How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Sister-in-law Niu left with an awkward smile, not caring where Little Erlang had gone. Her face darkened for a moment, but Qingru didn't see it.

Turning around, she saw Sister-in-law Niu Er calmly leaning against the millstone in the yard. Sister-in-law Niu Da walked over and sullenly said, "What do you mean by this? Coming here uninvited?"

Niu Ersao stared at Niu Dasao. Niu Dasao was rather short, and Niu Ersao could only see the whites of her eyes rolled back and a tiny bit of her black pupils, which looked rather frightening in the darkness.

Suddenly feeling a chill, Sister-in-law Niu pulled her sleeves tighter.

Sister-in-law Niu sneered, "You want to hide your good stuff? You want to get rich without me?"

Sister-in-law Niu looked away awkwardly, combing her hair with her hand as if to cover up her injury. "Who...who is hiding it? I'm injured, I just need to rest." She became more and more confident as she spoke. "When have I ever said anything I wasn't sure about? I'm not the kind of person who likes to lie. I just need to recover before I can show you."

Sister-in-law Niu Er didn't believe her and threatened, "Don't forget who led you here. If I find out you dare to hide people again, I'll make you regret it."

"I was just being cautious..."

"Stop talking nonsense," Niu Ersao interrupted her. "I know you too well. You're cunning and vicious. Not only did you steal someone's husband, but you even sold your daughter. How loyal can you be to me? You better do your job properly, and I won't hold it against you."

Sister-in-law Niu's eyes flickered a few times, unable to express her bitterness. She had indeed been brought into the family by this "second sister-in-law." Originally, she was just an ordinary widow in the village who seduced Niu Da in order to live a better life. Who knew he would be doing such shady things behind the scenes? What a waste of his honest and kind face! She had thought he was a good person.

Niu Da was originally dirt poor, but one day he suddenly became rich. He not only built a brick house, but also married a beautiful wife and had a bunch of children.

Ever since she hooked up with Niu Da, all she's done is urge him to divorce his ex so she can marry Niu Da and they can be a proper couple.

Who knew that after Niu Da became involved with her, he gradually stopped hiding his true colors and harbored malicious intentions. It turned out that he was secretly engaged in human trafficking. Although there were people who traded people at that time, they were all done openly. People like Niu Da were either sold by their parents willingly or by themselves openly, and the other half were obtained through deception and fraud.

In order to marry her, Niu Da, at her instigation and driven by his own selfish desires, sold his previous wife. However, Li Niang bore the blame alone. Those who didn't know the truth only saw her as vicious, unaware that Niu Da was not as honest as Mianpi.

Later, she joined the family and started doing this kind of thing with Niu Da. However, she had no connections and was not as strong as Niu Da, so she could only set her sights on Niu Da's daughters.

Practice makes perfect. Niu Da even sold his wife. His daughter wasn't that valuable either, and he could have another child after selling her. So one by one, they were all sold.

If Niu Da hadn't later discovered that Liniang couldn't have children, he probably would have sold Xiao Erlang as well.

After Xiao Erlang had a stepmother, he also had a stepfather. Although his father didn't sell him, he didn't really care about him either. Giving him a full meal was considered a great act of kindness.

So every day they would give him two steamed buns and send him out to herd cattle, while the two of them would stay at home and either fool around or do these shady things.

Niu Ersao and her husband were Niu Da's upstream neighbors. They were called that because no one knew their real names; they were the ones who made people call them that.

These two don't live in the village; they just come once a month. If Niu Da takes the initiative to contact them, he sends a signal, and they will come looking for him.

According to Niu Da, these two were ruthless and had dealt with countless disobedient "goods" without ever failing. They even had connections with higher-ups. Therefore, Niu Da's wife was apprehensive. Although she had never truly witnessed their ruthlessness, she was still wary of them.

At this moment, Sister-in-law Niu suddenly remembered the look in Niu Da's eyes when he was frantically and excitedly counting money after selling his wife and daughter, and a sense of lingering fear flashed through her mind.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he smiled again and walked towards the kitchen.

The men in the kitchen had almost finished drinking. Xin Wu Hui's tongue was slurred, "No, don't call me, I can't drink anymore, I can't drink anymore, I won't drink..." he mumbled, and then he collapsed.

Sister-in-law Niu went over and nudged Xin Wu Hui, but Xin Wu Hui remained as still as a dead dog, slumped on the ground like a rag doll, which made her feel disgusted. No matter how good-looking a person is, it's hard to like someone who's sprawled out like that without any regard for their image.

"Hey, wake up, your sister is still at my house."

"Hmm, no, no..." Xin Wu Hui answered almost reflexively.

Sister-in-law Niu smiled with pursed lips, and kicked him casually. Seeing that Xin Wu Hui did not resist, she became bolder and said, "He is already drunk, you can take him away."

Niu Er and his wife exchanged a glance, both seeing the other's contempt.

Niu Da said with a shameless grin, "I'll help you move it out, brother. The trailer is all ready."

Sister-in-law Niu secretly pinched him, signaling that it was time to talk about money, but Niu Da pretended not to notice, "Second Sister-in-law, what do you think..."

"Same old rule, we'll settle the money after we sell the person."

Niu Da frowned and said, "I know, I know, this...this is good stuff, so the price..."

Sister-in-law Niu quickly chimed in, "What are you saying? Would Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law skimp on us? It's still the same as before, ten silver dollars each."

Second Sister-in-law sneered, "Ten silver dollars each? You really dare to say that. I only mentioned the man; I don't know anything about the woman in the room."

"A woman? What woman?" Niu Er asked, puzzled.

Sister-in-law Niu secretly regretted her quick tongue, "It's nothing, I just found a good product, but I can't sell it right now."

Niu Er's eyes showed disdain. "Can't sell? There's no unsellable goods here. The pretty ones go to brothels, the second-rate ones go to kilns, the obedient ones go to a good place, and the daring ones are sold into the mountains... Hey, even the worst ones, as long as they're women, there are always some poor bastards who can't afford to get married to carry on the family line. If they can't be sold, they can be rented out."

Sister-in-law Niu twisted her hands in distress, pondering how to answer in a way that wouldn't anger Niu Er.

Niu Da said casually, "Hey, it's nothing. It's just that Li Niang saved a beauty a few days ago, but she probably had a falling out with her family and drowned herself. There's not a single part of her body that's unharmed, except for her face. Li Niang thought that such a good thing must be worth a lot of money, so she kept her at home to see if she could be saved and sold for a good price."

Niu Er looked at his sister-in-law suspiciously. His sister-in-law smiled but did not say anything. So Niu Er said with some doubt, "Then I have to go and see. If you dare to have any disloyal thoughts, I'll break your legs."

"Oh, no, no, we wouldn't dare," Niu Da and his companion quickly begged for mercy.

Niu Er winked at his wife, and she nodded.

"Then let's keep it for now, and we'll talk about it when it's healed. You tie this up properly, and I'll take it away first thing tomorrow morning."

"Alright, alright. The house is all ready for you. Just rest tonight and get ready to get up early tomorrow."

After saying that, Niu Da pulled Niu Da's wife out of the kitchen and pulled a cart out of the pile of firewood. The two of them first laid a layer of firewood on the bottom, then a thick layer of dry grass, and then lifted the drunken Xin Wu Hui on top and tied him up, preparing to stack it up with another layer of dry grass and firewood.

This commotion was bound to make some noise, so Qingru, hearing the rustling sounds in the courtyard, couldn't help but ask, "Brother and sister-in-law, what are you busy with so late at night?"

Sister-in-law Niu was taken aback, and quickly explained to the window, "Oh, well... my relatives are going to the market early tomorrow morning, and your brother and I are hurrying to load up a cart of firewood to sell for them. Did we disturb you?"

Qingru didn't want to tell the truth, and she understood the hardships farmers faced in earning a few coins, so she said, "No, I can't sleep right now. Where's Brother Xin? Didn't you hear him helping you?"

"Oh, where is he? He's in the kitchen drinking with guests. He's a guest, there's no reason for him to do anything. Besides, he's had too much to drink, let him rest."

"Sigh," Qingru had no choice but to agree. There was no light in the room, and Niu Da and the other man didn't know whether she was asleep or not.

Hearing Qingru's clear and melodious voice, Niu Er poured himself another cup of wine and said to his sister-in-law, "Hmm, not bad. Is she really as beautiful as you say?"

The second sister-in-law picked up the bottle and drank directly from it, quite boldly, "You still don't trust my judgment? I've been with so many women, don't worry, it's definitely top-quality stuff, it can sell for at least this much."

Seeing his sister-in-law hold up a five, his second brother laughed and slapped her hand away. "Fifty? If it were really like you say, those young masters wouldn't even ask the price when buying people. They'd be willing to pay ten times the amount. If it weren't for the convenience, I'd rather beat a drum and sell them to the backyard of a wealthy family."

Second Sister-in-law sighed, "Alright, as for how much money you can make, I've seen it all. A few years ago, didn't Aunt Mei bypass the madam and sell someone directly? Oh, let me tell you, it was a losing proposition. After that, no brothels in that area would accept her goods anymore. She lost so much money for nothing. It's good enough that we only make this much money."

Hearing her say that, her second brother agreed wholeheartedly, "Isn't that right? Oh... what a pity."

At this moment, Qingru, whom they described as "a pity," was unaware of her impending fate; she was only worried about the coming tomorrow. Every extra day she stayed away meant one less day she would see Guo Zixing, and every extra day her father would suffer.

Unable to toss and turn in bed, Qingru lay there with her mind in turmoil, and finally, exhausted, she fell asleep.

Like Qingru, Yanru also had trouble sleeping.

Ever since she foolishly gave in to Master Song again, her patience has been dwindling day by day, and she often throws tantrums for no reason.

In the servants' eyes, she was spoiled and arrogant, throwing tantrums and smashing things whenever she was unhappy, and even the little creatures dared not approach her.

Yanru knew this wasn't good, but she just couldn't shake off her pent-up frustration, so she had to resort to external means to get rid of it.

Fortunately, after that day, Master Song granted her request and no longer confined her to living only in the small building. The courtyard and garden where the small building was located were her own world, and she could go wherever she wanted. However, she was not allowed to go to many places, for fear that people would recognize her as a young lady of the Lü family.

Having been granted the "right" to go out, Yan Ru instead confined herself, unwilling to go out and see anyone.

That afternoon, Master Song sent someone to deliver some exquisite Western-style pastries to Yanru's upstairs. Yanru, seeing that the person was unfamiliar, couldn't help but ask, "Who are you? I've never seen you before."

The man was of medium height and had an ordinary appearance; he was the kind of person you wouldn't notice in a crowd. He bowed and smiled, "I am Song Li, the master's personal attendant. Madam has never seen me before."

Yan Ru sneered, "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness—is that how you rank yourselves?"

Song Li smiled apologetically, "Is that so? Madam is truly knowledgeable."

"Hmph, I'm not your wife, you don't need to call me that."

This left Song Li at a loss for words, so he laughed it off. Fortunately, Yan Ru didn't make things difficult for him. She didn't seem to care much about the things that Master Song had sent, saying, "Just leave them here, I'll eat them later."

"Alright, I'll head down now." Song Li put down the things and left. The little one was very curious. In the past, when Master Song brought things over, she was always the first to open them and look at them. But now Yan Ru's temper was different from before, so she could only suppress her curiosity.

Western-style pastries are mostly made from dairy products. Even before they were opened, a sweet aroma filled the air, mixed with the fragrance of fruit.

Yan Ru remained engrossed in her book, seemingly oblivious to the sweet aroma. The little one, unable to resist any longer, stepped forward and suggested, "Let's open it and take a look."

Yanru looked up, understanding the little thing's superficial desire, and felt a little envious of such a simple need. So she waved her hand and said, "Open it."

The little one hurriedly opened the box. "This is a cake from Zheng Family Pastry. I've seen Miss eat it before. It's so fragrant and sweet. I heard it's made with milk and eggs. It's quite expensive to buy one."

Yan Ru also looked over and saw several small cakes on the exquisite tray, some in bloom, some in the shape of cute little animals, five or six of them arranged delicately.

The other box contained a cake about ten inches in size, shaped like a five-petaled flower, decorated with roses made of fruit and cream. It was so exquisite and lovely that one almost didn't want to eat it.

But this stirred Yanru's thoughts. She had eaten this before, when she had eaten it with her father and sister. Her father had bought it for her birthday, but it was far less exquisite and refined than the one in front of her.

After grieving alone for a while, Yanru left a small cake, cut a slice off the larger one, and gave the rest to Xiaodongxi, Dujuan, and the others.

Yanru doesn't like having too many people with her, so she usually stays upstairs alone when she's not busy and won't call anyone up unless there's something important to do.

A cake was placed in front of her. Everyone else had gone downstairs, and as she listened to their exclamations of how novel and delicious the cake was, she couldn't help but smile slightly.

As usual, Yan Ru looked up at the study and saw a figure swaying in front of the window that had been empty for a long time.

A sudden thought struck Yanru, and she became tense.

However, the window was not open, and Yan Ru only saw the figure swaying, which disappeared in no time, less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Yan Ru looked in that direction, but the railing blocked her view. Suddenly, she mocked herself, "What am I looking at? What's my perspective on this?"