Chapter 23 Zhao Di was sold

Today is the New Year's Eve Fair, and there are a lot of oxcarts and carriages on the road. Even the oxcart driver in Taohua Village, Old Liu, has been driving people to the county since before dawn, and has made one or two trips back and forth.

After arriving in the town, the coachman parked the carriage at the city gate and waited, and Ah Li and his family walked to the market.

The county town is very lively today, with everything from flowers to jewelry to food.

The vendor selling candied haws shook his snakeskin drum and shouted "dong dong".

“It’s so sweet—candied haws!”

Ah Li was instantly attracted to the candied haws, and something crystal clear came out of the corner of his mouth.

Mrs. Pei felt that she had slowed down and looked in the direction she was looking. Knowing that she wanted to eat candied haws, she couldn't help but smile.

"You want to eat candied haws?"

Ah Li licked the saliva from the corner of his mouth, wrinkled his little nose happily and nodded.

Who can resist such a cute baby!

Ms. Pei took everyone to the candied haws-glut stall.

“How much does a skewer of candied haws cost?”

"Auntie, for two cents a bunch, our candied haws on a stick is delicious, and it's also sprinkled with sesame seeds to make it fragrant."

"Okay, then give me five skewers."

She also wants to treat all five children in the family equally.

At this time, Ah Li pulled Ms. Pei's little hand and raised her head and said, "Mom, can you buy an extra bunch? I want to give one to Brother Ling."

"Of course." Pei turned to the vendor and said, "Young man, give me another bunch."

"Okay!"

Ah Li happily took the candied haws, asked Pei to lower her head, tricked her into opening her mouth, and then stuffed a candied haws into her mouth.

Then he repeated this method and fed Lin Changlu one more.

When Lin Dalang and Lin Erlang saw this, they also took out their own candied haws and stuffed one into each of Lin Darong and his wife.

The family happily shares delicious food.

There were a lot of things to buy, so Pei asked Da Lang Erlang to hold Ah Li while she and Lin Changlu and Zhang's wife went shopping.

Meat, firecrackers, tea with melon, fruit sugar, tea, candles and snacks. Last year they could only grit their teeth and buy less of these things. This year, because of the appearance of Ah Li, they have enough money to live a prosperous New Year.

A Li likes to eat, so Lin Changlu and his wife buy more things she likes to eat.

When they have almost finished buying things in the market, they still need to buy some food to go back. This year there was no harvest due to floods, and the food at home has bottomed out.

Lin Darong and his wife took the things they bought from the market to the carriage, and Lin Changlu and his wife took Ah Li and others to buy grain.

When they arrived at the food store, there were too many people inside, so Pei asked Dalang Erlang and A Li to wait for them at the door.

At the entrance of the grain store, there were couplets written for survival and the word "blessing". Dalang Erlang went over to read them with great interest.

Ah Li ate the last two candied haws in his hand and looked at the passersby.

At this time, she saw Mr. Huang not far away with a big belly, holding Li Zhaodi's hand and talking to a skinny woman.

She looked at the candied haws in her hand, took the last one off the bamboo stick and held it in her hand.

After a while, Mrs. Huang took a piece of silver from the skinny woman's hand, pushed Li Shaodi into the skinny woman's arms, then looked at the silver in her hand and walked away with a smile.

Li Zhaodi looked at her mother's leaving figure, and silent tears flowed into a line, falling on the yellowed clothes.

She didn't cry loudly because she knew that crying would not make her mother change her decision.

The skinny woman dragged Li Zhaodi and walked in the opposite direction.

Seeing her crying, Ah Li let go of Dalang's hand and quickly followed Li Zhaodi in the direction he was walking.

As they walked to a courtyard door, a middle-aged man opened the door.

Suddenly, Li Zhaodi bit the skinny woman's hand and ran towards A Li.

When she saw A Li, she was stunned for a second, grabbed A Li's hand and shouted, "Li Li, run."

Ah Li didn't know what happened and ran away confused.

They had short calves, and it didn't take long for them to be overtaken by skinny women and middle-aged men.

In desperation, Li Zhaodi turned a corner in the alley, hid A Li in a pile of hay nearby, and told her not to come out or make a sound.

As soon as she finished speaking, she was caught by a middle-aged man who caught up with her.

"Pa"

The skinny woman walked up to Li Zhaodi and slapped her hard.

"You stinky girl, run away! See where you can go. Your mother sold you to me and you are mine. If you want to survive, you have to obey me."

She looked around again and asked, "Where is the little girl you pulled just now? Where did she go?"

"I don't know her. I grabbed her and ran away because I wanted to find her for help. Just now she ran out of the alley and said she was looking for her mother."

Li Zhaodi's cheeks were swollen and blood was bleeding from the corners of her mouth.

"It's a pity, that girl looks like a good product."

After saying this, the skinny woman and the middle-aged man left with Li Zhaodi.

Ah Li crawled out from the haystack when he heard there was no sound outside.

At this time, the Lin family was in a hurry. When Lin Changlu and his wife came out after buying food, they only saw Dalang and Erlang standing around watching others write couplets.

No sign of Ah Li was found, and Mrs. Pei was so anxious that her heart ached. She held back her discomfort and asked Dalang to wait here, fearing that Ah Li would not be able to find anyone if she came back.

The adults went around looking for it.

When Ah Li came out of the alley, he hurriedly bumped into a woman dressed as a maid.

She looked up at the woman in front of her, then said, "I'm sorry, sister, I didn't mean it." and prepared to leave.

The woman recognized Ah Li as soon as she saw her and grabbed her.

"It's you, little girl! It's easy for us to find you, but we didn't expect to meet you here."

"Sister, do you know me?" A Li tilted her head and asked in confusion.

"You may not remember me, but you picked up something at the bookstore in front of you and gave it to my wife, and you said that my wife was pregnant with a boy."

When Ah Li thought about it, it seemed that this was the case.

"What you said, little girl, is really accurate. My wife gave birth to a young master half a month ago, and she asked us to ask around. I want to thank you very much!"

Ah Li wanted to save Lin Zhaodi, so he said to the woman: "Sister, can you do me a favor?"

"Little girl, if you need any help, just ask."

"My sister from the same village was kidnapped by the person my mother said she was. Can you save her?"

Hearing this, the maid quickly said: "I'm just a little maid and I may not be able to help you. Why don't you come with me to the mansion to find Madam, who can help you."

Ah Li immediately became alert when he heard this, "Forget it, sister, I'd better go find my mother for help!"

She doesn't want to be taken away by bad guys like Sister Zhaodi.

The maid couldn't help but sigh that Ah Li was so smart at a young age and knew how to guard against others.

He knelt down and said with a smile: "Little girl, don't worry, I'm not a bad person. How about I go with you to find your mother first, and then go to the madam?" If you are such a little kid, you won't be able to see anyone again.

It’s your mother’s turn.”
Chapter completed!