“What?” Old Lady Jiang refused to believe it. “Did you search properly?”  

“I did! I looked everywhere—they’re both gone!”  

The old woman was so angry her head throbbed. Those two were really testing her patience today. First, they hit her during the day, then stole her eggs at night, and now, when it mattered most, they were nowhere to be found. They’d completely lost their minds!  

She pointed at the third daughter-in-law irritably. “You—go clean up the kitchen!”  

The third daughter-in-law stood still, unmoving. “Second Sister-in-law isn’t here. Why should I do it alone? Either wait for her to come back and we’ll all do it together, or forget it.”  

“When your second sister-in-law was doing the chores, I never saw you lift a finger,” Old Lady Jiang snapped. “Now that she’s not here, you can step up.”  

“She took over the housework because you ordered her to. You said all the chores were her responsibility and no one else was allowed to interfere—it’s not like I refused to help before. Besides, it’s too dirty for me to clean up alone. Why don’t you get Sanliang and Eldest Brother to help?”  

“How dare you ask men to work in the kitchen!” Old Lady Jiang was so furious she nearly passed out again. With a final shout, she collapsed.  

The third and eldest sons carried the old woman back to her room. None of them bothered with the messy kitchen, each retreating to their own rooms to sleep.  

By morning, Old Lady Jiang urged Jiang Daliang to go to the village chief’s house to collect the money and the signed agreement. But when he arrived, Niu Zi wasn’t home.  

The village chief had no idea about the deal Niu Zi had made with Jiang Wanting and the others the day before. Coincidentally, Niu Zi’s second wife had recently died, and now a young, beautiful bride was practically being delivered to his doorstep. Whether she was a virgin or not didn’t matter—the village chief had long since stopped caring about such things. As long as there was a woman who could bear Niu Zi a son to continue the family line, he was fine with anything.  

So when Jiang Daliang arrived and stated his purpose, the village chief immediately agreed. On the spot, he handed over another hundred yuan and even generously waived the previous hundred-yuan debt. However, since Jiang Wanting hadn’t arrived at the chief’s house yet, he refused to sign a receipt confirming the transaction. But handing over the money before receiving the girl made the village chief uneasy, so he insisted Jiang Daliang write an IOU for two hundred yuan.  

This wasn’t what Old Lady Jiang had instructed, so Jiang Daliang adamantly refused to write an IOU. After much back-and-forth, he finally settled on writing a note:  

Received two hundred yuan. Owe Niu Zi a wife. The Jiang family promises to deliver Jiang Wanting to Niu Zi’s house within three days.

The note was written in duplicate, one for each family.  

Clutching the note and a hundred yuan—a small fortune—Jiang Daliang hurried home, his legs full of energy, as if his usual limp had vanished. He imagined keeping part of the money to help his son, Zhu Zi, marry a wife, and suddenly, the future seemed brighter.  

But as he reached the gate, he saw a crowd gathered outside the courtyard, necks craned and toes tipped as they peered inside, too afraid to step in.  

“What’s going on?” Jiang Daliang asked from the back.  

“The police are here. No idea what crime was committed,” someone in front answered, too engrossed to even glance back.  

Jiang Daliang worried something had happened to his eldest daughter, Daya, and that the police were here to deliver bad news. He shoved through the crowd, shouting, “Move! Let me through!”  

The crowd parted slightly, and once inside, he saw Old Lady Jiang sitting on the ground, wailing and slapping her thighs. “Oh, righteous officers! How could I ever sell a person? She’s my own granddaughter! How could that be selling? My granddaughter is eighteen—what’s wrong with finding her a good family?”  

“Get up and speak properly. What’s the point of all this crying?” The middle-aged officer in charge pointed at the old woman. “The girl and her mother have already reported you at the station. If you didn’t sell her, then prove it!”  

Behind the middle-aged officer stood a young policewoman, and behind her were Jiang Wanting and Chen Meiling.  

The policewoman said sharply, “You forced a girl into marriage against her will and took money for it. That’s human trafficking!”  

“That wasn’t money for selling her—it was a dowry! Who gives away their daughter for free these days? I didn’t ask for the ‘Three Circles and One Sound’—I just took some money. What’s wrong with that?” The old woman howled for a long time but failed to squeeze out a single tear. “I went through so much trouble to arrange a marriage with the village chief’s family. Isn’t that good? She’ll never go hungry, never have to work the fields. My kindness has been thrown back in my face!”  

“This…” The young policewoman hesitated, glancing back at Jiang Wanting.  

Suddenly, Chen Meiling stepped forward, dropping to her knees before the middle-aged officer. Sobbing, she kowtowed. “Officer, righteous sir, please save my daughter. If you don’t help us, we’ll have no choice but to die. My mother-in-law is twisting the truth! She took a hundred yuan from Niu Zi, and while I was away, she let him kidnap my daughter. If I hadn’t chased after them in time, who knows if she’d even be alive today!”  

The two officers quickly moved to stop Chen Meiling from kowtowing, helping her up. “Don’t kneel—we don’t do that anymore.”  

Chen Meiling pleaded desperately, “You must save my daughter. My mother-in-law took Niu Zi’s money and now wants to use my daughter to pay the debt. I heard them discussing it myself—if you don’t believe me, go ask Niu Zi!”

The police scanned the crowd. “Which one is Niu Zi? Step forward and speak!”  

The villagers shook their heads, murmuring among themselves. Jiang Daliang, standing nearby, spoke up. “Niu Zi isn’t home right now—only the village chief is there.”  

Jiang Wanting immediately stepped forward and pointed at Jiang Daliang. “If you want to know if he’s a trafficker, search his pockets!”  

From Jiang Daliang’s words, she deduced he had just come from the village chief’s house—that’s how he knew only the chief was home. Combined with what she’d overheard the night before, it was clear he had gone there to finalize her sale. And that extra hundred yuan? He must have already gotten it, judging by how pleased he’d looked earlier.  

The two officers exchanged glances. The middle-aged policeman stepped forward, holding out his hand to Jiang Daliang. Instinctively, Jiang Daliang clutched his pockets and turned away, retreating two steps. But in a flash, the officer twisted his arm behind his back while the young policewoman reached into his pockets—and sure enough, pulled out a handful of items.  

A roll of cash worth a hundred yuan. And a slip of paper.  

“Two hundred yuan received,” the policewoman read aloud, squinting at the messy handwriting. “Owe Niu Zi one wife. The Jiang family promises… to deliver Jiang Wanting to Niu Zi’s house within three days…” She looked up from the note, her expression grim as she addressed the middle-aged officer. “Captain Wu, this is absolutely human trafficking!”  

“Still denying it?” Captain Wu unhooked the handcuffs from his belt, preparing to clamp them on Jiang Daliang—though his words were directed at Old Lady Jiang. “Now we’ve got proof, black and white. Since when does arranging a marriage require a written guarantee to deliver the girl to the man’s house?”  

Old Lady Jiang was stunned. She hadn’t expected Jiang Daliang to get caught red-handed. For a moment, she didn’t know how to spin this.  

Jiang Daliang, now handcuffed, was equally dumbfounded.  

Whispers spread through the crowd.  

“The Jiangs are so desperate for money they’d throw their own daughter into that hellhole? Do they want her dead?”  

“Maybe the girl’s willing—she’s got a reputation anyway.”  

“It takes two to tango.”  

“Two months ago, their family was bragging about having a college student. Now they’re groveling to the village chief?”  

Amid the chaos, Jiang Wanting quietly slipped a ten-cent coin to a child nearby and whispered for them to fetch the village chief immediately. The kid pocketed the money and bolted without a second thought.  

Captain Wu and the policewoman bound Old Lady Jiang’s wrists to prevent escape. The old woman wailed dramatically, snot and tears running down her face. “This is an outrage! Our family raised her for eighteen years—what’s wrong with asking for two hundred in dowry? How is that a crime? And now she betrays us? A viper we nursed in our bosom! Girls in the next village get married without even meeting their grooms, but she calls the cops on us? I should’ve strangled her as a baby!”  

“Shut your mouth!” The policewoman jabbed a finger at the old woman. “Your granddaughter said you borrowed money and couldn’t pay it back, so you tried to sell her to the lender! This wasn’t a dowry—it was debt repayment! Don’t think your lies will save you. You’re all coming to the station for questioning!”  

Seeing Old Lady Jiang cuffed too, Jiang Daliang panicked. “Ma, don’t worry! The village chief can prove this was just a marriage arrangement for Niu Zi!”  

As if on cue, the village chief jogged into view, puffing. “I’m here, I’m here! What’s all this commotion? Clear out, everyone! Nothing to see here!”  

When he reached the courtyard and took in the scene, he hurried forward. “Comrades, I’m the village chief of Jiang Village. How can I assist?”  

Jiang Daliang and Old Lady Jiang’s eyes lit up at the sight of him.  

“Quick, Daliang!” the old woman urged under her breath. “Tell him this was just a marriage arrangement!”  

Jiang Daliang blurted, “Village Chief, didn’t we agree this morning that my Wanting would marry your Niu Zi?”  

The village chief nodded. “Yes, but—” He glanced around, then turned to Captain Wu. “What’s going on here? Why are they being arrested? Did they break the law?”  

Jiang Wanting seized the moment. “They arranged my marriage to Niu Zi without my knowledge or consent. They even had Niu Zi try to kidnap me. Did you know about this?”  

“Ah—” The village chief wiped sweat from his brow. So this was why the girl had called the police. If he admitted he knew, he’d be an accomplice. But if he denied it, how would he explain the money and the note? His only option was to play dumb.  

“You—you mean you didn’t agree to the marriage?” He looked at Jiang Wanting, then hastily explained to the police, “Comrades, I truly didn’t know! Daliang came to propose the match—I thought the girl had consented!”  

“What about the note?” the policewoman pressed.  

“The—the note?” The village chief caught Old Lady Jiang’s pleading stare, then pointed decisively at Jiang Daliang. “He insisted on writing it! I said we could just wait for the girl to arrive, but he wouldn’t listen!”  

“Village Chief! How can you lie like this?” Jiang Daliang tried to lunge forward but was held back by the officers. “We agreed on the money first, then the girl! You said you wouldn’t pay unless—”  

“Daliang!” Old Lady Jiang cut him off sharply.  

The village chief grabbed Captain Wu’s arm. “Comrade, if they really were selling this girl, I’ll cooperate fully! Even if I lose that two hundred yuan, they must be punished! We can’t let this kind of corruption spread!”