Meanwhile, Owner Chen was already doing calculations in his head, one after another.
An eight-year-old girl already understood many things.
The moment she entered, she realized that the man sitting beside the shopkeeper was the one who had come to buy her.
As soon as she saw him, the man gave her what seemed like a sinister smile, and she instinctively became frightened.
Her eyes, already swollen from crying so much, reddened again.
She hid behind her mother and clung tightly to her waist.
“Mom, don’t sell Daya, okay? Daya will behave. I’ll take good care of my little brother. I’ll work outside to earn money and buy medicine for Dad. Mom, don’t sell me.”
The girl’s mother also burst into tears, her heart breaking.
If they still had enough money to keep living together, what mother would ever sell her own child?
But the man of the household had fallen ill.
If they couldn’t afford to cure him and he ended up leaving her alone with the children, how would that family survive from then on?
The woman wept bitterly, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t bring herself to say:
“We’re not selling her anymore. Let’s go home.”
Owner Chen asked with a servile smile, “Master Zhao, what do you think of this girl?”
“Hmm, she’s not bad. If she’s willing to come with me, I’ll buy her.”
“No need to rush, no need to rush, Master Zhao. Look at how well this girl has been taken care of. How about raising the price a little?”
Zhao Baihui turned his head, utterly stunned.
Well taken care of?
Did he really have the nerve to say that this girl was ‘well’ when she’s this skinny?
Where does he get that kind of confidence and courage?
From his big brother, Zhang Bairen?
Or from Liang Jingru?
“Master Zhao, aren’t you satisfied with this girl?”
“If you find another suitable one, get in touch with me.”
Zhao Baihui had just made a considerable amount of money and was feeling quite excited.
Suddenly, he felt like going out and spending some of it, just to calm down the excitement bubbling inside him.
Besides, the mother and daughter were crying so heartbreakingly that he genuinely didn’t have the heart to separate them.
Owner Chen was left bewildered.
Does he really intend to leave?
Or is he pretending not to be interested so that I’ll raise the price?
If this beast…
ahem!
If Master Zhao really decides not to buy her, I’ll lose several dozen copper coins.
“Master Zhao! Master Zhao, don’t leave! Let’s talk a little longer. We can negotiate the price.”
Zhao Baihui ignored the damnable Owner Chen.
But he couldn’t ignore the woman’s hand, which had grabbed onto his trousers.
Those hands were far too dry and fragile.
He genuinely feared that if he pulled with even a little force to free himself, he might break them.
“Sir, I’ll sell her!”
Those words seemed to consume the woman’s last remaining strength.
The moment she finished speaking, she collapsed onto the floor.
“All right. I’ll buy her.”
Zhao Baihui’s expression was difficult to describe.
If she hadn’t been pushed to such an extreme, what mother would sell her own daughter?
If only her own life were at stake, she would probably rather die than do something like this.
But if she didn’t sell her, she probably wouldn’t be the only one who died.
Zhao Baihui returned to the table, took out two pieces of silver, and placed them on it with a sharp clink.
This time, Owner Chen didn’t dare bargain over the price.
He hurriedly brought out the sale contract and asked both parties to leave their fingerprints.
Mother and daughter remained locked in an embrace, crying from beginning to end.
Owner Chen, on the other hand, was delighted.
He quickly completed all the formalities, pocketed the two pieces of silver, and took out one hundred and forty copper coins to hand to the woman.
Thirty percent commission.
Sixty copper coins in pure profit.
What a great deal!
One person was worth ten jin of rice.
No—after deducting the commission, it was seven jin of rice.
And seven jin of rice was enough for a poor peasant to regain some strength and survive for a while.
Although no one knew whether they would actually recover.
Seeing the mother and daughter reluctantly say their goodbyes, while the mother repeatedly told her daughter that she had to behave herself, Zhao Baihui felt both uncomfortable and irritated.
“I have things to do. I should leave.”
The woman held the money in her left hand and her daughter in her right.
Finally, she let out a cry of pain and released her daughter’s hand.
“I’ll tell you where we live. If you want to visit your daughter, you can come whenever you want. I won’t stop you.”
“Sir, this old woman knows the rules. I won’t go to your house and cause you trouble. You are a good person. I only hope that you will treat my daughter well. In my next life, even if I have to serve you like a cow or a horse, I’ll repay you!”
“Don’t worry. She’ll live much better in my house than she did in yours.”
Zhao Baihui looked at the girl.
“Your name is Li Daya? That’s not a good name. From now on, you’ll be called Zhao Jinyuan.”
“Come on. Let’s go home.”
Zhao Baihui walked ahead.
Zhao Jinyuan followed behind, crying as she walked.
She cried because, from that moment onward, she would be separated from her family.
And also because she had no idea what kind of life awaited her.
“Jinyi, open the door. I’m back.”
The front door opened, and Jinyi poked her head out.
There was some mud on her face and clothes, but the moment she saw Zhao Baihui, a smile appeared on her face.
“Sir, you’re back.”
“How did you end up covered in dirt?”
When he entered the courtyard, Zhao Baihui saw that Jinxiu and Jinwen were there as well, busy turning over the soil with some tools.
“Didn’t I tell you that you didn’t need to do this? We won’t be staying here for long.”
“We didn’t have anything else to do anyway. It’s better to take care of the soil a little. Maybe we’ll be able to harvest something before we leave.”
Zhao Baihui couldn’t help but feel helpless.
What good girls they were…
It was a shame they had been so unlucky.
No.
Now that they were with him, perhaps they should be considered lucky instead, right?
“Sir, who is this girl?”
“Oh, her? I just bought her. From now on, her name is Zhao Jinyuan. She’s your younger sister. Take good care of her.”
“Jinyi, go prepare something for her to eat. Jinxiu, Jinwen, stop turning over the soil. Go heat some water and bathe Jinyuan. She already smells a little.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The three girls answered cheerfully.
Zhao Jinyuan had been wiping away her tears nonstop, but when she saw the girls, who weren’t much older than her, the uneasiness she felt diminished somewhat.
Especially because the girls seemed completely relaxed and cheerful.
That made her start thinking that perhaps her future life wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“By the way, can any of you sew?”
“Sir, all of us can.”
At that time, sewing and cooking were essential skills for any girl.
They might not have been good at them, but they couldn’t afford not to know how.
“I… I can too…”
Even Zhao Jinyuan spoke softly, wanting to prove that she could be useful.
Before they had parted, her mother had told her that she had to prove her worth, be diligent, obey, eat little, and…
“I know. Go take care of your things. I’m going out for a while too.”
As soon as Zhao Baihui left, the girls began talking among themselves.
“You two heat some water and bathe Jinyuan. I’ll go prepare something for her to eat.”
“All right, Big Sister. Go take care of that. We’ll take good care of our little sister.”
Zhao Jinyuan was led into the room, still somewhat dazed, by two sisters who were only a little older than her.
As they walked, they talked to her and told her how good this place was, how kind Sir was, and that she had nothing to fear.
Then they bathed her and put her in a set of clothes that was also rather worn, but very clean and without even the slightest unpleasant smell.
Finally, they brought her to the table.
Sitting there was a steaming bowl of thick, generous rice porridge.
There was also a small dish of pickled vegetables.
“What are you looking at? Eat! Aren’t you hungry?”
Zhao Jinyuan swallowed and lowered her head.
“Sisters, you eat. I’m not hungry… No, I am hungry, but a small bowl of wild-vegetable porridge is enough to fill me up. I don’t need rice porridge.”