Chapter 83 Asarum
Tao Tao was so frustrated that she frantically ran her fingers through her hair. How did this bring up the issue of whether one's life is cheap or not?
She was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping, and she pouted, "I'm not going to bother with you anymore, I'm going to sleep."
I turned around and went back to sleep for a while. When I woke up, it was a bit noisy outside. I didn't know who was talking.
She got up and went outside. The aroma of food wafted over, and the two people in the yard were chatting and laughing. Tao's mother was no longer the resistant person she had been yesterday.
"My benefactor, please wash up."
She smiled and handed the handkerchief in her hand to Tao Tao, waiting for her to use it.
"You don't need to do this, I'm a little uncomfortable with it."
Tao Tao didn't let her continue holding it, and took the basin from her hand as well.
She paused for a moment, then turned and followed closely beside Tao Tao.
When it was time to eat breakfast together, she stood to the side without sitting down, just like a servant waiting for her master's orders.
"May I have your name?"
"I…"
Seeing her hesitation, Tao Tao added, "Never mind, you won't be staying here for long anyway. You can go wherever you want after you recover."
Suddenly, she knelt on the ground, tears welling up in her eyes, and choked out, "Please, benefactor, take me in. I have nowhere else to go."
“I was sold into the Yang family by my father. I don’t want to go back to that terrible Yang family. My father will never let me go home. He will only sell me to other people. I don’t want this. Please, my benefactor.”
Seeing how pitiful she was, Tao's mother got up to help her up, but Tao Tao grabbed her arm to stop her.
Tao Tao watched coldly from the sidelines, but still listened patiently to her finish speaking.
“I think you probably don’t understand. I work in the funeral industry and come into contact with dead people every day, unlike you who live in the backyard and do the same things day after day.”
"Do you see the paper figures and gold ingots scattered all over my yard and house? Aren't you afraid of bad luck? Besides, you're a woman. Even men are afraid of these things. Aren't you afraid?"
Upon hearing this, she looked around and happened to make eye contact with a paper figure with a white face and red cheeks. Instantly, her face turned pale and her eyes revealed fear.
Just when Tao Tao thought she was going to back down, she heard her say firmly, "I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid! As long as my benefactor can give me a meal and a place to sleep, I'll be content."
“I am willing to serve my benefactor day and night as a servant to repay his life-saving grace.”
These words left Tao Tao speechless, both amused and exasperated.
Even though Tao's mother was reluctant, she knew how difficult it was to raise another person, so this was absolutely unacceptable.
"Tao'er, we...we can't afford to raise her, so perhaps..."
Tao Tao reached out and patted her shoulder to comfort her.
Tao Tao is currently managing the shop, and naturally she is also in charge of the accounts. Hiring more people, let alone one, is no problem for her; she's just worried that she won't be able to handle it.
I've been busy lately, so why don't we let her give it a try?
"Get up first, let me think about it."
"Thank you so much, my benefactor, thank you so much, my benefactor..."
She wiped away her tears. Although she was somewhat disappointed, she believed that as long as she tried her best, her benefactor would definitely let her stay.
"What's your name? Or do you want to change it? After all, in the eyes of the Yang family, you're already dead."
Tao Tao gestured for her to sit down and pushed the side dishes next to her in front of her.
She looked up in surprise and said expectantly, "Please, benefactor, bestow a name upon me."
Tao Tao looked at her in surprise, thought for a moment, and said, "How about calling her Xixin?"
"This servant is illiterate. If my benefactor thinks it is good, then it is good. Thank you for bestowing this name upon me."
She got up, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed, her face a mixture of tears and laughter, her eyes filled with gratitude as she looked at Tao Tao.
Having a name bestowed by her master meant she had a place to belong. She was used to being a servant and couldn't possibly survive on her own outside. She would rather choose another master than live a life of wandering and displacement.
Tao Tao stepped forward and helped her up, staring into her eyes as she said, "Don't kneel down all the time, and don't call yourself a servant. Just call me boss."
"Boss?"
She called out hesitantly and stammeringly.
Tao Tao nodded vigorously: "Yes."
Xi Xin looked at Tao's mother, who was gazing at her with a smile, and Tao Liang, who was looking at her curiously, and said, "Madam, young master."
have to!
Tao Tao patted her forehead helplessly, and facing the questioning yet cautious look in her eyes, she curled the corners of her lips and said, "It's okay, let's eat."
After the meal, the three of them went to the shop together. Tao Tao and Yu Shan went out, while the others stayed behind to guard the shop.
"Take your time to familiarize yourself with the shop. Yuhe and my mother will be with you. I have to go out for a while."
Xi Xin followed beside her, nodding, but seeing her walk away, she was about to follow without thinking, until Tao's mother called her, and she came back to her senses.
She lowered her head awkwardly: "I'm sorry, madam."
Madam Tao smiled gently: "Xixin, you can just call me Aunt Tao. We are not a wealthy family, there's no need to call me Madam."
Yu He chimed in, "Aunt Tao is such a kind person, you don't need to be afraid of anything."
She was stunned for a moment, and soon felt her eyes welling up with tears. She quickly lowered her head and nodded.
She never expected them to be so friendly, not at all looking down on her because of her lowly birth.
Tao Tao sat to the side, while Yu Shan drove the carriage and held the reins.
This time, we'll go to the nearest one, Yongxiang Pavilion, in the north of the city. The one in the west of the city has closed down. Liang Yongsheng is dead. He has no wife or children, but he has a younger brother who works as a cook at an inn.
She plans to take over that store and open a branch.
With a horse-drawn carriage, the distance wasn't too far, and it was still acceptable.
The main purpose is to open a branch of a funeral parlor, and choosing a location is really difficult. Right now, having an existing location is the best option.
Soon, the carriage stopped at Yongxiang Pavilion, where a burly woman was lying on a chair, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan to cool off.
Looking inside, the owner, Zeng Rong, was at the counter looking at the ledgers and fiddling with an abacus.
The more he calculated, the more he sighed, his brow furrowed in worry, as if he were about to go bankrupt tomorrow.
"Didn't we make quite a bit of money during the Ghost Festival a while ago? How come we're actually losing so much money when we do the math?! Is this some kind of ghost story?"
Hearing him mutter, Madam He rolled her eyes and said impatiently, "Don't we have money for food, drink, and sanitation every day? We also have to support three children and four elderly people."
"Have you forgotten that two months ago, our family borrowed several bolts of cloth from the cloth shop next door on credit and ten bushels of rice from the rice shop on credit? And you've been drinking every day. The money for that wine has piled up like a mountain. If we hadn't paid back some of the money, would you still be able to drink the cheapest wine?"
He was scolded so badly that he turned red in the face instantly.
"You're utterly useless. I should never have married you! Now you're stuck with this unlucky shop, barely making any money, and people are disgusted by you."
"I should have married that butcher! At least I'd have meat to eat every day!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com