Chapter 403 The Next Song Zhaodi

Seeing someone who was once so strong and vibrant, who had endured so many years of abuse yet still managed to live well, turn into this, even having suicidal thoughts, Zhu Chunhong was shocked and heartbroken.

At that moment, she had almost no other thoughts but that she had to save her.

No matter what, she couldn't let Song Zhaodi be tortured to death like this.

Zhu Chunhong boldly stuffed everything in her hands into Song Zhaodi's hands, but fearing that the Zhou family would notice something, she dared not leave any trace.

She persuaded Song Zhaodi to drink the water and finish her food, and then took back the cloth used to wrap the steamed buns and the bamboo water bottle used to hold the water.

Before leaving, she held tightly Song Zhaodi's hand, which was covered in wounds—

"Zhao Di, you must hold on."

“That Zhou family bastard is inhuman. You can’t stay stuck in this fire pit forever. If you really can’t take it anymore, don’t even think about it. First, get your body back in shape and save up some strength. At worst… at worst, find a chance to escape and never come back!”

Song Zhaodi was stunned for a moment, and at that instant, a glimmer of light ignited in her eyes.

For many days afterward, Zhu Chunhong would often sneak over the haystacks outside the wall late at night, when the Zhou family was not at home or were all resting, to bring Song Zhaodi food, drink, and medicine for her injuries.

The bruises and wounds that are immediately visible on the surface are left untouched to mislead the Zhou family.

The wounds covered by clothing were all covered with ointment.

As time went by, those wounds gradually healed.

Each time before leaving, Zhu Chunhong would carefully encourage Song Zhaodi through the pigpen fence, urging her to live no matter what.

As long as you survive, there is still a glimmer of hope.

Song Zhaodi, who initially had no will to live, slowly recovered and regained some of her former vitality.

Although it wasn't the first time Zhu Chunhong had told her to live well, Song Zhaodi always nodded earnestly and told her—

"I will."

Even if it's just for Zhu Chunhong, she would do it.

She will not let down such pure kindness.

However, after saying those words in her excitement when she first came to see Song Zhaodi, Zhu Chunhong did not dare to say much more to persuade Song Zhaodi to leave.

After all, quite a few women had been abducted, stolen, or robbed in this village, and the men in the village used all sorts of methods to make these women obedient and compliant.

Among them were families like the Zhou family, who would brutally beat people and then lock them in pigsties without food or water.

This method may seem barbaric, but it is very effective.

Most of the women who were imprisoned still held onto the hope of escaping.

Where there is hope, there is the will to survive. Even after being beaten and punished, they still wanted to live well and wanted to find a chance to escape.

Therefore, after being severely punished like this, they often become obedient and temporarily give up resisting, just to live and avoid being beaten.

The Zhou family probably learned these methods from those people.

In the past, there were also kind-hearted women who secretly persuaded abused women to give them food and drink.

As soon as I finished trying to persuade her, a woman ran away.

When the buyer inquired, he learned that someone had seen the women who had run away and given them food and water, giving them the strength to escape. He was furious and blamed all the responsibility on the kind-hearted women who had given them food and water.

They not only went to the husbands' homes of those soft-hearted women to get back the money from buying and selling women, but also called on all families in the village who had participated in buying and selling women to isolate them.

When the husbands of those soft-hearted women lose money and cause trouble, they are naturally angry. They are often beaten and scolded at home, and some are even maimed.

Some of the abducted women were eventually caught and brought back. The women who were soft-hearted paid compensation and were scolded, but in the end they still couldn't actually rescue the women. They worked for nothing and ended up with a lot of complaints.

From then on, the villagers reached a consensus: fearing trouble, they almost never did such annoying things.

Even if someone takes pity on them and brings them food or water, they usually leave without saying a word, just dropping off the food and leaving.

Chunhong initially spoke to Song Zhaodi because she felt sorry for her.

But that very night after she said that, she felt a little scared.

After all, it was usually just her and her mother at home, and she was afraid that trouble would come her way, so she dared not say anything more to persuade Song Zhaodi to leave.

Before leaving each time, he would always remind Song Zhaodi that even if she ran away, she should not run away when he had just been there.

Little did she know that the words she had once spoken had become a ray of light in Song Zhaodi's heart.

Zhu Chunhong was conflicted, but deep down, she still hoped that Song Zhaodi could escape.

Therefore, after delivering the meal to Song Zhaodi that day, she "forgot" to tie the rope back up.

So, late the night after that, Song Zhaodi suddenly broke free of her ropes and escaped without anyone noticing.

No one knows how she cut the rope, nor how she managed to escape after being injured and starving for days and nights.

The villagers only knew that the Zhou family, along with their relatives and friends, had searched almost the entire village and surrounding area, but still couldn't find Song Zhaodi.

Even after chasing after him, Zhou Dawei's whereabouts remain unknown.

Speaking of which, Song Zhaodi has been on the run for a while now. I wonder how she's doing.

Have you settled down outside, found a job that can support you, and found a place to live?

In the first few days after Song Zhaodi escaped, Zhu Chunhong was restless.

She hoped that Song Zhaodi could run far away and never be found again, and she was also worried that someone would notice that she went to see Song Zhaodi every night and brought her food.

She was worried that the Zhou family would blame her for all the crimes.

Fortunately, the outcome was good; Song Zhaodi was not found, and no one discovered that she had been in contact with Song Zhaodi.

After getting through the initial few days of anxiety, Zhu Chunhong was happy for Song Zhaodi every day afterward.

I thought this village would be spared another woman struggling in hardship.

She never imagined that her good fortune would be so short-lived. While Song Zhaodi had escaped with her life, she was now about to become another Song Zhaodi...

Zhu Chunhong thought sadly as she tried to escape.

Song Yaozu seemed to have made up his mind to subdue her today and make her obediently marry him. He didn't even bother to pretend anymore and pounced on her to hug her, a malicious smile on his lips.

"Behave yourself, come back with me obediently, and we'll get things done tonight. After that, just wait at home to marry me."

"You've put my mind at ease, so I can treat you well in the future. Otherwise, I won't let other men have the chance to marry you. You will still marry me in the future, but if it really comes to the point where I have to resort to tricks, you can forget about having a good life for the rest of your days."