Chapter 21.1

The events at the Qin family that night were neither too big nor too small. Some people had feigned ignorance the night before, staying indoors and avoiding any involvement. But by the next morning, they couldn’t resist their curiosity and started asking if Qin Xiaobao had finally returned.

When they saw Qin Xiaobao sitting at the doorstep early in the morning, holding a large bowl of porridge and slurping it up, they couldn’t help but gossip.

It was said that only five people had gone up the mountain the night before, among them a girl named Pear Blossom and her 13-year-old brother, Daniu. All five of them had returned safely, which seemed unbelievable.

To put it in perspective, Wuyi Mountain wasn’t just any mountain; it was known for having packs of wolves roaming about. Sigou and Qin Xiaobao had encountered a wolf pack, which was the cause of their troubles.

Zhang Laowu hadn’t slept much that night. Early the next morning, he began boasting about how they had encountered the wolf pack, describing the wolves’ appearance and how fierce they were. He went on to tell everyone how Qin Xiaobao had been dangling from a small tree on a cliff, and with one wrong move, he could have fallen into a bottomless chasm. 

He even elaborated on how the wolves had chased them and how Pear Blossom had managed to lead the wolves away, ultimately rescuing Qin Xiaobao.

The whole night’s events were retold by Zhang Laowu with such flair that it sounded even more exciting than a storyteller at a tea house. 

The villagers listened, wide-eyed, some even regretting not having gone up the mountain with them, imagining they too would have been the ones boasting about the adventure.

But there was no use in regret; they could never steal the spotlight.

Some people began to mutter sarcastically, trying to cover their own embarrassment.

“So, according to you, it was Pear Blossom who led the wolves away, and you guys managed to rescue Qin Xiaobao thanks to her? That silly girl? Pfft, you really know how to spin a story.”

“Exactly. Even if Dagen went up the mountain to rescue someone, he probably wouldn’t outrun a pack of wolves, let alone that big girl.”

“In my opinion, you didn’t even encounter any wolves. You just went up the mountain and carried someone back down. No need for all this fuss.”

“I told the Qin family from the start that there were no wolves up there. Why would they need so many people just to carry a child down?”

Others chimed in to agree.

Zhang Laowu saw that no one was believing his story, so he could only shake his head and shrug.

Although the villagers were reluctant to admit it, Pear Blossom still earned 5 points for her actions.

She was a little confused and asked, “Where did these 5 points come from? I haven’t done anything special recently.”

The system responded, “You followed these people up the mountain and led the wolves away, not only saving Qin Xiaobao but also saving the others. These actions earned you reputation points, so you received 5 points.”

Pear Blossom, still a bit confused, murmured, “Oh,” then said, “But it seems like I didn’t really come up with any plans myself. I only knew where Qin Xiaobao was because of you. I wouldn’t have found the way up and down without your help.”

The system replied, “You’ve finally asked the right question. In theory, you should have earned more than just 5 points for rescuing those people. 

The reason you only received 5 points is simple: your success largely depended on me. You didn’t contribute much on your own, so you received fewer points. If you hadn’t relied on me and had found Qin Xiaobao entirely on your own, you would have earned at least 5 or 6 more points.”

Pear Blossom then realized and nodded, “I understand now. I’ll try to solve problems on my own as much as possible in the future.”

Upon hearing this, the system said without mercy, “You currently have only two wisdom points. Your mind is like a barren desert; how can you come up with any good ideas? These two points just help you win arguments with the old woman.”

Pear Blossom, feeling a bit upset, replied, “But I can’t help it. I have too few points. I can’t add more wisdom points.”

The system responded, slightly speechless, “I suggested you add those 5 points to wisdom points in the beginning, but you chose to add them to physical strength. Who can you blame for that?”

Pear Blossom wasn’t at all regretful about adding those points to physical strength. She liked feeling strong. Smiling, she said, “Even though my wisdom points haven’t increased, at least I still have you. You’re my wisdom point.”

The system helplessly said, “See? This is a vicious cycle.”

Pear Blossom shook her head, not understanding what a vicious cycle was.

“A vicious cycle is like thinking that since you have me, wisdom points aren’t important, so you put your points elsewhere. But when you actually need to solve a problem, you realize you don’t have enough wisdom points, so you ask for my help. But once you get my help, you earn fewer points, and you end up with even fewer attributes to increase.”

Pear Blossom was completely confused. “Alright, I don’t want to know what a vicious cycle is.”

The system said, “So far, Wisdom is 2, Physical Strength is 6, Reputation is 7, and Favor is 0—”
Pear Blossom quickly interrupted, “Huh? Why is Reputation so high? Did you just put those points into Reputation? I haven’t made a decision yet.”

“Reputation is different from the other four categories. Points earned from acts of heroism and righteousness can only be added to Reputation, not to the other categories. The more good deeds you do, the higher your Reputation.”

Pear Blossom nodded, though she was only half-understanding. Well, if Reputation is being added, then Reputation it is, but she was still puzzled, “Wasn’t there only 5 points? Why did you just say it’s 7 points?”

“You forgot. When you helped the eldest son climb over Widow Dong’s wall, you acted heroically and taught him a lesson. That act earned you two points of Reputation. I told you that the same night.”

Pear Blossom thought for a moment and remembered that it had happened, though she was too tired at the time to pay much attention. The system was talking in her head non-stop, and it was so noisy she just ignored it. But now that she had two extra points, she was obviously happy. This meant the first round of the lottery was getting closer.

…
It had barely been two days since Qin Xiaobao’s incident, and now strangers had arrived in the village.

The two people who had been chased out by the villagers as scammers had returned to Daliushu Village. This time, they brought with them a large group of people, and it seemed like they weren’t coming with good intentions.

Since the second son had chased the people away a few days ago after being ordered by his parents, he had kept watch for several days afterward but hadn’t seen anyone else come. He had thought this group wouldn’t return and had stopped worrying about it.

But now, seeing more than ten burly men standing at their doorstep, the Xiang family was so scared their legs went weak.

When Xiang Laotou saw the situation, he immediately knew things were bad. He hurriedly sent his grandsons and granddaughters to find Pear Blossom and tell her to hide and not return home. He also sent his daughter-in-law to find the village chief.
The leader of the group, a man with a bushy beard, sat in front of the Xiang family’s door and called Xiang Laotou out. 

He demanded that he hand over the girl they had sold and pay for the medical expenses of the two guards she had injured, as well as the travel expenses for the people who had been looking for her, and the hardship expenses for the group that had come today—twenty taels of silver in total.

Xiang Laotou’s wife, pale with fear, trembled behind her husband.

The villagers slowly gathered around, and the second son of the Xiang family was weaving through the crowd, subtly inciting the villagers, telling them that these men were human traffickers who had come to take people and urging them to help drive them out of Daliushu Village.

The villagers could tell that the second son was trying to use them as a spearhead to deal with the men, and they weren’t too happy about it.

“What’s going on? Why did they come straight to your house instead of going elsewhere? Don’t expect others to help you clean up your mess.”

“Yeah, last time, those two clearly said that it was an old woman who sold her granddaughter. That was your mother’s good deed.”

“Last time, we were used as pawns, but we’re not that foolish again.”

The second son, sweating with anxiety, said, “Don’t be misled. These people are human traffickers, they’re definitely not good people.”

The villagers, having made up their minds, didn’t bother arguing with him further and decided to wait and see what would happen.

At this moment, Xiang Laotou saw the man with the bushy beard pull out the contract from the sale of the girl. He knew he couldn’t keep making excuses, so he said, “Yes, there is such a thing. But now that the girl is in your hands, it’s a clear transaction. 

After that day, we haven’t seen my granddaughter again, so you’re at the wrong house.”

Upon hearing this, the villagers were in an uproar. Mrs. Qin couldn’t hold back and cursed, “You kept saying you didn’t sell anyone before, but now that people have come looking for her, you’re finally telling the truth? Poor Pear Blossom, how could she have such inhumane grandparents.”

Village Chief Zhang’s face was stern, and he said nothing.

Even though Daliushu Village was poor, there had never been a case of selling children, and this made him deeply uncomfortable.

Xiang Laotou, seeing the villagers whispering among themselves, felt embarrassed, but he still managed to squeeze out some tears and helplessly said, “Sigh, if there was a better way of living, how could my wife have done something like selling her own daughter? Life just became unbearable.”

Qin Xiaobao’s mother, Liu, couldn’t help but spit, “What a good excuse! Your Xiang family has so many grown men at home, yet you don’t go out to find work. Do you think money just falls from the sky? You pamper your second and third wives, but don’t even treat the first wife like a person. Dagen has been a soldier in the military for nearly twenty years, and you quietly sold his daughter without him knowing. If he comes back, he’ll definitely want to carve you both up.”

The others, hearing this, began to discuss among themselves, criticizing the Xiang family’s old couple for being too heartless.

The ten or so men who had come were growing impatient with all the chatter. “We came here to take the girl and the compensation, not to listen to your endless noise. 

Hurry up and hand her over, prepare the medical expenses and the hardship fee. Otherwise, we’ll smash your house, and none of you will get away.”

At this point, Xiang Laotou, seeing the villagers pointing at him and the group of strong men pressing in on him, started to panic. 

He quickly bowed and said, “Yes, we did sell her to you, but we couldn’t prevent her from running away. We can’t be blamed for the medical and hardship expenses. We didn’t go and snatch her back…” 

Seeing that the old man was still making excuses, the man with the bushy beard slammed his large palm onto the table beside him and said, “You old man are really good at making excuses.

 Let me tell you the truth—we’ve already infiltrated the village and gathered all the information about your family. We’ve seen the girl return. If you keep denying it, I won’t be polite anymore!”

The old man, Xiang Laotou, immediately broke into a cold sweat and nervously said, “Good man, calm down. You must have misunderstood; the girl really hasn’t come back.”

The villagers looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They didn’t want to see Pear Blossom handed over, but they were too afraid to confront these people. They could only shrink back and hide.

The man with the thick beard’s face darkened, and he raised his hand, saying, “Bring them out.”

Soon, two of his men pushed Erniu and Pear Blossom in front of the crowd. One of them said, “Old fool, what do you have to say now?”

Xiang Laotou’s heart sank when he saw Pear Blossom captured.

The villagers, seeing this, began protesting, “You already captured Pear Blossom, but why do you need to take Erniu too?”

The two men who had taken Pear Blossom were the same ones who had bought her that day. 

One of them said, “This little bitch is strong and fast, no one else can catch her. We had to tie up a small one to use as bait to make her submit.”

Upon hearing this, the villagers exchanged glances, their expressions varied. Could Pear Blossom really run that fast? Was the story of her leading wolves into the village really true, as Zhang Laowu had said? But this wasn’t the time to dwell on that. As fellow villagers, and with their numbers, they started to feel agitated.

The man with the thick beard looked at the crowd stirring, waved his hand, and said, “Since we’ve caught her, let the boy go.”

Upon hearing this, the two men untied Erniu and pushed him away.

Xiong, holding Erniu who had been pushed over, looked at Pear Blossom with tears in her eyes, crying out, “It was those two old bastards who did this! They sold my daughter! I never agreed to sell her! Give me my daughter back!”

She tried to rush forward to grab Pear Blossom, but one of the men nearby shoved her to the ground. Aunt Qin quickly helped her up and said, “Xiufang, don’t be in a hurry. Let’s see what the village chief says first.”

However, before the village chief could speak, Xiang Laotou’s wife spoke up first.

Seeing Pear Blossom bound, she steeled her resolve and said, “Since you’ve already caught her, just take her away. No one owes anyone anything.”

This caused an uproar among the villagers, “Xiang Laotou’s wife, you’re really something. For the sake of your second and third sons living well, you sent your eldest son to serve in the military and even sold someone else’s daughter. You and your husband are truly heartless.”

Xiang Laotou’s wife paid no attention to the villagers’ scorn, only wanting to send the troublemakers away as quickly as possible.

But her wish was dashed when the man with the thick beard picked up a large knife from the table, casually cleaned his nails, and said, “I paid you ten taels of silver for this girl. Of course, we’re taking her. But after she ran away, my men came to the village to get her, and you all hurt my men. 

You should pay for their medical expenses. Now, I’ve brought so many brothers with me to demand justice. You don’t have to pay much—just twenty taels of silver. Give me the money, and we’ll leave immediately, and I won’t hold anything against you for the foolishness of the past.”

Xiang Laotou’s wife wobbled and trembled, “Twenty taels!”

“Is that too little? Then thirty taels.” The man with the thick beard said nonchalantly.

“We don’t have twenty taels of silver! Even if we sold everything, we wouldn’t have that much! You’re extorting us, asking for too much!” Xiang Laotou’s wife shouted.

“You really don’t know how to speak. From start to finish, this whole matter is your fault. Even if we go to the magistrate’s office, we’re in the right. Third brother, if she keeps talking nonsense, slap her.”

Xiang Laotou’s wife, looking at the fierce man approaching, trembled with fear, but when she thought about the twenty taels of silver, she was unwilling to give it. Her eyes darted around, and she pointed to the surrounding villagers, saying, “You can ask them for the medical expenses. It was these people who hurt your men, it has nothing to do with us.”

The villagers she pointed to stared wide-eyed and stepped back a few paces, cursing loudly, “Xiang Laotou’s wife, you’re really something. Early that morning, you sent your second son to tell my husband that there were beggars at the village entrance and that my husband should go chase them away. We have five children, and I was worried it really was beggars, so I sent him. 

But it turned out you were just using him to drive people away for your own benefit. Now you want us to pay for medical expenses? Have you no conscience?”

“How can someone who sold their own granddaughter still have a conscience? Our village doesn’t need such a wicked woman. Get out of here!”

“You old bitch, may you never have peace!”

The villagers who had participated in the beating that day angrily cursed.

Xiang Laotou, no matter how well he knew his wife, never expected her to turn on the villagers at this moment. But after a quick thought, he closed his mouth. No matter how much the villagers cursed, they were no match for the ruthless men in front of them. 

These villagers were always afraid of the strong and never dared to do anything to them. It would be better to send these troublemakers away first.

With his mind made up, he let his wife speak freely.

The villagers who had been caught up in the situation never expected to be betrayed by the Xiang family. Not only had they helped drive people away that day, but now they were expected to pay silver as well. 

They were enraged, and with weapons in hand, they prepared to confront the Xiang family.

Xiang Er and Xiang Dalang, along with others, were beaten and scattered. The scene quickly turned chaotic, and the man with the thick beard was driven mad by the noise. He slammed his fist down on the table, shattering it into pieces. The crowd froze in fear.

“Stop fighting! You Xiangs, don’t try to shift the blame. We’re here to get the silver. I don’t care who hurt my men that day, I’m here to take the money from you. If you can’t pay up, I’ll break the legs of your sons and grandsons. You have plenty of granddaughters too, I’ll take them all. You have fifteen minutes. If you can’t pay, I’ll start breaking legs.”

After the man with the beard finished speaking, he ordered his subordinates to start taking people.

Xiang Laotou was genuinely frightened and quickly shouted at Zhang Cunzheng: “Brother, for the sake of our shared village, please say something fair and help our family.”

Zhang Cunzheng, already disillusioned by the earlier move from Xiang Laotou’s wife, coldly looked at Xiang Laotou and said, “What fair words can you ask me to say? Your family did something like this, who could say anything fair about it?”

Xiang Laotou cried bitterly, “Please ask these brave men to spare us! If they want Pear Blossom, just take her away, but we really can’t come up with the twenty taels of silver.”

Mrs. Xiong, hearing this, became anxious and cried out, “You can’t take my Pear Blossom! If you take my daughter, I’ll fight with you. If I can’t win, I’ll die here—wait until Dagen comes back, he will definitely get even with you all!”

Pear Blossom, looking at her mother’s state, felt uneasy. When those men came to the field to find her, she could have run away, but they caught her younger siblings instead because they knew she couldn’t outrun them, so she had no choice but to compromise.

Now there was no good way out, and all she could think about was whether she could run back home like last time if they took her away again.

However, when she mentioned this idea to the system, it wasn’t optimistic, “Now everyone knows you can run. They will be extra cautious and will probably keep a tight watch on you, so it will be hard to find an opportunity.”

Pear Blossom felt disheartened upon hearing this. She couldn’t escape and didn’t have silver. What could she do?

Cunzheng closed his eyes, not wanting to deal with this mess, but he couldn’t ignore it. He turned to the man with the beard and said, “Gentlemen, please have mercy. 

Their family is so poor they have to sell children. How could they possibly have silver to pay for medical and labor costs? If you let it go, I’ll get them to pay you back. The ten taels they got from selling Pear Blossom should still be around. I’ll return that to you, and we can consider this matter settled. What do you think?”

Upon hearing this, the man with the beard immediately burst into laughter, and the other thugs joined in.

The dozen or so men laughed hideously, which made the villagers shudder.

“You really think we’re beggars? So we work hard, don’t buy the person, and get beat up for no reason? Do you think we’d make such a losing deal?”

“Let me tell you, not a single coin less!”

Cunzheng was at a loss. He turned to the villagers and said, “Folks, look, the Xiang family is already in dire straits. Please, help them raise some silver to get them through this…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the villagers collectively groaned in disapproval.

“Xiang Laotou and his wife repaid kindness with ingratitude. Helping them raise silver is a saint’s job, and we are no saints.”

“Pah! Even if I had silver, I’d give it to beggars before giving it to them.”

“They sold their granddaughter for silver, and now they want us to clean up their mess? Who in the world would do such a thing?”

After this round of exchanges, no one was willing to contribute any money.

The Xiang family’s faces were filled with despair.

“It’s been a quarter of an hour. Bring the saw, and start with their precious son.”

Xiang Laotou’s wife immediately let out a horrifying scream and lunged at her second son, crying out, “Don’t see my son’s leg, don’t see my son’s leg.”

The man holding the saw sneered. “That’s fine. Let’s start with you then.”

Xiang Laotou’s wife was horrified and quickly shrank behind her husband, trembling.

“Enough talk, start sawing,” the man with the beard ordered. “If you don’t see some results, you’ll really think we’re joking.”

The two men beside him placed Xiang Er’s right leg on a large stone, and the sharp saw teeth quickly pressed against his knee, leaving a thin bloodline behind.

Xiang Er let out a scream like a slaughtered pig, crying out for his parents to save him.

Xiang Laotou’s wife nearly fainted, and Xiang Laotou finally couldn’t hold back anymore. 

Gritting his teeth, he shouted for them to stop.

Unfortunately, the two sawyers didn’t stop, and their work didn’t slow down.

Xiang Laotou quickly kneeled down and cried, “We’ll pay! We’ll pay the silver!”

The man with the beard raised his hand to stop them.

“If you don’t have the silver in ten breaths, we’ll continue.”

Xiang Laotou hurriedly shouted to his wife, “Quickly, get the silver! If you’re late, our son’s leg will be gone!”

Xiang Laotou’s wife, receiving the order, immediately ran into the house, crawling and rolling to avoid missing the time limit. She brought out a box along with her.

When she opened it, there were indeed two silver ingots inside, one weighing ten taels. Together, it made exactly twenty taels.

The villagers spat in frustration: “They clearly have silver, but they want us to pay. What heartless old people!”

The man with the beard, seeing the silver, ordered the men to stop and take the silver. After biting into it, he nodded, “Alright, we’re not dishonest. We’ll take the person and the silver and leave.”

“Brothers, take the girl and let’s go.”

When Mrs. Xiong heard this, she immediately rushed to the man with the beard, clutching his leg, and cried, “You can’t take my Pear Blossom! Please, without my daughter, I can’t live!”

Seeing this, the villagers quickly blocked the way. Old Qin begged, “Good men, please, this girl was sold by her grandfather. She didn’t do it willingly. Please let her go.”

The man with the beard couldn’t move and kicked Mrs. Xiong aside, saying, “Silver for goods. The person is ours now, so get out of the way.”

Seven or eight households of villagers, truly sympathizing with the Xiang family, blocked the way unwilling to let them pass, and a commotion broke out.

“You just bought her for ten taels of silver, so we’ll gather the silver to buy her back.”

“Right, we’ll contribute one tael…”

“I’ll offer five cents.”

“We’ll offer three cents.”

“We can help a little too.”

As Pear Blossom was being taken away, she listened to the villagers in front of her fighting over the price. Despite her usual calm and easygoing nature, she couldn’t help but feel tears welling up in her eyes.

Strangers from the village were willing to pool their money to buy her freedom, yet her own grandparents had sold her for just ten taels of silver.

When the men heard that someone was willing to pay, they quickly seized the opportunity and said, “If you want to buy her back, it’ll cost thirty taels of silver.”

Such a high price immediately shocked the villagers.

“You—you’re raising the price!” 

If it were ten or even twenty taels, the villagers might have been able to scrape the money together, but thirty taels? With so few families involved, there was no way they could afford that.

“If you don’t have the money, then get out of the way. All of you, scram!” The rough men laughed loudly and used their sticks to chase the villagers away.

The Qin family, Zhang Laowu, and a few others who had known Pear Blossom for years endured a few hits without dodging, pleading desperately.

Daniu, Erniu, and the Xiong family clung to the men’s legs, refusing to let them go, only to be kicked so hard they coughed up blood.

Seeing this, the villagers were filled with pity. Despite their dislike for the Xiang family and the first household, they couldn’t ignore what was happening. One by one, they gathered around, begging for leniency, and each of them was struck with a stick.

“A bunch of ungrateful villagers, no money and still wanting to buy someone. Where’s the good in that? If you don’t get lost, I won’t be so kind anymore!” 

The man with a scruffy beard spat, and the others quickly drew their knives. The villagers were terrified and quickly retreated.

Just then, a dog barked from behind the crowd. Everyone turned around to see a toddler, no more than two years old, stumbling forward, holding onto a large black dog. If anything, it was more accurate to say that the dog was walking the child rather than the other way around.