Chapter 346 Buying the First Servant
Dahe Village has always been united.
One child hadn't returned home late at night, and half the villagers got out of bed to help look for the child.
The child's surname is Xu. He is the only son of the Xu family in this generation. He is six years old this year. He has three older sisters and two younger sisters. He is a boy who is pampered and spoiled by the whole family. Now that this has happened, the old lady and old man in the family are sitting on the ground crying and wailing.
"You really are a jinx!" Old Mrs. Xu pointed at an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl and cursed, "The fortune teller said you had bad luck before and found you several husbands, but they either died or broke off the engagement. You jinx, why don't you just die?"
Sister-in-law Xu raised her hand and slapped him hard: "Xiao Cheng is the only heir of our Xu family. If anything happens to him, I'll make you pay with your life."
"Alright, alright." The village head's wife went over to stop the fight. "Aunt Dashan is here with Xiao Hei and Xiao Dian. Quickly bring out the clothes the children usually wear."
Grandma Xu got up from the ground, went inside to get a piece of clothing, and came out. Little Black and Little Dot went up to sniff it, then turned around and ran towards the back mountain.
The villagers immediately followed the two wolves up the mountain.
Cheng Wanwan followed, but out of the corner of her eye she saw the girl named Xu Mei standing there, her right hand covering her face, her teeth biting her lower lip tightly, and tears streaming down her face.
After she came to Dahe Village, she heard many people mention this girl. Before she was fourteen, her life was normal, but after she turned fourteen, things started to go wrong. Her first husband was her cousin. They had just gotten engaged when her cousin died suddenly. A year later, she found a man from a neighboring village. They had just gotten engaged when the man fell down the mountain and broke his leg. So she went to break off the engagement.
These two incidents spread Xu Mei's unlucky reputation, making it even harder for her to find someone.
Two years later, things calmed down, and the Xu family arranged another marriage for her in the city. However, before they could get engaged, the family went to jail for some reason.
Year after year, Xu Mei grew from fourteen to nineteen years old, becoming a well-known old maid in the village.
Xu Mei was not well received by her parents, brothers and sisters-in-law at home. She did the hardest work and ate the worst food. Every day while working, she had to take care of her little nephew, who was only five or six years old and was so young that even dogs would avoid him. How could a person who was working keep an eye on him?
And sure enough, something bad happened today.
As Cheng Wanwan was sighing, she saw Xu Mei walking towards a well not far from the Xu family's house.
A chill ran through her. Could this girl be contemplating suicide by jumping into the well? She was only nineteen, a flower in the bloom of youth, with so many possibilities in her life.
Cheng Wanwan quickly caught up and grabbed Xu Mei's wrist: "Don't do anything foolish."
“Aunt Zhao…” Xu Mei turned around, her eyes moving slowly, then she gave a bitter smile, “Aunt Zhao, you’ve misunderstood. I didn’t jump into the well, I was fetching water. I’ll definitely need to boil water to take a bath after Xiao Cheng comes back. If I’m slow, my sister-in-law will be very unhappy.”
Cheng Wanwan didn't know what to say.
She stood on the rock and looked up at the back of the mountain. She saw the crowd returning, which meant they must have found their child.
It turned out that the child had gotten lost. As it got dark, he didn't know how to get down the mountain. He hid in a tree hole, too afraid to make a sound. Exhausted and hungry, he fell asleep. Little Black and Little Dot came to the rescue and pulled the child out of the tree hole. If it weren't for these two wolves, the whole village might not have been able to find him even if they searched all night.
"You jinx, what are you dawdling about here for!" The eldest brother of the Xu family walked over and kicked Xu Mei in the knee. "Hurry up and fetch water to boil, or you'll get a beating!"
Xu Mei was caught off guard and was kicked to the ground. The bucket next to her was also overturned, and the water flowed to Cheng Wanwan's feet.
Cheng Wanwan frowned.
Holding the unconscious child in her arms, Sister-in-law Xu said with lingering fear, "With her in our Xu family, the Xu family will never have a peaceful life. Fortunately, nothing bad happened today, otherwise the Xu family line would have ended."
The village head's wife coughed and said, "We're all family, so let's not say such hurtful things. Xiaomei is a good girl..."
"She is good, but she has bad luck." Sister-in-law Xu gritted her teeth. "Doesn't she know how many men she has brought bad luck to? My son absolutely cannot be killed by her! Xu Mei, if you really care about the Xu family, leave today, and go as far away as possible."
Xu Mei stared wide-eyed in disbelief, her gaze falling on Old Mrs. Xu.
"Xiaomei, we've raised you for nineteen years, we've done everything we could," Old Mrs. Xu said coldly. "You're too much of a troublemaker. The Xu family can't keep you here. Find your own way out."
Brother Xu said coldly, "What way out can she possibly have on her own? Tomorrow morning, I'll take her to the human traffickers, and we can sell her for a few bucks."
"This, this..." Aunt Wang was extremely shocked. "Xiao Mei worked like a slave in your Xu family, and she was the one who took care of everything in the fields. How could you be so heartless as to sell such a good girl off? She is, after all, the Xu family's own daughter!"
Old Xu puffed on his pipe and said choked, "Luckily she can work, otherwise the Xu family would have stopped accepting her long ago."
Xu Mei slumped to the ground, tears streaming silently down her face, her eyes filled with despair.
Cheng Wanwan walked into the crowd and said calmly, "Boss Xu, are you sure you want to sell Xu Meifa?"
Brother Xu dared not look Cheng Wanwan in the eye, feeling a chill run down his spine. He avoided her gaze and said in a muffled voice, "For the sake of the peace of our Xu family, this is the only way."
“Okay, then I’ll buy it.” Cheng Wanwan’s voice was even colder. “Name your price.”
She didn't want to play the master-servant game, but things had developed to this point, so she had no choice but to step forward.
First, her family was indeed short of people. Second, Xu Mei was a hardworking girl. Third, she felt sorry for Xu Mei, who had parents but whose lives were even more miserable than hers as an orphan. She felt compassion and wanted to lend a helping hand.
Sister-in-law Xu suddenly perked up: "Auntie Dashan, are you really going to buy this jinx back?"
All eyes in the village were on Cheng Wanwan.
Although they all sympathized with Xu Mei's plight, they dared not bring her into their home. They believed in the existence of a jinx, preferring to err on the side of caution, as they revered ghosts and spirits.
How could Cheng Wanwan, a modern person, believe such remarks?
She nodded: "Sister-in-law Xu, name your price."
Sister-in-law Xu rolled her eyes, coughed lightly, and said, "These days, a bride price of half a tael of silver is required. Xiao Mei is good-looking and hardworking. From now on, she will be sold to your family. It's not unreasonable for our Xu family to ask for two taels of silver."
"This isn't excessive?!" The village head's wife was utterly shocked. "Even if Aunt Dashan is rich, she can't ask for such an outrageous amount..."
"Auntie Village Head, just two taels of silver." Cheng Wanwan squatted down and helped Xu Mei up. "Would you be willing to sell yourself to me?"
Xu Mei cried for a long time, but gradually calmed down.
She turned to look at the Xu family. Her own parents had cold expressions, her brothers and sisters-in-law seemed eager for her to get out, and her nieces, whom she had raised, didn't care about her coming or going at all.
This home is no longer a home.
She turned around and knelt straight down on the ground: "From today onwards, I will no longer be surnamed Xu. Please, Madam Sui, bestow upon me a new name."
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