"Quick, quick, stop her...!"
As the Clan Chief and Land Officer of Yangshu Village, together with a group of people, approached the entrance of the Yang Family home, they saw Ms.Wang, the third daughter-in-law, trying to run into the door. They immediately instructed the people nearby to rush over and stop her.
It was a bit far for the Land Officer and the others, but Yang Dachuan suddenly sprang into action, dashing forward to embrace Ms. Wang.
"Wife, you mustn’t die..."
Ms. Wang didn’t succeed in killing herself, but when she thought about her daughter Xiaxia being sold, she immediately burst into tears. Seeing Ms. Wang sobbing uncontrollably, Yang Dachuan felt useless. He looked at his daughter’s dead body on the ground, back at his weeping wife, and at his two tearful sons beside them. Then he made a decision.
Yang Dachuan let go of Ms. Wang, and suddenly ran to kneel in front of Old Lady Hua. "Mother, sell me instead, sell me but leave Xiaxia behind. I beg you, I beg you..."
"Thump, thump" Yang Dachuan kept kowtowing to Old Lady Hua, his head bleeding from the repeated knocks, but still he didn’t stop, blurting, "Mother, please, sell me instead, don’t sell my daughter..."
"Grandma, sell me instead, don’t sell my sister."
"Yes, sell me, don’t sell my sister."
Seeing Yang Dachuan , the two little boys standing nearby also ran over with red eyes and kowtowed, begging Old Lady Hua for mercy.
"You bastards, bastards!"
Land Officer Yang, seeing the desperate and tragic spectacle of Yang Dachuan’s family—some crying, some dead, and some injured—was infuriated. He pointed at Old Lady Hua and cursed, "You old bitch, I’ve not seen someone being such a wicked stepmother. Are you happy only when you’ve driven your stepchildren to death? I’ll tell you today, in Yangshu Village I make the decisions. If you dare to sell your children, you can leave Yangshu Village immediately with your own children in tow."
Facing Land Officer Yang, Old Lady Hua was still somewhat timid. After all, he held some authority in the village, and the Land Officer wielded the most power.
Still, Old Lady Hua thought of the five taels of silver that she was supposed to receive and gritted her teeth angrily. "This is a matter for our family. You cannot interfere, even if you are the Land Officer. Besides, the little bitch is already dead. Selling her body to the sea envoy is a good deal, and we will earn five taels of silver. You, Land Officer, may not need that silver, but our family does."
At Old Lady Hua’s words, Land Officer Yang nearly choked on his anger. He glared at Old Yang, who had been hiding to one side in silence, and berated him. "Look at what your children and grandchildren have been reduced to! Show some backbone, at least. Be a man!"
"Old bro, I... I... The matters of our house are decided by the children’s mother." Old Yang finally put down the tobacco pipe he had been smoking since Land Officer Yang started talking to him. But as soon as he spoke, Land Officer Yang felt the urge to slap him repeatedly.
Old Lady Hua had been worried about Old Yang losing his nerve and saying no to the sale just then. Fortunately, she was immediately relieved.
"Old Two, and Eldest, what are you waiting for? Go wash Xiaxia’s face. Eldest, go and see if sea envoy is here!"
Knowing that Ms.Wang wouldn’t listen to her, Old Lady Hua told the other two daughter-in-laws, Ms.Liu and Ms.Ye to tend to Xiaxia.
"No, no, no! I won’t sell my daughter!" As Ms. Liu reached out to touch Yang Chuxia, Ms.Wang suddenly rushed over and hugged her daughter tightly.
"You let go of me! You can’t sell my daughter!" Amid the struggle, Yang Chuxia was thrown to the ground. Nobody noticed a white light fall into her forehead then.
It hurt so badly; her whole body ached. Was she run over by a car or something? And what about those voices in her ears; what were they saying? Were they going to sell her? Yang Chuxia suddenly became angry. "Cough, cough... Who the fuck wants to sell me?!"