Human Traffickers

Fang Yuan was running laps in the courtyard with complete focus, his pace shifting between fast and slow as he felt the soreness, swelling, and Sense of Strength brought by the blood surging through his legs.

Suddenly, a rapid knock at the door interrupted his training.

"Wan girl! Is Wan girl home?" It was Old Madam Chen from next door, her voice carrying an unusual urgency,

mixed with deliberately hushed rustling, as though she was not alone outside.

Liu Wanwan had been tidying up in the kitchen. Hearing this, she hurriedly wiped her hands and ran to open the door.

The moment the door opened, Old Madam Chen squeezed in sideways. Two neighboring women followed behind her, craning their necks and peeking about.

Clearly, they had come together either to watch the excitement or to pry for news.

The instant Old Madam Chen entered, her shrewd eyes swept quickly over the courtyard before locking onto Fang Yuan, who was running laps.

An exaggerated look of concern immediately filled her face.

"Oh my! Brother Yuan can already get out of bed and move around? Look at that complexion, so much rosier! He must be all better now, right? The Bodhisattva truly blessed him!"

Though auspicious words came from her mouth, her gaze carefully examined Fang Yuan's build and complexion, as if she wanted to discern something from him.

Liu Wanwan's heart tightened slightly.

Old Madam Chen was usually warmhearted and loved sharing all kinds of village news with her—who had quarreled, whose family was short on grain—she knew everything like the back of her hand.

But Liu Wanwan also knew that beneath that warmheartedness lay the particular shrewdness and calculations of village women.

For her to suddenly care so much about Fang Yuan's injuries, it was probably not as simple as a superficial greeting.

Keeping her guard up, Liu Wanwan did not take up the subject of his recovery. She merely shifted to block Old Madam Chen's line of sight and answered vaguely,

"Thank you for your concern, Auntie. Eldest Brother is only getting up to move around a little and get some air. His injury still needs time to heal."

She deftly changed the subject. "Auntie, you came over in such a hurry. Is something the matter?"

Only then did Old Madam Chen seem to remember the main point. She slapped her thigh and lowered her voice, though it was still loud enough for everyone inside and outside the courtyard to hear.

"Of course there is! I nearly forgot the important matter! Hurry to the east entrance of the village and take a look! Several big carts have arrived, Human traffickers from the south.

They say wealthy families in the city are hiring maids and servants, providing food and lodging and even settlement money! Quite a few families have already taken their girls and boys over there..."

As she spoke, her eyes drifted involuntarily toward the house again, and her voice rose a little.

"Ah, in times like these, finding a way to survive isn't easy... I heard the settlement money can buy half a sack of grain!"

Inside, Little Bean Sprout had just timidly poked her head out when she heard the commotion. The moment she heard words like "Human traffickers," "maids," and "settlement money,"

her little face turned deathly pale with a swish. Like a startled rabbit, she abruptly shrank back inside, followed by the faint sound of desperately suppressed sobbing.

Liu Wanwan's expression changed at once. Her hand instinctively clenched around the doorframe until her knuckles turned white.

She shook her head without hesitation, her voice a little dry.

"Thank you for telling us, Auntie, but we... we won't go."

Seeing her stubborn expression, Old Madam Chen glanced again at Fang Yuan, who seemed unaffected and continued running laps in the courtyard.

With a sigh, she spoke in the tone of someone offering worldly advice.

"Wan girl, it's not that Auntie wants to meddle... In times like these, you can't get by just gritting your teeth... Going with a wealthy household, at least... at least there's a way to live. It's better than..."

In times like these, selling one's sons and daughters was no longer anything new. Many times, it had even become a helpless way out.

Inside, Little Bean Sprout's sobs seemed to grow a little louder, but she immediately clapped a hand over her own mouth to stifle them.

The sound cut through Liu Wanwan's heart like a knife. She suddenly straightened her back, her tone extraordinarily firm.

"Auntie, we won't go. As long as I still have a breath left in me, I will never sell my little sister!"

Seeing that she was impervious to reason, Old Madam Chen opened her mouth, but in the end she only shook her head.

After giving Fang Yuan another meaningful glance, she turned away with a sigh.

"Forget it, forget it... You all... take care of yourselves."

She left with the other two women, whispering amongst themselves.

"Scholars are thin-skinned," one woman muttered.

"Hmph! He's lost his scholarly title, yet he'd rather die for face than live in disgrace!"

Old Madam Chen quickly waved her off and pulled the others away.

Fang Yuan's face remained calm. He knew those words had been deliberately spoken for him to hear. These village women did nothing but wag their tongues.

In the past, Fang Yuan had held a scholarly title. Now that he had fallen on hard times, many people were only too happy to watch him make a fool of himself.

The muttering and footsteps outside gradually faded, but those words lodged in Liu Wanwan's heart like thorns.

She closed the door and leaned against the cold door panel without turning around at once.

She knew Old Madam Chen and the others had not truly come to deliver news. They had deliberately come to probe them out and watch a joke unfold.

They wanted to see just how far this scholar, who had lost his scholarly title and nearly frozen to death in the mountains, had fallen,

whether he had truly been reduced to selling his children and siblings.

She looked worriedly toward Fang Yuan in the courtyard.

She was afraid—afraid that these idle rumors and the hardships of reality would crush the little bit of spirit Fang Yuan had only just regained.

If Fang Yuan truly failed to recover from this blow, their family would really be finished.

Fang Yuan stopped swinging his axe and leaned on its handle, breathing lightly.

Sweat rolled down from his temple, but his gaze was bright and clear, holding none of the despondency or anger Liu Wanwan had expected.

He turned his head and saw Liu Wanwan's hesitant, fear-filled expression. Naturally, he understood what she was thinking.

He waved a hand, his tone calm. "I'm fine. Don't listen to outsiders wagging their tongues."

His composure instead reassured Liu Wanwan somewhat. She nodded, though her eyes remained red.

The two of them entered the inner room one after the other.

Little Bean Sprout was still curled up in the corner of the kang bed, her face buried tightly in her knees, her thin little body trembling in spasms.

She had truly been terrified.

She had heard every word spoken outside just now.

The neighbors sometimes deliberately teased her, saying that so-and-so's child had been sold to a wealthy household, dressed in gold and silver, ate rich food and drank fine wine, and lived so comfortably.

But Little Bean Sprout did not believe a word of it. Though she was young, she was not foolish.

If it were truly so wonderful, why had Master Chen, the wealthiest man in the village, not sent away his own children?

All she knew was that once she was sold, she would never see her brother and sister-in-law again.

In this world, those two were the only family she had left.

Hearing footsteps, Little Bean Sprout shuddered. Her whimpering stopped abruptly as she curled herself up even tighter, not daring to raise her head.

Fang Yuan's heart ached.

He walked to the edge of the kang bed but did not touch her right away. He merely softened his voice. "Little Bean Sprout?"

The little bundle beneath the quilt trembled, but gave no response.

"Raise your head and look at Brother. How about Brother performs a little trick for you?" Fang Yuan tried his best to sound relaxed.

Little Bean Sprout hesitated for a long while before slowly, ever so slowly, lifting her little face from her knees.

Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, like two peaches. Her face was streaked with tears as she looked timidly at Fang Yuan, her little mouth puckered as though she might burst into tears again at any moment.

Fang Yuan extended his palm and waved it in front of her. Then he suddenly clenched it into a fist before sharply opening it again!

His palm was completely empty.

Little Bean Sprout stared blankly, unable to understand.

Fang Yuan feigned surprise with an "Eh?" Then he brought his empty palm close to Little Bean Sprout's nose and said with a grin,

"Take a sniff. What does it smell like?"

Little Bean Sprout instinctively sniffed.

The air still carried the faint fragrance of the rabbit meat stew from last night.

As though performing a magic trick, Fang Yuan pulled out a small piece of rabbit jerky he had specially saved from behind his back and swiftly stuffed it into Little Bean Sprout's hand.

"Look! Brother turned the smell of meat into real meat! Amazing, right?"

Little Bean Sprout looked at the solid piece of jerky in her hand, then looked up at her brother's smiling eyes. She stared for several seconds,

before finally letting out a snort of laughter through her tears. Though her smile still glistened with teardrops, much of her fear and sorrow had finally been washed away.

She tightly clutched the jerky and said softly, "Brother... won't sell Little Bean Sprout..."

"Mm, I won't." Fang Yuan looked earnestly into her eyes and reached out to rub her head.

"Even if Brother sold himself, I wouldn't sell Little Bean Sprout. From now on, we'll have meat to eat every day, all right?"