A look of impatience surfaced on the richly dressed man's face. Without even looking, he gave an irritated order.
The servant beside him obeyed, casually grabbing a scrap of ragged burlap of unknown use, rolling it into a ball, and preparing to force it into the girl's mouth.
"Stop!" Chen Chu had appeared before them at some point and spoke up to stop them.
"Little brother, don't meddle in other people's business. If your good intentions bring trouble upon yourself, that would be a bad thing," the richly dressed man said mildly after sizing Chen Chu up and seeing his ordinary clothes and youthful face.
Chen Chu ignored the richly dressed man entirely and instead looked at the middle-aged man.
"What happened to you? You can tell me," Chen Chu asked seriously.
"I am from Shanyang Village in Jinchuan Township outside the city. My name is Zhong. Every day, I carry goods into Qinshui City to sell for a living."
"Two months ago, my father suddenly fell gravely ill and became bedridden. To treat my old father, I borrowed some money from Lord Lu to hire a physician and buy medicine, agreeing to repay it in three months."
"But there was originally still a month before the agreed date. Yet today, Lord Lu demanded repayment. Naturally, I could not repay it, so he wanted my little daughter as compensation for the debt. Naturally, I refused. What followed was what you saw, Young Master." Zhong spoke slowly, sorrow written across his face and tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.
"Your name is Zhong? You have no surname?" Chen Chu asked.
"My family has been poor for generations. We have no surname," Zhong said.
Chen Chu nodded lightly. He had spent a long time in the Mortal World collecting merit,