Chapter 382: The Bride Price
I swallowed hard.
Not only had I gone nearly a full day without food, I hadn't even had any water.
Drink this glass of milk and get to bed early.
I picked up the milk and downed it in one go, feeling a bit nauseous.
This milk seemed to have expired again—the bitterness hit hard after I swallowed it.
I hoped I wouldn't end up with diarrhea in the middle of the night. I could tolerate a bad environment, but a terrible toilet was something I really couldn't endure.
I picked up my phone and sent Xiao Sun a WeChat message: "Can you pick me up a little earlier tomorrow? I'll wait for you at the location I'm sharing. Call me when you arrive."
"No problem, sis," Xiao Sun replied instantly. "I'll be there around seven."
"Make sure to stay safe."
"Don't worry, sis. Get some sleep early. I'll bring you breakfast."
His message put me at ease. As the evening breeze slowly drifted through the window, sleep quickly washed over me.
In a hazy state, I heard people chatting in my room.
But for some reason, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open my eyes.
A woman's voice said: "How much did you give her, you henpecked fool? You didn't poison her to death, did you? If she dies, that's illegal, you know."
A man's voice replied: "Don't worry, it's just enough to knock out a pig. It won't kill anyone."
The woman said: "Really? You henpecked idiot actually came up with a plan like this. We'll call Chengcai later to help move her. We've already taken the money—a hundred thousand isn't a small sum."
The man said: "Quit your nagging. Whoever wants to, move her. Just give him a call."
My heart tightened. Something was wrong. I could hear what they were saying, but I couldn't open my eyes.
It was as if I had fallen into a pitch-black hole, all light slowly fading away from me.
What was happening to me?
When I finally opened my eyes again, I felt powerless.
My head was spinning. Everything before me was blurry. I vaguely felt like I was in a very small room, my feet surrounded by dry hay.
It took a few seconds to realize that I truly seemed to be in a completely unfamiliar place. I quickly reached for my phone, only to find it was gone.
Now I was lying barefoot on the hay, feeling terrible.
I slowly furrowed my brows... What was this?
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't have imagined my biological parents would be this absurd.
They had locked me up?
How ridiculous was that?
"Hey!" I reached out and slapped the old wooden door. "What are you doing?! Open the door and talk! This is illegal, do you hear me?!"
To my surprise, it was completely quiet outside, as if no one was there.
Wait... Were they at the wedding?
Where was I right now?
I had never seen this room before. Was it newly built during the years I was away?
Or...
Combined with the conversation I had overheard in my half-asleep, half-awake state, a more terrifying thought swirled in my mind—
Had I been sold?
Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous!
These were my biological parents!
I hadn't driven here or brought any money this time. What was the point of locking me up?
I quickly forced myself to calm down and began searching the room for anything I could use. The good news was that no one seemed to be watching nearby—I had a chance to escape. The bad news was that the room appeared to have nothing except dry hay.
The house was made of rammed earth, with a very old interior. On one wall, high up, there was a tiny window.
Even if I could climb up, I wouldn't be able to escape through that small opening.
I had no choice but to focus again on the wooden door in front of me.
If I could just crash through it, I could probably still run.
I took a few steps back, got a short running start, and threw my whole body against the wooden door. But the next second, I heard the clatter of iron chains.
I immediately realized the door had been tightly locked from the outside. Even if I could break the door itself, I couldn't break the chains.
So ramming the door was definitely not a good idea.
The best course of action now was to conserve my strength. I had to wait for them to open the door voluntarily, and then find a way to escape.
If I wasted too much energy trying to break the door now, I would not only exhaust myself but also draw unnecessary attention.
With that thought, I found a corner and slowly sat down. I needed to stay calm.
No matter what happened, the only person you can truly rely on is yourself. So I had to stay calm.
But I never expected that this waiting would last an entire day.
In the sweltering room, my mouth and throat were parched. I hadn't had a drop of water or a single grain of rice. I felt like my body was about to become dehydrated.
The most important thing now was to preserve as much water and strength as possible, or I wouldn't be able to escape.
They were truly absurd.
Even if they were my family, I was determined to see them sent to prison.
It wasn't until night fell and the room grew dark that the iron chains outside finally rattled.
My heart instantly jumped into my throat. To be honest, I was scared.
For humans, the most terrifying thing is the unknown.
But I quickly steadied myself. Whoever opened the door, their audacity was appalling. Illegally detaining someone or depriving them of their personal freedom by other illegal means carries a penalty of up to three years in prison, criminal detention, or surveillance.
They had earned themselves a prison meal.
The lock rattled, and the wooden door in front of me was suddenly shoved open with force. A tall, burly man appeared there.
The bad news was that his build didn't look like either my father or Chengcai—he was a complete stranger.
*Snap!*
A beam of flashlight shone directly into my face, forcing me to quickly close my eyes.
"Oh, you're awake, huh?"
The light was too strong. I couldn't make out his face at all.
"You..." I tried to say something, but I was scared.
After a long pause, the man spoke: "You don't recognize me? Need me to reintroduce myself?"
His voice was rough and unpleasant, as if he had sand in his throat.
"No, no need to introduce yourself," I swallowed and said to him. "I suggest you stop what you're doing immediately. I suspect you've been detaining me for over twenty-four hours, which constitutes the crime of illegal detention. Every word you say from now on can be recorded and used as evidence against you."
"Huh?"
The man was taken aback for a moment, then slowly stepped forward.
I was crouching on the ground, feeling at a disadvantage, so I quickly stood up.
If I could find an opening, I could run past him and escape.
But what I never expected was that the man suddenly kicked me straight in the abdomen.
I had never been beaten like this in my entire life. My stomach churned violently, and I couldn't straighten my back.
He shoved me to the ground and kicked me relentlessly. Sour bile sprayed from my mouth, and I felt my consciousness slipping away.
"Bitch! Bitch!"
He shouted as he kicked: "I paid your mother a hundred thousand! The bride price is settled! And you talk to me like this?!"
"What...?"
Even though my whole body was in agony, those words sent a chill through me.
"What do you mean by 'bride price'?"
He stopped his assault, slowly raised the flashlight, and aimed it at his own face.
The light shone upward, illuminating his terrifying features.
It was a face of a man in his fifties, covered in acne scars.
He was the village butcher, surnamed Ma. I had known of him since I was a child.
He was rich, but ugly and bad-tempered. Every day he did nothing but drink and gamble. For years, no one had dared to get close to him.
But... why?
Why had my family... accepted his bride price?