In the north of the city, He Yingyuan found the place where he had taken Luo Huan away, following his memory. He wondered if he had followed the same path in this life.
He could no longer explain why he had been reborn, or whether the outcomes of his past and present lives would change!
Even if this trip fails, he will still come. What if? As long as there is even a one in ten thousand chance, He Yingyuan is unwilling to miss it! He wants to make up for what he has lost, bit by bit!
He only felt relieved when he saw that familiar face in the crowd.
A fourteen-year-old boy, disheveled and unkempt, his clothes tattered, with streaks of blood visible on the exposed skin of his hands! His eyes were downcast, and he exuded an aura of death, as if he had lost all vitality.
A man who seemed to be looking to buy a servant arrived, and the slave trader quickly trotted over, smiling obsequiously.
"Sir, are you here to buy servants? We have plenty of slaves to choose from. These are all from disaster-stricken cities, and they are all from good families! My reputation is the best around here, and the prices are fair!"
As the familiar voice of the slave trader entered his ears, He Yingyuan recalled that he had just come out of the bookstore, spent several days and nights copying a book, and earned a tael of silver. He was thinking of buying a cotton coat to keep warm when he encountered today's situation.
At that moment, he saw Luo Huan's eyes—eyes that were unusually shrewd and intelligent for someone his age—and knew he was probably not so simple. Inexplicably, he felt compelled to buy him.
As a poor scholar, he was all alone and had nothing left to lose. Coincidentally, he felt he needed a companion on his journey to the capital for the imperial examination, and Luo Huan appeared at just the right time.
But now, dressed in a brand-new cotton robe embroidered with green bamboo, he was indeed different.
"There aren't many people here? And why are they all teenagers? My family wants to hire able-bodied adults!" He Yingyuan said, pacing back and forth with apparent dissatisfaction.
Hearing this, the manipulator with the pointed mouth and monkey cheeks became a little anxious. He had bought these lowly slaves all the way from the north, although he had spent very little money!
Most of them come from people who are starving and voluntarily sell themselves into prostitution, or are sold by their parents, all they want is a sip of water or a pound of coarse grains!
However, I still used up some food along the way to ensure they didn't starve! I have to sell it quickly, every day earlier is a profit!
"Hey, sir, don't go!" The slave trader hurriedly stopped He Yingyuan, who was about to leave, and said in a low voice, "Look, where can you still sell strong laborers now? Isn't it these half-grown children who consume the most food that are sold?"
"But these are all clever ones; I carefully selected them. You can train them at home, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied! They can do heavy work too! Besides, our price is cheap; buying two doesn't even cost as much as one strong laborer. This is a great deal!"
He Yingyuan seemed genuinely persuaded, then glanced around at the group of ragged slaves, shook his head, and said, "My lady instructed me to find someone capable of working. Even if we buy a half-grown boy, he has to be clever! To be frank, the ones here are all lifeless; they have no sense of cleverness whatsoever."
"Oh, sir, that's not how it is! We're not even getting enough to eat here, it's tough for me too!"
Look at these kids! They're all so clever usually!
After saying that, he glared fiercely at the kneeling servants in front of him and shouted, "All of you, raise your heads and be more alert! Let your master see! Whoever is lucky enough to follow this master will have their good days come! Do you understand?"
Upon hearing the slave trader's shouts, the teenagers, as if by reflex, all raised their heads in fear! Having witnessed the horrific scenes on the escape route, they knew that their fate might be like that of two-legged sheep, possibly ending up in a pot to be eaten by others—it was chilling!
"Hmm, there are some good ones! How about this, I'll pick one to take back and let my wife take a look."
Hearing that he was planning to buy it, the broker, of course, couldn't refuse and quickly put on a smile and began to introduce it to him.
Finally, amidst the astonished gazes of the slave trader, he chose Luo Huan!
Thinking about the trouble his troublesome son had caused him on the road, the slave trader struggled with whether to tell the master about it. However, considering that he hadn't made any business yet, he stopped struggling with it, since it was his own choice.
"This one's fourteen. He can start working as soon as you buy him, but he's a bit slow-witted. How about one and a half taels of silver?" He only spent one steamed bun to exchange for Luo Huan! The boy's younger brother wanted to eat steamed buns, so his mother sold him! Now he can earn more than one tael of silver, which is a huge profit!
He Yingyuan nodded. Last time, he had also spent a tael of silver to buy Luo Huan! He'd haggled with the slave trader for ages, finally taking Luo Huan away amidst the slave trader's contemptuous gaze. At that time, the slave trader probably thought, "Has this poor scholar gone mad? He doesn't look like someone who can even afford to eat, yet he's spending so much money to buy someone to support! Buying someone is one thing, but he picked a troublemaker! With your small frame, you might get ambushed tonight, and he could run off with your money!"
This time, He Yingyuan did not haggle over the price for two reasons. First, he was grateful to God for allowing him to meet his old friend again. Second, he was not short of money now, and it seemed that only by deviating a little from his previous life could he gain the confidence to change his future.
And so, when He Yingyuan appeared at the carriage shop in the south of the city with the ragged boy, everyone was astonished!
Fortunately, after hearing about Luo Huan's plight, they all showed pity and comforted him, telling him not to worry, that they were all good people and that they had also fled from the north, so they were practically fellow villagers.
Even Liao Hongying felt sorry for the child. She thought that there was no one to help in the family, and if they planted crops in the spring, the child might really be of use. So she accepted the child's plight.
Besides, the husband has always been the one to call the shots in this family. Although they discuss things together, it's still an era where the husband is the head of the household. The husband hasn't brought back any women, so what does it matter if this half-grown boy is a bit of a burden? It's just that he might use up some rice and grain, but that's fine. The family still has some savings, and she knows some embroidery. Moreover, she's started a business with Qin San Niang, so things will definitely get better and better in the future!
If Qin San Niang knew what she was thinking, she would be speechless. "You're supposed to be able to create mechanisms! How can you be so self-deprecating?!"
It's no wonder Liao Hongying is like this. In this era, those who hire the machinery are all wealthy families who build tombs, and those families all have skilled craftsmen! Why would they need someone like her who came from a humble background?
Even if you're powerful, you can't be complacent! A tomb is the root of a family's prosperity! How can you let someone of unknown origin get involved?! Losing burial goods is secondary; disrupting the feng shui will bring calamity from our ancestors.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com