<h4>Chapter 868: Chapter 867: Trip to Thand</h4><h4></h4>
Before nine o’clock at night, the entire vige had fallen into utter silence, with only the asional bark of a dog piercing the quiet.
Because it was situated within the mountains and due to poverty, the vige had yet to be electrified, let alone have ess to a television set.
To this day, vigers still relied on kerosenemps and candles for light, and with no other form of entertainment, they would all go to bed early after dinner.
Shen Ban tossed and turned on the pile of wheat stalks in the firewood shed, unable to sleep.
It wasn’t because of the beating she had endured at the hands of her inws that evening, but because she was hungry.
In the years since she’d been sold to the Yang Family, beatings had be part of her daily life, and had toughened her skin and flesh.
But the feeling of an empty stomach was truly unbearable.
Especially after she had stolen a bowl of meat that afternoon, that craving for food, like an addict’s withdrawal, was intolerable.
Suddenly, the locked door to the firewood shed was pulled open a crack, and her second daughter squeezed in like a thief.
Shen Ban rolled over and sat up from the wheat straw pile, her eyes gleaming green in the darkness like those of a starving wolf.
"Why are you onlying now? I’m starving to death."
Comining, she eagerly reached out and groped her second daughter for food.
"Mom, Grandma took all the food to her room and locked it up, I couldn’t steal any."
Hearing there was nothing to eat, Shen Ban raised her hand and pped her second daughter on the buttocks, "What good are you, if you can’t even manage to get a bite to eat?"
The second daughter, Laidi, was only six years old, yet she neither cried nor made a fuss nor dodged, letting Shen Ban take out her anger on her.
After Shen Ban had vented her anger, Laidi spoke with a sob in her voice, "Mom, I heard Grandma and Dad saying they’re going to sell big sister and me."
Shen Ban was silent for a long time.
In the pitch-dark firewood shed, one could only hear the prolonged breathing of mother and daughter and the rustling of wheat stalks being rubbed together.
"Mom?"
Finally, after a while, Laidi couldn’t help but call out to Shen Ban.
Shen Ban spoke, "If we’re to be sold, then so be it. If it’s to a family with better conditions, with enough food and clothing, it’s better than suffering here."
Laidi’s sobs resounded in the darkness.
She cried out in grievance, "Mom, I don’t want to be sold. I want to be with you."
"Crying is no use. What can I do? If you want to cry, cry in front of Grandma, beg her to find you a better family."
In the eyes of the people in Mountain Vige, girls were considered a losing proposition on one hand, and yet, on the other hand, they were seen asmodities to be bought and sold.
Raised to the age of six or seven, able to do work, someone would pay to take them as a child bride.
Those from a slightly more conscientious family would raise the girl until she turned fourteen or fifteen.
The heartless ones would force her to bear children at the age of twelve or thirteen.
Two dayster.
By the time Shen Ban was let out of the firewood shed by the Yang Family, her eldest, Zhaodi, and the second daughter, Laidi, were no longer at home.
Having not eaten for two days, she gnawed on a half of a raw sweet potato with relish, while the third, Yindi, and fourth, Pandi, dirty and disheveled, surrounded her.
The two daughters, one not yet five and the other just turned three.
Despite being ragged and with messy hair like little beggars, their lean little faces were filled with satisfaction at the sight of their mother.
"Where was your big sister sold to?"
The third daughter, Yindi, pointed towards the big mountain behind them and said in her childish voice, "Over the mountain."
Shen Ban threw the sweet potato peels she gnawed off to the old hen circling around her and then asked after the second daughter, Laidi.
Yindi shook her head and said she didn’t know.
She had never seen the person who took Laidi away, nor did she recognize him, their ents were all different from theirs.
"Eat, eat, eat, that’s all you know, like a starving ghost reincarnated, yet you won’t go cut some pigweed!"
Seeing Mother Yang return, Shen Ban immediately picked up her basket and sickle and limped out the door.
Yindi and Pandi also wanted to go with her but were scolded by Mother Yang to stay at home and help with the misceneous chores.
A thousand miles away in Fengcheng, the nearly fourteen-year-old Pei Tang was obsessing over Shen Mingzhu for a special birthday.
"Mom, just agree, please. I’ve grown up so much and I’ve never even seen what a durian tree looks like."
Under Shen Mingzhu’s influence, Pei Tang had loved sweets and tropical fruits since she was little, and she had a particr fondness for the richly scented and sweetly creamy durian.
Upon learning that Thand was a durian-producing country, she had always wanted to travel to Thand.
However, at the moment, Thand’s public security was not good, and the crime rate remained high, so naturally, she was reluctant to take her daughter to such a ce.
"Wanting to see a durian tree is simple. In a few days, when your dad is free, I’ll have him buy a durian sapling for you. We can nt it in the yard, and you can see it every day."
Having been rebuffed by Shen Mingzhu, Pei Tang turned and called her own brother to pour out her troubles.
With Pei Ziheng’s arrangements, Pei Tang finally got her wish and at the beginning of August, embarked on her trip to Thand.
Aside from Shen Mingzhu and Pei Ziheng, the trip also included Ma Weilong and his family of four, as well as two professional boxers from Ma Weilong’spany.
Years ago, Pei Ziheng was bullied by a group of bad students led by Gong Rong and made a one-on-one challenge bet with Gong Rong.
Ma Weilong, as Pei Ziheng’s boxing coach, sessfully trained him to a draw with Gong Rong.
Afterward, with Pei Ziheng’s suggestions, he expanded the scale of his boxing gym, started his own boxing club, and also started a securitypany.
Boxers who retired from his club went straight into the securitypany to work as bodyguards.
Shen Mingzhu disagreeing with her daughter going to Thand was simply due to safety concerns, but with Ma Weilong and two professional boxers apanying them, along with Pei Ziheng’s care, safety was assured, and she had no more worries.
The five-day and six-night trip was well and thoroughly nned by Pei Ziheng.
They had car pickups and drop-offs, reserved seats in restaurants in advance, hired a local well-reputed gold-medal tour guide, and set up a beach bonfire party by the sea, making Pei Tang, the birthday girl, both satisfied and entertained.
Although Thand’s cuisine was abundant, after eating it for several days, it was inevitable to grow tired of it.
Having heard the guide mention a reputable Chinese restaurant nearby, the group then went there.
"Wee, pleasee inside."
The proprietress was good-looking, with a halter-neck dress entuating her figure and speaking fluent modern Chinese, which made her quite likeable.
The restaurant was small, but the variety of dishes was rich, including Sichuan, Cantonese, Hunan, and Dongbei cuisines.
Thinking of how hard it must be for a woman to strive in a foreignnd, Shen Mingzhu intentionally ordered several more dishes.
The proprietress was delighted and gifted them two pounds of homemade rice wine.
Midway through the meal, Pei Tang wanted to go to the bathroom.
Shen Mingzhu wasn’tfortable letting her daughter go alone, so she apanied her.
The small restaurant wasn’t particr, the bathroom was next to the kitchen, and standing at the bathroom door, one could clearly see inside the kitchen.
The proprietress was proficiently chopping side dishes with a kitchen knife, while beside her, a man in a ck tank top was busy stirring a wok non-stop.
"Dinner will be served shortly, very quickly."
The proprietress looked up and saw Shen Mingzhu, thinking she was there to hurry the food along.
Shen Mingzhu nodded at her, about to say there was no rush, when she saw the man beside the proprietress turn his face, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.