Shen Li didn’t know the first thing about holding a child. She simply clamped her hands under Xiao Sanlang’s armpits, leaving his thin legs dangling in mid-air.
Sanlang opened his eyes, and the moment he recognized her face, his hands flew out in a reflexive clawing motion.
“Bad woman! Let me go! You bad woman!”
Shen Li had no intention of holding him for long. She deftly avoided the frantic swipes of those shriveled, meatless little hands and set him down on the ground with an indifferent expression.
The moment his feet touched the dirt, Sanlang scrambled toward Xiao Erlang on all fours.
“Brother!” he wailed, throwing his tiny body over Erlang and trying with all his might to roll him over. Because the boy was so weak, Erlang’s arm remained pinned awkwardly beneath his own weight.
Sanlang didn’t care about the logistics; seeing the trail of blood at the corner of the unconscious man’s mouth made him howl with even greater grief. He used his filthy, blackened little hands to wipe the fresh blood from Erlang’s lips, his sobbing raw and heart-wrenching.
The villagers watching from the wall looked on in silence, some quietly raising a sleeve to wipe away their own tears.
Madam Cao, seeing that Shen Li had actually returned, let out a sigh of relief.
“What? Realized there’s no way to survive on your own? Scared the Village Head will hunt you down?” Madam Cao sneered, her eyes dripping with mockery.
Xiao Huai-ren rubbed his back, hissing in pain. The memory of slamming into that water vat was still fresh—how dare this wench lay a hand on him?! He stomped toward Shen Li, raising his palm to deliver a vicious slap.
Shen Li didn’t even blink. She snatched Huai-ren’s wrist mid-air and squeezed.
Huai-ren let out a shriek that sounded like a pig being slaughtered. Behind the wall, the neighbors secretly cheered in their hearts.
Shen Li released him, her voice eerily calm. “What? Do you think I didn’t hit you hard enough the first time?”
Terrified, Huai-ren scrambled back to hide behind his mother. Madam Cao ignored him, busy finalizing the deal with the human trafficker to sell Sanlang.
Shen Li looked down at the man collapsed in the dirt, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly. She walked over and knelt beside Sanlang, pressing her fingers firmly against Erlang’s wrist.
The pulse was thready and weak, but he wasn’t dead yet.
Seeing the “bad woman” touching his brother, Sanlang jumped up like a cornered kitten. He shoved at Shen Li with all his strength, screaming as if pushed past his limit.
“Don’t touch my brother! Get away from him! Bad woman! I’ll kill you! Bad woman!”
The noise gave Shen Li a headache. As a “Cold-Faced Doctor” in her previous life, she had zero experience soothing children. She used one hand to pin the back of Sanlang’s head and the other to clamp firmly over his mouth.
She curled the corners of her lips slightly. Finally—the world was quiet.
The auntie standing outside the wall winced. Seeing that Madam Cao was distracted by the trafficker, she whispered urgently to Shen Li.
“Girl! Quick, hand Sanlang over the wall!” She reached out her hands, eyes darting nervously toward Madam Cao.
At that moment, Madam Cao was still haggling. Huai-ren joined in, spittle flying as he backed his mother up.
“One silver tael! That wipes out the debt for the girl!”
“No way, no way!” the trafficker barked. “If I can’t find a buyer for this kid, he’s just another mouth for me to feed! You need to give me another two hundred copper coins. Trading a grown girl for a scrawny brat? I’m losing money here!”
Shen Li glanced at them, then looked down at Sanlang. The “little twig” was staring at her with eyes full of pure, unadulterated hatred. If looks could kill, she would have been sliced into pieces ten times over.
So the auntie wants to save him? Shen Li mused. It seemed some people were willing to help these brothers after all.
“Listen to me,” Shen Li whispered, her hand still over the boy’s mouth as she tucked him under her arm and stood up. “I’m going to send you out. Do not make a sound!”
As they neared the wall, Sanlang realized what was happening. His eyes grew wide with panic, and he began to writhe violently.
Just as Shen Li reached out to hand him over to the auntie, Sanlang tore his mouth free and let out a blood-curdling scream: “BROTHER!”
He lunged out of Shen Li’s arms, hit the ground running, and threw himself back onto Erlang’s body, refusing to move.
That single cry made the neighbors sigh in despair and snapped the three hagglers back to reality.
“Huai-ren! Grab that brat! Don’t let him run!” Madam Cao shrieked, pointing at Sanlang. Her gaze then snapped to Shen Li. “You! You treacherous brat! You were trying to let him go?! I’ll kill you—”
She began frantically looking around the yard for a weapon to beat Shen Li with.
“Ma! Ma, Ma, Ma!” Huai-ren waddled over to block her. “That girl is too dangerous. Forget her for now, just get rid of the kid first!”
His wrist still felt like it was broken. He was terrified his mother would order him to tie Shen Li up again. As long as they held her deed of sale, she couldn’t truly escape—and even if she did, their uncle, the Village Head, would hunt her down.
The human trafficker, fed up with the bickering, waved his hand dismissively. “Fine, fine! Meeting you two is my bad luck for the day! The kid is mine, the girl stays yours. It’s like stepping in dung and getting hit by lightning at the same time! I’m leaving!”
The trafficker stomped toward Sanlang.
Only then did Sanlang realize that if he was taken now, he might never see his brother again. He gripped the tattered hemp of Erlang’s clothes with both hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
The trafficker didn’t care. In his line of work, he’d seen plenty of desperate families selling their children. He reached down, yanked Sanlang off Erlang’s body like a weed, and began carrying him toward the gate by the scruff of his neck.