Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The woman outside the door spoke in a timid voice. Yan Xue searched through her memories for a moment before she could barely recall that such a person seemed to exist in the book.

Before she could speak, the woman outside spoke again.

“Sister Xue, could you please open the door and let me in? Sister Xue…”

It sounded like she was sobbing. Yan Xue felt her heart soften; she opened the door a crack to peek outside.

She discovered that the woman standing there was the same frail person who had spoken up in her defense several times while she was in the crowd at Liu Hui’s house that day.

The woman had fresh injuries on her face, and her eyes were bruised and swollen. She looked even more pitiful than the timid figure she had been in the crowd that day.

Yan Xue hurriedly opened the door, looked around in all directions, pulled Xiao Cui into the house, and locked the door securely behind her.

“Xiao Cui, what happened to you? Did you trip somewhere, or did someone hit you?”

She never expected that as soon as she got inside, Xiao Cui would drop to her knees with a heavy thud, clutching Yan Xue’s legs and sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath.

“Sister Xue, Sister Yan Xue, please, you have to save me! My family is trying to sell me off. They want to sell me to the Wang family at the end of the village. I can’t go there! If I go, I’ll lose my life, Sister Xue.”

Yan Xue was bewildered and tried to help her up.

“No, wait, stand up first and explain clearly. How am I supposed to save you?”

The book had mentioned the Wang family at the end of the village. To put it nicely, they were the wealthiest family in the area. Every member of that household did business in the nearby county, and their operations were so extensive that they practically owned all the farmland in the village.

To put it less nicely, they were the local thugs. They didn’t live in the village year-round, yet they still squeezed every last bit of profit they could out of it.

However, the family’s two sons were supposedly quite handsome, and the book stated that there were actually many unmarried girls in the village who hoped to marry into that family.

Why was Xiao Cui treating them like they were venomous snakes?

Regardless of what Yan Xue said, Xiao Cui just kept hugging her legs, refusing to get up.

In the kitchen, the children had noticed their mother had been gone too long and wandered out into the courtyard.

Feeling helpless, Yan Xue had no choice but to pull the girl up by force. As she tugged, she said, “Tell me the whole story first. If I can help, I will.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Cui nodded vigorously.

They went into the room. It took a long time for Xiao Cui to calm down enough to slowly explain the origin of the situation.

Xiao Cui’s full name was Wang Caiqing. She had been sold by her biological parents immediately after birth to some relatives who couldn’t have children of their own. She was the only child in that household, and her life had been quite comfortable.

But who could have guessed that a few years later, for some unknown reason, those relatives became fertile and successfully had a son and a daughter of their own. Naturally, Caiqing became the unloved one, forbidden from attending school and forced to stay home to do chores.

Later on, the relatives decided that the growing Caiqing was costing too much in food and board, so they abandoned her in their old, dilapidated house.

The house was absolutely wretched. It let in the wind in winter and leaked rain in autumn. Over the years, Xiao Cui had hardly received any education and had essentially raised herself. Now, at only eighteen, the girl looked as weathered as someone in her twenties.

Though, with a little grooming, she still possessed a certain charm.

This year, while she was running errands in the county, the second son of the Wang family suddenly took an interest in her and wanted to discuss marriage. She refused.

Her relatives, who had bought her all those years ago, heard about it and took it upon themselves to negotiate a dowry with the Wang family. They finally agreed to marry her off for a bride price of two hundred thousand.

The Wang family had returned to the village today and sent men to drag her away. They had smashed everything in her home, and she had only managed to escape after using a knife to slash a man’s arm.
Yan Xue felt dazed. Why did this plot feel so much like a rural novel trope involving local bullies falling in love at first sight and forcing a marriage?

She asked, “Then why do you hate the Wang family’s second son so much?”

At the mention of this, Xiao Cui’s face turned deathly pale. Her bruised, purple lips trembled, and finally, her gaze drifted toward the two children.

Yan Xue’s eyes followed hers, and she quickly understood. She patted the children on the head.

“Siao, take your younger brother to the stove in the kitchen and play for a while to keep warm. Don’t touch things and hurt your hands. You can each have one piece of candy from the windowsill, but no more, okay? You’ll get a toothache if you eat too much, you know?”

Hearing about the candy, the two children jumped up. They promised quickly and dashed out of the room.

“Alright, no one is here now. Tell me.”

Xiao Cui wringed her hands tightly together. “The Wang family… they aren’t clean. They’ve killed people. I saw with my own eyes when they dragged a woman into the mountains and buried her. That woman was the bride the second son was originally supposed to marry.”

Yan Xue’s heart jolted; all sorts of true-crime news reports flashed through her mind.

Xiao Cui seemed to know what she was thinking.

“Sister Yan Xue, I know what you want to ask. At first, I didn’t actually dislike the second son, but after being in contact with them for a while, I realized there really is something wrong with that family. I don’t even know what kind of business they are running.”

“Sister Yan Xue, please help me… I beg you!”

As she spoke, Xiao Cui knelt down again. Yan Xue frowned.

She remembered that in the original book, this character, Xiao Cui, had once helped the two children by giving them steamed buns to eat when they were kicked out and starving.

It seemed that this event hadn’t happened yet, and given the current circumstances, it probably never would.

But the fact that it hadn’t happened didn’t change the fact that this girl was, at the very least, kind-hearted.

Yan Xue had no idea how to save her. Should she call the police?

In this place, it would probably take two or three days for the police to arrive and take a report, and besides, they had no evidence.

Or should she take her away?

But Yan Xue didn’t even have the means to leave herself; she hadn’t found a job yet.

Bang, bang, bang.

The door to Yan Xue’s house began to rattle again.

Perhaps out of caution because it was someone else’s property, the man outside spoke with a tone that could almost be considered polite.

“Xiao Cui, don’t hide. Come out now. Our boss taking a liking to you is your good fortune. You’ve already taken the bride price money, so what are you complaining about? Come out now and don’t force us to come in and drag you out.”

Yan Xue and Xiao Cui exchanged glances. Xiao Cui’s frail frame suddenly flared with agitation; she stood up, looking ready to charge out.

“Nonsense! I didn’t take a single cent of their money! How can they slander me like this!”

Yan Xue reacted quickly, pinning her down and telling her not to move, then ushering the two children into the back room from the kitchen.

Before long, the air outside filled with the noise of a crowd. It wasn’t hard to guess that the villagers had flocked over to watch the drama.

Yan Xue truly admired the enthusiasm these people had for gossip, even in such freezing weather.

Xiao Cui, abandoning her previous demeanor, clenched her fists until her eyes were bloodshot.

For days, she hadn’t had a single night of good sleep. Whenever she knew the Wang family was in the village, she would hide at home, too afraid to step out.

Now, this person was actually slandering her in front of the entire village.

The people pounding on the door were burly, rough men. When they couldn’t open it, they began to ram against the frame.

The two children huddled behind Yan Xue in fear. Xiao Cui saw this and, unable to bear it, took a deep, shaky breath and grabbed a sharp kitchen knife.

“Hey, Xiao Cui, what are you doing! Have you lost your mind? Where are you going!” Yan Xue rushed to stop her.

Xiao Cui gave a bitter smile, and tears streamed down her face.

“Sister Yan Xue, I know you are a good person, but you have children. I cannot drag you down with me. Since they are slandering me this way, I’d rather fight them to the death than implicate you. Stay inside and don’t come out. Once they get their hands on me, they won’t look for anyone else.”