The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

By the time they had collected enough money to redeem Lu Laosan, he had already woken up.

Knowing that his wife had been kidnapped and his family had to pay him twenty taels of silver as compensation, he became a little crazy.

This is the norm in this feudal society. If the lower class wants to survive, they can only swallow their anger and endure the consequences.

As for filing a complaint, officials and businessmen are colluding with each other in this era.

If Lu Laosan wanted to file a complaint, he might not even be able to go to the county.

To enter the county town, you need a pass, which must be issued by the local government.

After hearing this, Lu Qingqing realized that something was wrong when she learned that the Lu family had sold all their food supplies in order to pay the twenty taels of silver as compensation.

We have just finished the autumn harvest. The food we are going to exchange today will be enough for our family to eat until next year's autumn harvest.

Now that all the food in the house has been sold, Old Man Lu may have about one or two pounds left.

Even if all of it is replaced with coarse grains, it is only about three stone, which is not enough to eat even if you save money.

The family’s livestock has been sold, and apart from the land, the only things that can be sold are the people.

It took Old Man Lu’s ancestors several generations to accumulate these dozen acres of land.

For farmers, land is their roots and cannot be sold.

There are two boys and three girls in the family now. There are only two boys in total, so I think they are reluctant to sell them.

She is the oldest of the three girls, at the age of 10. Erya is only 6 years old, and Sanya is only 3 years old.

Only her age would make it easier to sell her whether she was sold to a human trafficker or as a child bride.

Lu Qingqing was panicking, but she knew she couldn't just sit there and wait for death.

She tried to calm herself down and think of a way out.

The first thought was to escape from this house.

But in this era, one needed a pass to go anywhere. If discovered without a pass, one would be punished by the government. Therefore, escaping on her own was impossible.

The second way is to make money and let the Lu family see your value.

But before Lu Qingqing traveled through time, she was just an ordinary person who didn't know anything about cement, wine, papermaking, etc.

Only space can help her hunt in the mountains.

But if a little girl suddenly learned to hunt, it was more likely that she was possessed by an evil spirit. The ancients usually burned or drowned such strange creatures.

The third way is to be sold to human traffickers.

This is the worst, you have no idea where she will sell you.

Not to mention being sold to a secret society, even if she was sold to a wealthy family as a maid, she would have to sign a contract and her life would be in the hands of others.

The last option is to be sold as a child bride.

But the lives of the people being sold are different.

Instead of being sold to an unknown place by them, it is better to take the initiative and find a suitable family.

Lu Qingqing planned to observe whether there were any families with simple populations and good personalities in the village or nearby villages.

Boys of marriageable age generally do not seek child brides. When they reach age, they directly find girls of marriageable age. Raising them for fewer years saves a lot of food.

Lu Qingqing estimated that those who could find child brides in nearby villages were all in special circumstances.

As the drought worsens, there is not much work to do in the fields, and the women and children in the family are sent out to dig wild vegetables every day.

While Lu Qingqing was digging wild vegetables, she heard the women from the same village talking about the stupid son of the Qin family in the north of the village.

When I was a child, I had a high fever and my brain was damaged. Now I am twelve years old and I am tall and strong.

He knows how to help with farm work, but unfortunately he is mentally retarded.

Lu Qingqing knew that there was a single household near the back mountain of the village where a grandparents and grandchildren lived.

I hadn't known much about it before, so I decided to go check out the situation and headed towards the back of the mountain.

When Lu Qingqing approached the Qin family's yard, she found a teenage boy grinding grain at home.

The boy was dark and strong. He worked very seriously and didn't pay any attention to what was happening outside the yard.

The boy didn't look stupid at all.

Lu Qingqing was afraid of being discovered, so she turned and went to the other direction to dig wild vegetables, but she didn't expect to meet Grandma Qin who was coming back from digging wild vegetables here.

Lu Qingqing smiled, said hello and continued forward.

Judging from her facial features and demeanor, Grandma Qin doesn't seem to be a mean person, but facial features aren't always accurate.

I still need to ask around at both houses to see if I can find someone I can get along with easily.

Even if I was sold there, I could still live a slightly better life.

I spent two days wandering around the village and the nearby Lijia Village, digging wild vegetables.

The first suitable family was the Li family in the village, who had only one child and spoiled him beyond belief.

Li Chengcai is seventeen years old this year. He does not work properly, steals things in the village, and has a bad temper.

After his reputation became bad, no one in the surrounding villages was willing to talk to him.

The other family is a widower in the village. He is almost 30 years old and has a son and a daughter.

At this age, she is about the same age as her father.

But Lu Qingqing felt that there was no more time for her to understand.

Today, Old Man Lu went to a wealthy family in the village and bought some wheat bran.

When cooking, the rice is made by mixing grains with wheat bran and vegetable paste.

At the dinner table, she clearly felt that Old Man Lu was observing her.

Lu Qingqing, who usually doesn't pay any attention to her granddaughter at home, was even more uneasy about this abnormal behavior and decided to take action as soon as possible.

In the afternoon, Lu Qingqing went to the back mountain near Qin's house to dig wild vegetables, but saw the fool coming back from fetching water.

A group of children surrounded him and threw stones at him, but he carefully avoided the children and walked home.

Seeing this, Lu Qingqing drove those little brats away. Seeing the fool staring at her, she asked a little embarrassedly,

"After you fetch water, do you want to go pick some wild vegetables with me? They're on the mountain east of your house."

Seeing that the fool just stared at her without saying anything, she added:

"I have sweet sweet potatoes, they are delicious. If we play together, I will give them to you."

The fool's eyes sparkled, and he smiled innocently: "Sweet, is it candy? Then wait for me."

After saying that, he hurried home, put down the bucket, and ran out with a bang.

Lu Qingqing asked him to take the basket, and the two of them went to the valley.

After arriving at the place, Lu Qingqing pretended to take out the sweet potatoes she had roasted earlier from the basket, which were still hot.

He took a big one and gave it to the fool. Seeing that he ate it with relish, he coaxed him and said:

"My name is Daya. You ate my sweet potatoes. Does that mean we are friends? What's your name?"

The fool ate sweet potatoes and muttered, "My name is Qin Lang, so will you still give me sweet potatoes in the future?"

Lu Qingqing felt that Qin Lang's IQ was like that of a five or six-year-old child, and he could still communicate normally, so she coaxed him:

"Only your wife will stay with you forever. I will be sold by my family soon. After I'm sold, you won't be able to see me anymore, and you won't have any sweet potatoes to eat."

"Don't be sold out, we are friends."

Qin Lang was so anxious that he didn't even eat the sweet potato in his hand.

One hand unconsciously rose and stroked the small piece of wood hanging around his neck.

It looks like a teething stick made by the family when the child was teething.

After years of rubbing, the color has turned brown and the surface is very smooth.

Lu Qingqing continued to coax him with a guilty conscience:

"If you marry me, we can always be together, and you will always have sweet potatoes to eat."

Lu Qingqing taught him how to tell his grandmother when he got home, and she taught him several times. When she asked him if he remembered, Qin Lang nodded seriously.

Let him say it twice and confirm that there is no problem.

After wiping the sweet potato residue off Qin Lang's mouth, the two went home separately.

The next day after breakfast, Old Man Lu called Boss Lu into the house and whispered something to him.

The voice was too soft, and Lu Qingqing couldn't hear what was said through the door.

But when Boss Lu came out and saw her, his expression was evasive and filled with guilt.

Lu Qingqing thought to herself that something was wrong.

After a while, Boss Lu went out.

Lu Qingqing was feeling uneasy, not knowing whether Qin Lang had mentioned it to his grandmother, or whether his grandmother would agree if he had.