Chapter 180 The Literate Doorman

Ye Mingzhu looked down at the ground and saw a middle-aged man who looked to be around 35 years old. He had gray hair and obviously more patches on his body than the four men next to him, but his clothes were also cleaner and tidier.

"Can you read?" Jiang Hongyu asked.

"Yes, I have attended a private school before and learned some martial arts. I can definitely guard the door for the young master." The man kowtowed again, as if he was afraid that they would not want him.

"I'm not a young master, I'm just an ordinary citizen." Jiang Hongyu said lightly.

The standing people bowed their heads even lower, clearly not wanting to go with them. The kneeling man kowtowed again: "I am willing to go with you."

Jiang Hongyu asked him to look up and looked at his appearance, which showed that he looked honest and loyal. He then asked about his background. He said that there was a flood in his hometown and he drifted here.

Ye Mingzhu looked at Mrs. Xue, who nodded. "I bought him some time ago. He was accompanied by two fellow villagers who said there was a flood in their hometown."

"You are just a strong laborer and you can find a job at the dock. Why do you want to sell yourself?" Jiang Hongyu asked casually.

The man on the ground shuddered and knocked his head to the ground: "Master, can you buy my wife too?"

"Old Hu, I told you, I will treat your wife well, don't make any demands to the master." Mrs. Xue said loudly with a frown.

Old Hu raised his head, not looking at Mrs. Xue, but looking at Jiang Hongyu with eyes full of expectation: "Master, my wife can cook, clean the house, farm, and mend clothes, but she is a little weak."

Jiang Hongyu lowered his eyelids and said nothing.

He looked at Ye Mingzhu again, and Ye Mingzhu turned directly to look at Mrs. Xue.

Mrs. Xue sighed and said to Ye Mingzhu, "Old Hu sold himself to treat his wife's illness. His wife was injured after a miscarriage and has been sick ever since. He insisted on buying her. He must buy his wife as well."

Although she was in the business of a broker, Mrs. Xue was still kind enough not to force Old Hu to sell himself, and this time was no exception.

"Call his wife out and let's take a look." Ye Mingzhu felt that a man with affection and righteousness was even rarer. Besides, with family affairs involved, this man would be relatively loyal.

Old Hu's eyes were full of gratitude, and he wanted to kowtow to Ye Mingzhu eight or ten times.

Ye Mingzhu couldn't bear to see this and asked him to stand up: "Don't kowtow, we need to see first if your wife is as you said."

Even so, Lao Hu was full of gratitude. This was the first person who wanted to see his wife. When the others heard this, they gave up on him.

Old Hu's wife came very slowly, and walked in with the support of a little maid. Old Hu immediately stepped forward to support her. The little maid glanced at Mrs. Xue, lowered her head and went away.

"Yunniang, the young master and the lady are both good people. They will definitely buy us." Old Hu supported the woman and spoke softly.

The woman named Yunniang looked at Ye Mingzhu and Jiang Hongyu and struggled to kneel down. Ye Mingzhu quickly stopped her: "Don't kneel, we want to ask you a few questions."

Yunniang said the same thing as Lao Hu. They were from the same hometown and had fled here because of a flood in their hometown.

Ye Mingzhu heard that Yunniang's words were different from those of the people beside her, so she asked, "Can you read?"

Yunniang glanced at Old Hu and said, "I am the Hu family's child bride. I am deeply grateful to my father-in-law for not abandoning me and teaching me to read and write since I was a child."

Old Hu said proudly, "My father said that if Yunniang were a boy, she would definitely be able to take the imperial examination."

Ye Mingzhu glanced at Jiang Hongyu. This evaluation was considered very high in ancient times.

Mrs. Xue looked at the expressions of the two men and interrupted Lao Hu: "We are all going to be slaves now, why are you saying this?"

Jiang Hongyu thought for a moment: "My family is from the village. We saved some money and bought a house in town. We want to find someone to help look after the house. You are all educated. It would be unfair for you to look after us."

Old Hu shook his head: "No, no."

Yunniang struggled to kneel down. Lao Hu wanted to stop her, but she looked at him and he helped her kneel down.

"You two benefactors must be kindhearted people for sending me here to ask. We have already been reduced to slavery, and you still ask whether it is unfair or not. Regardless of whether you are willing to buy us or not, Yunniang is grateful."

Jiang Hongyu lowered his head and said nothing, while Ye Mingzhu also lowered his head in thought.

This Yunniang speaks in an interesting way. It seems that she is the one who makes the decisions between the couple.

"Mrs. Xue, how much does Old Hu want for it?"

When Old Hu heard this, he frowned and was about to open his mouth, but Yunniang held him back and he shook his head slightly.

Mrs. Xue's face was filled with joy: "Old Hu is a strong laborer, he can be sold for at least twelve taels."

"It's true that they are strong laborers, but it's also true that they are hard to sell, right?" Ye Mingzhu couldn't help but interrupt.

Both of them just said that they fled here because of the flood. As far as she knew, it had been several months since the flood in Dashun Dynasty this year, but these two people were still here, which meant that they had stayed here for a long time.

Xue Yapo smiled and said, "Look at what you said. How can such good labor not be sold?"

Don't be fooled by her nice words, she was actually starting to hesitate. Lao Hu insisted on buying only the two of them. At first she didn't want to pay attention, but even if someone else bought Lao Hu, he would not leave.

Once she finally sold him, but he ran away the next day, causing her to be severely scolded by the customer. She then sold another person to the customer at a lower price.

"Old Hu is a man of loyalty and righteousness. Why don't you buy his wife as well? I've found someone to see her. It's just a woman's disease, not serious. She can cook and wash clothes without any problem. She washes all the clothes Old Hu wears."

Of course, this only applies to the clothes on Lao Hu. If there are more, she will faint from exhaustion. It can be said that this is a hot potato.

"Okay, fifteen taels, I'll buy both of them." Jiang Hongyu stood up directly.

Xue Ya Po was stunned: "It's so little. We can sell a little girl for five taels. How can such a woman be sold for only three taels?"

Jiang Hongyu insisted on fifteen taels. Lao Hu and Yunniang excitedly clasped their hands together, wishing they could agree on behalf of Xue Yapo.

This price was obviously a loss, but Xue Yapo took a look at Yunniang and finally agreed. Yunniang's health was really too poor. If she delayed any further, she would probably have to pay for the medicine. If Yunniang got something wrong, she was afraid that Lao Hu would go crazy and the product would be even more unsaleable.

"Ms. Xue, you'd better think about it carefully. For two people like this, there may not be anyone else who will buy it except us." Jiang Hongyu turned back and reminded her before walking out of the backyard.

Xue Ya Po no longer hesitated and nodded immediately: "Okay, I'll sell it. I'll go get the indenture for you right away."

Lao Hu and Yunniang looked at each other, unable to believe. Did someone really buy them?