"Can you two poor bastards afford ten taels of silver?"

After the price was quoted, the man didn't say anything for a long time. He flicked the hand that was cracking the whip and a sneer appeared on his face.

The boy kneeling on the ground shuddered all over and curled up silently. His hands, which were originally determined to hold on to the corner of his clothes, became numb for a moment and seemed to want to let go.

Not only did the man holding the whip not believe that these two people, who were dressed in ordinary clothes, could come up with ten taels of silver. Even he himself, who was kneeling on the ground, knew that ten taels of silver was too much for an ordinary household and they could not afford it.

Even if I could afford it, I wouldn't spend ten taels of silver for nothing to buy a... slave...

Hua Shi ignored the sneer on the man's face and looked at the cage behind him. There was another dying person lying on the edge of the cage with his back to them. His thoughts paused for a moment, and he raised his hand and pointed, looking in that direction.

"Ten taels of silver, and I'll take the one lying in the cage with me."

The man glanced back, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes, and frowned. The next second he immediately agreed happily, "Okay, ten taels of silver, and you can take both of them away."

The man lying in the cage was about to die, and he was too lazy to ask someone to pull out his tongue. He was dying, and it was estimated that he could not be cured if he was bought back. As for the one kneeling on the ground, he was too thin and small to be able to be carried. Maybe if his tongue was pulled out, he would die immediately and there would be no need to be sent to the ring.

I got ten taels for free, which was a profit.

The boy, who was about to let go, was stunned when he suddenly heard Hua Shi's voice responding.

The feeling of escaping death surged from his feet to his heart, and the blood flowed backward, making his whole body cold and stiff, and he was slow to react.

The chains on his legs were removed, but he still stood there in a daze until both parties paid the money and signed the contract, and two thin pieces of paper, the indentures, flashed past his sight. Only then did he suddenly come to his senses.

“Pah pah pah!”

The man with the whip slapped the iron cage impatiently several times and shouted angrily at the person lying inside, "Hey! Hurry up and get up!"

The man with curled up hands and feet supported himself on the cage and slowly sat up. His waist-length hair was scattered on the back of his head. His lowered head obscured the expression on his face, making it difficult to see.

"Hurry up! Why are you so slow?"

The man standing in front of the cage stretched out his foot impatiently and kicked the man out.

Then he looked at Hua Shi and said, "Look, everyone is here, you can take it away."

After saying that, he no longer paid attention to Hua Shi and the other three standing in the corner. He took the whip and continued to scold the remaining ten or so people.

The boy stood up straight, still in a daze and unable to react.

He... he was really bought. He didn't have to stay in this place anymore... nor did he have to drift around anymore...

Xie Mingchi tugged at Hua Shi's sleeve, and when he met Hua Shi's gaze, he blinked and asked doubtfully, "Ah Shi, what are you going to do with these two people? Are you really going to take them back to the village?"

He didn't speak out to stop him at first because he saw the reluctance and softness on Ah Shi's face, but... the situation in the village was complicated. If he brought such an outsider with unknown origins back to the village, he would inevitably be criticized. In serious cases... he might even be driven away.

The village has never tolerated outsiders like this...

Hua Shi nodded, "Take it back."

Since she had bought everything, she naturally had to take it back. It looked a bit pitiful at first, but she now had enough silver in her hands. She planned to keep enough for two hundred taels to ask a healer to heal Hua Yu's legs, and for the rest... she would go back and demolish the old house and build a new one.

I also renovated the bamboo forest in the backyard, went back to think carefully, drew the floor plan of the house, and then started work.

Building a house requires both money and effort. The more ideas you have in mind, the more things you need to do later. So, if you bring two more people back with you, when the plan is implemented, one more person means more effort.

Right now, as long as the cooperative business with Guan Wei does not stop and there is enough money, supporting two more people is just a matter of adding two pairs of chopsticks.

Hua Shi thought a lot, but he didn't think about what Xie Mingchi was thinking at the moment.

"Ashi, the village is xenophobic. If you bring two people from other families back, there might be trouble," Xie Mingchi reminded.

Then, he slowed down his voice and added, "If you really want to take it back, you'll have to do it secretly."

The village's environment is really unpredictable. Clan values ​​are very strong. If outsiders want to settle down in the village, it's best to find a way to make the villagers accept them...

Hua Shi listened to Xie Mingchi's words and lowered his eyes to think.

I forgot about this...

The boy also heard what Xie Mingchi said. Although he didn't understand the reason, he knew it was... Can't he take them back? Then...

He gritted his teeth and pursed his lips, wanting to say something but not knowing how to say it.

Before he could finish his thoughts, Hua Shi suddenly asked, "What are your two names? How old are you?"

The boy subconsciously raised his head and looked at her. He opened his mouth, but swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth: "I... I don't have a name. I'm seventeen years old."

Hanashi's eyes swept over his short stature and thin body, "You don't need to lie in front of me. Tell the truth, are you really seventeen years old?"

The boy swallowed hard, rubbed his hands helplessly, looked at Hua Shi's eyes that seemed to see through everything, and said anxiously: "Although I'm not seventeen yet, I am really strong and can do a lot of work..."

Looking at the slightly furrowed brows of the flowers, the boy's voice gradually weakened, and he whispered, "Twelve years old... I, I really don't have a name now. Please give me a name, Madam."

Hua Shi turned to look at the other person standing behind the boy, raised her gaze, and landed on his messy hair, and said, "What about you?"

The man lowered his head and hunched his back, as if he was in a daze. Suddenly he heard Hua Shi's voice and knew it was directed at him.

A hoarse voice slowly rang out, "Twenty-seven..., no name..."

…