Great Xia.
Liu County, Ying Province.
Li Family of Qingquan Village.
"Father, Li Lingyun has no breath left!"
"Husband, Anning, that jinx, killed Li Lingyun as soon as she entered our house. Who knows who else she'll jinx if she stays here? Let's sell her off, lest she bring misfortune upon our family."
"Mother is right. If we sell this jinx, we can also get back the betrothal money we spent on that boy Li Lingyun."
"Sell her to the Town brothel; they pay more there."
Li Lingyun's head felt like it was about to explode, the pain nearly driving him insane.
Moreover, the buzzing noise in his ears made him even more agitated.
He wanted to shout at them to stop arguing.
But as he opened his mouth, a sharp pain shot through his throat, preventing him from making any sound.
And the buzzing in his ears continued.
"Then sell her. Dashan, go hitch up the ox cart and take her to the Town to sell her."
"But don't sell her to a dirty place. We won't do such a wicked thing."
"Alright, Father, don't worry, I'll definitely find her a good buyer."
Li Lingyun was anxious.
Selling people?
In a society governed by law, selling people is illegal. How dare these people be so brazen?
And, listening to their conversation, it seemed they were saying he was dead?
He was perfectly alive; how dare these people openly treat him as a dead person? Had he been taken to Northern Myanmar?
He was twenty-six this year; his life had just begun. He couldn't die like this!
Thinking of this, Li Lingyun endured the pain in his throat and let out a furious roar: "I'm not dead!"
After this roar, his eyelids, which had been stubbornly shut, finally opened.
The people around him, hearing the sound, gathered around in surprise.
"Li Lingyun, you're not dead?"
"How could he not be dead? I clearly checked his breathing; he had no breath."
"Then are we still selling his wife?"
Li Lingyun lay on the bed, turning his head to look at the crowd.
Five people were gathered in the small space in front of the bed: two men and two women standing, and one woman, tied up, leaning motionless against the edge of the bed.
Because she had her back to him, Li Lingyun couldn't see her face, but from her back, she appeared to be an extremely thin young woman.
Seeing Li Lingyun wake up, the middle-aged man standing at the front showed a hint of surprise on his face, then quickly smiled, saying, "Li Lingyun is awake? It's good that he's alright, it's good that he's alright."
The middle-aged woman beside him frowned and whispered, "He's got a tough life."
Li Lingyun observed the group. Both the men and women had long hair, tied up and wrapped under cloth scarves.
They wore dusty, short shirts, very vintage.
"Water, give me water." His throat was dry and sore now; he urgently needed water to moisten his throat.
Everyone present acted as if they hadn't heard him; no one paid him any attention.
The middle-aged woman spoke coldly, "Since Li Lingyun is awake, let him rest well. Let's all go out and not disturb him."
The young man beside her hastily said, "Mother, then are we still selling this woman? I'm waiting to get the money to buy Xiao Jun a pen…"
Before he finished speaking, the young woman beside him tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to stop talking.
The man turned his head and saw his father frowning and glaring at him, so he reluctantly shut his mouth.
"Alright, alright, let's go out and let Li Lingyun rest well." The middle-aged woman pushed and shoved the others out.
Seeing that the woman by the bed's edge hadn't moved at all, Li Lingyun knew he couldn't rely on these people, so he struggled to get up, slipped on his straw sandals, and went out to find water.
Only after standing up did he realize that this room was indeed small and low, and his head almost touched the ceiling beam.
The entire room was less than ten square meters. Besides a bed and a large heated cabinet, there were no other furnishings inside.
The base of the wall was very damp, with several clumps of moss growing on it, and four or five wild grass seedlings nestled among them, quietly peeking out and growing.
Li Lingyun looked at the woman beside him.
This person was only seventeen or eighteen years old. Ignoring the blue-purple bruise at the corner of her eye, just looking at her face shape, she was quite pretty.
But she was too thin; her face had no flesh, and her hair was dry and yellow, clearly indicating malnutrition.
Li Lingyun felt that this person might not want to live anymore.
Her palm-sized face was lifeless; he couldn't see a trace of desire to live.
Her large peach blossom eyes lacked luster, and her gaze was blank as she stared out the window, unable to find a focal point.
Li Lingyun sighed, crouched down, and began to untie the ropes on her body.
Feeling someone approach, the woman trembled slightly, then became still again.
Li Lingyun sighed inwardly; she was afraid of him.
He spoke softly, "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."
Li Lingyun slowed his movements, gently untied the ropes on her body, and helped her onto the bed.
This was Anning, the wife the original owner had married yesterday.
Yesterday, after the wedding, Li Lingyun, reeking of alcohol, returned to his small room, preparing to consummate his marriage with his new wife.
But he found that his wife seemed very resistant to his touch.
Li Lingyun, who was used to being a punching bag at home, immediately became enraged and swung his fist at her.
Although he was drunk, he was still a large man. How could Anning withstand his large, sandbag-like fists?
After taking several punches, she could only curl up to defend herself.
This completely enraged Li Lingyun. He rolled off the bed, grabbed Anning's foot, and dragged her towards the edge of the bed, intending to violently throw her to the ground.
But as he retreated, Li Lingyun tripped on a straw sandal on the floor. Already drunk, he couldn't control his body and fell straight backward.
His head hit the ground with a dull thud.
Li Lingyun screamed and lost consciousness.
And then, Li Lingyun from the 21st century transmigrated.
Seeing Anning merely sitting silently on the bed without any other movements, Li Lingyun breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and left the room.
Only after exiting the door did Li Lingyun realize why he thought his house was short, small, and damp. It turned out he was living in a shaded side room, so it was no wonder it was damp.
The Li family did not lack rooms. The five brand-new green brick and tile houses above were built only year 3 ago.
Even if Li Laoda's family and his two sons occupied three rooms, and one was left as the main hall, there would still be one room empty.
However, Li Lingyun's eldest aunt insisted that that room had to be reserved for her married daughter when she returned home, and no one else could live in it.
Li Lingyun lost his parents at the age of ten, and his grandparents passed away when he was fifteen. He had endured endless scorn in the Li family and dared not resist, only able to sullenly huddle in the small, dilapidated side room.
He had been cooped up there for year 3.
He withdrew his gaze and walked towards the kitchen.
The original owner's eldest aunt and sister-in-law were picking chives in the courtyard.
As Li Lingyun passed them, they pretended not to see him, not even lifting their heads.
Li Lingyun didn't care either; after all, these people were just the original owner's relatives, not his own.
He pushed open the kitchen door and went inside; it was clean, with no food in sight.
Fortunately, there was still half a jar of water in the large vat by the stove.
Li Lingyun quickly walked over, scooped up a spoonful of water, and gulped it down.
After a few sips of water, the burning sensation in his throat finally subsided a little.