The Trafficked College Student 03

Bai Xue was quite surprised. She noticed that the women in the village all had lifeless eyes, but the girl before her...

Bai Xue stepped forward and greeted her, "Hello, my name is Bai Xue."

Shen Ni was startled but soon flashed a warm smile. "I'm Shen Ni."

"You're from this village, right?" Bai Xue asked, sensing that she seemed different from the other women.

Shen Ni hesitated before shaking her head. "I'm from outside..."

"What?!" Bai Xue covered her mouth in shock. "Then... you don’t have to work?"

Shen Ni looked slightly embarrassed. "My in-laws won’t let me work. They said I can just wander around if I’m bored."

A strange bitterness rose in Bai Xue’s heart, momentarily making her forget she had been trafficked here. "Pretty girls really get special treatment."

Shen Ni sensed something off about the girl’s tone and smiled politely. Just then, Mei Lanju called her from a distance, so she bid Bai Xue goodbye and left.

Back home, Bai Xue was ordered by Old Lady Liu to feed the chickens and then cook. As she worked obediently, she couldn’t help but think of the girl she had just met, feeling a pang of resentment. We were both trafficked here, so why does she get to live so comfortably? She glanced at the basin in her hands, tempted to throw it but too afraid to do so. Instead, she stomped her feet and cursed under her breath.

She had thought about escaping before, but after Liu San died, the Liu Family only had Old Lady Liu left, who wasn’t particularly harsh on her.

"Girl, your name is Bai Xue, right?" Bai Xue recalled what Old Lady Liu had told her after Liu San’s death.

"Don’t worry, I won’t sell you off. You married into the Liu Family, and now that your husband is gone, it’s not your fault. He was just unlucky. Stay here, and when I die, everything in this house will be yours."

Bai Xue felt a twinge of sadness. This old woman, a stranger to her, had lost her son yet didn’t blame her or even think of selling her. What a kind person!

If the two time-travelers had been there, they would’ve slapped her without hesitation.

Bai Xue’s self-righteous compassion swelled, and she willingly worked for Old Lady Liu, convincing herself that she could leave after fulfilling her duty to the old woman.

But the girl she had met today unsettled her. Even if you were trafficked, you’ve already slept with them—shouldn’t you work like the rest of us? Yet Shen Ni does nothing all day! How outrageous.

Two days later, shocking news spread through the village—the Fang Family was moving to the city!

This stunned many villagers. After all, no one from the mountain village had ever moved out before; they were all people who scraped a living from the soil.

Naturally, some went to investigate. Fang Zhiyi looked at the crowd gathered in his yard, some squatting, others sitting, and chuckled. "My youngest son has made something of himself. He bought a house in the city and started his own business. Now he wants us to come help him."

The villagers murmured in admiration.

But some eyed Shen Ni, who stood silently nearby, and asked skeptically, "Is your new daughter-in-law going too?" Their implication was clear—they wanted the girl left behind. They knew trafficking was illegal and feared she might bring the police back if she went to the city.

Mei Lanju’s eyes flashed with anger, but Fang Zhiyi cut her off before she could slam the table.

"Everyone, our new daughter-in-law is coming with us. As you’ve all seen lately, she fell head over heels for our Dagang. They’re inseparable now—it’d be cruel to split them up."

Shen Ni was quick-witted. She immediately linked arms with Fang Dagang, whose bruises had only just faded. The contact made him float with pride again, though he was puzzled—when did my little brother say he was bringing us to the city?

Some remained doubtful, so Fang Zhiyi added, "Also, I’m not going."

"What?" The villagers were confused.

"I’ll stay here as the liaison. Fang Xiaojun said his business is booming and he needs more hands. He asked me to see if any of you want to earn some money."

The crowd erupted.

"Uncle Fang! Me! Pick me!"

"Old Fang, how much can we make?"

Fang Zhiyi raised a hand to quiet them, then held up five fingers and flipped them back and forth.

"Five thousand?" one villager gasped. That was a fortune—buying a young girl didn’t even cost that much.

Fang Zhiyi shot him a look. "Didn’t you see me flip it? Ten thousand—minimum! Every month!"

The crowd was stunned.

Fang Zhiyi then signaled Mei Lanju to bring out a thick envelope. She opened it, revealing a stack of cash inside.

The news spread like wildfire. Everyone now knew that the Fang Family’s scholar son had made it big—and hadn’t forgotten his fellow villagers.

Even the skeptics dropped their doubts, their minds now consumed by greed for those red bills. As for the college girl? Who cares? Didn’t you see how close she and Fang Dagang are? And Old Fang is staying behind—if anything goes wrong, we’ll hold him accountable.

On the day the three left, the villagers lined the streets to see them off. Mei Lanju glanced back at Fang Zhiyi, their eyes locking in silent understanding.

Among the crowd, Bai Xue watched Shen Ni leave, her resentment flaring. But remembering that Old Lady Liu was waiting at home for her to cook, she gritted her teeth and turned away.

Rumors about the Fang Family’s daughter-in-law soon spread—that she was barren and blackmailing the family. But these whispers only circulated among the trafficked women. The native villagers didn’t believe it, nor did they want to offend the Fang Family.

Fang Zhiyi had a good idea who was behind the rumors and found it laughable.

"Old Fang! Phone call!" Someone came running, excited. "It’s your wife! Hurry!" They were so eager that four or five people came to fetch him.

Fang Zhiyi picked up the phone at the village’s small shop.

"Hello? It’s me."

"How’s it going there?"

"Waiting for your update," Fang Zhiyi said, waving at the crowd gathered around him.

"Two more days. I’ve already sent that girl back and told her to keep quiet for now."

"Good. And Dagang?"

"Him? He’s making money—big money!" Mei Lanju took a leisurely bite of her ice cream, watching the construction site in the distance. She and Fang Zhiyi had agreed to give Fang Dagang a chance—if he couldn’t be reformed, they’d dispose of him. So, upon arriving in the city, they sent him straight to the site.

Fang Dagang refused to go back after the first day, but he was no match for his mother. The next day, he went to work, weeping all the way.

He had thought about running—back to the village—but no matter where he fled, Mei Lanju found him. Whether on the streets, in a park, or even at the bus station, it was as if she had a tracker on him.

For the first time, Fang Dagang understood how the trafficked girls in the village felt.

And when she beat him in public, the bystanders just shrugged once they learned she was his mother. Some even scolded him for being unfilial after hearing Mei Lanju’s tearful complaints.

"How much could an old lady's beating really hurt?" they said.

Fang Dagang bore the bitterness in silence, resigned to his fate. Day in and day out, he toiled from dawn till dusk, though he never knew what his mother had said to the foreman—somehow, the hardest tasks always fell to him.