Mo Yan was kindly led by the shopkeeper to the backyard, where she saw a spacious yard already filled with rows of people waiting to be selected.
There were no fewer than a hundred people: old people in their fifties or sixties, as well as children around the ages of five or six; young girls of thirteen or fourteen, and women in their twenties or thirties. Overall, there were more women than men.
Looking at the several white-haired old people at the very front, Mo Yan's heart was heavy. These were people who should have been enjoying their twilight years, surrounded by doting children and grandchildren, but instead, due to various misfortunes, had fallen to this pitiable state.