CHAPTER 95: CHAPTER 94: WERE YOU SOLD BY YOUR PARENTS TOO?

In the evening, Yu Changhe cooked a simple meal of boiled noodles with a meat sauce.

After dinner, Yu Xiaolian tore open some packages in the supermarket for a while and soon became sleepy.

Exhausted, she dropped everything and went to bed.

Yu Xiaolian slept deeply, as if trapped in a nightmare, trying in vain to wake up several times.

It was only when Madame Sun lightly pushed her shoulder that Yu Xiaolian managed to groggily awaken.

But upon waking, Yu Xiaolian was dazed, her eyes vacant.

Last night’s dream was unsettling and felt incredibly real.

She dreamt she was being held down by Jun Mobai, bleeding—horrifyingly vivid.

She could vividly feel the pain of her wrist being cut; Yu Xiaolian touched her wrist to find it intact.

But the dream felt so real, she couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality.

Seeing Yu Xiaolian stunned and motionless, Madame Sun said, "Lian’er, that old maid from the Su Family brought over a package, saying it’s from Su Jingchen for you."

Yu Xiaolian accepted the small cloth bundle handed to her and opened it.

Inside were more than a dozen seals of various sizes.

Why so many?

She examined them closely, finding both round and rectangular shapes.

The round seals depicted a blooming lotus.

The rectangular ones bore product names she often wrote.

Fortunately, the stationery section of her supermarket had ink pads; she planned to test them out.

Just as she was about to proceed, Madame Sun spoke, "Well... Lian’er, we shouldn’t randomly accept things from others, right? Didn’t you say Su Jingchen has a fiancée? You really shouldn’t take things from him then."

Madame Sun might not fully understand relationships between men and women, but her point was clear—Yu Xiaolian understood.

"These are just hand stamps that I asked him to carve for me; it’s not as you think," Yu Xiaolian had to explain to Madame Sun.

"Ah, that’s fine then," Madame Sun laughed, "Go wash up now; your father has already made porridge."

As Yu Xiaolian dressed, she asked, "Did those from Mingxiang Pavilion pick up the goods?"

Madame Sun replied, "They took them early in the morning; I saw you sleeping so soundly, I didn’t wake you up."

Yu Xiaolian quickly finished washing up and went to the east room to have breakfast. Yu Changhe had cooked a big pot of white porridge and boiled six eggs.

There were also two small dishes beside them, containing fermented tofu and spicy kelp pickles.

Yu Xiaolian understood having these for breakfast, but repeating them for lunch was because Yu Changhe had made too much porridge in the morning, so they had to continue eating it.

Yu Xiaolian sighed; Yu Changhe had only been cooking for a few days and was already slacking off.

The bland white porridge wasn’t as satisfying as instant noodles.

"Dad, don’t cook tonight; let me do it!"

Though he complained her cooking was bad, she also found his lacking.

After reluctantly taking a bite, Yu Xiaolian headed out to the fabric shop to buy fine cotton for Madame Sun, completely forgetting today was the day to sell daily necessities every three days.

Just out of the alley, she stumbled upon a man with a full beard and an intimidating presence.

He held a portrait and compared Yu Xiaolian to it.

Yu Xiaolian’s heart raced with tension, relieved when he merely glanced at her and walked in another direction.

She patted her little chest, scared to death.

Carrying two rolls of fabric, Yu Xiaolian crossed the bustling market and returned to her alley, when unexpectedly, someone struck her neck unconscious.

When Yu Xiaolian regained consciousness, she found her hands and feet bound with ropes, her neck aching terribly.

She looked around and realized she was locked in a woodshed.

Suddenly, her gaze met a pair of crying eyes in the corner, and Yu Xiaolian stared in shock.

"Zhao Erya?"

Zhao Erya had been tied up in the corner just like her.

At this moment, Zhao Erya’s face was tear-streaked and dirty, with visible black tear stains across her pale face.

Yu Xiaolian spoke, causing Zhao Erya to pause her crying, tentatively asking, "Are you... Yu Xiaolian?"

"It’s me!" Yu Xiaolian nodded frantically, "How did you get captured too?"

"I wasn’t captured; my parents sold me to this brothel."

"Brothel?" Yu Xiaolian was shocked.

Were her captors from the brothel?

Unexpectedly, these incidents of selling girls existed in ancient times; Zhao Erya was bought by the brothel, but Yu Xiaolian was captured without any payment.

"Yes, the brothel, we’re in Baihua House, Yangcheng’s biggest brothel."

Zhao Erya leaned close to Yu Xiaolian, hoarsely saying, "Weren’t your parents good to you? How come they sold you too?"

"My parents didn’t sell me; I was abducted, no, captured. How did your parents sell you to Yangcheng? And to such a place?"

Such parents are unworthy.

No matter the reason, one shouldn’t sell their children!

Zhao Erya sniffled, "This year’s harvest was poor, with little grain left after taxes. Not enough to survive the winter, my grandmother thought we had too many mouths to feed, decided to sell me.

My dad asked around, eventually hearing that selling to a brothel made more money, so I was sold to this brothel for twenty taels of silver."

"Turn your body around, I’ll untie your ropes."

No one was watching them; it was the perfect chance to escape.

Zhao Erya asked, surprised, "Aren’t you tied up too? How will you untie me?"

"I’ll use my teeth. Stop hesitating and turn around, if someone comes, neither of us will escape."

She wasn’t skilled; even though the space might save her life, she wouldn’t reveal it unless absolutely necessary.

Zhao Erya obediently turned around, and Yu Xiaolian leaned forward to bite the knot on Zhao Erya’s ropes.

These ropes were tied so tight; Yu Xiaolian ignored the dirt and odor, biting until her jaws hurt, finally managing to free Zhao Erya’s hands.

Once Zhao Erya’s hands were free, she quickly untied the ropes on her feet and then freed Yu Xiaolian.

The moment they untied the ropes, footsteps approached the woodshed.

Yu Xiaolian handed Zhao Erya a wooden stick, holding another herself; there was no shortage of sticks in the woodshed.

Pulling Zhao Erya, they crouched behind the door, ready to deliver a fatal blow to whoever came.

One strike could knock out; if not, she wouldn’t mind delivering two.

Yu Xiaolian prayed it was better if one person came; two would be too much to handle.

Judging by Zhao Erya’s trembling, she didn’t seem able to help much.

"You caught the girl Miss Yu ordered? Did you catch her?" A sharp female voice.

"Caught her, tied up inside!" A rough man’s voice.

Oh no, two people!

Yu Xiaolian felt the wood damp with sweat in her grip as the woodshed door creaked open from outside.

Without hesitation, Yu Xiaolian swung her stick at the person entering.

Once, twice, three times...