My humble days in ancient times

Sitting on the swaying oxcart, everyone was silent, the atmosphere so depressing it felt suffocating. After all, the person who sold the victim was Dachuan's newly married wife, and this matter was truly difficult to talk about. Zhuzi was so angry that his face turned blue. He wanted to curse, "What a piece of shit!", but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.

By this time, the sky was completely dark, pitch black, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you. A cold wind whistled past, making a "woosh" sound. It seemed as if countless ghosts were stalking the darkness, making people's backs cold and their hair stand on end.

Xu Ruyi pulled Xu Qingyan into her arms. She'd been busy searching for her sister and brother all day. Her heart hadn't been at peace for a single moment. Now, she felt only peace; even the wind smelled of happiness. In the darkness, Xu Ruyi made a decision.

She leaned over to Xu Qinghe's ear and said, "Divide the family and go find Grandpa." Xu Qinghe heard it clearly. This was intolerable. The brother and sister had secretly discussed it before when they took their sister back, but now they were even more angry and didn't want to wait any longer.

Xu Qinghe jumped out of the car halfway and said that he had a stomachache and would definitely catch up later.

Since the oxcart wasn't very fast, everyone agreed. When they still didn't see Qinghe at the village entrance, Xu Dachuan wondered, "Why hasn't Qinghe come back yet?"

Xu Ruyi said, "Maybe he took a shortcut back home."

Xu Qinghe ran to a nearby village and hired a donkey cart, which quickly brought him to his grandfather's house. He Tiezhu, who was washing his feet, quickly wiped them and ran to open the door. He knew something was wrong when he saw Xu Qinghe. His heart pounded.

Uncle He Changsheng also got up from the bed.

When they heard Xu Qinghe say that his two sisters had been drugged and passed out, they were terrified. Then they were relieved when they heard that they had gone to Huangjia Village to bring their sisters back. When they heard that Xu Qingyan had been sold, they opened their eyes wide in disbelief. Then they heard that the villagers had reported the news and how they had gone to the bun shop in town to bring back their brother. They breathed a sigh of relief again.

Hearing about his stepmother's misdeeds was infuriating, and hearing about Ruyuan and Qingyan's disappearance made him anxious. Listening to Xu Qinghe's story was like a roller coaster of emotions, up and down. Especially Xu Qinghe's vivid narration, the tension, worry, and anxiety in his tone, caused He Tiezhu and He Changsheng to follow suit. After a while, seeing that Xu Qinghe had finally explained everything, He Tiezhu angrily cursed Tian Yuhe as a worthless person. He Changsheng was also furious.

He Tiezhu was furious for a while, and when his emotions calmed down a little, Xu Qinghe finally expressed his thoughts: "We want to separate."

He Tiezhu packed up without saying a word and went to Xujia Village with He Changsheng.

When Xu Dachuan and his friends returned home, Li's Xu Dafu and Xu Ruyuan were already there. Tian Yuhe still hadn't returned.

Everyone wanted to ask her something.

Xu Ruyi suggested going to Huang Guiyun's house to look for him.

When I arrived at Huang Guiyun's house, I found Tian Yuhe as expected.

Tian Yuhe was trembling with fear, her speech incoherent. Li slapped her twice, and Xu Dachuan dragged her home.

Li gave Huang Guiyun a cold look, her eyes filled with disgust and anger. Xu Ruyi, in turn, told Xu Shi every detail of the misdeeds Huang Guiyun and her stepmother had committed today. Xu Shi's eyes widened with rage, and he rolled up his sleeves, rushed forward, and slapped Huang Guiyun several times. Huang Guiyun was dazed by the sudden blows and ran around the room in panic.

When Xu Ruyi and Li left the yard, they heard Huang Guiyun's miserable cries, which sounded like the howling of ghosts and wolves. It was particularly harsh in the quiet night.

Tian Yuhe had exhausted herself carrying Xu Qingyan to the town, and then returned by oxcart to Huang Guiyun's house. She had just finished her meal, and only then did she realize she was frightened. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became, and she didn't dare to move a foot.

Huang Guiyun pulled her into the kitchen and tried to persuade her for a long time: "Why don't you stay at my mother's house for a few days?"

Tian Yuhe shook her head. "That's not right. If they can't find me, they'll go to the police and report me. That's not going to make up for it. I'll just wait at your house until they come looking for me."

She was afraid when Xu Dachuan came, and she was still afraid when Xu Dachuan didn't come. Finally, he came.

Xu Dachuan dragged Tian Yuhe back home and closed the main hall door. Inside stood Xu Dafu, Li, Xu Dachuan, Xu Ruyi, Xu Ruyuan, and Xu Qingyan. After being thrown to the ground by Dachuan, Tian Yuhe looked up at the people in front of her, who were so crowded they formed a circle. Tian Yuhe didn't say a word or cry, but just looked at them quietly, then lowered her head. Strangely enough, when danger came, Tian Yuhe was not afraid at all.

Li went up and slapped her several times: "I didn't expect you to be so cruel. You can't tolerate these children. I gave you a chance to live. Now I wonder if I was wrong."

Tian Yuhe's face was now red and swollen, and the red and swollen area seemed to be burning with pain. Tian Yuhe covered his red and swollen face with both hands, lowered his head, and remained silent. He looked both pitiful and embarrassed.

Seeing that she didn't respond, Li asked again, "Talk to me today and tell me if you can continue living with Dachuan. If not, let's just get a divorce!"

When Tian Yuhe heard the word "divorce", her body trembled violently, and tears immediately flowed down like a flood, and her shoulders shook constantly from crying.

Seeing Tian Yuhe was just crying, Li asked impatiently, "Why are you arranging a marriage for Ruyuan? What are you thinking?"

"I wanted to arrange a marriage for Ruyi, but she didn't like him. She chose Ruyuan, so I made the decision. Aunt Tian is from a respectable family. She wanted to take her in as a child bride as soon as possible to help the child adapt to the environment, so I agreed."

"The child is still young. It's not that the family can't afford to raise him, so why send him away so early?" Mrs. Li was a little confused.

"I'm doing this for the child's own good. Ruyuan can go and learn housework earlier. Aunt Tian and her son are good-tempered, so Ruyuan won't suffer if she goes there."

Xu Ruyi couldn't bear to listen any longer: "You have to agree to something. It's better not to force others. Why do you suddenly want to propose to me?"

Tian Yuhe suddenly felt wronged and angry: "Why? Why? It's because of your disrespect for elders. Have you forgotten what happened on the wedding day? Have you forgotten that you put too much salt in my rice? Have you forgotten that you spit in my bowl? Have you forgotten that day when your brother suddenly rushed over and pushed me to the ground? Didn't you see that I cried because of you guys? Didn't you cut off the mandarin duck hair on the quilt?"

Xu Dafu muttered to himself: Is my granddaughter so powerful? Did my grandson really push her?

Li: There are more things?

Xu Dachuan: When did this happen? How could I not know about it when I'm at home every day? I know about the mandarin duck's hair being cut off and salt being put in the rice, but the rest...

Xu Ruyi didn't give Tian Yuhe any face: "Isn't this all your own fault? If you marry my father in a year, my brother and I won't have such a big opinion of you. We are already grown up and remember our own mother. It's not that we don't want to call you mother, but we really can't say it. It feels awkward. How much money can you make from selling medicinal herbs? That's the hard-earned money my brother and I worked hard for. You asked us to collect it for you, don't we know how to collect it ourselves? You have been to the medicine store in town, right? You knew we didn't leave the money there, so you secretly went through our things, right? You want to find money?"

Hearing about the drugstore and rummaging, Tian Yuhe was immediately deflated. This little girl is quite clever. She actually knew she'd been to the drugstore. She's only ten? Only ten? How could she speak so sophisticatedly?

Xu Ruyi smiled and continued, "Why would I have cut off one of your mandarin duck hair if you hadn't burned a hole in my underwear first? It's just that the wind blew my underwear onto your towel, and you didn't ask any questions and just did something bad. You didn't want my money and you didn't make trouble, so why would I put salt in your rice? You didn't threaten to hit me with a stick, so why would I threaten to spit in your rice? You didn't have a stick, so why would I get angry and push you? Think about it carefully and understand it."

Xu Dachuan: Is this still my daughter? When did she become so eloquent and capable? Since the day she got married? She was quite impressive when she went to pick up Qingyan today.

Xu Dafu: My granddaughter is fine! Everyone has selfish motives. Comparing my granddaughter with Tian Yuhe means I’m biased towards my granddaughter.

Mrs. Li: Tian Yuhe is not a good person. It's not a good thing for my granddaughter to have such a strong personality. She doesn't have a good reputation in the village at such a young age. It will be difficult for her to find a husband when she grows up.