The old woman was carefully picking up rotten vegetable leaves from the ground. When she heard about such a good opportunity, she immediately tossed the leaves into her basket.
“Miss, fifty copper coins for half an hour? You’re not fooling me, are you? What kind of job is worth that much?”
Wu Yulan took out fifty copper coins, counted out ten, and handed them over. “It’s just a matter of moving your lips. See if it’s something you’re good at. If not, I’ll find someone else.”
The old woman’s eyes were glued to the money. “Moving my lips? You mean arguing and scolding? That’s my specialty!”
Afraid Wu Yulan might not hire her, she hurriedly patted her chest in recommendation. “To be honest, in this whole area, no one’s tongue is sharper than mine!”
Wu Yulan handed her the ten coins. “This is the deposit. Once the job’s done, I’ll give you the remaining forty.”
The old woman took it happily. “Alright, tell me—what exactly do you want me to do? How should I perform?”
“Like this…”
After hiring the old woman, Wu Yulan also found a barefoot doctor carrying a medicine box and selling remedies by the roadside.
She spent another fifty copper coins to have him help stage a performance.
…
“Finally sold off that old rice. It almost rotted in my hands.”
The middle-aged man gulped down a mouthful of strong liquor, feeling immensely satisfied.
“Father of my child, you said once the old rice was sold, you’d buy me…”
The middle-aged woman clutched the cheek that had just been slapped and tugged at the man’s sleeve pitifully.
The man pulled out a ten-tael silver note and slapped it boldly onto the table. “Take it!”
“Father of my child, that beating wasn’t for nothing.”
With the silver note in hand, the woman beamed and eagerly poured him wine and served him food.
“Father of my child, you eat first. I’ll go fry two more dishes for you!”
As she spoke, she shot a sideways glare at Song Jinhua. “You wretched girl, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and start the fire for me!”
When Song Jinhua didn’t respond for a long while, the woman reached out and lifted her chin. But the moment she saw the red bumps covering her face, she jumped in fright.
“Are you trying to die? Why did you suddenly grow so many disgusting things?”
Looking closer, she realized Song Jinhua’s entire body was covered in red welts, one patch after another—an alarming sight.
“You wretched girl, what disease have you caught?”
Afraid of infection, the woman immediately pinched her nose and jumped aside.
Just then, a shrill old woman’s voice rang out from downstairs. “Waiter, your rice stock isn’t complete. Is there more on the second floor? I’ll go take a look upstairs!”
“Hey, there’s no rice stored upstairs—you can’t go up!” The waiter tried but failed to stop her.
The old woman rushed up to the second floor and immediately spotted Song Jinhua. When she saw the bumps all over her body, she panicked and turned to run downstairs.
“Heavens above! Why is there someone infected with smallpox here? This disease spreads—it kills people! Oh, this is the end of me!”
The middle-aged woman’s hair stood on end at once.
She quickly told the waiter to stop the old woman and raised her voice. “Auntie, are you sure that’s smallpox on that girl?”
“There was smallpox in Ganzhou before—I stayed there. When someone’s infected, they look exactly like this. No mistake!”
“Don’t hold me back! I barely escaped from Ganzhou. I don’t want to get infected with smallpox and die here!”
The old woman struggled to get downstairs, her face filled with terror, as if something were chasing her from behind.
Seeing this, the middle-aged woman felt her scalp go numb.
“Father of my child, c-could that girl really have smallpox?”
The middle-aged man was not so easily deceived. He said coldly, “We spent eight taels of silver to buy her. Even if she really has smallpox, she’ll earn that money back for me first!”
“Go, find some random barefoot doctor. This is probably not smallpox—maybe just some caterpillar bites.”
Truly afraid that Song Jinhua had smallpox, the woman rushed off to find a doctor without another word.
She could have sent the waiter, but what if it really was smallpox and she got infected?
Before long, she returned with a barefoot doctor in tow.
“Doctor, please see whether this girl has caught sma—”
The middle-aged man frowned and cut her off. “See if she’s been bitten by some insect. She’s covered in red bumps.”
The barefoot doctor, carrying his medicine box, stepped forward to Song Jinhua. He first carefully examined the red bumps visible on her skin, then took her pulse.
“Doctor, how is she? This girl was bitten by an insect, right?”
The middle-aged man repeatedly emphasized the words insect bite.
But the doctor stood frozen for a long while. After a moment, he suddenly collapsed to the ground, his face filled with terror.
“This illness… this illness I cannot treat. I truly cannot!”
“It’s smallpox—smallpox!”
The doctor scrambled backward, pointing at Song Jinhua, his voice trembling. “This is smallpox, definitely smallpox! When smallpox broke out in Ganzhou before, I was invited by the local headman to go there and treat it.
There is no cure! Once infected, within a month the person will surely die!”
“Forgive my incompetence, forgive my incompetence!”
With that, the doctor hoisted his medicine box onto his back and fled in panic.
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman turned deathly pale and dragged her foolish son far away.
“Child’s father, wh-what do we do now?”
If only one person had said it was smallpox, he might not have believed it. But even the doctor had confirmed it—then it was almost certainly true.
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes. In just an instant, he had already devised a plan.
“You wretched girl, hurry and wrap yourself up tightly in cloth!”
“Lock her in the woodshed—lock her in there first!”
“Child’s mother, hurry and find a slave broker!”
The woman immediately understood her husband’s intention and rushed off in a flurry to find one.
But when she arrived at the brokerage, she discovered that all the slave traders avoided her like the plague. After asking around, she learned that word had already spread throughout the entire market that the girl in their household had contracted smallpox. Not a single broker dared to take her.
“Child’s father, what are we going to do? This girl is going to be stuck in our hands!”
The man thought of the eight taels of silver he had spent and felt a sharp pang in his heart. He had hoped to sell the girl back to a broker—even recovering five taels would have been something!
Just then, Wu Yulan’s voice rang out.
“Shopkeeper, I can’t find a cart. Why don’t you send someone to deliver the rice to my house? I still need to go to the brokerage later to buy a little maid to help out at home.”
At these words, the couple exchanged a glance.
Well, well—here comes a fool with money to burn!
The middle-aged man winked at his wife and stepped forward with a smile. “Ah, Auntie!”
“You’re looking to buy a girl? I happen to have one here. I originally bought her to be a child bride for my son, but my son doesn’t like her, so I’ll just sell her off cheaply.”
Wu Yulan pretended to be interested. “Oh? The girl who was serving you just now? She did seem quick and capable.”
The middle-aged woman hurried to add, “Yes, yes! I trained her well—she’s very diligent. She can cook, boil water, do everything.”
“Well, she does seem decent, but…”
“I just bought so much rice and earlier spent quite a bit on clothes and jewelry. I don’t have that much silver left.”
Wu Yulan looked troubled. “Your girl doesn’t look cheap. I’m afraid I can’t afford your price.”
“You can, you can!” the woman urged, tugging at her husband’s sleeve.
The man shot his wife an annoyed look for being foolish, but considering the circumstances, recovering even a little silver was better than nothing.
“Auntie, since you’ve bought so much rice from my shop, I’ll sell her to you at a discount. I bought her for fifteen taels—I’ll let you have her for eight.”
“So expensive? I can’t afford it, can’t afford it. I’d better go check the brokerage instead.”
With that, Wu Yulan lifted her foot and made to leave.
Seeing this, the man quickly stepped forward to stop her. “Ah, Auntie, you’re an old customer of ours.”
“How about this—what price do you have in mind? Just name it.”
Wu Yulan raised five fingers.
The man was just about to agree when he saw her slowly fold them down—four fingers, three, two…
Until only one remained.
“One tael of silver?” the woman shrieked.
“Yes. That’s all the silver I have left. If it won’t do, then forget it.”
As she spoke, she turned to leave without the slightest hesitation.