Just as Meng Zhao turned around, two dark figures bumped into her. Before she could see their faces clearly, the two knelt down with a thud, followed by a series of mournful cries.
One of the slightly taller men said in a tearful voice, "Kind person, please buy us! I'm strong and can do the work, and she's educated and literate. We'll definitely work hard for you. Please have mercy and buy us."
Meng Zhao was startled by them. He was just checking the situation at the city gate and didn't know how they figured out he wanted to buy people. They probably just came up to try their luck.
She tried to help them up, but they remained kneeling on the ground. Meng Zhao had no choice but to squat down and talk to them, "How old are you two? Are you boys or girls?"
The two men were dressed in very tattered clothes, their hair was messy, and their faces were covered in mud, so she could hardly tell them apart.
The slightly taller one was very quick-witted. Upon hearing Meng Zhao's question, he immediately replied, "I'm sixteen, she's fourteen. We're both girls, and we've come here from a place fleeing famine. We're really desperate. Please buy us. We'll repay your great kindness."
Meng Zhao was somewhat skeptical of the age she mentioned. The two of them didn't look that old, but it was also possible that they were hungry during this period, so it was hard to tell.
Meng Zhao was somewhat interested in the other little girl's ability to read, so he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.
The short girl was thin and her face showed some timidity and unease. She first cautiously looked up at Meng Zhao, wanting to reach out and take it, but found that her hands were dirty.
Meng Zhao cooperated by turning the embroidered side towards her. Although a little nervous, she still read it aloud one by one: "The cassia blossoms fall in the quiet of the day, the spring mountains are empty in the stillness of the night. The rising moon startles the mountain birds, which chirp from time to time in the spring stream."
Seeing that she recognized him, Meng Zhao was pleasantly surprised. In those days, it was hard to find literate people, let alone girls. So he asked her a few more questions, and the girl answered them one by one, saying where she was from, what her family did, that her parents had died and she was all alone, and that she had just arrived in Qingshi County a few days ago.
Seeing Meng Zhao keep asking questions, the tall girl showed a hint of anxiety on her face. She reached out and tugged at the hem of the short girl's clothes. The short girl immediately said, "Please, kind people, buy us. We will definitely work hard for you."
Meng Zhao was about to speak when a broker interrupted her, "Young lady, if you want to buy someone, you might as well come and take a look here. We can find literate people, they'll just cost a few taels of silver more, but at least they'll be of good character. These two young ladies are not easy to deal with. I heard that the tall one killed someone not long after he arrived. Taking someone like that back will cause endless trouble."
Hearing that this person had a murder charge against him, Meng Zhao's heart skipped a beat. Seeing that Meng Zhao was already wavering, yet was being stopped by this broker, the tall girl's face flushed red with anger, and she glared fiercely at the broker.
But the broker, who had been in the business of buying and selling people for years, was not afraid of a little girl and immediately glared back.
At this moment, the short girl's eyes also reddened with anxiety. She knelt down again with a thud and said, "Kind person, it's not her fault, it's really not her fault! That man sneaked into our shack in the middle of the night, intending to do something to me. That's why she fought with him. When he was running away, he lost his footing and hit his head on a rock, which is why he died. It really wasn't her intentional killing. Please, buy us..."
Meng Zhao could imagine how difficult it must be for the two women to be among the refugees. He felt a surge of sympathy and pity for them, so he helped one of them up and asked, "If I only buy one person, will you come with me?"
The short girl hesitated when she heard this. She hadn't had a full meal in months. She heard that once she got to the county, she would be able to eat her fill. But then she looked at the person with her.
Others might not know, but she did. She knew she hadn't killed anyone. The incident even attracted the attention of the county's police, because the man had fallen into the hole on his own, and he was known for causing trouble among the refugees. People died among the refugees every day, so the police didn't pursue the matter further.
All of this started because of her, so how could she abandon her? So she said firmly, "I want to be with her. Please, kind people, could you buy her too? We don't eat much, so we won't waste food."
The broker next to him sneered. In fact, he had long had his eye on this literate girl. She was beautiful and knew how to read. Whether she was sold to a brothel or to a wealthy family as a maid, she could fetch a good price. Unfortunately, she insisted on being with that tall girl and refused to sign the indenture otherwise, so he gave up.
After listening to her words, Meng Zhao glanced at the tall girl again. Her requirements for buying and recruiting people were similar; she only cared whether the other party could create value for her.
It's already rare for a short girl to be literate, and the fact that she was willing to help her benefactor even though she had the chance to escape on her own shows that she is a person of great loyalty and affection.
As for the tall girl, her pupils were dark and bright, revealing a tenacious spirit. She looked much stronger than the other girls among the refugees, so she must have some strength. She then said, "You all stand here and wait for me."
Since the migrants had no household registration, they could not enter the county town. If Meng Zhao wanted to buy them, he could only have them sign the indenture outside the county.
The county supported the people to go out of the city to buy people, and there were writing brushes and ink at the city gate. Meng Zhao first spent a few coins to inquire about what the broker had said.
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