Yang Guang glared at Sun Guihua and coldly asked, "Did you really sell Xiaolian?"
"What do you mean? I'm doing this for her own good! She's a widow at such a young age. Do you want her to live alone forever?" Sun Guihua scolded as she rolled her eyes.
"Oh? Really? It looks more like you are trying to sell her rather than find her a man!" Yang Guang scoffed and turned to look at Wu Xiaolian. "Xiaolian, as long as you don't want to go, no one can force you!"
Before Yang Guang assured her, Wu Xiaolian was still completely dazed as she had no idea what to do. The young man's words gave her a sense of safety and she nodded. "O-okay."
Yang Guang then turned to look at the villager who informed him about the situation and realized the person was Sun Wanshan, the shepherd. "Mr. Sun, do you know the details?"
"I heard it from Han, the shepherd from our neighboring village," Sun Wanshan replied. "Xiaolian's mother and brother are just using her to get $10,000 as payment for her betrothal gift! Do you know who the middle-aged man is? It's Lai Laosi!"
"What?"
"That bastard?"
Before Yang Guang could even react, the villagers had already roared in anger the moment they heard the name.
Everyone knew who Lai Laosi was. He was pretty well-known throughout the villages that were located across the mountain.
However, he was infamous for gambling, drinking, and having fun with prostitutes when he was younger. He even got locked up for a few years and wasn't released until he was in his forties. The man has never had a wife in his life.
Whenever someone ran into Lai Laosi, they would try to avoid him as much as possible because that man would go crazy whenever he drank and would throw anything he could get his hands on at people.
If Wu Xiaolian were to marry someone like that, her future would be ruined.
"Xiaolian is already living a hard life now that Liang is gone! How can you do this to your daughter?"
"Are you really her mother? Is this how you would treat your daughter?"
"Get the hell out of our village! We don't welcome ungrateful people like you!"
The villagers started to yell at Sun Guihua and Wu Daming.
Sun Guihua had always been a Karen. Yet even she couldn't defend herself when faced with the rage of so many people. Her face turned red from anger before it turned pale.
Knowing that she had incurred the wrath of everyone in the village, all she could do was roll her eyes and say, "This is a family matter! You all have no right to butt in!"
The woman in her fifties then turned to Yang Guang and demanded, "If you don't want Xiaolian to leave, fine! Give me $10,000!"
"What?"
All the villagers gave the same reaction.
However, none of them expected Yang Guang to nod. "Sure thing. I can give you the money as long as you promise you won't come back to harass Xiaolian again!"
Sun Guihua was stunned at first and followed up with a scornful laugh. "What a fearless boy! Do you even have $1,000 with you? Do you think I'm this easy to fool?"
"I may not have the money now, but it doesn't mean I can't earn it!" Yang Guang rebuked as he stared at Sun Guihua. "Give me five days! You can come and collect the money in five days!"
The crowd turned silent the moment Yang Guang said that.
Everyone looked at each other, wondering if the young man had gone insane.
Wu Xiaolian was also anxious by Yang Guang's declaration and whispered, "Guang, we don't have that much money..."
"Don't worry. I promised them because I have a way to earn that money!" Yang Guang assured and turned to Sun Guihua. "So? What's your answer? You don't have to sell your daughter to that piece of trash, and you can still get the money. It's a win-win situation. All you have to do is wait for a couple of days."
It wasn't as if Sun Guihua was ruthless and wanted to condemn her daughter's future. After hearing Yang Guang's offer, she began to hesitate. "Why should I believe you? How would I know if you can make that amount of money?"
"I swear to God that if I don't give you $10,000 in five days, you can take Xiaolian away. I won't stop you. The villagers here will be the witnesses to my promise!" Yang Guang shouted.
The villagers remained quiet until Sun Wanshan broke the silence. "Way to go, lad! I'll be your witness!"
The rest of the villagers followed suit. "Me too!"
Yang Guang turned to thank the villagers before addressing Sun Guihua again. "Now, do you have anything to add?"
"Fine. I'll trust you this one time. If you can't give me $10,000 in five days, I'm taking Xiaolian away, and none of you can stop me!" Sun Guihua grunted and turned to leave.
Wu Xiaolian let out a sigh of relief after her mother and brother left, but her face was still full of worry. "Guang, how are we supposed to make that much money in five days? It's impossible."
"Don't worry. It might have been difficult in the past, but it's going to be easy for me now!" Yang Guang laughed and went into his house. A few minutes later, he came out with a hatchet in his hand and a basket on his back.
"Where are you going?" Wu Xiaolian asked.
"I'm going to look around the mountain. If we are lucky, we should be able to get the money today!" Yang Guang smile and left.
The villagers were still gathered around his house. When they saw him walking toward the mountain, a lot of them thought that he had gone insane.
Even though there were a lot of resources in the mountain, not one of them was valuable.
The most expensive item that they could find was the honey fungus that could only be sold for $20 per pound. He would have to collect at least 500 pounds to get $10,000.
However, the honey fungus was rare and even the best hunter from the village could only find a pound a day, at the most.
Yang Guang had no idea that the villagers were talking about him. Even if he did, he wouldn't have cared. He had already entered the western side of the mountain and was trekking deeper into it.
He had been hunting and collecting resources in the mountain ever since he was a child. Thus, he was familiar with the area.
However, he felt different than before. With the knowledge that he had learned from the Method of Divine Farmer, it was much easier for him to locate the herbs.
The Method of Divine Farmer had taught him about the growth habitat of each herb. With the boost in strength he had received from the Method of Body Refinement, he could easily climb slopes that no normal people would have dared to climb.
These were the reasons he was confident in making the money in five days, or else he would never have made that promise to Sun Guihua.
It was almost midnoon. Even though the mountain was windy, Yang Guang was already covered in sweat from top to toe as he traversed deeper into the mountain.
He finally reached a place where two steep hills met forming a 90-degree slope.
Yang Guang looked up the slope for a few seconds before attempting to climb it.
According to the Method of Divine Farmer, places where no human or animal could reach would have the most expensive herbs growing.
As no one would have dared to collect herbs that grew up there, they would have been growing for a long time. The older a herb was, the more money it could fetch.
It was a challenging climb, even for Yang Guang. It took him a lot of effort to get up there. He continued to climb until he saw something red stuck between the crack on the slope.
His eyes widened immediately.