108 Chapter 108
◎Meeting an old servant again◎
Gui'er swung the stick in her hand, and the fire tongs flew out, scaring the bride. The bride screamed twice and huddled in the corner.
Gui'er swung the stick again, and the teapots and cups on the table fell to the ground with a clanging sound.
She put one foot on the stool and pointed at the butcher with her stick, "Is she your family member?"
The butcher didn't know who the visitor was, but he wasn't afraid of a woman. Just as he was about to yell, he saw the strong man standing behind Gui'er with his arms folded on his chest, and his momentum instantly lost.
Gui'er: "Your wife bumped into our wife, and the ancestral jade broke into three pieces. Just tell me how to compensate her!"
The butcher glared at Huaihua fiercely. Huaihua didn't dare to look him in the eye and turned her back to him.
Gui'er: "She's a fool, not even a pound of flesh on her body. Luckily, she knows where she comes from. Every wrong has its perpetrator, and since you're her man, you have to pay this debt for her!"
The neighbors who heard the noise came in to see, but the butcher was so angry that he couldn't vent a single word.
"Gentlemen, let me tell you, this woman used to be a good wife in my family, but I divorced her and married another woman. I have nothing to do with her now, and all the neighbors can testify to this."
Guier pointed her stick at the neighbors who were peeking out of their wits, and they all ran away like rats, fearing that they would get into trouble.
Gui'er asked Huaihua, "You've been divorced, do you know?"
Huaihua didn't respond, so Gui'er turned to the butcher and said, "Your wife doesn't even know you divorced her. How can I trust you without any evidence? Don't even think about denying your debt!"
Seeing that the other party was powerful and came to collect debts, the butcher no longer had the intention of asking Huaihua to serve him and his bride. He just wanted to get rid of this troublemaker.
While explaining that he couldn't find her in the past few days, he said that he could ask the neighbors and the head of the village to be witnesses.
In order to finish the job quickly, the butcher worked quickly.
After receiving the divorce letter, Gui'er shouted that she wanted to take Huaihua to ask her father to pay off his debts. Huaihua cried and shook her head, and was dragged away by Gui'er.
The butcher breathed a sigh of relief. If he had known this, he would have sold her earlier! He didn't get any benefit from her!
Gui'er did not go to find Huaihua's father. She took the divorce letter to the government to file it, and stuffed a handful of money into the yamen official. The official drew up a contract for Huaihua, and Huaihua sold herself into slavery to pay off her debts.
That's all right.
After finishing this matter, Guier felt very happy without any worries.
"Your luck has changed. From now on, we'll follow Madam Cheng and we'll never have to worry about food and clothing. Madam Cheng is kind and never harsh on anyone. She even prescribed medicine for you to nourish your body. Go back and kowtow to her a few more times."
Huaihua wiped her tears and followed closely.
Gui'er told Cheng Mu not to buy any more people and to just use Sophora japonica flowers for now. Cheng Mu planned to take a look at the people the human traffickers brought this time before making a decision. If she really couldn't buy anyone she was satisfied with, she would look for another one slowly.
This time the human trafficker brought two people, one of whom was a mute woman who walked with a limp.
"She used to work for a wealthy family in Yunzhou. There were a lot of dirty secrets going on in wealthy families, and she was implicated and had her tongue cut off. Later, she met a strict master, and before she was sold, she was given a beating with a stick, and she hasn't recovered yet."
"Madam Cheng, you bought it at a good price. Not being able to speak is not a big problem. Her ears are good and she can listen. You don't have to worry about her saying nonsense. After being taught a lesson a few times, she has become honest and knows how to focus on her work. Moreover, she comes from a wealthy family and has been educated. She does things in an orderly manner, which is better than those from poor families."
"Don't look at her injuries now. Once she's healed, she'll be clean and presentable. Come, raise your head so the master can see."
The broker was a smooth talker who could tell you anything bad. Even those who were abused and sold by wealthy families were good value for money. Seeing that Cheng Mu had been staring at the old woman, she asked her to show her face so that everyone could see clearly.
The mute woman raised her head and looked over bravely. Cheng Mu's eyes met hers, and both of them trembled in their hearts.
Neither of them could hear what the man said next.
The mute woman knelt down and kowtowed, and Cheng Mu gave the broker thirty taels of silver.
After the broker left, Cheng Mu helped the mute woman up, who was already in tears.
However, she could only make simple sounds like "hmm" and "ah" from her throat. Cheng Mu asked the mute woman to open her mouth and saw that the root of her tongue had been cut off.
"Mammy, how have you been these years?"
The mute woman nodded, then shook her head and cried out in a sobbing sound.
In the original owner's memory, this maid's surname was Xia. She was one of the maids who had watched over the original owner as she grew up. She was in charge of the small kitchen in the concubine's courtyard and was quite skilled in cooking. After the original owner lost the battle with the concubine, the Cheng family erased their identities one by one, and those who served them were probably also eliminated one by one.
But Nanny Xia couldn't speak, so we couldn't know what she had experienced in the past or over the years.
It is true that Cheng Mu deliberately avoided the Ding'an Cheng family, but when she unexpectedly met her old servant today, she did not ignore her because of her former identity.
This time, Nanny Xia was sold out by the previous master. The pawnbrokers bought and sold her all over the place and didn't bother to take care of her. She was also old.
Cheng Mu placed Nanny Xia in the main house with Gui'er, Huaihua and others, and introduced her to several people in the family.
"These are my two children, nicknamed Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi."
Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi stood side by side, looking at people curiously. Nanny Xia kowtowed to the young master. Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi had never seen such a scene before, so they looked at Cheng Mu.
Cheng Mu said: "The mute woman is injured, so there is no need to perform such a grand ceremony."
Xiaoliu quickly helped the man up.
Cheng Mu: "There is another uncle named Mu Yun. His family runs an escort agency. The two people who work for him are his real escorts and are not often at home. There are only a few of us at home, so there is not much to do. You and Huaihua should take care of your health first."
Today, the broker brought people here, and only Wanli at the door knew about it. Mu Yun was not there, and Gui'er was not around either. She and Huaihua were watching Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi get up.
Gui Er pulled Cheng Mu aside and asked quietly, "Why did you buy a mute? How inconvenient!"
Cheng Mu looked at her, and before she could say anything, she continued, "It's okay if he's dumb, as long as he's not deaf and works hard, that's all. I'll show them around the house and let them know where to go. I'll find you later. If anything happens."
Gui'er took Huaihua and Yapo to the kitchen, where Li Yan was stretching noodles and the water in the pot had not yet boiled.
Gui'er said to him, "These are the two new people that Madam Cheng bought. You won't have to do these things in the kitchen anymore. I'll show them around."
Gui'er told them where the rice, flour, millet and wheat were stored, and showed them the tools for pounding rice and grinding flour. Then she took them to see the vegetables in the cellar, the firewood and charcoal in the woodshed, and also took them to see the well.
"Don't use ice water for washing clothes in winter. Madam Cheng has instructed us not to freeze our hands. Just boil a pot of water and dilute it. It only costs a little firewood. Oh, and Madam Cheng made her own hand ointment. Remember to apply it every day. Don't worry about wasting it."
He walked from the kitchen to the gatehouse and introduced them to Wanli, then went back to the second gate and showed them the toilet. He walked around the entire house and asked them to rest there first.
The mute woman knew she was here to be a servant, so there was no reason for her to just lie there and do nothing. She gestured to go to the kitchen to help. Huaihua didn't dare to rest by herself, so she went along.
Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi were reciting in the morning in the study. Guier came in and sat with them obediently.
Cheng Mu then explained the meaning to them, and Guier listened very carefully.
When Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi were writing, Guier stretched her head to watch carefully.
This was the first time that Gui'er didn't find studying boring. Cheng Mu also noticed it, so she asked the two children to ask Gui'er why she wanted to see her after class.
"That's it." Gui'er said shyly, "I want to learn a few words."
Cheng Mu was surprised. She wouldn't be surprised if she said she wanted to recruit people to practice martial arts and build the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun. But now, she actually said she wanted to learn to read.
"I asked you to learn before, but you never did. Now even Ren Xiuying can write Spring Festival couplets."
Two days ago, Xiuying asked someone who went to the city to attend the market to bring her a letter. The letter said that she had bought some red paper, cut window decorations for the village, wrote the word "Fu", and wrote a couplet.
"Tell me, why did you change your personality today?"
Gui'er leaned forward, her face full of excitement. "Madam Cheng, when I went to deal with Huaihua yesterday, it was such a relief. You have no idea how frustrated that butcher was!"
Amidst her excitement, she felt somewhat helpless. "When he asked someone to be a witness and they were writing the divorce letter, I was afraid the butcher was trying to deceive me. What if they colluded and wrote a few random words to deceive me? I wouldn't know!"
Gui'er's eyes were determined. "At that time, I was thinking, I have to learn a few words. Even if I can wield a stick with great power, if I can't see that someone wrote the word 'divorce letter' as 'eating shit', it would be too embarrassing! How can I take care of eighteen people in the future! Madam Cheng, you teach me to read. I don't want to be blind."
Cheng Yu chuckled.
Gui Er said anxiously, "There's also the indenture for Sophora japonica. If the clerk wrote it as Plum Blossom, Apricot Blossom, or Morning Glory, I wouldn't know what it was!"
Cheng Mu chuckled, "Your awakening has come just like that."
Gui'er had her own ideas. "When you teach me to read, don't make me shake my head and recite those tongue-twisting words like 'Heaven and Earth, Mysterious Universe, and Great Desolation'. I'm not interested. Start by teaching me the names of everyone in the family, starting with Huaihua's divorce letter and her indenture. I need to recognize those first."
Cheng Mu couldn't help but smile, "Then I'll teach you how to recognize the list of talented people to be recruited, right?"
Gui'er's eyes lit up and she nodded repeatedly.
As soon as she made up her mind and started to study seriously, the weather got colder day by day. After a heavy snowfall, Gui'er was able to recite Huaihua's divorce letter by heart.
She changed her name and wrote the divorce letter in her own name.
When the second snow fell, she had finished learning about the indenture. Cheng Mi then showed her the house lease and land sale deeds. There were many types of contracts and many items, enough for her to learn for a year or two.
During this time, Huaihua and Yapo's bodies had recovered somewhat, their faces gaining some flesh, looking rounder and more rosy. Xiaoliu's Qianxi fruit had just begun to bear fruit, and she visited her three times a day. Cheng Mu's vegetables, however, were in short supply. In winter, it was a rare sight to have fresh greens on the table. Whenever they were offered, restaurants and wealthy families would rush to grab them.
The only thing that bothers me is marriage.
Wang Bing had come to the house several times, and Rong Zhaohua had also been there every now and then. No one had ever come to Mu Yun, but they had always come to Cheng Mu. Cheng Mu had refused them many times, either directly or indirectly, but it was no use; they kept coming.
Rong Zhaohua had a good excuse. She exchanged martial arts with Gui'er. Both of them practiced martial arts and their skills were comparable. They improved with each other. Gui'er not only found a sparring partner, but also wanted to use her to recruit people, so they became very close.
That day, Rong Zhaohua invited Gui'er to their escort agency, and they happened to meet Wang Bingren.
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