Chapter 27 The Thief's Heart Remains Undiminished

Chapter 27 The Thief's Heart Remains Undiminished

Fifth Grandfather raised his cane and said, "You're so weak you need to wrap him in a mat. If you throw him up on the mountain, Miss Xie will be giving you ten copper coins, which is already a bargain!"

Shuanzi's father nimbly took two steps back. "Please don't be angry, please don't be angry. I'm just terrified of being poor. Look at my house, and look at my two sons, I..."

"Just because your family is poor, does that give you the right to extort money from others?" Fifth Grandfather glared at Shuanzi's father with his cloudy old eyes. "You may be shameless, but the rest of the Liu family still have a sense of shame!"

"If you two feel you have nothing to hide, why don't you come here to die with the rest of the village? Aren't you just taking advantage of that young girl's youth and innocence, and the fact that she's an outsider with a brain injury?"

"Use your dog brains to think about it. Do you think families who can raise their daughters to be so delicate and powerful are the kind of ordinary people like us who can just extort money from them as we please?"

Greedy, wicked, and stupid—how did his elder brother raise his descendants?

Fifth Grandfather inwardly cursed his eldest brother, who had died young, and complained that he had left behind such a fool as Shuanzi's father.

Shuanzi's father was unaware that Fifth Grandfather, because of his poor performance, had even insulted his deceased grandfather. He muttered resentfully:

"That brat can't even remember where she lives or who her family members are. Even if she wants to find someone to back her up, she'd better have the ability, right?"

"Besides, that old hag Liu who came to our village to buy people a while ago, didn't she give each of the girls and boys she took away five to eight taels of silver to their parents?"

Fifth Grandfather slammed his cane on his shoulder. "They bought children over eight years old, who are physically strong, good-looking, and clearly well-behaved, hardworking, and sensible!"

"Your little girl is only five years old, and you two have raised her to be so thin and pale!"

"Even if she weren't sick, let alone the fact that she's about to die, what matchmaker would spend several taels of silver to buy such a frail child, who's five years old but not as strong as other families' three-year-olds, and would be a burden to her?"

"I'll say it again: you may be shameless, but the Liu family still has a reputation! If you're still greedy and insist on causing trouble, fine, I'll take charge and exterminate your heartless parents from your clan!"

"It will also save the other members of the Liu family from being implicated if the girl's parents come looking for her later."

Shuanzi's parents were terrified. They shook their heads and waved their hands, daring not to mention the price increase again.

After Chen Moqin, the village head's second son, brought pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, the village head, in the main room of Shuanzi's house, referred to the stacks of similar indentures sold by the matchmakers and wrote a contract for the young girl's sale on the spot. The content is as follows:

"Liu Dazhuang, the person who signed the indenture, lives in Mingfu Village, Baihe Town, Tang County. Now, due to poverty, he is unable to afford to treat his youngest daughter, Liu Xiaoya, who is seriously ill. Therefore, he sells the five-year-old Liu Xiaoya to Xie Wanniang as a maid."

The agreed-upon price was ten silver coins, which was paid in full by Xie Shi Wan Niang on the same day. From the day she was sold into servitude, Liu Xiaoya belonged to Xie Shi Wan Niang for life, and her life, death, social status, and other matters were entirely at the disposal of her master's family, with no further connection to the Liu family.

This is entirely voluntary on both sides, without any coercion. To prevent future disputes, this contract of servitude is hereby established as proof.

witness:

Contractor:

buyer:

[Date]

In the witness section, village head Chen Wenjie, old doctor Chen Guanghong, and fifth grandfather Liu Wushun signed or affixed their fingerprints one after another. In the contract signatory section, Shuanzi's father, also known as Liu Dazhuang, obediently affixed his fingerprint. Then, the buyer, Xie Wanniang, also put her name where she should have signed.

With that, Xiaoya's fate was completely decided.

With Fifth Grandfather keeping an eye on things, Shuanzi's parents didn't dare to cause any more trouble. Shuanzi and his siblings were both reluctant to part with their younger sister and deeply grateful that she had been saved.

After examining Xiaoya's pulse, administering acupuncture, writing a prescription, and picking out the medicine for Daya to brew, Dr. Chen, who was then invited back by onlookers to sign as a witness, not only readily became a witness but also told Xie Wanniang in front of the crowd that Xiaoya's condition had become more serious than before due to the delay, and the cost of curing Xiaoya had risen to at least one tael and five mace of silver.

The sheer number of snakes drew gasps from the onlookers, and the constant hissing sounds made it seem as if a swarm of snakes was writhing wildly in Shuanzi's house.

Shuanzi's parents both widened their eyes in unison, secretly glad that they hadn't chosen to lend money to Xiaoya for treatment.

Xie Wanniang didn't react much. She said to Doctor Chen, "Please give Xiaoya the most suitable medicine. Although I don't have that much money right now, I can earn it little by little."

Dr. Chen nodded, "Okay, I'll put all the expenses on your tab first."

Xie Wanniang nodded, "Perfect timing. Since everyone's here, there's something I need to make clear to Xiaoya's parents beforehand."

"Although I bought Xiaoya for ten copper coins, it still took me time, energy and money to treat her illness, raise her, and teach her how to be a person and how to do things."

"If Xiaoya's parents change their minds and want to redeem their daughter in the future, I will not stop them, but they must compensate me for all the effort, time and money I have spent on Xiaoya."

"Uncle Village Head, Master, Fifth Grandfather, everyone, is my request unreasonable?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Xie Wanniang smiled and said, "Then it's settled. Xiaoya will be mine from now on and will have nothing to do with the Liu family. When her parents or her older siblings come up with the money to redeem her, she will return to the Liu family and have nothing to do with me from then on."

"I, Xie Wanniang, keep my word, and I ask all of you elders and fellow villagers to be my witnesses."

After speaking, she bowed deeply to everyone.

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Shuanzi's parents, whose path of playing the victim had once again been blocked, felt more bitter than if they had swallowed a bitter pill.

It turned out that after being suppressed by Fifth Master, although the two dared not continue to mention whether or not prices would rise, they had made up their minds to secretly maintain contact with Xiao Ya in the future.

As the old saying goes, "There are no parents who are wrong." All the hardships and suffering they endure are because of their children, and they even gave their children a life.

Doesn't this paternal and maternal love, heavier and more magnificent than Mount Tai, prove that they are benefactors?

Even if they demand that their children be obedient, compliant, and sacrifice for the family, even if they treat their children as punching bags and recklessly harm vulnerable lives that are powerless to resist because of their own misfortunes, they still feel that their children should accept everything without complaint.

Shuanzi's parents disagreed with the idea that once something was sold, it was no longer their concern.

In their village, as long as the children who were sold by their parents and grandparents were not resold to other places by the matchmaker and completely lost contact with their families, their parents and grandparents could still get money from them after selling them!