Look, this poor girl is named Zhao Daya.
Many people have never thought carefully about one thing.
Whether they are vicious criminals, or heinous death row inmates, whether they are street shrews, or alley thieves…
They were all once adorable babies cherished by their parents.
Their skin was delicate, their smiles like flowers, endearing and lovable, living happily and carefree in their parents' embrace.
So, is it a distortion of human nature, or a moral decay? What made them eventually become so hateful and disliked by everyone?
At this moment, Zhao Daya also couldn't understand this question.
She lay on the cold ground in the courtyard, her whole body aching, weak and powerless, unable to move even a single finger.
Her body couldn't move, but scenes from her childhood flashed through her mind.
Her father's kindness, her mother's affection—these childhood memories had become extremely blurry.
She was once her father's beloved, her mother's little darling.
Why, now, had she become a thorn in her parents' eyes, a pain in their flesh, whom they wished to be rid of as soon as possible?
And that childhood playmate from next door, she and he together, climbed mountains to cut pig feed, went down to the river to catch fish and shrimp, pulled weeds in the fields, picked flowers by the roadside…
How happy she was back then.
But why, as she was about to bid farewell to this world, did he not even come to see her?
"You accursed good-for-nothing, don't pretend to be pitiful to your old lady! If you're going to die, die quickly, don't waste the family's food every day…"
"All you know is eating, and as soon as I ask you to work, you complain about being tired, you lazy good-for-nothing…"
"What evil did I commit in my past life to pick up such a worthless wretch like you…"
Stepmother Chen Shi waved the spatula in her hand, cursing repeatedly, and occasionally kicked Zhao Daya.
Squatting in the corner not far away was Zhao Daya's biological father, Zhao Tiedan.
Zhao Tiedan looked at Zhao Daya, who was lying on the ground, with eyes full of disgust.
This good-for-nothing who only wasted food, the sooner she died, the less of a burden she would be on the family.
One less mouth in the family, perhaps this family could live a few more days.
Chen Shi had been hitting and scolding for a long time, and when she saw that Zhao Daya hadn't moved for a while, her heart rejoiced.
"Is she already dead?"
"She might really be dead, right?"
"Who cares if she's dead or not, even if she's not, she won't live past today, so just consider her dead!"
Chen Shi had already determined Zhao Daya's death in her heart.
She had been waiting for this day for who knows how many days.
"Her father, go drag her out and bury her!"
Chen Shi huffily yelled at Zhao Tiedan.
Zhao Tiedan quickly stood up and looked around.
"Why are you just standing there like an idiot? Hurry up and drag her out, it'll be less unlucky!"
Zhao Tiedan stammered, "Don't… don't we need a broken mat?"
"Where would we get a broken mat! If we use the mat from the bed for her, what will we use? Hurry up, even one more look at her is unlucky!"
Only then did Zhao Tiedan come to Zhao Daya's side.
He didn't even check if Zhao Daya was still alive before grabbing one of her arms, preparing to drag her out of the courtyard.
Just then, a lazy voice suddenly rang out.
"Oh, Uncle Zhao, what are you doing?"
Zhao Tiedan looked up and saw that it was Lu Chen.
His heart immediately sank.
Lu Chen cared a lot about his Da Ya.
If Lu Chen found out that his wife had beaten Da Ya to death and caused a fuss, how would he, as her father, be able to live in the village later?
Immediately, Zhao Tiedan put on a mournful face: "Xiao Chen, my Da Ya truly had a bitter life! How could she just leave us like this, in such good health…"
Lu Chen couldn't help but sneer in his heart.
However, he was too lazy to bother with other people's family matters.
He quickly stepped forward, bent down to Zhao Daya, and reached out to check Zhao Daya's breath.
Fortunately, she still had a faint breath.
He immediately asked, "Uncle Zhao, what are you planning?"
Zhao Tiedan said sadly, "Xiao Chen, you and Da Ya have been playing together since you were little, and Uncle knows your feelings for her, but since she's gone, Uncle can only let her rest in peace."
Lu Chen simply said, "Oh."
Zhao Daya wasn't completely dead yet, and her father was already preparing to bury her alive.
What a truly good father.
He threw the small bag he was carrying at his feet: "This is two catties of rice. From now on, Zhao Daya will be a member of Lu Chen's family."
Zhao Tiedan was stunned.
He didn't understand what Lu Chen meant.
Da Ya was already dead, what did Lu Chen want to buy her for?
Also, Lu Chen's family had been out of food for many days, and now they didn't even have tree bark to eat, so where did he get the rice?
Before Zhao Tiedan could figure it out, Chen Shi had already rushed over like a gust of wind, grabbed the bag on the ground, and quickly peeked inside.
"It's really rice! White, glistening rice!"
Chen Shi was so greedy that her saliva was almost dripping.
Let alone in a famine year, even in good years, no one in the entire Lu Family Village would be willing to eat this precious rice.
Her family hadn't seen a single grain of rice for half a year, and now seeing this bag of rice, Chen Shi's eyeballs were almost popping out.
Lu Chen said coldly, "In two days, you and I will go to the village chief's house to sign a deed of sale. From now on, Zhao Daya will be my person."
After speaking, he picked up the unconscious Zhao Daya and strode away.
Seeing Lu Chen walk away, Zhao Tiedan was still utterly confused.
"Our Da Ya is already dead, what use does this boy have for her? Is he perhaps thinking…"
Chen Shi, however, interrupted him: "What idle worries are you bothering with! What do you care what he wants to do! Since she's been sold to him, whether he wants to play with her or eat her, what does it have to do with you! Hurry, hurry, go boil water, let's cook some rice porridge first, these past few days, our Dahuhu and Erhuhu have really suffered…"
On the other side.
After Lu Chen carried Zhao Daya back home, he placed her on Xie Qiao's bed.
Xie Qiao sighed repeatedly upon seeing Zhao Daya's miserable state.
Zhao Daya's entire body had no good skin, covered in bruises.
She was completely emaciated, just skin and bones, not looking human at all.
"This Chen Shi is truly heartless!"
Lu Chen sneered, "And is that Zhao Tiedan a good person?"
If not for Zhao Tiedan's indulgence and tacit approval, would Chen Shi dare to treat Zhao Daya like this?
Lu Chen went to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl, and took a bowl of spring water from his space.
Then he returned to Xie Qiao's room.
He had Xie Qiao support Zhao Daya's head, then took out a Great Strength Pill, put it into Zhao Daya's mouth, and used the spring water in the bowl to help her swallow the Great Strength Pill.
With the medicinal power of the Great Strength Pill, Zhao Daya should no longer be in mortal danger.
"Wife, go cook some rice porridge. When she wakes up, let her drink some thin porridge first."
After speaking, Lu Chen went out.
Today, when he went to the ancestral hall for the gathering, he unexpectedly heard the system's prompt again.
There was another treasure hidden at the east end of the village.
Lu Chen now understood that the system's treasure detection range was 100 meters.
As long as there was a treasure within 100 meters, the system could pinpoint its location accurately.
Now, he was going out to search for treasure.
The Great Zhou Dynasty where Lu Chen was located was very similar to the Great Ming Dynasty he was in during his previous life.
However, it was regrettable that it should be the late years of the Great Zhou.
Due to successive years of disaster, the common people were displaced, and starved corpses lay everywhere.
Domestically, countless starving people rose in rebellion.
In the north, Tatar Soldiers pressed down with a large army.
In the south, not only were pirates rampant, but there were also the ironclad warships of the Red-haired Devils running amok.
In the east, island nation pirates frequently harassed coastal residents…
The Great Zhou Dynasty was truly plagued by internal strife and external threats.
In this chaotic world, if Lu Chen wanted to survive, he had to have the power to protect himself.
Therefore, he needed a large amount of money to purchase weapons and equipment from the system.
Lu Chen decided to first scour the treasures in his own village and accumulate some system funds.