"We haven't seen each other for over ten years, yet he still recognized you at a glance. It's really hurtful that you said you didn't recognize him." Chunxiao stole a glance at Xingfu, "If we can't be husband and wife, we can be friends. Isn't his family very poor?"
"Everyone in our village is poor. There are two brothers in his family. When his elder brother got married, he had to sell an acre of our family's land."
"Brothers, I'm afraid the eldest one has gone to the army!"
Xingfu shook her head. "I don't know about that. We haven't seen each other for more than ten years."
As they chatted, they talked about Xingfu's family. Xingfu was 16 years old when she got married. At that time, her younger brother was 11 years old and her younger sister was 4 years old. When she was at home, she took care of most of the housework. Her younger sister was small and followed her around every day. She spoke of her family in a very calm tone.
"Your ex-husband's home is far away from your parents' home? Why didn't you go back to visit?"
"It's not far, just two villages away. The man I married is more than ten years older than me. He had a wife before, and I don't know why she died, so he married me. I didn't want to marry him at the time. His family was well-off, so they gave him 6 taels of silver as a betrothal gift. My parents then kidnapped me and sent me over. I haven't been back since then."
"Since your husband's family is well off, why did they sell you out?"
"He'd been corrupted by the people in town for the past two years, often going to the gambling house and spending almost all of our savings. Then there was the conscription, and he was already dissatisfied with my inability to bear a son, so he beat and scolded my son and me. When someone in the village found someone recruiting, he bought us."
Such parents and such men should all be thrown into the trash. Chun Xiao sighed, "It's better not to go back."
In the evening, Chunxiao and a few others went to the lobby to order food. While they were sitting and waiting for the food to be served, the man suddenly ran in again.
"Xiaoqin, you are Xiaoqin, right? I must have seen the right person. Why don't you recognize me?"
Xingfu looked at Yan Dashan and Chunxiao with some trepidation.
"Since we're old friends, you two can have a good chat. I'll save some food for you."
"Thank you, Miss. I'll be back soon." Xingfu stood up, took the man's sleeve and walked out the door.
Yan Dashan looked at the two people walking across from the inn and said, "They really know each other!"
"Old friend, Xingfu said he is a servant and doesn't intend to recognize me. Oh, brother, I forgot one thing. I was so busy preparing the bedding for my side that I forgot to prepare the bedding for yours."
"I'm not a three-year-old child who needs you to prepare everything for me. I asked Shuwen to buy everything, including 10 pieces of cloth. However, the cloth here is more than twice as expensive. If I had known earlier, I would have bought it from Qingzhou and brought it here. I asked Shuwen to wash it two days ago. Since there are many women who bought it, I asked them to go back and make it themselves tomorrow. You haven't made those either!"
"The needlework and thread are all ready. If we ask Happiness and Perfection to do it, how long will it take? Of course, they can do it themselves. The extra cloth can also be used to make towels. Thanks to mother, I bought all that cloth. Next time I go back, I will ask around and buy some more cloth."
"We have nothing here, and we need to buy everything. I'm worried about spending all the money I have, and I'm afraid there won't be much left of the money you borrowed."
"I've spent more than you, so why should you be afraid?" The waiter quickly brought the food. "The soybeans will be harvested in a few days. We'll have to arrange for everyone to go there by then. I think once they arrive, we'll have to start buying oxen and carts. Otherwise, transporting the soybeans will be a problem. One or two horse-drawn carts won't be enough."
"It costs a lot of money to buy livestock." Yan Dashan sighed when he talked about spending money.
"Let me tell you something that will cheer you up. The buckets and basins here are quite cheap. I couldn't wait for the carpenter to finish them, so I bought about a hundred of each. When you go back tomorrow, you can pick them up from my place and I'll give them to you."
"You spend money anyway, what's there to be happy about? Now that things are like this, I just hope everything goes smoothly."
"When your cotton makes money in the fall, you'll be able to let it go. When you look back on it now, you'll realize this little money is nothing."
Yan Dashan smiled and said, "When I can speak as arrogantly as you, it means I have achieved great success. Thousands of taels are just a small amount of money in your mouth. Tsk tsk, if I had your money, I might not come out to make trouble. Anyway, it is enough for this life."
"Brother, let me teach you something: life never stops, struggle never ceases, and we must live meaningfully."
"Stop saying those clichés of yours. I won't understand them even if you say them. Eat quickly! The food is getting cold."
Halfway through their meal, Xingfu returned with red eyes. Yan Dashan was there, and Chunxiao didn't ask anything, but just told her to eat quickly.
After returning to the room, Chunxiao asked her why she was still crying while chatting.
Xingfu covered her eyes with her hands and then suddenly let go. "Miss, it's okay. He knew I was sold and asked me why I was here. I told him I followed you out to do something and that I'm your maid now. I let him go."
Chun Xiao nodded, "I'm glad you're okay."
The next morning, the three of them were going to the car dealership to rent an oxcart. Xingfu drove the carriage to the door. When Chunxiao and Yan Dashan were about to get in, the man came again and knelt down in front of Chunxiao. "Miss Yan, I want to redeem Song Qin. Please name a price. I beg you to be flexible."
Chunxiao and Yan Dashan looked at each other in surprise.
Xingfu ran forward in two steps and pushed the kneeling man aside. "I told you I'm fine now. Why do you act on your own?"
She looked at Chunxiao nervously, "Miss, I have no intention of redeeming myself. Don't listen to his nonsense. I have nothing to do with him." After saying that, she pushed the man, "Hurry up and leave. Are you sick?" It can be seen that she was very anxious.
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