Chapter 263

Li Wu, Li Qiang, and the others accompanied the old village chief outside, and it was already noticeably late. They saw a crowd gathering on the village’s dirt road, craning their necks to look towards a low adobe house in the distance.

Seeing the old village chief approaching, they quickly made way, with a clever and enthusiastic individual stepping forward to explain, “It’s the Fan family. His wife wants to sell their daughter, saying they can’t make ends meet, and they can’t all die together, so she’s trying to find a way out for their daughter!”

“Nonsense!” the old village chief exclaimed, his face darkening.

Why wasn’t she trying to find a way out for her four sons?

“Isn’t that absurd?” Wang Guifen, at the forefront, expressed her surprise.

The first Mrs. Li approached, concurring, “Exactly! Acting like no one knows.”

And so, the argument began. “Just look at the head of the house and her sons, they’re all against her.”

In her opinion, it wasn’t to the extent of selling their daughter. Even that bald man was selling land; they could still manage through the disaster year. Only those who had no land to sell would consider selling their children.

Regarding the Fan family, she remembered that they received a double portion of land during the division…

Listening to Mrs. Li’s words, Wang Guifen felt that something was off but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

She looked at the scene in the courtyard: Sun Jinhua knelt on the muddy ground, crying with snot and tears, while her three sons wailed beside her. Fan crouched under the eaves, holding his head, and the little girl, Zhaodi, huddled in the corner, watching her family.

This scene seemed familiar.

“When they sold Yan Qiu and Xing Hui, their two nieces, didn’t they pull a similar trick?” Li Tiantian looked at the scene, grumbling in frustration.

Upon her reminder, the others recalled Sun Jinhua causing a similar scene before!

“Why sell our niece back then and now our daughter? What’s wrong? Can’t your family make it through?” Wu’s wife bluntly asked.

“Jinhua, this isn’t right. Why are you always causing trouble?” Mrs. Xu advised with a kind tone.

“Yes, you’re stirring up trouble like a stick in the mud!”

Sun Jinhua froze upon hearing the comment, glanced at her husband and four sons, gritted her teeth, but remained silent.

Yesterday, when the head of the family and her sons mentioned selling Zhaodi, it wasn’t a real sale but more of a pressure tactic on her younger brother’s family.

When they had money and food later, and with one less mouth to feed, Zhaodi, being their biological daughter, had been aware of her surroundings since she was eight years old. Such a large child wouldn’t adapt well in another household.

When she matured, they would find a reason to bring her back. She was their daughter, and the one they nurtured, and when the time came for marriage, the bride price would naturally go to her.

The younger brother’s daughter-in-law was helping to raise their daughter for nothing! It was just that this villainy had to be carried out by her; the head of the family was a man, and selling a daughter wouldn’t sound good.

The elder brothers were the same; they were going to arrange marriages, so how could they tarnish their reputation?

She kept her head down, silent, waiting for her younger brother’s family to arrive.

There’s no hurry; Sanzhu had already gone to call them. They just had to endure a bit longer.

As soon as Shuiqing opened the door, she saw Sanzhu crying and wiping his tears. She was taken aback, “What’s wrong?”

“Second aunt, please save Zhaodi. My mother wants to sell her!” Sanzhu cried so much that snot bubbles came out.

Unintentionally, Shuiqing took a step back, avoiding the big snot bubble that burst and splattered on her.

Fan Jin, who was teaching the children inside, also walked out and looked at Shuiqing. Their eyes met briefly before quickly shifting away.

Then, with a nervous expression, Shuiqing said, “What’s going on? Let’s walk and talk.”

Zhaodi suddenly looked up and saw a familiar figure standing at the courtyard gate, waving at her.

The morning sunlight was gentle and warm, casting a halo on her as if she were coated in a layer of light. She exuded a soft and warm glow all over.

Tears that Zhaodi had been holding back could no longer be restrained at this moment, falling down in large drops. “Auntie Er!”

People gathered outside the courtyard saw her small figure rush into Shuiqing’s embrace like a tired bird finding refuge.

She tightly wrapped her arms around Shuiqing’s waist, as tight as possible.

She had endured watching her parents argue and fight for so long without crying, but now, seeing Shuiqing, she burst into tears.

Sun Jinhua, sitting on the ground, felt a bit flustered. This was her own daughter, but at this moment, she seemed so distant from her.

She then saw her son signaling to her with his eyes and turned away.

She was just a maid after all; how could she compare to her son?

Moreover, this plan had succeeded. In the future, it would be Hu Shuiqing who would raise her daughter, feed her daughter, and make money for herself.

She hadn’t lost out!

Fan Jin and Shuiqing looked towards the courtyard.

When the old village chief saw the two of them coming, he walked into the courtyard, his gaze sweeping around and landing on Fan Qian.

He only asked Fan Qian, “What’s going on?”

Fan Qian held his head, starting to ramble and explain.

First, he talked about how difficult things were at home, how they couldn’t eat their fill, how hungry they were that their legs weakened, and how they did heavy labor every day. The family couldn’t bear it anymore.

Then, he talked about how his mother sold Zhaodi out of concern for her son, an act of helplessness. He blamed himself for not being able to control his own mother, apologizing to his daughter.

As he spoke, he held his head, looking helpless.

The old village chief didn’t follow his words and only asked, “What about the fields? Why not sell the fields?”

Fan Qian was stunned for a moment, then said it was because his mother didn’t want to sell them; if she did, she would resist fiercely.

Shuiqing sneered coldly. Fine, very good. Selling off a daughter was his mother’s idea, not selling the fields was his mother’s unwillingness. So, everything bad had to be borne by women. He and his four older sons were blameless.

They didn’t have to be sold off, nor did they have to bear the burden of an evil reputation!

The villagers of Shanshui Village cursed Fan’s mother, cursed Sun Jinhua, but strangely did not curse Fan Qian and the others.

“What does the eldest brother think? As the head of the family, what are your intentions?” A clear and melodious voice rang out. The noisy crowd suddenly quieted down, looking towards Fan Qian in the middle of the courtyard.

Yes, Fan Qian was indeed the head of the family!

Fan Qian forgot to hold his head in his hands and looked up, his face full of astonishment.