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Chapter 13: Children are Worth Fifty Taels\nBailian knelt on the river bank and took a closer look at the surface of the water. There were multi-colored fish, translucent shrimp, and other various aquatic plants, including delicate lotuses floating serenely in its clear depths.\n
Bailian calmly took in the scenery and then looked at the dozen or so fruit trees planted around the wooden cabin. Taking a deep breath and marveling at the picturesque scenery, she felt refreshed at ease, no longer hungry.\n
“Stop playing in the river already.” Bailian accusingly glanced at Li Shu, feeling a little disgusted and nauseous.\n
“Squeak?” Li Shu dazedly looked at Bailian, clearly not understanding his Master’s unspoken intentions.\n
This was after all her own fish pond, having rats in it wouldn’t be good!\n
The gleaming silvery fish and translucent, pink shrimp were quite big in Bailian’s eyes. This was obviously because the source of the river’s water was from that floating Spirit Waterfall, descending upon the river with all of its celestial mystery.\n
Bailian mentally concentrated on digging a rift into the open space and then moving the spirit spring water into the new hole she had just created. It looked like a floating orb of water.\n
“You will swim here in the future!”\n
Bailian then picked up the scruffy and extremely wet Li Shu, throwing it into the rift without so much as a second of hesitation.\n
“Squeakk~” Li Shu couldn’t understand his Master’s actions and naively thought that his Master must have built a swimming pool especially for him! He happily began to paddle and frisk about in the water.\n
Bailian continued to explore her dimensional space, feeling immensely satisfied with the spirit spring. All of the river’s water was directly connected to the spirit spring and she could easily drink it anytime she pleased. If she ever got hungry, she could just eat the fish and the shrimps in the river’s abundant waters. When she thought of her skinny and very malnourished family of the Third Branch, Bailian nodded slightly, I’ll have to supplement them with more nutritious food in the future!\n
Using her mental power, she plucked out the seed heart from a lotus flower, peeled off the outside, and popped a juicy, fragrant seed into her mouth. When she bit into the seed, her mouth filled with a sweet aroma and was not bitter tasting at all! Feeling very content with herself, Bailian walked towards the small wooden cabin.\n
Since she’s here, she might as well finish looking around the place to compile a mental map into her head.\n
Bailian gently pushed open the door, it’s wooden hinges creaking open. The furnishings inside the small cabin were very simple and practical. It only had a bed, a table, a chair, and a dresser, nothing more.\n
Bailian opened the dresser, but the inside was completely empty. There was a clean quilt on the bed, and overall everything was well maintained.\n
Other than those furnishings, there was absolutely nothing else.\n
Bailian felt a little dumbfounded, she had thought that since the outside was so amazing, the wooden cabin would be a little treasure trove too!\n
Keke, it’s not that Bailian wasn’t satisfied, but she was inherently greedy for more wealth.\n
Bailian exited the wooden cabin, quickly finishing off the rest of her fragrant, juicy lotus seeds. It was about time to head back.\n
Bailian picked up the basin of freshly laundered clothes, instantly materializing beside the river where she had washed the clothes a while ago. But as soon as she materialized next to the riverbank, she heard the voices of two people talking.\n
“How high of a price would a newborn child be able to fetch? What about an eight-year-old girl?”\n
Bailian frowned, her brows furrowing. This was the voice of the Li Family’s Fourth Master.\n
Bailian took two steps near the bush where the two’s voices were located, and suddenly returned to her dimensional space.\n
“Squeak?” Li Shu, scurried out of his little swimming pool and violently shook the water off his body before climbing onto Bailian’s shoulder.\n
Why did his Master come back?\n
“Can you hear the voices talking outside?” Bailian lowered her head and questioned Li Shu.\n
Before Li Shu could say anything, as soon as Bailian willed this idea in her head, faint and muted voices floated into her ear, before increasing in volume and clarity. \n
“Yes…”LI Shu cutely nodded.\n
“Shhh..” Bailian motioned for Li Shu to keep quiet and then carefully perked up her ears, listening to the two voices, then imagined trying to see them.\n
Sure enough, something similar to a digital screen appeared before Bailian’s glittering eyes. In front of her, the screen showed the position where she had entered into the dimensional space, the view obscured by multiple tree branches and brambles.\n
In the dimensional space, Bailian walked two steps forward and the Fourth Master, as well as his friend, came into view on the screen.\n
“So few? Newborn children are only worth fifth taels? I need 100 taels ah!” The Fourth Master looked disappointed after hearing his friend’s answer.\n
“That’s not a small amount! Who knows if the newborn child will be healthy and one can actually raise it after birth, this price is already very high ah! If it wasn’t for the Landlord Wang’s son and daughter-in-law suddenly dying, they wouldn’t be so desperate as to ask for a newborn child. The price definitely would not be so high!” Er Gouzi reasoned, his face unreadable and full of mirth.\n
“But, Third Sister-in-law hasn’t even given birth yet! Is there any method to make her give birth earlier than the predicted birth date? I don’t have much time!” Li Fourth Master shuddered violently, imagining a scene where he would be beaten to a pulp by Brother Qiang and his thugs.\n
“This…isn’t the right way to go! After all, if something goes wrong during childbirth, the child could die, and we would get nothing!” Er Gouzi hesitated after hearing the Fourth Master’s crude suggestions.\n
“Can’t the child be older?” The Fourth Master was unwilling to give up.\n
“No.” Er Gouzi shook his head, “I heard that Landlord Wang’s son and daughter-in-law had just birthed a child, but got involved in a grisly accident. The parents were killed by bandits and the baby was left orphaned. Furthermore, Landlord Wang’s grandson is extremely frail and sickly. According to a spiritual expert, a boy must be burned as a sacrifice! In this way, his grandson will be saved from the spirits of his resentful, restless son and daughter-in-law. The parents will then let go of their baby and be severed from the material world!”\n
“But, the unborn child is still only worth fifty taels! That Bailian child isn’t even worth fifty taels! If I can’t gather a hundred taels before the deadline, Brother Qiang will definitely skin me alive!” The Li Fourth Master made a scared and anxious face.\n
“That girl is just too skinny, and looks dumb. Broker Zhu is willing to pay a dozen taels to buy her, that’s already a pretty good offer!” Er Gouzi patted the Fourth master on the back and comforted: “It’s not like there are only two in the Third Branch, isn’t there also two boys? I only know Lady Zhu is a brothel manager, but who knows, the two boys should be able to be sold for a high price somewhere!”\n
“If they were only just a bit older, we could sell them as slaves.” The Li Fourth Master regretfully grumbled.\n
“When are you making a move? That unborn child will slow us down considerably. I know Landlord Wang personally. I can send a message and notify him of the situation. He has money, as long as we keep this a secret from others, the fifty taels will undoubtedly be ours!” Er Gouzi trustworthily patted his chest.\n
“We’ll have to find a chance to swindle the girl out of the residence and as for the baby, we’ll have to wait for when my Third Sister-in-law gives birth!”\n
“This still won’t be enough to cover your debt, what should we do?” Er Gouzi’s eyes flashed with crafty ideas and schemes, “Doesn’t your family have a lot of land? You even have a scholar in your family. Shouldn’t there be a lot of money in the Li Family residence?”\n
“This…my mother would never lend me any of it!” The Li Fourth Master thoughtfully stroked his chin, “But what…what if my Third sister-in-law ends up giving birth to a daughter?”\n
“That…” Er Gouzi was stunned and silently contemplated: “You can try it, but Landlord Wang insisted that the baby had to be male!”\n
“My ancestors ah! I must bless and pray that my Third sister-in-law will give birth to a healthy, chubby son!” The Fourth Master began to pray earnestly, shaking his clasped hands towards the heavens.\n
This was obviously a cruel plan, but the Fourth Master wasn’t even fazed or remorseful. One could see that he thought human lives were worth nothing and even dared to pray to his ancestors to help him!\n
Bailian coldly looked on at the two people’s conversation in her dimensional space and soon, caught onto their plan. The Fourth Master wanted to sell her off to a brothel and even calculated to sell off her unborn brother or sister!\n
Although Bailian hadn’t regarded the Third Branch as her real relatives, since she was residing in the original owner’s body, she had long considered them to be her own family, promising to treat them well in the future. \n
Who would have that this dastardly Fourth Master actually wanted to sell off his own family!\n
Once a woman was sold into a dirty business like the brothel, was there any hope of living afterwards?\n
Her unborn brother or sister would be even more miserable! They were already involved in a sinister plan right after birth and Bailian didn’t know exactly what would happen after her sibling was sold off.\n
If the Fourth Master snatched the child away, would that child be able to survive?\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-foreground-dark-background-color has-foreground-dark-color is-style-wide">\nTN: Hi everyone! I posted this chapter a bit earlier than normal, but hope everyone has an amazing weekend!\n
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