Chapter 321: A Stirring of Pity
"What are you thinking!"
The woman said disapprovingly, "The main household won’t let us get away with this!"
She casually poured each of the two children a bowl of water. Neither of them cried or fussed; they just obediently held their bowls and drank.
She had been the man’s partner for many years. Sometimes, out of loneliness on the road, they would sleep together. They were practically husband and wife.
One look at the man’s shifty eyes and the woman knew what he was thinking.
’I’d rather die than be sold to a place like that.’
’The sooner I die, the sooner I’ll be reborn.’
The woman muttered, "What a sin." Looking at the two innocent children, she felt a pang of pity and ordered two more dishes.
’It’s their last meal, anyway. Might as well let them die on a full stomach.’
The man grumbled that it was a waste, but didn’t say anything more.
They were accustomed to such sinful work. Maybe it was a lingering shred of humanity, or maybe it was to lessen their karmic retribution later, but they always let the children eat their fill before delivering them to the main household.
Good food or bad, as long as they were full, that was all that mattered. This was the first time they’d brought their charges to such a high-end restaurant.
There were four dishes in total: braised pork trotters, "Four Happiness" meatballs, stir-fried bamboo shoots, and a chicken soup.
Fuzai reached out a small hand to poke Tongtong under the table, then picked up her chopsticks and began to dig in with gusto.
Tongtong blinked. Whatever Fuzai put on her plate, she put on hers. The two of them were small, but their appetites were anything but.
Tongtong was more restrained. She remembered her auntie telling her not to eat too much at once, as it was bad for her stomach.
Fuzai had no such qualms. Meat, vegetables—she devoured it all!
The two traffickers, wanting to appear fond of the children, had let them eat first. By the time they realized what was happening, only a little of the chicken soup was left on the table.
The man was dumbfounded. "This... this..."
’This kid must have come from a wealthy family to be able to eat so much!’
Fuzai didn’t let the remaining chicken soup go to waste. She slurped it all down, leaving the two adults with a table full of empty plates and bowls.
She patted her little tummy and looked up at the woman. "Hungry."
"Good heavens!"
The woman flinched. "How much have you eaten? And you’re still hungry!"
This spread was supposed to be enough for all four of them. The woman had even planned on packing the leftovers for dinner.
She never expected this...
Seeing Fuzai open her mouth as if to cry, she quickly said, "Alright, alright! We’ll order more, we’ll order more!"
She called for the waiter, Xiao Er, and ordered two more vegetable dishes. ’That should be enough to fill her up, right?’ she thought.
Fuzai’s little face fell. She opened her mouth to wail, and the woman, catching this out of the corner of her eye, hastily added a meat dish to the order.
’Oh well. The two of us haven’t eaten yet, anyway.’
Fuzai was satisfied now and sat obediently in her seat, waiting for the food.
Tongtong looked on with admiration. ’This little sister looks younger than me, but I can’t believe she can eat so much!’
Fuzai proudly lifted her chin. Beastmen naturally had large appetites, and as a Dragon Clan Beastman, she could eat even more than a typical Beastman.
The restaurant’s portions weren’t large; they focused more on refinement. ’I could still eat another three plates!’
So, Fuzai proceeded to finish off the new dishes, leaving the man and woman with nothing but some broth from the vegetables. Their faces contorted, they barely managed to fill their stomachs by mixing the broth with rice.
When it was time to pay the bill, the pain was practically physical.
They finally managed to leave the restaurant, only for Fuzai to spot a pastry shop nearby.
Her Female Mother had told her that a girl’s stomach has several compartments. The one for the main course was full, but the one for dessert wasn’t.
And so, with a strained smile, the man bought her a large bag of pastries.
They didn’t make much money to begin with. This single trip had just wiped out half their savings!
The man had lost all other inclinations. All he wanted was to deliver his charge as quickly as possible and get far, far away from her!
Sensing that their patience was wearing thin and that they were on the verge of lashing out in frustration, Fuzai instantly became docile.
She sat quietly in the carriage eating her pastries, then held one out to the woman.
"Eat."
The woman’s gloomy expression froze. She took the pastry and took a small bite.
Looking at Fuzai, who was quiet and not making a fuss, she said abruptly, "Husband, do you remember that child I had?"
"That was years ago," the man, still in a foul mood, said impatiently. "She’s probably long dead by now."
The woman fell silent, tears silently streaming down her face.
She and the man both worked for the main household. A few years ago, she had gotten pregnant by accident. By the time she realized it, she was too far along; an abortion would have endangered them both.
So she gave birth to the child—a girl.
Unfortunately, she was tested at birth and found to possess Advanced Spiritual Power, so she was taken away.
Her own father delivered her to the main household with his own hands.
The man was still rambling. "Stop dwelling on things that are over and done with. You know, neither of us has much talent, but the kid we made turned out pretty good."
"It’s a shame your body was damaged back then. Otherwise... sigh!"
The woman stiffened. Seeing the man was about to say more, Fuzai couldn’t take it anymore. She picked up the hardest pastry and threw it.
"AGH!"
The man cried out in pain. He was about to demand an explanation from Fuzai, but the woman pulled the carriage curtain shut and told him to just focus on driving.
He muttered a few curses under his breath and went back to driving.
Inside the carriage, the woman looked at Fuzai, who had her head lowered guiltily, and suddenly chuckled.
Fuzai didn’t know what she was laughing about. ’Should I take advantage of the crowds and try to escape with the older girl?’ she wondered.
Her initial thought had been misguided. She could escape from the lion’s den, but this other girl couldn’t.
Just as she was thinking this, she heard the woman mutter to herself, "There’s no escape. People from the main household are nearby."
Fuzai glanced up at her, then quickly looked down again.
The man was seething. He wanted to deliver the two of them to the main household immediately and watch them disappear with his own eyes.
But the woman’s next words changed his mind.
"Let’s head back to our place first. The fabric of these kids’ clothes is high quality. We can sell it for some money."
The man’s eyes lit up. He grunted in agreement and changed direction.
They lived in a small courtyard. It wasn’t a large place, just a main house and a woodshed.
The man went to tend to his injury, telling the woman to get the girls into different clothes. The woman agreed and led them to the woodshed.
Fuzai’s heart clenched. Her clothes weren’t important, but the bottle of sugar pills hidden inside them was. They could be a lifesaver.
Just as she was trying to figure out how to get through this, the woman tossed a change of clothes to them and began to silently sharpen a knife.
Fuzai froze for a moment, then quickly pulled Tongtong over to change. In the process, she managed to hide the sugar pills inside their old clothes.
By the time they were done, the woman had finished sharpening her knife. She tied their hands, then walked out of the woodshed, knife in hand.
Fuzai wiggled her hands. "Huh? It’s not tight."
Hearing her speak, Tongtong breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Little sister, so you’re not simple-minded after all!"
Fuzai giggled. "Of course not. I was just tricking them."
The two quickly told each other their names. Being so young, they didn’t understand why the woman had tied the ropes so loosely. At the city gate, the ropes had been so tight they couldn’t have possibly broken free.
They made a plan to sneak away and escape that night.
Just then, the sound of chopping wood came from outside.
The sound was close, and they could hear the man and woman talking. "Husband," the woman said, "if we ran away, where could we possibly hide without being found?"
"What nonsense are you thinking about now? You know the main household’s methods. We’ve both had Gu implanted in us, unless you’re a newcomer or something."
"Sigh... If it weren’t for the Gu, we could just find any old place to hide. The main household wouldn’t bother hunting down small fries like us."
"That’s right," the woman repeated. "Just find a place to hide. As long as we’re out of the city, we’ll be fine."