“Third Sister… where are you?”
That thought circled endlessly in Chen Zui’s mind throughout the night.
At dawn the next morning, father and daughter hired a cart and hauled the two-hundred-pound wild boar into the city. This time, instead of setting up a stall at the marketplace, they headed straight for Tianxiang Restaurant, the largest restaurant in Anping County.
The rear alley of Tianxiang Restaurant was bustling with workers unloading supplies.
“Whoa! Now that’s something!” Shopkeeper Wang, a plump man, circled the boar three times while flicking his abacus beads rapidly. “Look at these tusks, this hide—and it was killed only recently. The blood hasn’t even fully clotted yet. Fresh!”
Chen Laosan stood nearby, rubbing his hands nervously. He had never stepped into such an extravagant establishment in his life. Even standing in the back alley, the aroma of fine wine drifting from inside made his legs feel weak.
Standing in front of her father, Chen Zui tilted her head up and looked at Shopkeeper Wang.
“Uncle Shopkeeper, this boar grew up drinking mountain spring water. The meat is firm and flavorful. We won’t ask for much—twenty-five taels of silver at market price.”
Shopkeeper Wang looked down at the little girl, who wasn’t even as tall as a stove, and chuckled.
“You little thing, this is a wild boar. The meat is tough and difficult to cook.”
“That depends on who’s cooking it,” Chen Zui replied calmly. “If Tianxiang Restaurant’s head chef makes braised wild boar, it could become a signature dish. The hide can be made into seat cushions too. You won’t lose out.”
Shopkeeper Wang gave her a long look. The girl’s eyes were far too steady for a country child.
“Fine! You’ve got the makings of a businesswoman!” he declared. “Twenty-five taels. Deal!”
The transaction was quickly completed.
Holding the heavy silver ingots in his hands, Chen Laosan grinned from ear to ear. Combined with the eighty taels they had earned earlier and the supplies waiting at home, life felt like a dream.
“Xiao Liu, come on! Daddy will buy you candied hawthorns!”
Stuffing the silver deep into his clothes, Chen Laosan took Chen Zui’s hand and walked out of the alley with a spring in his step.
The marketplace was at its busiest.
Street vendors shouted from both sides of the road.
Chen Zui held a bright red skewer of candied hawthorns, but her mind wasn’t on eating. She was observing the county town, studying the layout of the shops and considering where her eldest sister’s future fast-food restaurant should be located.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted ahead.
“Hurry up! Move any slower and you’ll get the whip!”
The crowd parted like water before a blade.
A black carriage rolled slowly through the street. Behind it trailed a line of little girls with their hands tied together by ropes.
Most were only five or six years old. Their clothes were ragged, their bare feet stepped on the freezing stone pavement, and each kept her head lowered while trembling.
Human traffickers.
Chen Laosan’s lighthearted steps stopped instantly.
The smile on his face froze. His cloudy eyes locked onto the children, and his breathing became ragged.
Years ago, his Third Daughter, Fourth Daughter, and Fifth Daughter had been taken away just like this by members of the main family and sold to traffickers.
Chen Zui felt her father’s hand shaking violently. The rough grip nearly crushed her fingers.
“Don’t look… don’t look…” Chen Laosan trembled as he tried to pull her away. “Don’t look…”
He couldn’t bear it. Every glance felt like a knife carving into his heart.
Just then, a gust of wind lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.
Or perhaps the carriage jolted over a bump. A little girl sitting near the driver’s seat swayed and nearly fell off.
She looked about seven or eight years old, wearing an ill-fitting blue-gray coarse cloth outfit. Her yellowish hair was dry and lifeless, and a huge bundle was strapped to her back.
As she steadied herself, she instinctively used her left hand to grab the carriage frame. Then she quickly withdrew it into her sleeve and made a familiar motion—
She traced a few invisible strokes in the air with her finger, as though writing.
The movement was slight.
Fast.
But Chen Laosan saw it.
And so did Chen Zui.
It was Third Sister Chen Sanyuan’s habit!
Ever since she was little, she loved staring at written characters. When she had no brush or ink, she would use her finger to practice writing in the air.
And most importantly—
Third Sister was left-handed.
“Third Girl?!”
A heart-wrenching cry burst from Chen Laosan’s throat.
At that moment, all fear and hesitation vanished.
The man whose injured leg had only recently healed charged forward like an enraged bull, throwing off Chen Zui’s hand and rushing toward the carriage.
“Third Girl! Is it you?! It’s me—your father!”
The surrounding crowd jumped in alarm and scattered aside.
Hearing the shout, the driver frowned and cracked his whip hard against the horse.
“Where did this madman come from? Get lost!”
Startled, the horse neighed and kicked wildly before surging forward.
“Third Girl!”
Chen Laosan lunged but missed.
His fingers brushed against the wheel of the carriage.
His foot caught on the ground, and he crashed heavily onto the stone pavement. Blood immediately seeped from his scraped knee, but he felt no pain.
Scrambling to his feet, he staggered after the carriage.
“Father!”
Chen Zui rushed forward and wrapped both arms tightly around his waist.
“Let me go! That’s your Third Sister! That’s Third Girl!” Chen Laosan screamed, his eyes bloodshot. Tears and snot covered his face as he struggled desperately. “She’s on that carriage! I saw her! She was writing!”
“Father! We can’t catch them! That’s a carriage traveling the official road!”
Chen Zui shouted with all her strength, her voice choking slightly.
The carriage was already disappearing into the distance, leaving a cloud of dust behind.
A special wooden plaque hung from its side.
Carved into it was an eagle.
It was the symbol of some powerful force—or perhaps a security escort agency specializing in transporting “goods” to distant regions.
Watching the retreating carriage, Chen Laosan slowly collapsed.
He sat on the ground, pounding the earth with both fists while low, beast-like sobs escaped his throat.
“I’m useless… I’m useless… Right in front of my eyes…”
The surrounding crowd began whispering.
Some pitied him.
Others merely enjoyed the spectacle.
Standing beside her father, Chen Zui did not cry.
She stared in the direction where the carriage had vanished. Hidden inside her sleeves, her tiny fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles cracked. Her fingernails dug deeply into her palms.
Twenty-five taels.
Eighty taels.
A house full of supplies.
At this moment, all of it felt utterly powerless.
In an age where power crushed ordinary people, money alone could only buy the life of a wealthy farmer—or turn someone into a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
To find a sister who had been sold into the vast sea of humanity…
To take her back from powerful clans or even government officials…
Silver alone would never be enough.
They needed power.
They needed connections.
They needed the Chen family name to become so prominent that no one would dare trample on it again.
Chen Zui took a deep breath and suppressed the murderous fury surging in her eyes.
Squatting beside her father, she took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped away the tears and dirt on his face.
“Father, don’t cry.”
Her voice was calm—far too calm for a child.
There was a chilling ruthlessness hidden beneath it.
“We saw her. That means Third Sister is still alive. As long as she’s alive, I can bring her back.”
Chen Laosan looked up into his daughter’s deep, unfathomable eyes.
Gradually, his sobbing subsided.
“Father, let’s go home.”
Chen Zui picked up the scattered copper coins one by one. They had fallen from his pocket when he crashed to the ground.
“We’ll finish building the house and settle Eldest Sister and Second Sister properly.”
She rose to her feet and gazed at the enormous plaque above the city gate bearing the words ‘Anping County.’
Her eyes seemed to pierce beyond the rooftops and walls, reaching all the way toward the distant capital.
Three years.
Silently, she made a vow.
Within three years, whether by spending money or wielding power, I will bring all six Chen sisters together.
They will sit around the same table and share a meal.
Chen Laosan wiped his face and accepted his daughter’s support as he stood.
His figure no longer carried the lightheartedness he had shown when entering the city.
Instead, there was a heavy burden upon his shoulders.
Yet hidden beneath that burden was a fierce determination—a resolve to grind his teeth and fight on no matter the cost.
For Third Girl.
For Fourth Girl and Fifth Girl.
As their father, he could not fall.
The wind swept through the street, carrying a few withered leaves along with it.
This chance encounter was like salt rubbed into the Chen family’s barely healed wounds.
But it was also that very salt that awakened something new.
The small family that had once dreamed only of living peacefully and farming the land now possessed a burning ambition to rise higher.