Looking at her, I said calmly, "It's not difficult to take you along with us, but at least I need to know why you want to leave, why are you being locked up in here, and would your parents agree to let you leave. If I took you away without the consent of your parents, what do you think my consequences would be? In addition, if you really love your sister, you shouldn't use her to coerce me to bring you away from here. You know better than me that we are giving your parents money in exchange for your sister's help. From a material point of view, I don't think we owe you anything. But from a humanitarian point of view, if your request is reasonable and legal, I will still agree!"
She wrapped her arms around her skinny body and sneered. Then, she said sarcastically, "You city people really know how to talk. You can easily ruin a life just by giving us money. Alright, it's also good that you can make things clear. It shows that you are also a reasonable person. Alright, I'll tell you everything."
I was a rational person, but I was still a little shocked after listening to this girl's story. Her name was Susan Hathaway, the eldest daughter of Gail Hathaway.
In the remote mountain village, these people had no other sources of income except the few acres of land they owned. However, when the country gradually loosened the family planning policy four or five years ago, the villagers here suddenly found another good source of income, which was children.
I didn't know who brought the news back to the village, but eventually, children became a form of business transaction. Some foreigners came here to take a few of the children away and gave the parents tens of thousands of dollars. Most of the children in the village did not have birth certificates. Some of the children who were taken away were sent back, and some did not.
I was a little emotional while listening to her words. She looked at me and scoffed, "Do you think these people are idiots? Just now, you saw that my mother has nine children, and I am the eldest. I am old and useless to them, so she wanted to marry me off and collect money in betrothal gifts. For the money, she is willing to marry me off to a fool without hesitation. If I hadn't gone to school or witnessed the lives of other children, maybe I would accept it. But I have seen it all."
"I clearly saw what kind of family the children of my age live in and what kind of life they lead. So, I'm not willing to accept all of this. I'm not willing to let my mother ruin my life like this. I want to leave this place, and go somewhere far, far away from here."
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