Su Xiaowan saw the surprise in his eyes, but she didn't care at that moment, she yelled desperately, "Soldier, please, save me, I have been sold here by human traffickers. They have been physically abusing me. Please, you must save me, save me."
Tears flowed down her cheeks in big droplets. Even though her arms were trembling and her body was shaking, she still clung tightly onto his leg. At this moment, others were startled by her cries and turned to look unanimously.
Su Xiaowan saw surprise and bewilderment on their faces, but they didn't understand what was happening. She was just silently shedding tears, crying softly.
It was quiet, there was no sound around, just silence.
A deep, powerful, and magnetic voice could be heard, saying "Mom, what's going on?"
The voice was pleasant and gave a sense of security. Su Xiaowan was still lost in this voice. But why did it sound so close to her, so close...
Su Xiaowan suddenly raised her head to look at him, and he was also looking at her. In the end, Su Xiaowan just remembered that pair of shiny, deep black eyes that seemed to perceive everything. Then, she had a spectacular faint.
Su Xiaowan was restless in her sleep, her eyebrows were occasionally knitted. In her dreams, there was a little girl. The two of them had very similar experiences, even their names were the same, Su Xiaowan, but she lived in the early eighties.
This girl was a pitiful child. Her parents had passed away. She was taken back by her uncle's family. She had not even graduated from high school when she was told to stop school and do housework. She used to live in the city. Although her family's condition worsened due to her parents' illnesses, she never really suffered.
But at her uncle's countryside home, she had to cook, do chores, wash clothes, feed pigs, and work hard in the fields under sun and rain.
Every day she was busy from dawn to dusk. She was wearing her sister's hand-me-downs, eating the worst food at home, and doing the most work at home. She endured all these.
They had sold their house and the money was taken by her grandmother and aunt. She endured this too.
Her sister claimed all her belongings and often ridiculed her. Her brother would come and cause trouble for no reason. She endured.
Her grandmother and aunt would scold her when they had nothing to do, calling her a parasite, and ingrate. Although they were wrong, she argued with them and got beaten in return. She was small and couldn't fight back, and eventually gave up the fight.
What she never imagined was, before she was 18, they found a husband for her whose family had already accepted the dowry. He was seven or eight years older than her.
But Su Xiaowan wanted a warm home. She was in love with a gentle, elegant man, her neighbor brother. They were childhood sweethearts, and she had been secretly in love with him for a long time.
She went to her grandmother and others to reason, beg, and told them about her betrothal. The man was studying in university, she couldn't marry someone else.
But they verbally and physically abused her in response and locked her up without food for two days. After which, she fell ill.
On the eve of her wedding, her cousin, Su Yunfang, came over with a condescending attitude, telling her maliciously, "The man you like is back. He is such a gentle, polite, and extraordinary man, I like him too."
Then, she lowered her head and said viciously, "But you unfortunate star, you actually have a good mother from the city. Even you, the little wretch, grew up together with him and have a marriage agreement with him. Good things always land on you, how can I stand it? You being the elder sister should give in to me, stop standing in my way. Besides, after marrying you off, I will still get 500 yuan of dowry. Isn't it very grand for me to marry him then!"
After hearing this, Su Xiaowan was very shocked and angrily said, "Don't even think about it, Brother Jianbin will never marry you".
Her cousin Su Yunfang said with a half-smile: "Oh, you really are out of the loop. Brother Jianbin is a university student, he's bound to work in the city in the future. It's not some small county town like where you've been stuck. As for now! Ha-ha, heavens are helping me, his mother is sick and needs money, ha-ha, Su Xiaowan, you truly are my lucky star! In the future, I'll be a city person, and you will spend the rest of your life eking out a living from the soil! Hmm."
Without paying any mind to Su Xiaowan's stunned expression, she continued: "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the mother of the old man you're going to marry is notoriously ferocious and shrewish in the neighboring village. I heard she's got a knack for beating people. Her elder daughter-in-law is often beaten and scolded at home. Oh, that taste, you just take your time to savor it!" After saying this, she walked away laughing loudly.
Su Xiaowan was left alone, dazed. Her own relatives were causing her such harm, not only stealing all her family had but now also trying to snatch her fiancé.
They sold her for just 500 bucks. The usual dowry for a wedding proposal didn't exceed more than one or two hundred at most. Her dear aunt and grandmother demanded 500 from them, it's not like making relatives, more like making enemies.
Would she have a good life after marrying into that family? In an era when fifty cents could buy a handful of candy and feed a grown man a full meal, 500 was a lot.
What's more, they were using the money from selling her to steal away her fiancé, leaving Su Xiaowan trembling with rage.
Then she wondered why the man was willing to spend so much just to marry her. Was it because she used to live in the city and had some education? But there were some village girls who had some education, it wasn't like all of them were illiterate.
Or was it because she was a hard worker, capable both in and out of the house? Although everyone in the village complimented her on her beauty, saying she was a renowned beauty in the village, but such a wife wouldn't cost that much money just for the face value, could it be that the would-be groom has a hidden sickness?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that might be the case. When she apprehended the reality, she felt disheartened. The sufferings she had endured here hadn't been enough, and now they wanted her to be miserable for the rest of her life, serving others like a beast of burden?
The man she wanted to marry was out of reach, her dreams shattered. The man she was now to be wedded to was hardly at home and rumored to have hidden sickness. What was to become of her?
She blamed and hated, wishing these bloodsuckers could just drop dead, wondering why the heavens hadn't smote them yet. But she was powerless, unable to resist.
She didn't care to look at the old man who was marrying her on their wedding day. But she could feel a strong, cold, and ruthless vibe from him. His eyes were sharp like a knife; it scared her even to think about it. He was nothing like warm and kindly Brother Jianbin.
How could she resist such a fierce person? She had seen a newly wed bride in the village who was cruelly beaten for some reason. The husband's stare was chilling, his eyes sharp like a blade, causing shivers from just a glance.
Other than crying in silence, she was not able to do anything else. Was she to live like this for the rest of her life? What was the point of continuing to live like this?
And so, on the night of her wedding, whether it was due to hunger or something else, she passed out and never woke up again. She ended up dying just like that, leaving Su Xiaowan in the clear.
The past events replayed in her mind like a movie. Su Xiaowan couldn't help but give a bitter smile. No matter the past life or the present one, her ties to her own family were always shallow.
Yesterday, after laying out the banquet, Uncle Wang in the village drank a bit too much. He was not careful while walking and tripped, falling headfirst onto a stone and bleeding profusely.
Everyone rushed to take him to the hospital. The village was about ten miles away from the town and they had to hurry to save his life.
They needed a reliable person to accompany him. Everyone in the village knew that the second son of the Han Family, Han Dongchen, was the most reliable. He was educated, had served in the military, and was rumored to be a Lieutenant, though they didn't know how high-ranking that was.
Anyway, in the end, they decided on Han Dongchen. As a result, he couldn't consummate his marriage. When they reached the town, they just bandaged the wound, but said it was too large to be stitched there and transferred him to the county hospital instead.
Uncle Wang's life was ultimately saved, but due to excessive blood loss, he remained in a coma. After all the hustle and bustle, it wasn't until the next day, 9 o'clock in the morning, that Han Dongchen returned, just in time to witness that scene.