Lin Ya hurriedly found a nearby village to take shelter in an abandoned thatched hut. Xu Jin, Xu Yue, along with their father Xu and Zhang Shi, and Ren Lin and Ren Zhao were all very happy. They hoped for rain to moisten the cracked land, so that everyone could drink their fill.
“If it rains, I must drink plenty of water!”
“I want to take a bath!”
“I want to wash my hair and take a bath! Then I can wear the new clothes that Father bought for me…” After long hours of sweating without washing, the smell was unbearable, and one could even roll up a ball of dirt and sweat from their skin.
Xu and Zhang were snuggled together by the window, silent, but their hopeful eyes said everything.
However—
It was impossible.
Lin Ya stood aside, looking at the sky with them, not breaking their illusion.
As they gazed at the overcast sky, others cried and laughed; their cracked, dry lips split open, but they paid no mind. They quickly took out bowls or containers—anything that could hold water—and placed them outside the hut.
But suddenly, the dark sky outside drew closer, and there was a buzzing sound.
It wasn’t dark clouds; it was locusts.
“Ah! It’s locusts! Quick, shut the door!”
“Ah!”
“They’re locusts! Oh my God!”
“Hurry, shut the door! Quickly!”
“Shut the door now!”
Lin Ya swiftly closed the doors and windows, and the sound of banging came relentlessly, with increasing force against the door.
“Ah Jin! Help hold down the window!”
“Oh!”
“It’s locusts… This is bad, the mule is still outside!”
“We can’t do anything about it now…”
Listening to the mule’s pitiful cries from outside, Lin Ya closed his eyes, feeling a sense of resignation, accepting whatever fate had in store.
The locusts came quickly and left just as fast, in about fifteen minutes.
When he opened the door, the fallen locusts crunched underfoot. Lin Ya rushed to check on the mule, finding it trembling behind the cart, thankfully with no visible injuries, just frightened.
After a day filled with scares and after having dinner, everyone fell silent, all too tired to speak, and quickly fell asleep.
Early the next morning, a sharp crying sound came from next door.
“Mother! You sold me! Don’t sell my sister!” A young girl’s voice cried loudly, her tone high-pitched and somewhat broken.
“Your sister is going to a life of luxury! Don’t delay her! Go, go!” A harsh voice approached, “Mother of Da Ya! Can’t you say something?”
“Wuwu… Mother! Sell me! If you sell me, there will be money for my brother’s treatment! With money, you can buy food!”
“Alas… Aunt Tao Hua, can’t you please raise the price a bit more? You saw that my eldest son hurt his head, and we really can’t afford to hire a doctor! And now we’re running low on food.” A deeply desperate elderly voice pleaded, “If it weren’t for… if it weren’t for…”
“I’m not saying this lightly; there’s no one around within ten miles who can offer more than I can! If it weren’t for Da Ya being somewhat attractive, I wouldn’t even take her for free.”
“Enough, enough, I won’t be haggling with you anymore. Just tell me straight how it’s going to be.”
“Aunt! I’m willing to sell!” Da Ya, wearing tattered clothes that hung loosely on her frame, knelt down, tears filling her deep-set eyes as she looked at the elderly woman, biting her lip. “Mother! Just sell me!”
Selling herself would mean money for the family, making life a bit easier. If she didn’t sell, the family would be waiting to die, as even the rats had run away from hunger.
Besides, her brother was still waiting for help!
“No! Cough, cough…”
“Brother!”
“Brother!”
Zheng Shi couldn’t hear her anymore. Surprised and worried, she quickly went forward to support him: “Da Lang! How come you’ve gotten up?! You can’t withstand the cold wind outside.”
Then, turning to Aunt Tao Hua, she expressed her apologies, “Aunt Tao Hua! I’m sorry for bothering you today. Since my eldest son is awake, let’s forget about the earlier discussion.”
Although Aunt Tao Hua was acting as a matchmaker, she had no ill intentions toward Zheng Shi’s family. She just saw how hard it was for this widowed mother and her children during this disastrous year, especially with the eldest son being sick and needing money for medicine. That’s why she kindly encouraged them to sell Da Ya, offering a price higher than others.
Selling sons and daughters had become all too common in these times.
“If you’re not selling, that’s fine! You can come to me next time you decide to sell,” Aunt Tao Hua said, turning to leave.
Standing at the door, Lin Ya was surprised by the young man. This person didn’t seem like an ordinary person.
[Host! That is the male lead!]
“Isn’t the male lead from a noble family? Why is he here?”
[It’s a long story.] 123 flipped through the chapters, finding where the male lead appeared, looking a bit conflicted at the page.
“Then make it short.”
[Hey—]
[Because the male lead meets the female lead while fleeing disaster—] 123 rambled, bouncing around on his head, suddenly slipping off his shoulder and couldn’t help but complain.
[Host, you haven’t washed your hair in a long time, it’s too oily! Even I can’t stand here.]
Lin Ya: “……” Expressionless.
He hadn’t washed his head or taken a bath since starting this journey, traveling under the blazing sun every day. His hair soaked with sweat couldn’t possibly not be oily.
“Forget it, I don’t want to hear it.” He figured it was better to go inside and scrub himself clean at this point.
After all, it didn’t concern him.
[You must have heard the story of the raccoon switching the crown prince, right?] Seeing he didn’t seem interested, 123 hurriedly began narrating the male lead’s storyline, trying to pique his interest.
In reality, it hadn’t given up on having the host undertake the reversal mission and had to sneakily entice him this way—the host turned out to be quite impatient to be tantalized.
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