CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 69: DESERVED

So the two returned home and went straight to the woodshed, where Zhao Xiuxia had already been cornered by those big dogs with nowhere to escape.

Though they couldn’t bite her, their frenzied appearance was truly terrifying. She kept screaming, her whole body trembling. Her legs shook like they had no control, and her pants were soaked with urine several times. Seeing the Liu brothers arrive, they held back the dogs, and Zhao Xiuxia breathed a sigh of relief, crawling and begging them to let her go.

"Big brothers, it was my brother who made a mistake. It was too dark, tomorrow we will definitely..."

"Where’s our wife?" Slap! The eldest slapped her, and Zhao Xiuxia fell hard to the ground, her mouth instantly filled with blood.

She cried out in pain, "I’m really not lying to you! Please let me go!" People from Xiong’er Ridge are truly ruthless! They hit like they’re going to beat someone to death!

The eldest of the Liu family shouted, "Do you really think we’re easy to fool? Spending two thousand to buy an old woman, you really dared to do that, making us lose face completely, do you think we’re fools?"

The two didn’t care about anything and just unleashed their anger with punches and kicks.

Zhao Xiuxia had never suffered such pain before, crying out for her parents, her pants soaking wet from urine.

"No, I really want to give you Sun Chan, but how would I know she got caught by mistake? Please let me go, I’ll get Sun Chan over for you..."

"Shut up! I’m telling you, I don’t want a woman anymore! Return the money immediately!"

Zhao Xiuxia was already scared to death! Hearing them ask for the money, she hastily agreed.

"Alright, I’ll return the money, tomorrow I’ll have my brother pay it back, please don’t hit me!" Zhao Xiuxia sobbed, cursing internally countless times. Damn Sun Chan, I’ll endure this time, repay the money, and then sell you to someone else! Next time, two thousand won’t be enough; I’ll sell for three thousand!

"You’re smart, very obedient, but listen, besides what we gave you before, you must compensate us half, I want four thousand!" The eldest of the Liu family sneered.

Zhao Xiuxia was shocked: "What did you say? Obviously, it was two thousand, since when did it become four thousand! You are so unreasonable..."

The second brother kicked fiercely, hitting Zhao Xiuxia’s stomach, and with a scream, she flew away, her body heavily crashing into the dirt wall behind her, a scattering of dust falling on her head, almost knocking her out.

The eldest sneered, "You dare say we’re unreasonable? I’m telling you, four thousand means four thousand, if you don’t agree, don’t think about leaving Xiong’er Ridge! We don’t care about you, but there are those sixty-something bachelors here who definitely want a wife!"

Zhao Xiuxia shivered, is this a place for people to stay? Beaten and cursed every day, she definitely didn’t want to stay, quickly saying: "I understand. I’ll give you the money! Just let me go!"

"Write an IOU! I won’t trust the crap from your mouth!"

The two found a piece of burnt black wood from the woodshed and tore a piece of white cloth from the window sill, making Zhao Xiuxia write an IOU for four thousand on it. Zhao Xiuxia and the Li brothers didn’t know many words, used circles for the words they couldn’t write, determined they wouldn’t believe her if she dared not acknowledge it later!

Zhao Xiuxia shakily finished writing: "Can... can I leave now?"

"Alright, two days for you. We’ll ask for the money the day after tomorrow!"

The two grabbed Zhao Xiuxia and tossed her out directly. She rolled on the ground several times, didn’t dare curse, struggled to stand up, limped forward.

The mountain road was rugged, Zhao Xiuxia walked for ten hours until it was midday, finally reaching the roadside, near exhaustion. She flagged down a horse-drawn carriage, headed towards the station, covering her face as she sobbed, in pain, tired, hungry, mixed with hatred for Sun Chan, various emotions combined, those who saw her in such a state thought she was a beggar.

Zhao Xiuxia now only wanted to go home, nothing else.

What she didn’t know was, as soon as she left, a group of people began to act, without electricity in the village, people slept early, countless flashlights flickered outside, soon the geese and dogs at home were startled and called, quickly waking everyone in the village.

The crowd was astonished, were they being robbed, the men in the household grabbed tools and charged outside.

For a moment, the whole Xiong’er Ridge was in chaos, the sounds of fighting, curses, women’s screams and children’s cries filled the air. Some even held kitchen knives ready to fight, thinking they were bandits. Only later did they learn it was people coming to rescue the women!

Yan Kai and Gu Junming cooperated with the city police, already infiltrating the mountain valley, waiting for the right moment. After a whistle sounded, several hundred people simultaneously acted, searching house to house.

Zhao Xiuxia further didn’t know that when she was forced to write the IOU, Gu Junming was standing right outside the woodshed.

Yan Kai softly reminded beside him: "Should we go in?"

"No need." Gu Junming said: "Zhao Xiuxia isn’t one of the trafficked women; their situation is just a debt dispute, doesn’t need our interference."

Yan Kai raised his brows, said nothing more. Zhao Xiuxia had done something so outrageous to Sun Chan, there had to be some kind of lesson.

Zhao Xiuxia left, and the operation began, with no intention of dealing with her.

Yan Kai had everyone in the village gathered at the grain drying space.

Though these people were quite fierce, they behaved quietly in front of so many people.

Of the seventy-six households in the village, thirty were involved in trafficking, some women had already had children. They dressed poorly, looked haggard, seemingly living bad lives; some were so tormented that they were insane, it was even heard some women who couldn’t live went to die, and were casually buried outside the village’s hillside.

Gu Junming frowned: "Absurd! Aren’t you afraid of legal punishment for harming lives!"

"What are you saying? It’s just a woman, die and find another..." a tall sturdy man stopped speaking, silenced by Gu Junming’s intimidating gaze.

Yan Kai said: "In the new society, men and women are equal, what you’re doing is illegal. The women here didn’t want to enter; we’re responsible for taking them away."

Since some women were already in their fifties, some even having grandchildren, those who didn’t wish to return were left.

The others who cried and begged to leave, Yan Kai had people take those women onto vehicles to leave, while the men fumed furiously, but couldn’t do anything, with so many people watching, they didn’t dare make any moves.