao pinched Huai Xue's little face and said to his mother, "Mom, the weather is nice today, let's take her down the mountain for a stroll. With me watching over her, nothing will happen."
"You kid." The clan mother had no choice but to agree as Huaixue agreed.
The mountain road was long, and the grandmother was afraid that they would be hungry on the way, so she put a few dry buns with pickles in their backpacks before they went down the mountain.
Zong Xiao didn't let her release more, but only said that he would bring them some food after they came down the mountain, so they wouldn't starve.
"You have to be careful when you come down the mountain. You are carrying two people with you, which is different from the past." The clan mother was still a little worried.
Zong Xiao carried the backpack on his back and said, "Don't worry, Mom. I'm here."
Before the sun rose, the three of them hurried down the mountain.
As expected, there was only one road leading down the mountain. Qiu Xuan passed through several villages along the way.
The further down the mountain you go, the more people there are on the road, and there are people coming down the mountain in ox carts, with several people on one cart.
Qiu Xuan looked at them and suddenly remembered something.
She touched Zong Xiao's arm and asked him, "I remember I rode a mule on the day of my wedding. How come I haven't seen it at home these past few days?"
Zong Xiao: "The journey to get married is long, so I borrowed the mule."
Qiu Yan:...
It was actually borrowed!
Zong Xiao thought she was tired from walking, so he whispered to her, "Why don't we go to the place where the livestock are sold later? The price of livestock in the summer isn't as high as in the winter. If you want to buy some, you should be able to negotiate for three or four taels."
Three or four taels???
"What if it's a cow?" Qiu Xuan asked, pulling his sleeve.
Zong Xiao: "Oxen can be used for plowing, and are slightly more expensive than mules. If you use a cart, four or five taels is about right."
Qiu Xuan was speechless for a moment, and only regretted that she had taken too little silver when she was at Qiu's house that day.
The Qiu family has enough money to buy a cow, but they are unwilling to pay it back, and even come up with the idea of using their daughter to pay off the debt!
It was truly despicable. The more Qiu Xuan thought about it, the angrier she became. She wished she could go back and take the cow away.
"Wow, second uncle, is that the town?" Huai Xue said excitedly, pointing to the houses at the foot of the mountain.
Zong Xiao nodded: "That's Yuanxiang Town, and it's the closest place to us."
Qiu Xuan came back to her senses and looked in the direction Huai Xue pointed. It turned out that was the town.
"When we get to town, don't run around. Hold your second uncle's hand tightly. He will buy you some date cakes." Zong Xiao rubbed Huai Xue's head and coaxed her.
"Okay!" Zong Huaixue had hope and didn't feel tired anymore. His legs moved faster than anyone else and he ran down the mountain happily.
The three of them did not stop and walked for about a quarter of an hour before finally arriving at Yuanxiang Town.
Qiu Xuan was also here for the first time. She looked around, wanting to see more, just in case...
Before she could figure out anything, she saw two or three strong men on both sides of the street looking at her.
At first she thought she was seeing things and overthinking it, but as they walked forward, the two men followed.
No, that's very wrong.
Just as an ominous thought surged in her mind, Zong Xiao grabbed her wrist.
"Don't be afraid, and don't look at them." Zong Xiao pulled her into his arms, and then pulled Huai Xue towards him.
He was tall and protected two people at once.
The people behind them watched for a while, and when they saw that the three of them did not separate, they gave up the idea and dispersed in twos and threes.
"Who are they?" Qiu Xuan frowned and hugged the little girl tighter.
"There's a brothel in this town." Zong Xiao whispered to her, "Some of the girls there were sold there, and some were abducted."
Qiu Xuan didn't realize anything just now, but now when she heard this, her hair stood on end.
Qiu Yu: "No one cares?"
"Once someone enters the brothel..." Zong Xiao paused, "there's no way back."
"Why?" Qiu Yu was puzzled.
Zong Xiao looked embarrassed, and after some deliberation, he finally told her, "Many families will no longer look for their daughters after knowing where their children are. Those who did go looking for them in the past were eventually sent away with a few taels of silver."
Money is more important than a daughter, and innocence is more important than a daughter.
Qiu Xuan's face was full of joy before she went down the mountain, but now it was pale.
It turned out that she had stayed in the mountains for too long and had forgotten that the world outside had not changed and was still cannibalistic.
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