Yang Lihua fud, "I’ve reford now, we’re good sisters, so why bring this up? Let’s go, let’s go check out the Wang Family."
Lin Xiang was pulled along by Yang Lihua, just as they ran into Mrs. Lin coming out of the house.
"Where are you going so late?"
"Auntie, I bought a new outfit, I want Niuzi to help take a look. We’re heading off now, I’ll bring Niuzi back in a bit!"
The two of them dashed all the way to the Wang Family.
It was already past seven in the evening, and in the early winter at the Li Hua Team, it was dark enough that the road was barely visible. There weren’t many people moving around the village, and the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking were especially clear.
The two hid at the entrance of the Wang Family, and could still hear the argunt and crying inside.
Yang Lihua listened by the wall, but couldn’t make anything out. She said angrily, "It’s probably Xingzi’s aunt and grandma refusing to let go, insisting Xingzi marry that old widower. Niuzi, what should we do?"
Lin Xiang looked at the tightly shut door and sighed, "I don’t know either, we can’t just storm in and forcibly take Wang Xing away, can we?"
If Wang Xing had so guts and could escape from the Wang Family, she was willing to risk borrowing money to help her, let her take the blank referral letter to town, to the county, anywhere, as long as it was away from the Wang Family.
Just as she thought of this, the Wang Family’s door suddenly opened, and a figure dashed out, disappearing from Lin Xiang and Yang Lihua’s sight.
"What was that that just rushed out?"
"I don’t know, it looked like a big black rat?"
"That damn girl actually dared to run! If I catch her, I’ll break her legs!"
"Fourth one’s wife, why are you dawdling, hurry up and chase!"
Lin Xiang and Yang Lihua exchanged a silent glance.
"Chase!"
On the road leading to the back mountain, Lin Xiang and Yang Lihua finally caught up with Wang Xing.
"Stop running, it’s dangerous to go to the back mountain at night."
"Xingzi, stop. Niuzi and I are here to help you, can you stop for a bit, or can we find sowhere to sit down and rest for a while? I can’t run anymore."
Wang Xing had also reached her physical limit by now, and hearing Yang Lihua’s words, she collapsed on the ground, gasping heavily.
Lin Xiang and Yang Lihua supported each other, walking over to her, and together they helped Wang Xing up from the ground, guiding her to lean against a tree.
After a while, when they had caught their breath, Lin Xiang asked, "What’s your plan? Or do you just plan to keep running until the Wang Family can’t find you?"
Wang Xing’s eyes brimd with tears, "Aside from escaping, my only other path is death."
"I’m only eighteen, why should I marry an old widower who has beaten several wives to death, and ruin the rest of my life like this? I have to find a way out for myself, no matter how hard it is, otherwise, all that’s left for is to wait for death..."
"Don’t cry, don’t cry, we’re here to help you, right?"
Lin Xiang: ...
As expected, hearing this, Xingzi imdiately looked at her with teary eyes, "Can you really help ? How do you plan to help ?"
"I have..."
"If we help you, what can you give us in return?"
Lin Xiang interrupted Yang Lihua before she could finish speaking.
Yang Lihua blinked at Lin Xiang, clearly not understanding why Lin Xiang suddenly said that.
Weren’t they helping Xingzi because they felt sorry for her? They hadn’t thought about getting anything in return.
She instinctively looked at Lin Xiang, but Lin Xiang’s gaze was on Xingzi, clearly indicating she wouldn’t help unless Xingzi spoke up.
"Niuzi." Yang Lihua gently tugged at Lin Xiang’s sleeve, "We..."
"Shut up." Lin Xiang lowered her voice and scolded, "Do you know how much risk we’re taking by helping her? We’re not family, we can’t just help because she’s pitiful and risk getting caught ourselves, can we? If you want to help, do it yourself, I don’t want to get involved."
Yang Lihua shrunk back, "I’ll listen to you."
Lin Xiang again asked, "If we help you, what do we get?"
Xingzi bit her lip tightly, her eyes full of struggle.
After a long ti, she slowly spoke, "Right now, besides this worthless life of mine, I have nothing. My parents would rather sacrifice to please my grandma and aunt, I don’t even have family I can trust."
"If you could help escape and avoid this fate of being sold, my life would be saved by the two of you. But I have nothing now, although I can promise that as long as you two need anything, I would go through hell and high water to help!"
Wang Xing’s emotions were sincere, but Lin Xiang remained silent for a long ti.
So long that Wang Xing thought Lin Xiang was unwilling to help, and just as she was about to lose hope, Lin Xiang said crisply, "Alright, we’ll help."
She had Yang Lihua give the blank referral letter to Wang Xing.
She even took out five yuan from her own pocket.
"You have two paths now. I’ll analyze the pros and cons for you, but the choice is yours."
"First, take this referral letter to the town governnt, and explain your tragic situation to the town leaders. The country has policies now that forbid arranged marriages. Your grandma and aunt selling you to the old widower is already illegal, if you report it, they’ll definitely be in trouble."
"With town leaders backing you up, no one in your family will dare control your marriage anymore. But doing this also has its obvious drawbacks."
"No one in Mianyang Town has raised such an issue before, if it escalates, our Li Hua Team could be made an example and it might affect future evaluations, leading the team leaders and mbers to target your family. And your reputation could be tarnished, with good families unwilling to marry you."
Wang Xing quietly listened to Lin Xiang’s analysis, "What’s the second path?"
Lin Xiang glanced at her, "Take the referral letter and the five yuan, walk to town, and spend fifty cents on a ticket from Mianyang Town to Luochuan County. Once in the county, find a way to get a job, not for high earnings, but at least to ensure you can support yourself."
"But this has more obvious drawbacks, even in the county, it’s a one-to-one slot for jobs, not sothing you can find just by looking. Without a livelihood or a place to stay, you won’t last long in the county, and might have to co back tail between legs."
Fortunately, the blank referral letter from Yang Lihua didn’t have a date filled in, giving Wang Xing so flexibility; she could fill in a longer date to avoid being sent back as a vagrant.
But jobs aren’t easy to find.
Wang Xing tightly clutched the referral letter, internally waging a battle.
Both paths had their pros and cons.
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