How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

A few days later, Qingru's injury had healed considerably, but she still couldn't do heavy work. She got up every day to exercise and helped Sister-in-law Niu with whatever she could, partly to get closer to her and partly to practice her skills.

Since that night when she spoke with Xiao Erlang, Qingru became more attentive. Through her careful observation, she did discover some things that she had never paid attention to before.

For example, Sister-in-law Niu would always take a large bowl of food to the bedroom first after cooking. When she saw Qingru looking curious, she would insist that the room was warm, so the food wouldn't get cold easily and wouldn't harm her spleen and stomach. But the kitchen was warm too. Now that I think about it, it was probably because Niu Da was hiding at home, afraid that she would find out, so he stayed put.

Qingru was secretly relieved that Niu Da was still willing to put on an act, which meant he didn't want to break off relations immediately. This was good; she still had time to prepare.

He asked Xiao Erlang for help and, under the pretext of practicing his legs, took a walk around the area. The woods here were dense, with many evergreen trees that remained even in winter, their dark green hue providing good cover.

The only downside is the road. The Niu family's house is cleverly built, nestled in a circle of hills, like a wonton wrapped up. The only way out is through the entrance facing the courtyard, which has a flat path; the rest are all landslides, requiring you to go up and down the hill, making it difficult to escape.

If you run out through the main gate, you'll be easily spotted and caught. This road leads directly to the village, so you won't get far.

While Qingru was still observing and thinking of a foolproof plan, some people couldn't wait any longer.

Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law came again. This time, Sister-in-law Niu didn't hide Qingru and let her rest in the yard without any fuss.

The second sister-in-law saw it before she even came in, and she revealed her creepy, sinister smile, nudging the second brother with her elbow.

The second brother took a look and was quite satisfied. Qingru had lost a lot of weight recently. Her once plump face had become thin, but it had made her even more charming.

However, she was not as charming as Yan Ru, so she had lost some of her beauty. Even so, her natural beauty did not ruin her appearance, and she was still stunningly beautiful.

The second sister-in-law made no attempt to hide her admiration, looking her up and down and nodding repeatedly in praise, "This beauty is the most captivating I have ever seen in a woman."

The second brother also agreed, "It would be great if there were more meat; right now it's just a bunch of bones, not worth looking at."

Hearing the voice, Sister-in-law Niu quickly came to greet them. "Oh, Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law, you didn't even tell me you were coming! Come in and sit down. Qingru, go and make some tea." She busied herself with making tea, determined to show off Qingru's abilities and highlight her good judgment, thus settling the score for the previous discord between the two of them.

The second sister-in-law couldn't help but glance at Qingru again, "You can even make tea?"

"That's right, Qingru is a pampered young lady at home. She can sing and dance, and she's a college student!"

"Is that so?" Second Sister-in-law's eyes lit up. She took Qingru's hand and looked her over. The way she was waiting for a price to go to Qingru sent chills down one's spine.

Qingru awkwardly withdrew her hand. "Sister-in-law, you're joking. I won't have that much."

Sister-in-law Niu chuckled and said, "Hey, don't be modest, what a handsome man you are."

The second sister-in-law, however, had more on her mind. She tentatively asked, "And who else is in your family?"

Just as Qingru was about to speak, Sister-in-law Niu quickly interjected, "And you're right, she and that man were a couple. Her family didn't approve, so she jumped into the river to commit suicide, but the flood washed her here."

Second Sister-in-law didn't really believe it and kept staring intently at Qingru. Before, she hadn't explained, and Sister-in-law Niu had just imagined her background. Now, she couldn't deny it, so she could only nod helplessly.

I should have just bragged that I was the daughter of Marshal Guo. Maybe they would have been so scared that they would have sent me back immediately.

Niu Ersao had a different thought. She had just touched Qingru's hand and found that although it was clean and soft, there were slight calluses on the palm. Her family's financial situation was neither too good nor too bad.

Her expression was always absent-minded, and occasionally she would frown and look serious. These were symptoms of something on her mind. Sister-in-law Niu's words seemed more like nonsense. In her opinion, Qingru and Xin Wuhui did not seem to be so loving that they would both be thinking about each other.

Even after discovering it, Second Sister-in-law still wouldn't say anything, letting that fool, First Sister-in-law, speculate. Anyway, no matter who they were, once they fell into her hands, they had no choice but to surrender. Regardless of their previous status, in her hands they were just second- or third-class goods.

Having made up her mind, the second sister-in-law let go of Qingru and stopped looking. Instead, she pulled the eldest sister-in-law into the house, seemingly to discuss something.

Qingru's heart pounded. Her intuition told her that her second sister-in-law would not come to the temple without a reason. Either she was going to sell her out in advance, or something had happened to Xin Wuhui.

She was right. Second Sister-in-law pulled Sister-in-law Niu into the house, her face immediately fell, and she seemed to be emanating black energy.

Sister-in-law Niu chickened out and couldn't help but shiver. "Oh, Second Sister-in-law, wh...what's wrong?"

Second Sister-in-law glanced at her sideways, expressionless. "That young man surnamed Xin ran away. Has he come back?"

Sister-in-law Niu was taken aback. "Ah? This...how could this be? Second Sister-in-law, you personally took action, he..."

"Shut up. I'm asking you if he's come back, if he's come back to see this woman?"

"No...no." Sister-in-law Niu was so frightened that she froze, no longer daring to make any more jokes.

"Hmph, you hunt geese all day long, only to have your eyes pecked by one. That young man knows martial arts, how come none of you knew?"

Sister-in-law Niu was also very innocent, "Ah? This... we really didn't know. He was injured when he came, and then he was sold. We really have no way of knowing."

"Are you blaming me for being too hasty?" the second sister-in-law threatened. "Do you also want to go to a brothel, or do you want to be a shared wife in the deep mountains?"

"No, no, no," Sister-in-law Niu shook her head. "I won't go, Second Sister-in-law. We really didn't mean it. Please let me go. I... I can find you more goods. Really, please don't hurt me."

She had been blinded by greed. When Niu Da sold his first wife, he intended to sell her to a wealthy family as a maid, a mere token of their past affection. But jealousy took hold of her, and fearing Niu Da might change his mind, she sold the woman to a remote mountain village as a shared wife. She'd heard the family had five bachelor brothers, so she wasn't afraid of her escaping. Now that her turn was almost hers, she absolutely refused to accept it.

Second Sister-in-law looked down on Sister-in-law Niu and snorted, "Unintentional? Do you know that an unintentional act can ruin all our efforts? If he reports it to the authorities, you'd better wash your neck and wait."

Sister-in-law Niu was also filled with lingering fear. "I...I will never dare to do it again. Selling men is too risky. I will find you women in the future, I will find you several, and I will also find you children. Please let me go."

Seeing how subservient Niu's sister-in-law was, the second sister-in-law temporarily suppressed her anger. Besides, she had come today to attend to another matter. "Give me that woman, and I'll leave today."

"What, so fast?"

"What, you've actually developed feelings for him?"

"No," Sister-in-law Niu quickly denied, "That's not true. It's just that her leg isn't fully healed yet, and you're already selling her?"

"We can't wait that long. Qinhuai Tower needs them urgently. Let's sell them and let them take care of them. They're even more meticulous than you."

"Yes, yes, yes," Sister-in-law Niu dared not refute. In fact, she was also tired of raising Qingru. She was exhausted from pretending to be a good person in front of Qingru all day long, so she quickly sold her off to get rid of the problem.

However, her second sister-in-law frequently threatened to sell her, and Niu Da had recently developed some frivolous thoughts, which gave Niu Da's sister-in-law some hidden ideas. However, her second brother and sister-in-law's reputations were too great, and she did not dare to act for the time being.

"So, Second Sister-in-law, what are your plans?"

The second sister-in-law sat down again, pondering, "Did she have any suspicions?"

"No," Sister-in-law Niu quickly denied. Seeing that her second sister-in-law was still suspicious, she hurriedly explained, "Absolutely not. Look, she gets along very well with my little Erlang."

Second Sister-in-law glanced into the yard and saw Qingru playing with pebbles with Xiao Erlang. She then said, "That will save us some effort. It's almost New Year's and the dead of winter. There are always some families who can't make ends meet and need money. Go to the village and spread the word that the foreign factory is hiring female workers again. Tell them to pick a few nimble girls from the countryside and come over tonight so we can choose some. We'll take them all away first thing tomorrow morning."

"Okay, I'll do it," Sister-in-law Niu readily agreed.

Second Sister-in-law closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, urging her with her hand, "Hurry up and go, if you don't handle this well..."

"I'll definitely handle it well, don't worry." After saying that, seeing his second sister-in-law's displeased expression, he realized he had interrupted and quickly shut his mouth and ran out, afraid that saying anything more would make him make a mistake.

As I passed by the courtyard, I saw Qingru still playing, and I couldn't help but put on a smile again. "Qingru, I have some things to do in the village. Do you think you could have dinner later..."

When Qingru saw her shrugging and looking troubled, she knew what she was up to, so she pretended to understand and said, "Okay, go ahead, I'll make dinner for you."

"Oh, then I'm relieved." With that, he hurried away.

Qingru watched her leave, but her second brother and sister-in-law were still at home, along with Da Niu, who might be there as well. It was truly not a good time to escape. She looked worriedly at Xiao Erlang, who also looked pale and shook his head. It seemed that now was not a good time to run away.

Meanwhile, for Sister-in-law Niu, recruiting female workers in the village was actually her favorite thing to do. Because of her somewhat shady past as a widow, her reputation wasn't good. Later, when Niu Da divorced her and remarried, many women avoided her even more. Even her own husband was forbidden from attending banquets at the Niu family's house. Therefore, Sister-in-law Niu's bad reputation ironically became a shield for them, and they remained undetected by the village.

Later, she somehow managed to introduce girls to work as factory workers in the city, earning a silver dollar a month, which was very tempting.

You have to understand that survival wasn't easy back then. One silver dollar could buy twenty or thirty pounds of rice, or thirty or forty pounds of coarse grains, which, when cooked into porridge with wild vegetables and rice bran, could feed a family for a month. So families who didn't know the situation wanted to send their daughters out to save their lives, especially since the factory promised to provide food and lodging. That silver dollar was pure profit, enough to support their families.

Some families felt it was inappropriate and refused to send their daughters there, while others were desperate and were willing to risk it for a way to survive. Not to mention, some families were simply selling their daughters to brothels; they wouldn't feel any remorse.

Therefore, after Sister-in-law Niu got this connection, although her reputation in the village was still not good, no one spoke ill of her to her face anymore, and no one knew if anyone had to ask her for help.

Therefore, Sister-in-law Niu was very enthusiastic about recruiting female workers in the village. Unlike merchants, most of the women recruited in the village were actually sent to factories. Only those whose families had no one left were sold, because they still lived in the village and therefore didn't harm their own villagers. Although Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law weren't from the village, they gave each of their recruits this instruction, euphemistically calling it "leaving a way out for others, so you can meet again in the future."

However, these female workers weren't the kind that were formally recruited. They were brought in from the countryside, lacking skills and education, and were mostly "rented" to employers indiscriminately. They would sign a contract, paying twenty yuan per person for a minimum of three years. If it was a five-year contract, it would be thirty yuan per person, with a monthly salary of one silver dollar, including room and board.

Most of the contracts in the village are for five years. Sister-in-law Niu takes 50%, keeps 10% for herself, and gives the rest to Sister-in-law Er.

As Sister-in-law Niu walked along the village road, some restless people, instead of staying home to hibernate, strolled around the harvested rice fields. Upon seeing Sister-in-law Niu's limping figure, one nosy person couldn't help but whistle.

He was immediately beaten by the woman next to him, regardless of whether she was her husband or not.

"Li Niang, where are we going?"

Sister-in-law Niu stopped in her tracks, smoothed her hair, and said with feigned modesty, "Go find the village chief."

The man asked, "What do you need the village chief for? Can't you talk to me?"

"Tch!" Sister-in-law Niu said, her face flushed. "You think you're worthy? I went to the village chief to discuss sending the girls to the factory."

"What?" The men were stunned, then overjoyed. "Great! They're hiring again. Now we have a way to make a living."

This year's harvest is low, and taxes are high, so many people are struggling to survive, especially girls who are not considered precious in the countryside. They eat little and work a lot, and many are facing the prospect of starvation.

Upon hearing the news of the job opening, everyone was overjoyed and immediately surrounded Sister Niu, asking her all sorts of questions.

Sister-in-law Niu smugly enjoyed the company of the crowd, while those who were quick to learn had already run off to report to the village chief.

"They're hiring! They're hiring!" a child shouted as he ran.

The news caused a great stir, and everyone flocked to the village chief's house.

Although the village chief's family was slightly better off, they still couldn't afford to eat dinner. The nights were long and unbearable, so at this time, the village chief's wife would scoop up some broken rice, add a large ladle of water, and cook it. Each person would drink a bowl of thin porridge, barely enough to reflect their image, to stave off hunger. Even so, not everyone had such a luxury.

When everyone came to the village chief's house, his family was shocked, thinking something had happened.

He gulped down the thin porridge he usually wouldn't part with, and anxiously asked people, afraid of hearing news that everyone was going to die.

"Aunt Niu said she's hiring female workers," the quick-witted child blurted out.

The village chief was relieved. "Where are they? Why haven't they come yet?"

If some of the girls in the village are sent away, some money can be exchanged to sell grain, and more people can survive in the village.