Chen Xueqing has been feeling really down lately. Although she really should be a strong woman like Li Xiao,
Right now, she only has some wild persimmons, and she doesn't know if that's enough to exchange for them.
Tao Ran nervously put the entire basket of wild persimmons into the sales box.
"Beep, mountain goods detected, wild persimmons, quantity 50 jin, can be exchanged for a spirit chicken." The system's mechanical voice sounded, and with a beep, all the wild persimmons in her basket disappeared, replaced by a clucking hen.
She exchanged fifty catties of wild persimmons for a chicken... Sigh, life is tough.
However, as if realizing something, Tao Ran quickly looked around. If she were discovered, she would probably be treated as a monster. Fortunately, there was no one around.
Be careful next time you make a deal.
She carried a hen back home to raise it for eggs. Although she couldn't eat chicken meat for the time being, she could eat eggs.
Unfortunately, the items in the space could only be taken out after being exchanged. Tao Ran wandered around and came to a pile of weeds. Suddenly, the system started to sound, "A pile of 100-year-old healing grass has been detected ahead. Please accept it, host. It can be exchanged for livelihood items."
At the sudden sound, Tao Ran hurriedly looked around, but there was no healing grass. What was that? There was only a pile of weeds in front of him.
"Host, what's in front of you is the healing grass, the kind of grass with veins on its leaves that exudes spiritual energy." Tao Ran stared into thought at the pile of weeds in front of her, but she couldn't see any spiritual energy in the grass, even though it all had veins.
Although he didn't recognize it, Tao Ran still reached out and pulled up the weeds in front of him. Several of the weeds were broken. Suddenly, the system Xiao Quanquan's blood pressure rose. "Host, those are spiritual herbs. Don't damage the roots and stems, or the medicinal effect will be halved."
Tao Ran looked at the weeds in her hand and noticed that they were different. The roots of the healing grass were very long and seemed not to be easily broken. There was a faint spiritual energy at the roots. Without careful observation, it was impossible to recognize.
"I can grow them in the space and sell them later, right?"
Tao Ran was overjoyed. With these herbs, her family would have money to treat their illnesses. Her younger brother and father were still sick, and the family was on the verge of collapse.
The system didn't want to answer her. Apart from being a little silly but incredibly lucky, this host was honest. Otherwise, it wouldn't have chosen her as its host.
Tao Ran picked all the healing herbs and put them in the open space of the space. He put an old hen in his basket and went down the mountain to go home.
As soon as I arrived home, a large group of villagers gathered around, making a ruckus. Several burly men stood inside the thatched hut, seemingly arguing about something.
When Granny Li saw Tao Ran return, she shouted, "Sister Tao'er, you're finally back! You seem to be twelve years old this year, old enough to be a child bride in the Li family. Your father damaged some important goods while moving them last time, and now the Zhang family wants your family to pay two taels of silver in compensation. I've decided to send you to the Li family as a child bride. The Li family will pay the two taels of silver for you and give your family one tael of silver to treat your father's illness."
Tao Ran looked at her mother, who was hunched over and guarding the doorway. Otherwise, they would be charged two taels of silver if they went in. Her eyes narrowed. Putting aside whether her father had damaged the goods, this old woman Li wanted her to be a child bride for the Li family. Wasn't that the same as being a slave?
In the original owner's memories, the Li family had already killed a child bride, and now they were using her as collateral. How shrewd of them!
Tao Li coughed and interjected, "Ran'er, it's not like that. Your mother didn't want to send you away. It's just that they said if I don't send you away, they want the land deed to this thatched hut. It's your father's only property."
Tao Ran grew angrier as she listened. If she had come back a little later, these people would have taken advantage of her. Just as she was about to speak, Granny Li glared at her viciously, "I say, Sister Tao'er, you don't want your family to be homeless now, do you? Listen to me, the Zhang family said that if you don't scrape together these two taels of silver in a week, they will personally take you to be a maid. It's better to come to my house as a child bride."
Granny Li became increasingly smug as she spoke, while the burly men stared at her without restraint. Tao Ran felt a sudden surge of anger and gritted her teeth, saying, "I will send you two taels of silver in three days."
Just then, a few clucking sounds came from Tao Ran's basket. Granny Li immediately opened the basket and sure enough, there was an old hen inside. "Where did you get this old hen? You didn't steal it, did you? My family just lost an old hen these past few days. Oh, Tao Erjie, you actually stole my hen!"
Granny Li greedily reached for the hen, but Tao Ran, enraged, pushed forward with all her might. Suddenly, Granny Li's hand, which was resting on her basket, slipped from her grasp, and she fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"This is a pheasant I found on the mountain myself, it's not yours at all. I'll pay you back the two taels of silver, but don't even think about touching my hen." Tao Ran hurriedly put down his basket and hugged the hen tightly to his chest. The eggs laid by this hen were used to supplement the family's nutrition, and these black-hearted people wanted to take them away.
Seeing Tao Ran like this, Granny Li cried out in pain on the ground. The burly men were also somewhat surprised to see the hen, but that wasn't their concern; they were only there to collect their money. The villagers watching nearby whispered among themselves.
"Didn't we already eat that old woman Li's hen? She was bragging about it everywhere. How come it's her hen again now?"
"It seems the Tao family can't even keep their thatched hut. It's pitiful. The eldest son in the family is useless. I heard that Tao'er almost starved to death a few days ago. How tragic."
"The harvest has been poor these past few days, and I don't know how to pay today's taxes."
Tao Li looked at the burly men with tears streaming down her face. They had achieved their goal. Li Ergou walked in front of Tao Ran and said, "Hand over the old hen as collateral. We can't just wait for nothing. If you can't pay two taels of silver, you'll have to come to my house and be my brother's child bride. Hahaha."
After saying that, he tried to touch Tao Ran's face, but Tao Ran dodged him. He then grabbed the old hen in Tao Ran's arms, and the old hen was lifted up, clucking and flapping its wings, struggling desperately.
You bastards, you just wait.
Tao Ran was furious. In her past life, if someone betrayed her, those people would be sent to be torn apart by a horde of zombies. If all else failed, she would rip out that person's heart and throw it into the horde, or kill them herself.
The other men laughed along, "Not bad, Li Ergou, you've got another concubine. She's so young and weak, don't kill her easily. The magistrate had a hard time calming things down last time. It's really good to have a magistrate's son-in-law. You'll be the one in charge of Qingtian Village now."
"It looks alright, but it'll still hurt for a while." A rough and mocking laugh rang out loudly around the dilapidated outhouse.
Tao Ran's family was like lambs to the slaughter.
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