Shen Li looked toward the gate and recognized him immediately—it was the old physician from Anji Pharmacy!
The old man gave her a small, knowing nod before addressing the crowd. “A short while ago, this young lady gathered some herbs on the mountain. I found them quite valuable and purchased a large quantity from her. That silver she has is the payment I gave her!” To punctuate his point, he gave a little wave of a bundle of common herbs in his hand.
“Young lady, I felt a bit uneasy on my way back and thought it best to return and check on things. It seems my instincts were correct!”
He didn’t mention that she had found a century-old ginseng, nor did he mention the hundred-tael price tag. He’s a good man, Shen Li thought, offering him a faint smile.
She turned back to Madam Cao. “So, are you selling or not?”
The neighbors began whispering among themselves. If the girl had earned the money herself through hard work, there was nothing more to be said about “theft.”
Madam Cao’s face turned a blotchy red, but her greed won out. She gritted her teeth. “Fine! I’ll sell! Five taels of silver—and not a copper less!”
“Deal,” Shen Li replied, her voice flat and devoid of emotion.
The onlookers were stunned yet again. A few even clutched their chests as if they couldn’t breathe. Five taels? That was enough to feed an entire family for months! And this girl had just agreed to it as if she were buying a head of cabbage.
Madam Cao’s eyes practically glowed with avarice. She actually has five taels?!
“But I want two sets of bedding and pillows,” Shen Li added, her eyes drifting toward Xiao Erlang. His tattered clothes hung off him, revealing the stark outline of his ribs. He was so thin; lying on those hard wooden boards must be agonizing. She instinctively rubbed her own tailbone, feeling a phantom ache. “And they must be new.”
“Now see here—” Madam Cao started to protest. She had just finished sewing two new sets of bedding a few days ago. How had this girl sniffed them out?
“Give them to her! Ma, just give them to her!” Xiao Huai-ren cut in, unable to help himself. They were making a pure profit of four taels! They could buy countless blankets with that kind of money. Besides, he wasn’t worried about her running away; with four taels, he could easily go out and buy himself another wife.
Madam Cao stomped her foot. “Fine! Take them!”
She disappeared into the house, emerging a moment later with Shen Li’s deed of sale. She shoved the paper toward her while Huai-ren hauled the bedding out and dumped it on the low wall.
“From this day on, you’re officially out of this house,” Madam Cao sneered, crossing her arms. “I’ll be waiting to see how you survive down at the foot of that mountain, you wretched girl.”
Shen Li ignored her. She turned to the kind auntie behind the wall. “Auntie, is there a carriage for hire in the village?”
“Carriage? Goodness, child, everyone here is as poor as church mice, living with mud between their toes. No one has a carriage. But my husband has an ox-cart; whenever the villagers need to head to town for supplies, he’s the one who takes them.”
The auntie looked toward the brothers. “You’re wanting to move Erlang to the old house, aren’t you? Hold on, I’ll go fetch your Uncle Li and the cart right now!”
Uncle Li, Shen Li noted. She would remember that.
Shen Li walked over to the brothers and knelt down to check on Xiao Erlang. Immediately, Sanlang’s tiny arms flew out, guarding his brother as he always did.
A two-year-old didn’t understand “legal separation.” He only knew that this woman was dangerous. She was the woman who slapped his brother, pinched his arms, and jabbed his paralyzed legs with sticks until they bled. She was the one who stole their meager food and let his brother go hungry while he was sick.
To Sanlang, this woman was pure evil. He glared at her, his eyes welling with hot, angry tears.
Looking at the boy on the verge of a breakdown, Shen Li sighed. She thought of the atrocities her predecessor had committed and felt a weight of guilt. These two truly were pitiful.
She racked her brain, trying to summon the softest, most reassuring tone she had ever used in her life. “Be a good boy, Sanlang. Let me see if your brother is hurt.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt a wave of goosebumps at her own “gentleness.”
Behind the wall, the neighbors let out a collective gasp. They stared at one another, mouths hanging open. The new wife had never—not once—spoken with such a tender voice. Usually, it was all screams and curses.
Is she possessed?
But no one was more shocked than Sanlang. He froze, his little hands still raised, looking utterly lost. Shen Li forced a small smile, trying to look as “approachable” as possible, and gently pressed his hands down.
She moved past him, her focus shifting to Xiao Erlang.
Erlang hadn’t seen what happened outside the gate, nor did he know why the trafficker had returned his brother. But his mind was sharp, and he had heard everything.
This woman wants to separate the household?
Doubt and fear gnawed at him. He didn’t know what her game was, but a cold chill settled in his chest. He remembered when she had gone on a rampage before, screaming that she would sell him to a brothel in town. She had claimed that even if he couldn’t move or speak, his face alone was worth a few taels of silver.