Chapter 122 The Lin Family Sells Their Daughter
For the next few days, the family continued as usual.
Wan Qiqi was making honey pomelo jam at home, Wang was busy with household chores, Li Chongniang was playing with the two little ones, and Chen Yongxing went to town every other day to deliver the honey pomelo jam. When he was at home, he would go to the bamboo forest to dig bamboo shoots.
Within two days, a couple hundred pounds of bamboo shoots had piled up at home.
Wan Qiqi asked Yunniang to make honey pomelo jam. She processed the bamboo shoots, peeled them, boiled them in water, and then sliced them and spread them out to dry.
It seemed simple, but Wan Qiqi wanted to curse.
Neither in her past life nor in this life has she ever cut so many bamboo shoots in a row.
When cutting grapefruit peel, it's easy to cut and doesn't feel too difficult, but bamboo shoots are different; they require more effort.
After half a day, the area between her thumb and forefinger was sore and swollen, making her feel like her right hand was going to be ruined!
She was the one who had to save the bamboo shoots to eat slowly, and could only silently endure it all.
With a few days of experience, Yunniang was already quite adept at making honey pomelo jam, but Chen Ergou was still thinking about the money from the pomelos. Whenever he had free time, he would run up the mountain, pick a few pomelos, and exchange them for a dozen or so coins. Every time he returned, he would get a good scolding from Aunt Zhang.
Aunt Zhang wanted to learn how to make it herself, but after trying it once, the honey grapefruit jam she made was so bitter when diluted with water that it tasted like bitter melon juice.
She was unwilling to give up and made Yunniang continue to secretly learn, but she was scolded by Old Madam Chen.
The old lady thought that it would be good for Yunniang to help Wan Qiqi make sauce and earn some wages every day, and for Chen Ergou to pick pomelos to exchange for money, earning thirty or forty coins a day. It would be a good deal, as she wouldn't have to put in any capital, it would be free money, and there would be no risk involved.
Aunt Zhang thought it made sense. Although she was still dissatisfied, she still sent people to work for the Chen family. Sometimes she would even boast to the villagers that the honey pomelo soup that was selling like hotcakes in town was made by her daughter-in-law.
When other villagers learned that Wan Qiqi was harvesting pomelos, they all followed suit and went up the mountain, returning early and early, fearing that the Chen family had already harvested enough and they would have picked for nothing.
Wan Qiqi, however, was thinking about how to start another business.
Although she has daily income, she also has constant expenses to purchase household property, so she can't rely solely on this to make money.
Aunt Zhang is not good at keeping secrets. Who knows, one day she might get greedy and reveal the recipe. The villagers are poor and may not be able to make it, but that doesn't mean outsiders can't.
While pondering, Wan Qiqi overheard passing village women discussing village affairs, and among them she heard the word "Zhaodi".
"Lin Youtian is determined to sell his daughter this time!"
"I think so. Human traffickers have come, but I don't know who they'll sell them to."
"I heard it's from the next town, they're giving a sickly man a wedding to bring him good luck!"
"I've heard that sickly man is a jinx; none of the women who marry him live more than a month. Now no one dares to marry him, so they have to ask a matchmaker to find them a wife!"
"This isn't just selling people, it's selling your life!"
"Who says otherwise? It's a pity Zhao Di is only sixteen! She's going to lose her life here."
Wan Qiqi's eyes turned slightly cold as she stared at the courtyard gate for a long time without moving.
She hadn't heard from the Lin family for some time and thought Lin Youtian would calm down after being punished, but she didn't expect him to still want to sell Lin Zhaodi, and even brought in a human trafficker.
Once the contract of servitude is signed, there is no room for negotiation.
She still owed Qian a sum of money and had promised to take care of Lin Zhaodi and Lin Dazhuang. Now that things were in this situation, she couldn't stay out of it.
Chen Yongxing returned early after delivering the honey grapefruit jam. Before he even entered the door, he saw Wan Qiqi looking serious and about to leave. He quickly called out, "Sister-in-law!"
Wan Qiqi turned around and saw Chen Yongxing return. She said, "You stay at home and settle Yunniang's wages later... Never mind, tie up the mule cart and come with me. I'll have my mother settle the wages and the pomelo money."
As she spoke, she turned and went into the courtyard.
Seeing this, Chen Yongxing was somewhat confused. He tied the mule up with the rope and turned to ask Yunniang in the kitchen, "Sister-in-law, what happened to my sister-in-law?"
Yunniang shook her head.
Nothing much happened just now, as usual. My cousin and his wife were just spacing out while drying bamboo shoots, I don't know what they were thinking.
While the women were discussing, Li Chongniang happened to overhear. Seeing Wan Qiqi about to leave, she quickly got up and took a few steps outside, saying, "Sister-in-law, let's not get involved in the Lin family's affairs!"
Wan Qiqi stopped at the courtyard gate, turned her head to look at the mule, and said calmly, "I have to take care of this matter." Otherwise, she would not feel at ease.
Qian's death surprised her and made her realize how tragic it can be for a married woman after divorce.
Putting aside whether that man is unlucky in marriage, the other woman is already sickly and is in such a hurry now, so it's possible that her illness has reached its terminal stage and she is about to die!
If that's the case, the attempt to bring good luck through marriage will fail, and the person will instead be dragged down to be buried with the deceased.
Burying living people with their bodies is such an outdated and feudal practice!
She couldn't shake the thought, but she would never allow it to happen to anyone she knew!
Seeing Wan Qiqi's firm attitude, Li Chongniang knew that there was no use in saying anything more, so she hurriedly said to Chen Yongxing, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and follow!"
She couldn't stop it, so she could only ask Chen Yongxing to help her and prevent her sister-in-law from getting hurt.
Chen Yongxing didn't understand what had happened to the Lin family, but seeing that there seemed to be some danger, he hurriedly chased after them.
"Sister-in-law, slow down, tell me what happened first?" He didn't expect Wan Qiqi to stop, and almost bumped into her. Fortunately, he stopped in time, but accidentally fell on his butt.
Wan Qiqi looked helplessly at Chen Yongxing on the ground, shook her head, and continued walking forward, but her steps slowed down considerably.
Chen Yongxing immediately stood up, dusted off the dust behind him, and followed after him in small steps.
Along the way, Wan Qiqi recounted the discussions she had overheard and expressed her own concerns.
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