Before Gu Qianbu could speak, someone stepped forward to scold Old Mrs. Yuan, “Nonsense! Who do you think Gu Qianbu is? How could he possibly form a marriage alliance with your family? Keep spouting slander and we’ll have you arrested.”
Seeing that Old Mrs. Yuan was about to get slapped, the Yuan family members finally settled down. They had no way to deal with Gu Qianbu, so they could only glare at Yuan Ni with hateful eyes.
Yuan Ni grabbed Gu Qianbu’s arm. “Please save my sister Zhaodie! My grandmother is trafficking people—she wants to sell Zhaodie into the mountains.”
“Are you certain?”
“I’m certain. If you don’t believe me, go inside and search.”
Human trafficking was a serious crime. Gu Qianbu made a snap decision and strode toward the courtyard.
Old Mrs. Yuan rolled herself to his feet in one swift motion, shrieking like a pig being slaughtered, “The cadre is hitting people! Is there no law anymore?”
Gu Qianbu let out a cold laugh and directly ordered his men, “Go around the back door. Restrain the buyers first.”
Several assistants moved quickly and soon dragged two mountain men out from the back entrance.
Xiangyang Dadui could grow wheat and corn, but the mountains could only produce potatoes, relying entirely on the whims of weather. Life there was too hard, and no girls were willing to marry into those villages, which gave rise to the practice of demanding exorbitant bride prices for daughters.
In plain terms, it was little different from buying and selling women.
But Old Mrs. Yuan was still the first to personally sell her own granddaughter into the mountains.
Seeing that her tantrum was useless, Old Mrs. Yuan quieted down.
Gu Qianbu entered the courtyard and finally managed to rescue Zhaodie.
The little girl had been tied up in a bundle. The moment she saw Yuan Ni, she burst into tears. “Sis, Grandma was going to sell me.”
Yuan Ni took Zhaodie’s hand and walked over to Gu Qianbu, bowing. “Comrade Gu, please seek justice for my sister.”
Old Mrs. Yuan’s eyes darted around, and she put on a fawning smile. “Zhaodie, what are you saying? This is our distant relative—they just came to visit. What selling?”
Seeing that her dirty secret was exposed, Old Mrs. Yuan was trying to weasel her way out.
Zhang Chunyu smiled and tugged at Gu Qianbu. “Comrade, you’ve misunderstood. The world is at peace now—how could anyone sell their children? We’re just having a normal family visit. Please don’t wrong good people.”
Gu Qianbu smiled and looked at the two mountain men. “Really just visiting relatives?”
“Really.”
“Fine then, you can go.”
The two mountain men looked at each other, neither willing to leave.
To buy a wife, they had scraped together twenty yuan. The money had already been given to Old Mrs. Yuan, but they hadn’t taken the girl away yet.
If they left now, wouldn’t they lose both the money and the girl?
Gu Qianbu read their expressions and had already figured out most of the truth. “Is it that you haven’t gotten your money back yet? Then go get it quickly—I won’t wait around.”
The two mountain men actually walked over to demand their money from Old Mrs. Yuan. “We never meant to traffic people. Since this little girl isn’t willing, return the bride price to us.”
The crowd immediately erupted. After all, Zhaodie was only twelve years old. Whether it was called a bride price or a sale price, what Old Mrs. Yuan had done was utterly beastly.
“Old Mrs. Yuan, you really took their money?”
“Zhaodie calls you Grandma—are you even human?”
Spittle flew from every direction, giving Old Mrs. Yuan’s face an impromptu wash until it gleamed.
At this point, Zhang Chunyu and Yuan the Eldest didn’t dare make a sound. All they could do was watch Old Mrs. Yuan tremblingly return the money.
After handing the money over, Old Mrs. Yuan burst into loud wails. “My money!”
Everyone said Old Mrs. Yuan was behaving inhumanely, still scheming to sell her granddaughter. In truth, what she was crying over were the silver dollars hidden inside the shuttlecock.
Those things were relics of the old ways—even if she’d lost them, she wouldn’t dare tell anyone. All she could do was cry.
Human trafficking was a serious crime, but since Zhaodie was still unharmed, Old Mrs. Yuan’s offense counted as attempted only.
Gu Qianbu didn’t mince words. “Your thinking is problematic. Even if you don’t need reform, you still need education. Off to the study class with you.”
The Yuan family was stunned. They knew that place well—was someone else really going to end up in there?
Yuan the Second had already been inside for days, eating his own family’s grain, getting up before dawn to dig sand and repair roads—harder work than farming.
The key problem was, with all that suffering and toil, the work wasn’t even for their own benefit. Wasn’t that just torture?
Zhang Chunyu reacted fastest. “I had nothing to do with this. It was all my mother-in-law’s doing.”
The money had come from Old Mrs. Yuan’s own pocket, and in the end, she was the only one taken away.
Gu Qianbu then gave Yuan the Eldest a stern warning to treat his daughter well.
While Gu Qianbu was still there, Yuan the Eldest and Zhang Chunyu were as meek as quails, nodding in agreement without daring to make a move.
The moment Gu Qianbu left, they showed their true colors.
Yuan the Eldest reached out to grab Yuan Ni. “You damned girl! Everything today is your fault. Now your grandmother’s been taken away. If I don’t skin you alive, my name isn’t Yuan.”
Zhang Chunyu spoke with dripping sarcasm. “Yuan Ni, Zhaodie had a perfectly good marriage match, and you ruined it. Are you trying to take her place and marry into the mountains?”
Yuan Ni grabbed Zhaodie and ran.
Seeing this, Zhang Chunyu directed her own son and daughter to cut them off.
Gu Qianbu had just left, and Old Captain hadn’t returned yet. The other villagers couldn’t easily interfere—after all, this was the Yuan family’s private business.
Just as Yuan Ni was about to be caught, someone suddenly blocked Yuan the Eldest’s path.
“You came to our door carrying a pig’s head to propose—what did you say back then? You said you’d treat my sister well for the rest of her life. Look at what you’re doing now!”
Yuan the Eldest froze, then jerked his head up to find himself staring at a broad, stubbled face with two bulging eyes like copper bells.
It was none other than his hot-tempered eldest brother-in-law.
Yuan Ni’s mother’s maiden name was Chen. The Chen family had many children—Yuan Ni’s mother was the third child, with two older brothers and two younger ones.
The eldest brother-in-law had a terrible temper, and after marrying and having children, he’d passed that explosive disposition down perfectly to his two sons.
The other Chen brothers were much the same—all hot-tempered.
The old Chen family lacked many things, but sons were never in short supply, and every one of them had a fierce temper. As a result, they swaggered through life, and no one dared provoke them.
Yuan Ni’s mother had once hoped Yuan the Eldest would come to his senses, so she’d never told her natal family about his misdeeds.
Now she was completely disillusioned. The moment she got home, she told them everything Yuan the Eldest had done.
Her hot-tempered brothers flew into a rage, grabbed their weapons on the spot, and rushed over to settle the score.
As luck would have it, the moment they stepped through the Yuan family’s door, they saw Yuan the Eldest chasing and beating Yuan Ni and Zhaodie.
Yuan the Eldest kept up his stubborn front. “Brother, have a seat first. Let me teach this damned girl a lesson, and then I’ll explain everything.”
Zhang Chunyu put on a fawning smile. “Oh my, brother-in-law, isn’t it a bit improper for you to meddle in your sister’s household affairs? It’s really quite rude.”
“Rules?” Uncle Chen let out a cold laugh, pointing toward the yard where Zhang Chunyu’s two children—one holding a pole, the other wielding a rolling pin—were about to strike Yuan Ni. “So you bullying my niece is following the rules?”
Yuan Ni shouted, “Uncle, they’re trying to sell Zhaodie into the mountains.”
“What?” Uncle Chen’s beard bristled with rage. He glanced around the yard, then said to his younger brother and sons, “This is no way to live. You all know what to do, right?”