Chapter 29: Pitiful
“Is Mom really going to sell Elder Sister?”
“I don’t know…” Bai Lixia shook her head, eyes misting over with tears. She sniffled, “But what Aunt Zhang said, it’s not impossible.”
Su Mulan, who used to be quick to scold and punish, suddenly changed her ways, which seemed unreasonable no matter how they thought about it.
They couldn’t help but feel she was hiding something bad, and that bad thing could be…
“Sister, what should we do?” Bai Zhuye wiped away a tear.
Bai Lixia looked at the scattered bundle of grass on the ground, her brows furrowed tightly. After a long while, she gritted her teeth, grabbed Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou by the arms, “Let’s go, we’ll find Uncle village head.”
Village head, Bai Kangyuan, in Baijia Village, was a fair and generous person. Moreover, both of his sons were very promising, with the younger one serving as the magistrate’s clerk in the neighboring county, giving the family a high reputation in Baijia Village.
For matters big and small in the village, as long as Bai Kangyuan was willing to ensure fairness, there were basically no problems that couldn’t be resolved.
With their decision made, the three held hands and ran all the way to Bai Kangyuan’s house.
Bai Kangyuan had just picked up his chopsticks to eat his noodles when he saw Bai Lixia and the others rushing in. He put down his chopsticks and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you all in such a hurry?”
“Uncle village head, please save our elder sister!” Bai Lixia led Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou, shouting urgently, then immediately knelt down with a “thud,” and kowtowed twice towards Bai Kangyuan.
“What’s going on?” Bai Kangyuan was startled, quickly reaching out to help them up. “What happened? What’s wrong with Shuiliu?”
“My mother wants to sell my elder sister.” Bai Lixia couldn’t hold back any longer when she said this. Her tightly clenched teeth loosened, tears fell down like broken beads, and she spoke with sobs, “Uncle Village head, please, please save our elder sister. Don’t let mother sell her…”
Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou also started crying beside her.
Already sweaty and dirty from working in the heat, their faces smeared with sweat and dirt, now further washed with tears, they looked even more pitiful, their frail shoulders trembling.
The village of Baijia has no secrets. The recent talk about Su Mulan intending to sell Bai Shuiliu had already reached Bai Kangyuan’s ears.
Now seeing the appearance of Bai Lixia and her siblings, he became even more certain that this matter was true.
Bai Kangyuan pursed his lips, feeling a sudden discomfort in his heart.
Legally speaking, Su Mulan was the mother of the four children, although she was a stepmother brought into the family by Bai Shitang’s legitimate marriage. Now that Bai Shitang had passed away, Su Mulan was the only elder in the family.
For Su Mulan, whether it’s scolding Bai Shuiliu and her siblings, or selling them to others for money, although it may raise some eyebrows, she hasn’t violated any national laws or regulations. Others can only grumble and complain, but there’s nothing they can do about it.
Not to mention he’s just a local official; even if the county magistrate were to come, he could only advise and couldn’t impose any punishment.
This domestic matter is the most difficult to handle. If mishandled, it could easily leave everyone feeling wronged. To be honest, Bai Kangyuan really doesn’t want to get involved in this matter.
But these children are from Bai Shitang’s family…
In the past, Bai Shitang was escorting a convoy outside and passed by Qianhe Gully, where he encountered his youngest son, Bai Zishi.
At that time, Bai Zishi was returning home from school and wanted to save money on carriage fare by walking. Unfortunately, he accidentally fell from the roadside into the gully and almost broke his leg.