The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

Zhao Di's eyes immediately reddened, tears fell, and she silently picked up her food and started eating again.

When Du Mingxian cooked for Ling Silang at noon, she deliberately made extra food and then served a portion to Zhao Di so that no one would suspect anything.

The rain outside continued until midnight.

Because Zhao Di was there, Du Mingxian didn't go into the space. She lay on the same bed with Zhao Di. The air was stuffy, and she couldn't fall asleep.

Zhao Di was not asleep either.

"Auntie."

"Ok?"

"I want to sell myself into slavery."

Du Mingxian thought of the fate of servants, "Selling yourself into slavery means losing your autonomy. You'll be a servant for life. Your master has the right to kill you, which means your life is in someone else's hands."

Zhao Di nodded emphatically, "I know, but I want to see the lives of the elite. I want to climb up the social ladder. I want to see if girls only have one path."

“If you are worried about where you are going, I can help you make arrangements. My mother and father are divorced, and you can go and live with her where she is now.”

Zhao Di remained silent for a long time, and Du Mingxian thought she had fallen asleep, until she heard her say, "Auntie, I still want to sell myself."

"Think it over carefully. If you make a decision, I will support you."

"Thank you, aunt."

"Go to sleep and get some rest."

It was late at night when Du Mingxian finally drifted off to sleep, and it was dawn soon after she had been asleep.

Today the sun is shining brightly, the air is humid and hot, the ground is still wet after being irrigated by rain, and I feel sticky all over.

Because Zhaodi was there, Ling's mother sent everyone in the family, big and small, to the fields today, leaving only Ling Silang, Du Mingxian, and herself at home. Even their two-year-old child was sent to the fields.

Sitting inside, Zhao Di was a little nervous.

Ling's mother said, "We've thought of a place for you. You can go stay at your second grandfather's uncle's house for a while."

This relative is quite distant.

"Thank you, Second Grandma. I've made up my mind. I want to sell myself. I want to see if all girls outside live like this."

Ling's mother frowned. "Selling yourself into slavery? That's not a good decision."

"I've already thought about it."

Du Mingxian felt that this child was very stubborn; once he made up his mind, nothing could change it.

Ling Silang sat to one side without saying a word.

"Child, why don't you think about it again?"

"Second Grandma, I've made up my mind. Thank you, Second Grandma and Aunt, for saving me." Zhao Di knelt on the ground and kowtowed again.

Du Mingxian didn't know what to say. How could a child be so stubborn?

Ling Silang spoke first, "We should take the person out first. We can't keep hiding them at home; they're easy to be discovered."

"Alright," said Madam Ling. "Si Lang, you and Ming Xian go to see her off. Try to persuade her on the way. If you can convince her, when you get back, one of you should go to your father and have him take some people to find your great-uncle."

The carriage departed from the Ling family's residence. Because the carriage had a side chamber, no one knew what was inside. Du Mingxian was driving slowly, so Ling Silang sat in the front. They would occasionally run into people in the village who would greet them.

Of course, the gossip also reached Zhao Di's ears.

"Oh my, this is going to be interesting. That old widower let Ling Wang's whole family move in right away. I don't believe he doesn't want something in return."

"That's true, but... it's just strange how it suddenly caught fire out of nowhere."

“I heard that when the fire broke out that night, the widower was in Ling Wang’s yard, and it seemed like he was arguing with Ling Wang. Someone heard them say that there was a ghost.”

"Could Ling Wang have done something wrong?"

“What guilty conscience do you have? Didn’t you see that his eldest granddaughter is missing? Zhao Di, that girl, used to work like crazy, but she disappeared that day.”

"That's not right. How could she disappear? She came back with Pandi that day. How could she just vanish? Are you making this up?"

"How could that be nonsense? We really haven't seen her. Nobody knows where Zhao Di went. It's like she vanished into thin air."

Inside the carriage, Zhao Di clenched her small hands into fists. She hadn't asked what had happened at that house in the past two days, and her aunt hadn't said anything either. How could such a thing have happened?

Could you call it retribution?

But what about my sister?

After the carriage left the village, Zhao Di, sensing that no one else was around, lifted the carriage curtain and said, "Auntie, I..."

"Just tell me if you have anything to say."

"I want to see my sister."

She raised all her younger sisters, especially Pandi, whom she cared for the longest.

Du Mingxian stopped the horse without asking why, and simply agreed, "Okay, I'll take you back from the other side and go around to find the person."

"Thank you."

The carriage was parked by the roadside, and Ling Silang was reading a book while waiting inside.

Ling Silang didn't bring any books with him when he went out, but Du Mingxian was worried that he would be bored, so she simply took a book out of her space for him.

He won't be bored if he has books.

Du Mingxian told Zhao Di to cover her face. Zhao Di's clothes had been changed long ago; they were old clothes that the children in the family had worn before. They fit Zhao Di perfectly now, making her look like a boy from a distance.

They didn't encounter anyone along the way; they were intentionally avoiding crowds.

Du Mingxian was unaware of the widower's house, but Zhao Di knew that when she arrived outside, she heard a commotion coming from inside, so noisy that she couldn't hear clearly.

Suddenly someone opened the door and came out. Du Mingxian pulled Zhao Di aside to hide.

“I’m willing,” said Pandi.

The man walking in front was a widower, looking impatient. "What are you, a little kid, saying about whether you want to or not?"

"I know, it's just sleeping with you. My sister doesn't want to, but I do."

The widower stopped and looked at her. "Really?"

Pandi nodded, "Of course it's true, and when I grow up, I'll have a baby for you, a boy."

Zhao Di covered her mouth tightly, trying not to make a sound.

The widower laughed, "You still know about boys."

Pandi laughed along, "How could I not know about boys? It's just because I'm a girl that my family dislikes me. Even the best food at home is given to my sister and not to me. Why is it that when we came back from the mountains together, only she can drink and I can't?"

"I want to eat good food too, and I'll be just as good as her."

The widower looked her over again and said, "You're an interesting little girl."

"If it's interesting, will you give me something delicious? I'll sleep with you. I saw you touching my sister last time. My sister didn't want it, but I did."

Zhao Di could no longer hear what the two were saying. She stared in disbelief at the two figures walking away. Her sister knew; her sister knew everything.

Du Mingxian was also quite surprised. "Let's go, let's go take a look ahead."

The two followed quietly, because Pandi was willing... The widower had no bottom line, and when the two caught up, the scene they saw was infuriating.