When Xie Yunjiao arrived at the human market, she saw many people squatting on the ground with signs hanging on their bodies with prices clearly marked on them, just like commodities. She couldn't help but be stunned.
The feeling of discomfort slowly spread throughout her body. She didn't like the atmosphere here; it was too depressing.
She has never traded in human beings. All those in Qinyuanfang are her employees. She pays them for their labor and does not control their personal freedom.
But the people here are not like that. They will be sold by matchmakers to anyone who can afford the money. Those who buy them are essentially buying their bodies and lives.
As their master, you can decide their life and death.
Xie Yunjiao didn't want such a master-servant relationship, but she posted a job notice on the street saying she was recruiting people to raise pigs, but no one applied. Most people were unwilling to do such dirty and tiring work.
So she had no choice but to come here.
And she came here for another reason, she wanted to be lazy.
Her business is growing bigger and bigger now, and there are too many things to manage.
If she has to do everything herself, especially the trivial things in life that are time-consuming and laborious, she needs to find someone to help her.
Buying slaves was the best solution, because she held the indentures of those people and was not afraid that they would become jealous of her wealth and then rebel.
These slaves sold themselves to others and did not dare to commit crimes because they did not have pass certificates and could not escape.
When the matchmaker saw Xie Yunjiao, she immediately came over and greeted her enthusiastically.
"Madam, what do you want to buy? A maid? Or a servant?"
"Let me take a look first. If I like it, I'll tell you." Xie Yunjiao said.
She didn't like matchmakers introducing people like commodities, as that would make both the servant and herself feel uncomfortable.
She didn't realize that while she was looking at the people waiting to be sold, those people were also looking at her.
"Look at her appearance, I guess her family doesn't have much money. If she is bought by such a person, she will probably suffer." said a pretty little girl.
The several good-looking girls standing next to her nodded.
They were selected by the matchmaker and placed in the most conspicuous position in order to sell them at a good price.
"We're lucky enough that someone comes to buy our things. Why bother about these things? It's good enough to have enough to eat." said someone who was not in the same group with them.
The girl teased the person who had just spoken. It was a man. His previous master had moved away with his family. He disliked the man's wife because she was frail and sickly, so he sold them to a matchmaker at a low price.
The matchmaker was so annoyed with them that she had to feed them every day, but they were two adults and two children and they ate a lot, so they ate for a month and still couldn't sell the food.
The matchmaker got angry and cut their meals in half.
In order not to let his wife and children go hungry, the man gave all the food to them, but he himself became pale and thin from hunger.
"If you can't sell your products, you'll naturally worry about having to eat. But it's different for us." The girl said, giving the man a look.
The man felt so hurt that he pursed his lips and stopped talking.
Xie Yunjiao listened to their conversation and pointed in the direction of the girls and asked, "How much are those?"
"Four taels each. I have the indentures. I'll help you with the paperwork once you buy them."
"How can she be more expensive than a pig? Nowadays, a pig weighs over a hundred pounds, and at twenty cents a pound, that's only two or three ounces. I don't see much meat on her, how can she be sold for so much money?"
The girl was looking at the man provocatively, trying to show off that someone was asking her price again, but no one was interested in the man.
But she never expected that Xie Yunjiao would actually say that she was worse than a pig. She was furious, but she didn't dare to make trouble because she was afraid that she would ruin the matchmaker's business and have no food to eat tonight.
"Oh, ma'am, that's not the case. She is pretty, so the price should be higher," said the matchmaker.
The matchmaker is well versed in the art of buying and selling. Business in the human market is different from that in other places. Everyone who comes here will take someone back.
According to Xie Yunjiao's dress, clothes, hairstyle and makeup are all the most popular ones recently, but she is not wearing any gold or silver jewelry, and does not look particularly rich.
In that case, she planned to introduce some cheaper ones to Xie Yunjiao.
"Can good looks be enough to make a living? Does good looks mean you can work well? We buy them to work, so whether they are pretty or ugly, it makes no difference to me."
Xie Yunjiao's several questions made the self-righteous girl feel ashamed.
The people waiting to be sold here are either those who have committed crimes and are being sold, or those who are from poor families and cannot afford to eat. People like them are bought back to do rough labor.
Just like Xie Yunjiao said, if you don’t care about appearance, it doesn’t matter who you buy.
"It looks good and is pleasing to the eyes." The matchmaker said with a dry laugh.
"Then how does he sell it?" Xie Yunjiao pointed at the man and asked.
The man's eyes lit up but then dimmed in an instant.
Because he knew that as long as the matchmaker told Xie Yunjiao the true situation of their family, Xie Yunjiao would not buy it.
After all, Xie Yunjiao looks like a very smart person who would not do business at a loss.
"As for him, I have to explain it to you clearly, lest you accuse me of dishonesty in business. He has three taels of silver, but he has a sick woman and two young children at home."
The matchmaker was eager to sell the man's family as soon as possible so that they wouldn't have to keep eating idle meals in the matchmaking shop and wasting her rice, so she set a very low price.
If you can sell it, you have to beat the drums and gongs.
Sick? That depends on what the illness is. If it's a serious illness, it's not worth it because she'll have to spend money on treatment after buying it.
"Let me take a look first to see what disease you have." Xie Yunjiao said.
The man was stunned for a moment. Usually, people who came here would pass by them as soon as they heard that his wife was still sick, but now Xie Yunjiao said she wanted to see his wife?
Is there really a hope of being bought?
The man's eyes changed. He no longer had that nervous and lonely expression. Now there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"My wife is just weak and caught a cold, but I have no money to buy medicine, so I have been putting it off." The man said sadly.
In fact, the lady had almost recovered, but the matchmaker asked her to wash clothes because she used to be a laundry lady in her previous master's house.
My wife is still weak. She touched cold water and was blown by cold wind in such a cold weather, which caused her to become ill. She coughs constantly and often feels dizzy.
The matchmaker also said that my wife was pretending to be sick, and once she even beat her until she fainted.
He asked the matchmaker to help him find a doctor, but the matchmaker refused.
After waiting for a long time for spring, the weather became warmer and my wife's condition improved a little.
But my wife's body still couldn't recover and she couldn't do heavy work.
Xie Yunjiao went to see the man's wife. Two skinny children were sitting next to her. Only their eyes were big, dark and wet, like two frightened deer.
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