Li Bai's Bun Shop had been closed for several days, and the delicious aroma of fresh buns had not wafted from the shop since that night.
Li Bai was ill, very ill, to the point where he couldn't bring himself to step outside his room.
When the doorbell rang, Li Bai′s heart skipped a beat. "Who is it?" His voice trembled slightly.
"Would you like to buy a child?" A chilling, eerie voice floated in like a whispering breeze. Li Bai instinctively clutched the edge of his bnket, cautiously peering over it toward the door.
The figure standing there was dressed in bck, wearing a bck felt hat. His appearance was unkempt and unattractive, with a dirty, ragged beard caked in dust. He was short, hunched over, and his tight cotton pants, showing patches of stuffing, were pulled up, while his outer coat gleamed with an oily shine in the candlelight. It was clear he hadn′t changed his clothes in a long time.
"What child?" Li Bai lowered the bnket and sat up, looking at the man with distaste.
The man grinned widely and pulled someone from behind him. "This is her."
The girl, with rge, wary eyes, stared intently at Li Bai. Her delicate, pitiful appearance made one feel an overwhelming sense of sympathy.
Li Bai gred at the man and shouted angrily, "I've heard of selling chickens and dogs, but never of selling children! Who are you to her?"
The man continued to smile, bowing slightly as he replied, "I′m just a child trafficker."
Li Bai almost fell off his bed in shock. He couldn′t understand why someone would come in the middle of the night and start talking about selling children. "Get out," he snapped. "I don′t want to buy your child."
"Are you really not going to buy my child?" The man seemed reluctant to give up, continuing to ask.
"No, I won′t buy!" Li Bai snapped, becoming impatient. He turned over on his bed, facing the wall, and buried his head in the covers, trying to ignore the situation.
The man simply smiled faintly, bent down, and asked the girl, "Xiao Qing, what do you usually like to py?"
"I py hide and seek with Xiao Hui," the girl obediently replied.
"Where do you usually hide?"
"I've hidden everywhere."
"Then where did you hide that night?"
"Mm..." The girl thought for a moment before continuing, "It was dark. I think I went into a small alley. I was so scared."
"And then?"
"Then I saw an uncle who put a pile of buns there."
Li Bai′s ears almost perked up, but his body remained still, still facing away from the two of them.
"Then that uncle left, and right after, another uncle came."
This time, Li Bai's body trembled. He knew the "uncle" who came afterward must have been Kong Da.
"I saw that uncle take a piece of silver..."
"Enough!" Li Bai couldn′t hold himself back any longer. He jumped out of bed, grabbed the man, and shouted, "Fine, I′ll buy the child. How much do you want?"
"One piece of silver is enough, ten taels," the man said, looking at Li Bai with satisfaction as he named his price.
"Fine!" Li Bai didn't hesitate. He took a silver ingot from his pocket and handed it to the man. With a firm push, he shoved him out the door and turned to the girl. "What else did you see?"
The girl suddenly smiled, her smile sweet and innocent, but Li Bai felt an indescribable unease. Her gaze was completely different from before.
"I want to sleep now," the girl said with a sly grin. "Maybe when I wake up, I'll remember something." She turned around, stretched her hand out, and climbed onto the bed, pulling the bnket over her head to fall asleep, leaving Li Bai standing there, dumbfounded.
Li Bai remembered that his shop had been closed for several days. Since that night, the door had been locked from the inside, and he had been staying in the back room. How had the man managed to bring the child inside?
The man gnced around quickly, ensuring no one was watching, then swiftly ducked into the small alley.
"Did he buy the child?" A deep, delicate voice echoed from an unknown direction.
"Yes, he did. And it was exactly one piece of silver," the man replied confidently.
