The hairpin was carved from wood, relatively blunt.
But with enough force, piercing through the neck was no problem.
To intimidate Mrs. Zhou, Shen Yulou gritted her teeth and drove the tip of the hairpin into her flesh.
Blood welled up.
The villagers who had merely been watching from the sidelines now turned pale with alarm and urged her to stop.
“Girl, don’t do anything foolish!”
“Yes, yes! A living dog is better than a dead lion!”
Shen Yulou sobbed, “I don’t want to live anymore, I don’t! My parents are trying to force me to death—living is nothing but suffering!”
But she glanced at Zhao Silang.
Zhao Silang had been about to snatch the hairpin from her hand, but when their eyes met, he withdrew his hand without a trace of haste and assumed an air of cold indifference.
Mrs. Zhou, however, was terrified—not out of concern for Shen Yulou’s life, but because she feared that if Shen Yulou actually died, she would get nothing at all and would even have to shell out for a straw mat to wrap the corpse.
“Fine, fine! Eleven taels it is!” Mrs. Zhou relented, her face swollen like a pig’s head as she extended her hand toward Zhao Silang. “Give me the money!”
Zhao Silang didn’t hand it over. Instead, he looked at Zhao Dalang. “Big brother, help me write a deed of sale of self.”
Zhao Dalang was a scholar and knew how to read and write.
Hearing this, Zhao Dalang’s lips parted and then closed again. In the end, he said nothing to stop it. He went inside, wrote out the deed of sale of self, and silently handed it to Zhao Silang.
Zhao Silang took the deed and walked over to a white-haired elder.
“Uncle Zhou, you are a man of great virtue and prestige. I’d trouble you to bear witness.”
“Very well!”
Uncle Zhou agreed without a second thought.
Though he shared the surname Zhou and was distantly related to Mrs. Zhou through some convoluted connection, Uncle Zhou wished he had no such relative at all.
With a grim face, he said to Mrs. Zhou, “Look carefully. This is your daughter’s deed of sale of self. The sale price is eleven taels of silver. You take the money, and she belongs to the Zhao family. From this day forward, Shen Yulou will have no further connection whatsoever with anyone in the Shen family!”
“Ah, yes, yes, I know!”
Mrs. Zhou beamed with joy. She raised her finger to her mouth to bite it open for a fingerprint, then suddenly pulled it back and wiped it against the blood on Shen Yulou’s back instead.
Shen Yulou: …
Fine, fine!!
What followed went smoothly.
Mrs. Zhou pressed her fingerprint, clutched the money pouch, and grinned so wide her teeth showed but her eyes disappeared. She said to Shen Yulou:
“Don’t glare at me like that. This time I’ve sold you into a den of good fortune… Work hard in the Zhao household, take good care of the whole family, and when I have time later, I’ll have your brother bring over your belongings.”
What belongings could the original owner have had?
Just a few ragged clothes.
Shen Yulou, her face deathly pale, said coldly, “No need.”
“Suit yourself!” Mrs. Zhou snorted and walked away with the silver, never looking back.
Shen Yulou watched her until she disappeared from sight, and only then did her taut nerves dare to relax.
The moment she relaxed, her strength gave out, and her body swayed as if about to collapse.
Zhao Silang had long noticed she was barely holding herself together and had never strayed far from her side. The moment she showed signs of falling, he immediately caught her.
Only then did the surrounding villagers dare to crowd around.
“Go fetch a doctor, quick!”
“Carry her inside first!”
“Hurry, hurry, hurry!”
Shen Yulou was still conscious, but her eyelids were too heavy to open.
In a daze, she felt her feet leave the ground. Half of her body was wrapped in warm body heat, while the other half was exposed to the cold wind.
There was also the sound of a man’s heavy breathing at her ear.
Then the breathing grew farther and farther away… so far that it made her panic.
She snapped her eyes open.
What met her gaze was murky, icy river water.
She was bobbing up and down in the water, fear and the current tearing at her together. She screamed silently, struggled desperately, and grabbed hold of a hand.
That hand pulled her close, arm wrapping around her waist, while the other hand parted the water, carrying her upstream.
Whoosh—
The sound of breaking through the water rushed into her ears.
She was hauled up and laid flat on her back on a riverbank overgrown with waterweed, her limbs spread out.
Dazzling sunlight poured down.
She saw Zhao Silang.
Zhao Silang stood in the sunlight and said to her in a contemptuous tone:
“What’s so impressive about dying?”
“You’re not even afraid of death—so why fear living badly?”
“If I were you, I’d live well, just to spite those who wish me ill.”
“Get up. Don’t make me look down on you.”
She struggled to her feet.
But Zhao Silang turned and walked away, taking all the sunlight with him. Her vision was instantly swallowed by darkness, and panic seized her. She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Brother Zhao, Brother Zhao…”
“Don’t be scared, little auntie. Be good now—”
A childish, soft, lisping voice reached her ears.
Then her head was gently patted twice—
“Pat the fur, scare be gone.”
Her ear was tugged as well—
“Tug the ear, scare’s near.”
Shen Yulou: …
She slowly opened her eyes.
A little girl’s face, as white and plump as a fish cake, came into view.
Seeing that her eyes were open, the little girl’s mouth formed an O shape and she let out a “Ooh” of wonder, then trotted off on her short little legs, shouting as she ran—
“Grandma, Grandma, come quick! Little auntie’s awake—”
A clatter of hurried footsteps soon sounded from outside.
Mother Zhao rushed in first and pressed down on Shen Yulou, who was trying to get up.
“You’ve just woken up, don’t move too quickly… Your back must be numb, right? Lean back and rest for a bit.”
As she spoke, she tucked a pillow behind Shen Yulou’s back.
Shen Yulou leaned against the pillow, half-reclining on the bed, and glanced around the room. Seeing that the surroundings were unfamiliar, she guessed this must be the Zhao family home.
Then, recalling what had happened before she lost consciousness, she said guiltily, “I’m sorry… Auntie Zhao, I’ve caused you trouble.”
“It’s all in the past, let’s not talk about it.” Mother Zhao waved her hand, helped pull the blanket up to Shen Yulou’s chin, tucking it in snugly so only her face was visible, then comforted her in a gentle voice.
“You slept for seven days and seven nights, from before New Year’s to after. We were so afraid you wouldn’t make it through, but thankfully you held on… Look ahead—the hardship is over, and everything from here on will be good.”
As the two were talking, three young married women in the attire of wives came in, along with a girl of fifteen or sixteen wearing a water-green padded jacket.
The little girl who had been calling her soul earlier was now held in the young woman’s arms.
Upon hearing this, the young woman snorted and snapped at Mother Zhao, “Her hardship is over, but what about Fourth Brother? For her sake, Fourth Brother spent all the money meant to save his life!”
Mother Zhao turned and glared at the young woman: “Baozhu, shut your mouth! Think you’re so clever with that mouth of yours, don’t you!”
Zhao Baozhu said with reddened eyes, “I won’t shut up! Everything I’m saying is the truth!”
Mother and daughter began bickering.
But Shen Yulou keenly caught the key information. She didn’t even have time to be shocked about sleeping for seven days and seven nights—she quickly grabbed Mother Zhao’s hand and asked, “Auntie Zhao, what happened to Brother Zhao?”
What did she mean by spending all the money meant to save his life?
Mother Zhao waved her hand and said, “It’s nothing, nothing. Your Brother Zhao is doing just fine. Don’t listen to that girl Baozhu’s nonsense…”
Before she could finish, she was interrupted as Zhao Baozhu shouted indignantly, “I’m not talking nonsense! Mother is the one lying through her teeth!”
Zhao Baozhu shoved the little girl into the arms of one of the women, then rushed to the bedside herself. Ignoring Mother Zhao’s attempts to pull her back, she shouted at Shen Yulou:
“My Fourth Brother is sick! The doctor said he needs treatment right away, or he’ll go blind first, then his eyes will rot, and finally he’ll die!”
“That eleven taels of silver—our whole family tightened our belts, scrimped and saved for over half a year to put it together. It was meant to be saved for my Fourth Brother’s treatment, but your mother swindled it all away!”
As she spoke, Zhao Baozhu burst into tears, tears streaming down her face. Wiping her eyes, she pointed at Shen Yulou and shouted, “It’s all your fault! You! You’re the one who killed my Fourth Brother!”
Shen Yulou was stunned speechless, sitting up straight.
The Zhao family wasn’t well-off—Shen Yulou knew that.
But she never could have imagined that those eleven taels of silver were Zhao Silang’s life-saving money.
Her already pallid, barely-living complexion turned even whiter.
In that moment, she finally understood why Mother Zhao had urged Zhao Silang to think it over carefully earlier, and why Zhao Silang had hesitated for a split second.
She had been waiting for those eleven taels to save her life—but wasn’t Zhao Silang waiting for them too?
Her heart suddenly ached terribly.
Seeing that the truth could no longer be hidden, and noticing Shen Yulou’s ashen face, Mother Zhao momentarily forgot to scold Baozhu for her loose tongue and hurried to soothe Shen Yulou.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s not as serious as Baozhu says. If the money’s gone, we’ll earn it back, we’ll earn it back…”
Before she could finish, a loud clatter sounded from outside, followed by the furious voice of the Zhao family’s eldest son from the courtyard.
“You’ve lost your mind, Zhao Silang, you’ve truly lost your mind… That place is somewhere you can go? You’re risking your life for money!”