Qin Zhan looked at Liu Yu’er, who was sitting on the kang and crying silently. Her little face was streaked with un-dried tears and a timidity that seemed rooted deep in her bones—a stark contrast to the desperate, all-or-nothing “bravery” she had shown when she grabbed his coat hem at the village entrance a couple of days ago.
Yesterday’s scene, along with a few earlier fragments, uncontrollably surfaced and connected themselves in his mind.
It was roughly half a month ago, when the mountain paths of late autumn were already covered with a thin layer of frost.
Qin Zhan was returning from town after selling some furs, carrying an empty pack. His pace was slightly faster than usual because he had his eye on several newly discovered animal tracks deep in the mountains.
As he rounded a mountain bend, he spotted a thin, small figure stumbling along the side of the road from afar.
It was Liu’s younger son, carrying a bundle of firewood larger than his own frame. The bundle was skewed, almost pressing him down flat. The boy was biting his lips, his face flushed red with exertion, sweat covering his forehead. His foot caught on a stone, and he tumbled forward, taking both himself and the firewood down.
Qin Zhan stepped forward in a few strides, his large hand shooting out to steady the bundle of firewood just as it was about to crush the boy. His other hand naturally grabbed the back of the child’s collar, keeping him from hitting the ground hard.
Startled out of his wits, little Liu looked up. Seeing it was Qin Zhan, he shuddered in fright, but immediately realizing that Qin Zhan had helped him, a trace of gratitude—and something else, a very complex emotion—flashed through his dark, rolling eyes.
The boy hurriedly scrambled up and muttered in a low voice, “Th-thank you, Big Brother Qin.”
Qin Zhan gave a grunt of acknowledgment, lifted the heavy bundle of firewood with one hand, and securely placed it back onto the boy’s back, adjusting the position of the ropes. “Walk steadily,” he said concisely, preparing to leave.
“Big—Big Brother Qin!” Little Liu suddenly called out to him, his small hands clenched tightly. His eyes were filled with struggle and a near-desperate hope, but in the end, he just lowered his head again and whispered, “N-nothing… Thank you.”
Qin Zhan glanced at him, asked no further questions, and turned to walk away. Yet the deep, heavy worry in the child’s eyes left a slight impression on him. He had vaguely heard whispers about the Liu family’s affairs, but he had never cared.
He didn’t know that just the night before, little Liu had woken up with a stomachache, crouched in the shadows behind the outhouse, and overheard a conversation that would alter his older sister’s destiny.
It came from Liu Dafu’s new bedroom. The new bride, Lady Li’s voice, carried a sharp, sobbing tone of anger: “Liu Dafu! Do you take me for a blind woman? Your eyes were practically glued to that idiot! She’s your sister! Have you no shame?”
Liu Dafu muttered some muddled excuses in defense.
Lady Li wouldn’t let up: “I’m telling you! Either she stays in this house or I do! Look at her face—she’s a femme fatale! You’re acting like this now when she’s just an idiot, what will it be like later? Didn’t your mother say the family owes high-interest loans? Perfect! Get her out of sight, out of mind!”
Then came Lady Zhao’s lowered yet clear, soothing voice: “Oh, my good daughter-in-law, don’t get angry; it’s not worth it for an idiot… Mother knows what she’s doing.
Madam Wang from the Spring Breeze Brothel was asking about me just the other day, saying our Yu’er has blossomed nicely… Five taels of silver! That’s enough to pay off the interest! Mother will handle this matter; I guarantee she won’t get in your way…”
Crouched in the freezing darkness, little Liu trembled all over, feeling as though he had fallen into an ice cave. He didn’t dare make a sound until all was quiet in the house, whereupon he scrambled back like mad to the broken cowshed he and his sister shared. Looking at his sister’s oblivious sleeping face under the thin bedding, he bit his lips so hard they bled.
She can’t go to a brothel! Sister will die! The villagers said that few women who went to such places ever came out alive.
But what could he do? Their father didn’t care about anything, and their mother had been gone for a long time. Who could save his sister? Who would be willing to offend the stepmother and older brother while also coughing up that much silver?
Qin Zhan… that hunter with a fierce reputation who had just helped him today… The villagers all said he was formidable at hunting, so he definitely must have saved up some silver. Besides, he didn’t seem… that bad? At least he didn’t despise him like everyone else did, and he even lent a hand.
A bold yet desperate thought grew crazily inside the ten-year-old child’s heart.
The next day, he found his sister staring blankly by the riverbank. Taking her hand, he taught her over and over again, using the most straightforward words possible:
“Sister, listen to me, you must remember… Go to the village entrance and wait for the tallest, biggest, and fiercest-looking big brother. His name is Qin Zhan… When he comes over, grab him and say to him… ‘Buy me, okay? I’m very easy to feed.’ Do you remember? Just say that!”
Liu Yu’er looked blankly at her younger brother’s anxious face. She didn’t understand why, but she knew her brother was anxious, so it must be important. She tried hard to remember, slowly repeating it back: “Buy me… good… ea… easy to feed…”
“Yes! Just like that!” Little Liu said, tears welling up. “Sister, you must say it! Once you say it, you won’t have to go to that terrifying place! You’ll be able to eat your fill!”
And so, on the day before the agreed-upon date between her stepmother and the procuress from the Spring Breeze Brothel, Liu Yu’er really did hug her knees and crouch under the old locust tree at the village entrance. She waited and waited, watching several tall men walk past, none of whom matched her brother’s description.
She was both terrified and wanted to cry, but remembering her brother’s instructions, she stubbornly kept waiting.
Until that evening, when Qin Zhan’s figure carrying game appeared at the crossroads of the village.
Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had grabbed onto her final straw of hope. Not knowing where she suddenly found the strength, she abruptly stood up. Her legs were numb from squatting for so long, causing her to stumble, but ignoring it completely, she charged forward and tightly grabbed the hem of Qin Zhan’s blood- and dust-stained leather coat with her tiny hands.
Qin Zhan stopped in his footsteps and looked down.
Reflected in his eyes was a devastatingly gorgeous yet panic-stricken and helpless little face. Her eyes were wide open, brimming with tears, along with a trace of forced, imitated “courage.”
Tilting her head back, using her characteristic, slow and somewhat vague tone, she recited word by word what her younger brother had taught her:
“Will you buy me? Please? I’m very easy to feed.”
At that moment, Qin Zhan was stunned. He had never encountered such a situation. An impossibly pretty simple-minded girl, blocking his path to beg him to buy her?
Almost immediately, he thought of the Liu family’s plight and the various gossips surrounding them. He could have easily shaken off her hand and walked away coldly. This was not his problem.
However, looking at the tears trembling on the verge of falling from her eyes, looking at the small hand gripping his clothes so tightly that the knuckles turned white, and sensing the startling, humble desire for survival revealed in those words… on a sudden impulse, he didn’t refuse right away.
He just looked at her in silence, for a long time—so long that the light in Yu’er’s eyes dimmed bit by bit, thinking she had failed, and her little hand was about to let go, when he uttered a single, barely audible syllable:
“…Alright.”
(Flashback ends)
A spark cracked in the stove fire, snapping Qin Zhan’s thoughts back to reality.
Looking at the young woman in front of him—scared out of her wits and crying silently just because of his approach and touch—he finally understood completely.
That phrase, “Will you buy me, please?”, wasn’t a naive and ignorant joke, but the most desperate cry for help a child could possibly conjure up. It was a desperate imitation by a simple-minded girl after being repeatedly coached.
She had exhausted all the “wisdom” and “courage” she could comprehend to present herself to him.
And he had responded to this clumsy plea for help with a wild boar and eight taels of silver.
Yet, she didn’t know what this meant, nor what she would face next.
She only knew that following this person meant she might avoid the “terrifying place” that made her younger brother tremble with fear.
As for the man who had “bought” her, he remained a tall, fierce, and intimidating stranger full of unknown fears.
That was why she was scared—scared to the point of trembling all over, scared to get close, and scared to the extent that even his well-intentioned touch felt like a threat.
Deep inside Qin Zhan’s heart, a certain hard and cold spot was gently pried open by a crack.
It was more than just pity for the weak; it was a much more complex emotion—a sense of responsibility born from realizing he had become the sole “hope” in a desperate plan, coupled with a deep fondness and heartache for this young woman who had been plotted against by her own family and treated so harshly by fate.
He withdrew his gaze from her and looked back at the flames in the stove. The room was quiet, save for the subtle crackling of the firewood and her tightly suppressed, tiny sobbing sounds.
He didn’t know how to comfort her or how to tell her there was nothing to be afraid of.
In the end, he simply stood up and pulled a small oiled paper packet from a box on the table. Inside were a few pieces of crumbly pastries (crispy candies) bought from town.
Qin Zhan held out the candy toward Liu Yu’er’s lips. Liu Yu’er timidly stared at Qin Zhan with her big, round eyes. Qin Zhan didn’t rush her; he just looked at her with a gentle gaze.
After a long while, Liu Yu’er slowly and tentatively opened her mouth and gently took the candy into her mouth.
Qin Zhan licked his sweet-tasting finger: “Sleep obediently, and in three days I’ll take you home to see your younger brother.”
As soon as those words were spoken, Liu Yu’er quickly shrunk into the quilt and closed her eyes.
Seeing Liu Yu’er’s adorable and innocent look, Qin Zhan couldn’t help letting out a chuckle. After turning off the oil lamp, he climbed onto the bed as well.
Beside him, Liu Yu’er felt the long-lost warmth and softness while tasting the sweetness of the candy. Her heart was filled with happiness. Reluctantly, she spat the candy back into her palm, wanting to save it for her younger brother in three days.
And thus, amidst that warmth and softness, she drifted off to a sweet sleep.