After a while, someone seemed to call the children for a meal. They stood up to go home. As they passed the pigsty, the woman made a hoarse sound from her throat, seemingly trying to force a smile on her dirty face.
The boy said to his companion, “This crazy woman is looking at us again. Next time, I’ll tell Aunt Fen to gouge out her eyes.”
The little girl’s shoulders trembled, but she kept her head down and walked away silently. The woman continued to watch her back, two tears flowing from her cloudy eyes.
Luo Yingbai couldn’t describe whether he felt heavy or desolate, silently averting his gaze, his stomach churning.
At this moment, a tall, shirtless man pulled a cart into the courtyard. The cart was loaded with three young women, also bound but at least clothed. The man tilted the cart, directly dumping them next to Luo Yingbai.
He shouted, “Aunt Fen, will you take second-hand goods?”
Aunt Fen came out of the house, stunned when she saw the girls, and asked, “Fuzi, these girls haven’t given birth yet, and you’re selling them all?”
Fuzi lit a cigarette, sweat sliding down his raised, dark muscles. He said carelessly, “I’m tired of them. Two kids at home are enough. Having more means feeding them. I’d rather exchange them for more women. Sell these three, and you’ll make a few thousand. I heard there are fresh goods?”
Aunt Fen slapped him, “What chick? This is a boy I’m sending to Li Dazhang.”
Fuzi approached Luo Yingbai, sizing him up: “No wonder Li likes males. With this look, even I want to do him.”
Aunt Fen laughed, “Give me ten thousand, and he’s yours. Anyway, you don’t need him to give birth.”
Fuzi replied, “Can’t afford it. If Li Dazhang hasn’t killed him in a few days, I’ll borrow him later.”
They discussed living people like livestock, treating such transactions as normal. Luo Yingbai was furious seeing this. This was just one family – who knew how many were suffering such torment elsewhere?
If not for gathering intelligence and planning to eliminate the entire village, Luo Yingbai really wanted to jump up and beat these two people severely.
