In just a few days, Li Hongyu had become so thin she was unrecognizable. Her once round and lovely face was now pale and haggard, as if all the life had been drained from her.
Those bright eyes were red and swollen from crying, revealing endless sorrow and despair.
"Sister Yunsheng, I...I'm afraid I won't survive. I've been on a hunger strike for three days, but my father still hasn't given in." Li Hongyu cried her heart out, clutching Shen Yunsheng's hand tightly as if it were her only lifeline.
When she learned that her father was going to marry her off to a mentally challenged man, she felt as if her whole world had collapsed. She couldn't accept this fate; she would rather die than become a laughingstock. So she chose to go on a hunger strike in protest, but her father remained unmoved.
Shen Yunsheng looked at the pitiful girl before her with heartache, her heart filled with anger and helplessness. She knew all too well that in this era, women had a low status and were often bought and sold like commodities. But she would never allow such a thing to happen to the people around her.
"Don't cry, Hongyu. I'm here. I won't let you marry that fool." Shen Yunsheng gently comforted Li Hongyu. It's just one hundred and sixty taels of silver. She would find a way to pay it.
Li Hongyu sighed softly, "Sister Yunsheng, I can't escape. My second sister has already been sold by Father. He won't be soft-hearted."
When Xiang recalled her second daughter, who had been sold by her husband a year ago, tears streamed down her face like a burst dam.
Seeing the Xiang family mother and daughter crying together, Shen Yunsheng was also very sad. She thought for a while before looking up at the Xiang family.
"Aunt Xiang, I do have a way to save Hongyu, but it depends on whether you are willing to cooperate."
Xiang asked hurriedly, "What method? I'm willing to do anything to save Hongyu."
Shen Yunsheng lowered his voice and said, "I want to buy Hongyu and then give her her freedom. Anyway, my Uncle Dashan only cares about money, so we'll just give him the silver."
Upon hearing this, Madam Xiang looked troubled: "But...where would we get so much money?"
Li Hongyu also looked troubled. "Sister Yunsheng, the Huang family promised to give my father 160 taels of silver. Where are you going to get the money?"
Just as Shen Yunsheng was about to speak, Xiao Wanqing suggested with a smile, "Sister-in-law, I think we can try to persuade the Huang family to take the initiative to annul the engagement!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Yunsheng was slightly taken aback. She had actually considered this method before, but it couldn't solve the fundamental problem. Even if the Huang family actively gave up on the marriage, Li Dashan wouldn't change his mind; he would still marry Li Hongyu off to someone else.
“Wanqing, your method is good, but it is difficult to implement. Even if we successfully persuade the Huang family to leave, Uncle Dashan will not let Hongyu go.”
“But…but we don’t have 160 taels.” Xiao Wanqing also wanted to help Li Hongyu, but she didn’t have any spare money.
"Don't worry, I still have some savings. We can give him some of it first."
Besides the money she spent a few days ago, Shen Yunsheng still had 175 taels of silver. She definitely couldn't touch the monthly salary and bonus Xiao Jingchuan gave her, so she could only use the money from selling ointments to help Li Hongyu.
Xiao Wanqing took out the silver she was carrying and handed it to Shen Yunsheng, "Sister-in-law, I haven't touched the silver you gave me before. You can use it first."
Just as Shen Yunsheng accepted the money from his sister-in-law, 007 reminded him with a smile, "Master, if you take out your secret stash of money, your secret of selling ointments will be exposed."
Shen Yunsheng glanced at 007 helplessly, "What time is it now, why bother with secrets?"
"No way!" 007 said firmly. "Once everyone finds out the secret of this miracle scar removal cream, we'll be in big trouble."
Shen Yunsheng sighed, "Then what can we do? We can't just stand by and watch Hongyu jump into the fire, can we?"
“Master, don’t forget, you still have your space,” 007 reminded him. “You can go into your space and find some valuable things to exchange for silver.”
Shen Yunsheng's eyes lit up, as if he had thought of a good idea: "That's right! How could I forget about the space? I seem to remember that I stocked up on a lot of face masks and skin care products before. I can sell them."
007 smiled faintly, a sly look on his face: "Instead of selling it, you might as well keep it for your mother-in-law. Her skin is dry and yellow; she should have taken better care of it a long time ago."
After hearing this, Shen Yunsheng suddenly realized and strongly agreed with 007's point of view.
Her mother-in-law had always been busy with housework and neglected her own skincare, resulting in rough and dry skin. Now it was time for her to enjoy the pleasures of beauty treatments.
"Tuanzi, we can deal with the money-making issue later. I need to have a good talk with Hongyu first."
Shen Yunsheng decided to temporarily put aside the idea of making money and first discuss countermeasures with Hongyu.
Seeing that Shen Yunsheng was lost in thought, Xiao Wanqing smiled and comforted her, "Sister-in-law, don't worry too much. If it's not enough, we'll figure something out together."
Li Hongyu was deeply moved, and she decided to pull herself together and fight her father to the end.
"Sister Yunsheng, I think your plan is excellent. I don't want to stay in this house for even a day longer. As long as you are willing to help me, I am willing to serve you."
"Yun Sheng, I'm relieved that Hong Yu is with you. I'll leave this matter to you." Xiang Shi quickly expressed her opinion, fearing that Shen Yun Sheng might change her mind.
"Thank you for your trust, Aunt Xiang. Don't worry, I will do my best to help Hongyu," Shen Yunsheng promised firmly.
She discussed it with Li Hongyu before asking her sister-in-law to go home.
Dahe Village, Xiao Family Compound
As soon as Shen Yunsheng and her sister-in-law arrived at their doorstep, they saw Luo Shi rushing out.
"Wanqing, Li Tianci's mother has come to propose marriage. You should go and hide for a while."
"What? The Li family has come to propose marriage? What... what's going on?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Wanqing froze on the spot in fright.
Shen Yunsheng was also surprised. The Li family really knew how to pick their timing. They had just gone to Hongyu's house, and the Li family came to Lao Xiao's house right after.
"Wanqing, don't worry, maybe the person you're being proposed to isn't you."
In the past few days, Shen Yunsheng only asked Xu to tell the villagers that the Li family and the Xiao family were getting married soon. She did not say who would marry Li Tianci.
Seeing her mother-in-law's worried face, Shen Yunsheng gently comforted her, "Mother! Don't worry, let's go to the main room and take a look."
Luo sighed softly. How could she not be worried? That old lady was always autocratic, and she couldn't give up so easily.
"Oh! The Li family really knows how to time things. They saw Chuan'er go to the next village to buy bricks, so they came to our house to propose marriage." Madam Luo couldn't help but sigh again.
"Mother! You take Wanqing out for a walk, I'm going to meet the Li family."
Shen Yunsheng didn't want her sister-in-law to meet the Li family, so she gave them some instructions and went straight to the main room.
Main room
As soon as Shen Yunsheng entered, he saw Li Tianci's mother, Chen, and Wan, the most famous matchmaker in the surrounding villages, sitting in the main room, chatting and laughing with Granny Yang, while Xiao Wenkai and Xiao Wenjing accompanied them.
When Granny Yang, who was drinking tea, saw Shen Yunsheng enter the room, she was so startled that she dropped her teacup on the table.
"Jing...Jingchuan's family, you...how did you come back!"
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