When Xie Hong mentioned his dead mother again, his uncle got a headache.
Once or twice was fine, but ever since Xie Hong’s mother died, he had used her name as an excuse to borrow money and food many times. Now, whenever the family saw him coming, they immediately became nervous.
Xie Hong had already used his strongest argument, but this time his uncle was not giving in. Thinking about the beautiful wife waiting for him while he gathered the grain, Xie Hong became so anxious that his vision darkened and he almost fainted.
His second uncle was frightened and quickly supported him.
“Why are you so worried? If you don’t have enough food, I can share some with you. Even if we’re hungry ourselves, we can’t just watch you starve.”
Xie Hong quickly said, “Uncle, lend me one shi (50 kg/110 lb) of grain. Just one shi. After this, I’ll never come to ask you for anything again.”
“One shi (50 kg/110 lb) ?” His uncle looked troubled. His family did not have much food left.
“Fine!”
At that moment, his aunt suddenly spoke.
“We’ll lend it to you. Even if we starve, we’ll lend it. But you must keep your word. After taking the grain, don’t come back again.”
“Be quiet! Men are talking. Why are you interrupting?”
His uncle was surprised. His wife was usually gentle, so why was she acting so tough today?
What he did not know was that she was completely disappointed in him.
Since marrying into the family, she had given birth to five children in eight years. The youngest was still a baby, and the oldest could only do small chores.
Only she and her husband were able to work. Two adults supporting seven mouths was already difficult enough.
On top of that, there was Xie Hong, who kept taking food from their home every few days. Every time she saw him leave with a bag of grain, her heart hurt because that food should have gone to her children.
She had often told her husband to think more about their children, but he never listened and even accused her of being selfish.
Now things have gotten worse. The nephew he kept helping was asking for a whole shi (50 kg/110 lb) of grain. It was obvious he did not care whether their family lived or died.
At this point, she would rather starve than continue this family relationship.
Xie Hong did not care what she thought.
Soon he would have a wife. Why would he need these relatives?
“Fine, I promise I won’t bother you again. But…” Xie Hong looked at his uncle, wondering if his aunt’s words really counted.
After hesitating for a moment, his uncle nodded.
“I’ll get the grain for you.”
“Uncle, just deliver it to my house. I still need to visit another family!”
“What? Isn’t one shi enough food for you?”
Xie Hong happily replied, “The grain isn’t for eating. It’s for getting a wife.”
“You’re getting married?” His uncle became interested. “Which village is the girl from? How old is she?”
“It’s not a girl. Uncle, don’t ask for now. I’ll invite you to the wedding feast.”
“If it’s not a girl, then what is it?”
Before he could ask more questions, Xie Hong had already run far away.
By noon, Xie Hong had visited several families. By begging and borrowing, he managed to gather more than two shi (100 kg/220 lb) of grain.
He was still short by almost one shi, so he decided to make up the difference with silver.
While taking out the money, he suddenly felt someone watching him.
Turning around, he saw Xie Pei standing at the half-open door, staring at him with dark eyes.
For a moment, Xie Hong felt guilty.
Then he thought, Why should I feel guilty? This house is mine. Everything here belongs to me. I don’t need to care what this bastard thinks.
“What are you looking at? This is my money. I’ll spend it however I want.”
Xie Pei glanced at him.
The money came from selling farmland, and half of that land had belonged to him.
When he was younger, Xie Pei wondered why Xie Hong always called him a bastard when even their father never doubted he was his son.
As he grew older, he understood.
Xie Hong probably never believed he was a bastard. He only spread those rumors so he could keep all the family property for himself.
A mocking smile appeared on Xie Pei’s face before he turned and left.
“Good. You can take him now.”
Big Yellow Teeth weighed the money pouch in his hand and nodded happily.
“I gave him a strong sleeping drug. He probably won’t wake up until tonight.”
While casually agreeing, Xie Hong lifted Zhu Mingyue onto his shoulder and excitedly carried him home.
Looking at the beautiful person lying on his bed, he felt happier than ever.
For once, he did not even get angry when he nearly bumped into Xie Pei while leaving the room.
Xie Pei stood where he was and looked toward the main bedroom thoughtfully.
Xie Hong is hiding someone in there.
The way Xie Hong kept entering and leaving the room over the past few hours confirmed his suspicion.
As for whether the person had been stolen, kidnapped, or bought, Xie Pei did not know.
But considering that every woman in the nearby villages disliked Xie Hong, it was obvious that whoever was inside had not come willingly.
Xie Pei was not interested in the person.
Normally, someone like Xie Hong would never allow them to meet.
However, an unexpected situation soon appeared.
Xie Pei never expected that a stingy man like Xie Hong would actually prepare a wedding feast for someone who had only arrived that day and had not even shown their face.
Xie Hong gathered his drinking buddies, showed off proudly, and even took out some of his saved silver to buy fish and meat from town.
He also went door to door inviting villagers to attend the feast the next day.
Xie Hong was not very popular in the village.
When people heard that he was getting married, they found it hard to believe.
Even if they had to bring a few eggs as a gift, they still wanted to come and see for themselves.
After visiting the whole village, everyone accepted the invitation except for the family he had argued with earlier, who refused to even open their door.
After that, Xie Hong considered paying a few older women in the village to cook for the feast.
In the end, he decided not to spend the money.
Both of his aunts were hardworking and capable. They could easily handle several tables of food.
Why pay when he could use free labor?
As for cutting ties with the family?
That could wait until after the wedding feast.
Zhu Mingyue finally woke up early the next morning.
When he opened his eyes, everything around him was completely dark.
Actually, it was worse than darkness.
He could not even stretch out his hands because both his wrists and ankles were tied up.
He twisted his body and carefully felt everything around him.
There was a blanket over him. It was not very thick and felt slightly damp, as if it had not been dried in the sun for a long time.
There was bedding underneath him, but whenever he moved, he could hear a rustling sound.
Zhu Mingyue had slept on straw before.
Just from the sound, he knew there was a layer of straw beneath the bedding.
Conditions like this would not exist in the Nanfeng House.
They would not exist in an inn.
They would not exist in an abandoned temple either.
This could only be the home of an ordinary farming family.
After thinking for only a moment, he was certain of one thing:
During the time he had been unconscious, Big Yellow Teeth had sold him again.
Surprisingly, he felt calm.
He had already expected something like this.
Just as Xu Linguang had told him, if he wanted to avoid becoming a prostitute, being sold to an ordinary family was actually the best outcome available to him.
He understood the situation clearly.
The Nanfeng House was heavily guarded day and night.
Escaping from there would have been almost impossible.