At dawn, an oxcart was running on the flat and wide official road. Today was the big market in the county. There were many people on the official road. When they heard the sound of the oxcart, they hurried to give way. Looking at the oxcart that was gradually going away, passers-by showed envy.

On the oxcart, the driver had a smile on his face. His father said that he could marry him after selling the ger on the cart.

The man glanced at the ger lying motionless on the oxcart, calculating how much he could sell it for? He pinched the ger’s cheek again, and was glad he survived. He was almost out of breath in the middle of the night yesterday, which scared him to death.

“Get two more doses of medicine to boil when you get to the county.” The man sat up straight and pulled the quilt up to block the cold wind.

“Okay.” If he could marry a wife, he could do anything.

In Hua’an County.

 Ren Yazi looked at the ger leaning against the wall with a red face and a sick look, and turned around in worry.

Why does he look worse than before? Ren Yazi rushed his son to the clinic, went to the shop opposite to get a basin of cold water, soaked the handkerchief and put it back.

After the sun rose, the sunlight shone on the ox cart. The dazzling light forced Meng Yunshu to open his eyes. He wanted to raise his arms but couldn’t.

Meng Yunshu clearly felt that his body was slowly getting colder. The boundless coldness was slowly eating away at his body, he was cold to the bones, and his heart seemed to stop beating gradually. It was as if he was pressed and couldn’t breathe. The endless darkness seemed to drag him into the abyss, and the touch of death eroded his brain.

No, he didn’t want to die, he wanted to live.

The strong desire drove him to struggle against the shackles of darkness. He tried his best to survive.

 He heard someone ask: “Do you want to live?”

Meng Yunshu, who had experienced the taste of death, seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw. He answered firmly: “I want to live, I want to live.”

Just then, a mechanical electronic sound rang out.

“The contract is taking effect…”

“The plane store is starting…”

“Binding…”

Immediately, he felt his body getting heavier and slowly fell to the ground. His consciousness was gradually clearing up until the memory of another person appeared in his mind.

It was like a quick review of the original body’s short life. The sudden memory made Meng Yunshu feel painful.

Before this, he was still a young man in the new era. He died unexpectedly and was reborn in the body of a ger with the same name in ancient times.

 Before he could marvel at the fact that a ger in this world could have a child, he was so angry that he could not breathe. Shu ger’s biological father was an accountant. He married a husband and lived happily together, but he never thought that he would be framed by the master’s family for stealing silver. He was beaten more than ten times with boards at the government office and was half dead. He was also told that his pregnant husband had been running around for him. He was so anxious that he lost his mind and passed away with his unborn child.

When he returned home, he was in a daze and had a fever. He finally woke up and entrusted his only ger to his eldest brother and passed away. Without his father, Shu ger’s life can be imagined. Not only was he tortured by his uncle’s family, but he also encroached on the property left to him by his father. A few days ago, his uncle sold him to a trafficker for money.

He was so thin that he could be blown down by a gust of wind. The trafficker was kind and treated him well these days. He had a fever last night, and the trafficker not only gave him medicine but also took care of him all night. It can be said that the trafficker was the first warmth Shu ger felt since his father passed away.

 Unfortunately, Shu ger was unlucky and died of a high fever when entering the city. Meng Yunshu felt distressed and angry, but there was nothing he could do. His twitching forehead left him no energy to think too much. He endured the voices in his ears and was given medicine. The next moment, he was dragged into darkness and lost consciousness.

——

On the other side of the county, Yu Jinhuai sold the fox and rabbit skins he had saved for two months, and bought cotton cloth, coarse cloth and cotton. Before leaving, he picked up some of the scraps of cloth on the counter. There were still three mixed-hair rabbit skins left in the backpack, but the shopkeeper thought they were ugly and refused to take them. As winter was approaching, he could make a rabbit fur coat for his nephew.

He was in a hurry every time he came to the county. He feared that his nephew Yu Zhining would be anxious waiting for him at home, and this time was no exception.

After buying things, he passed by a straw shed with his backpack. He had been to the county many times, so he naturally knew that it was a place where people were sold. He glanced at it casually, and his eyes paused slightly when he saw a ger in the corner, but he quickly looked away and left in a hurry.

Passing by a shop selling pastries, he remembered that his nephew coveted the pastries in other children’s hands last time, so he paid for two.

Thinking of how Aunt Sun’s family had taken care of him, he said, “Three more.” He added a few more coins.

 The rich sesame aroma of the pastry could be smelled through the oil paper, making Yu Jinhuai greedy.

After walking a distance, Yu Jinhuai paused and turned back.

In the straw shed, Ren Yazi was drinking a bowl of hot water slowly. He looked at the people coming and going with a shrewd look. His son squatted beside him and sighed. It had been an hour, and almost no one asked. Even if someone offered to buy, his father was not willing. When could he go home?

The scene in front of him suddenly darkened. The man looked up and a tall man appeared in front of him. The scar on his face spread from his forehead to the end of his eyebrows. He had no expression on his face and had a murderous aura. He looked like he was not easy to mess with. The man’s head buzzed and he sat directly on the ground.

 Yu Jinhuai calmly turned his eyes away, looked at the middle-aged ger, and asked: “How much?”

The trafficker was not afraid of him. He turned his eyes and looked at him from head to toe. After knowing the answer, he asked: “What do you buy him for?”

Yu Jinhuai was stunned for a moment and said bluntly: “To be my husband.”

“Eight taels.”

Hearing this, Yu Jinhuai paid the silver without saying a word. He carried the ger on his back and was about to leave when he was stopped by the trafficker. He turned around and saw that he was holding medicine in his hand. He knew it was for the ger on his back. He took it and left silently.

 After he left, the man approached the trafficker and asked in confusion: “Dad, he looks tough, why did you sell him to him?”

The trafficker slapped him and said, “Pack up and go home.”

Sitting on the ox cart, the trafficker thought of his husband. All the villagers who came back from the battlefield were full of scars, but his husband didn’t come back. The man turned his head and seemed to see his dad’s eyes red. He looked carefully and found that his dad was staring at him. Sure enough, he was wrong. Why would his dad be jealous?

——

On the way home, Yu Jinhuai sat in the front of the oxcart. He drove the oxcart while protecting the ger with his hands.

Today, he came to the county with his household registration and went to the county government to ask whether the tax on the land under his brother’s name would still be collected. However, he didn’t expect to run into the trafficker. Seeing the ger in the corner reminded him of a ger he met during the war. He was captured by the enemy and tortured by the enemy every day. When that finally rescued him, there was not a single intact place on his body.

 Even though they tried their best to treat him, the ger didn’t survive and passed away with a body full of illness.

Today, he saw the shadow of the ger in Meng Yunshu and felt sympathy for him. In addition, he was old and his family was in a bad situation. He couldn’t find a husband or wife. Now that he met someone, he bought him as his husband.

Yu Jinhuai raised his lips slightly and pulled the quilt up for Meng Yunshu to block the wind. Thinking of the wounds on Meng Yunshu’s body he had just seen, he sighed. They were both miserable people. He silently touched the little silver he had left.

He thought it should be enough. There were not many reasons for farmers to use silver in winter.

As they were about to enter the village, the horse’s pace quickened. They couldn’t wait to go back to their straw shed to have a good meal. As the cart was bumping, the person on the cart swayed from time to time. Yu Jinhuai was busy protecting him with both hands, and kicked the horse’s butt a few times, scolding it coldly.

The horse stopped running and continued to walk slowly. His home was at the end of the village, so he took another road. There were few people on the road, so he returned home quietly.

Yu Jinhuai was relieved that he didn’t meet anyone in the village.

When he got home, the sun had not yet set. He carried the man to the kang, took off his shoes and put him down. He then hurriedly found the medicine pot, washed it, and boiled the medicine. He carried the cloth and cotton he bought and the pastries to pick up his nephew.

The Sun family home was not far from his home. When Yu Jinhuai walked over, he saw Yu Zhining and Aunt Sun’s grandson squatting on the ground playing.

“Ah Ning.”

Hearing the voice, Yu Zhining immediately left his friend, ran over and hugged Yu Jinhuai’s legs. He raised his head, and called him with a smile: “Uncle, hug me.”

Yu Zhining was brought up by Yu Jinhuai since he was a child. He naturally spoiled him and bent down to pick him up and brought him into the Sun family home.

 Aunt Sun was sitting in the yard peeling peanuts. When she saw him come in, she smiled and said, “Ah Ning has been talking about you all afternoon. After dinner, he squatted at the door and stretched his neck to wait for you to come back.”

Yu Zhining shyly buried his head in Yu Jinhuai’s neck, and his exposed ears were red.

Yu Jinhuai smiled. He put the backpack next to Aunt Sun, held Yu Zhining and sat down. Then he took out the pastries and handed it to Sun Ming who had been staring at him, “Ming’er, try it and see if it tastes good?”

Sun Ming glanced at his grandmother. After obtaining her consent, he took it and thanked him. Yu Zhining was greedy when he smelled the pastries. He turned his head and secretly looked at the pastry in his hand and licked his lips. Sun Ming saw it and broke a piece for him.

 “Aunt, please make two more sets of clothes and shoes.”

Aunt Sun was stunned, then nodded again, “Okay.”

Yu Jinhuai told Aunt Sun that he had bought a ger in the county. He felt a little uncomfortable after saying that. Before, Aunt Sun helped him find a husband, but most people were unwilling. He wanted to give up, but Aunt Sun refused. She also said that she could always find someone who was not blind. There were only him and Yu Zhining left in his family. Aunt Sun was grateful for his parents’ kindness and had always helped him. Now he bought a husband himself, and he was afraid of hurting Aunt Sun’s feelings.

Aunt Sun was very old and had seen a lot of things. She saw Yu Jinhuai’s thoughts at a glance, smiled and patted his arm gently, “Auntie is happy for you, Jinhuai. Auntie saw that you were already 23 years old, and there was no one who understood you, so I arranged a marriage for you. Now that you have a husband, I am so happy that I can’t blame you.”

After Aunt Sun’s words, Yu Jinhuai felt warm in his heart and didn’t know what to say for a while.

Aunt Sun drove him out with Yu Zhining in his arms and asked him to go home and take care of his new husband. He remembered that there was one thing he forgot to tell Aunt Sun.

But when he turned around and saw Aunt Sun’s urging eyes, he thought it would be too late to tell her next time.

 He wondered if he had woken up?

At Yu’s house, Meng Yunshu was still dazed after waking up. This was not the place he had seen the first time. Everything he saw was very old. There were few things in the room. It looked empty. Except for the cabinet at the end of the kang, there was only a table and a bench in the room. The quilt he was covered with was new. The door was closed. He could not see what was happening outside. He had no strength and could only lie on the kang and stare at the dark roof.

Meng Yunshu reacted belatedly.

Had he been bought?

He knew clearly that he had no choice.