Seeing the four people blocking her way, Jiang Zhi frowned. Ma Guan, who was the bodyguard, immediately stepped in: "Madam, should we send them away?"
Having joined a new master's household, he needed opportunities to showcase his talents.
Jiang Zhi waved her hand. This was the second time he had come to her. She should listen to what he had to say.
The man first looked enviously at the people following Jiang Zhi. There were indeed dozens of them, big and small, and none of them were crying. He felt an irresistible itch in his heart.
However, facing the wealthy lady with her servants, the man couldn't help but feel inferior. He lowered his voice and flattered her, "Madam is truly wealthy and powerful, buying so many people at once! Even a single hair on their head is thicker than the waists of all of us..."
He spoke with an accent, which Jiang Zhi couldn't quite understand, but it didn't hinder communication: "I already said I wouldn't buy from your family. They're too thin and sick!"
The woman just now only looked thin, but now the two girls are not only thin, but also sick. Their size does not match their appearance, and Jiang Zhi cannot tell whether they are ten years old or a few years old.
The taller children were dressed in rags, had sallow complexions, and thin, yellow hair.
The shorter ones have severe skin diseases, with large patches of mottled dandruff on their necks and faces.
Because they were too thin, the two children's originally round faces became more prominent, revealing their high cheekbones, and their sunken cheeks made them look unattractive.
Moreover, Errui had already inquired about it. This family disliked the third son's wife for giving birth to two girls, and they beat and scolded her every day while living in the refugee camp.
I tried to sell it a few times before, but no one bought it because of its ugly appearance.
Jiang Zhi only glanced at their appearances; she was more interested in the three men's expressions.
People who grow up in dysfunctional families often have a poor mental health, and the trauma of childhood can haunt them for life. Worst of all, they are more likely to develop antisocial personality disorder.
Having just sent away the wolf cubs raised by the original owner of this body, Jiang Zhi didn't want to take them back.
At this moment, the woman's eyes were filled with a pitiful pleading look, just as she had the first time she came here.
Perhaps she has always been like this, spending each day in pleading.
The taller girl kept her head down, avoiding eye contact, her gaze darting around as she spied on everything in her surroundings, like a frightened little animal ready to run away at any moment.
The shorter little girl looked completely bewildered and helpless, clinging tightly to her older sister beside her.
Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes: There was indeed a problem. Fortunately, she didn't see any viciousness. She can still be trained.
It's easy to buy people, but the problem is that the mother and her two daughters are weak-willed. If this family comes looking for them later, it will cause endless trouble and endless problems. We must find a way to make the woman and children give up their hopes and give up on the idea.
She didn't say anything, and the man became anxious: "Madam, just do a good deed and buy them. Look, these three are all capable workers with good teeth. You won't lose out by buying them."
Pi interrupted, "We're buying people, not livestock! What are you talking about teeth for?! Are you even human?!"
She was already furious at seeing the pitiful mother and her two children, and now that they were being treated like cattle for sale, she was even more enraged and couldn't help but start cursing at the man.
The man wasn't angry at all; instead, he shamelessly said, "This young lady is right. If you pity them, you can buy them back as cattle or horses!"
Jiang Zhi pulled Pi Shi, who was about to retort, and coldly said, "I'm not buying!" and walked away.
Pi followed closely and said, "Auntie, those three women, that mother and daughters, are so pitiful. Are you really not going to buy anything?"
Jiang Zhi had already decided to buy the three unfortunate women and daughters. If she abandoned them, these three would not live long. She couldn't just buy them casually; she would have to put in a lot of effort.
When Pi asked, Jiang Zhi deliberately said, "Three sickly children, they can't do any work even if we buy them, and they might even die in our hands. Then my money will have been wasted!"
Upon hearing that they wouldn't buy them, the woman burst into tears, pleading, "Madam, please buy us! We will remember your great kindness!"
The two little girls also started crying, and the scene was extremely tragic.
Seeing that Jiang Zhi still wouldn't buy any, the man immediately grabbed the woman's arm and tried his best to sell them: "Madam, these three are very cheap, they won't die. If you buy them, just give them a little soup and they'll live."
Errui stopped and angrily said, "These are your wife and children, how can you bear to treat them like this!"
The man felt no shame, but instead said, "I'm just finding them a way to survive. They'll remember my kindness for the rest of their lives. It's not a waste."
If you're truly kind-hearted, buy it back; don't just pretend to be a good person and say nice things.
I don't need much money from you; twenty taels per person, sixty taels for three people.
Seeing his shamelessness, Xu Errui was so angry that he clenched his fists and was about to hit him, but Pi Shi stopped him: "Brother Errui, don't be fooled. If you touch this kind of scoundrel, he'll fall to the ground and act like a madman!"
Pi had been in fights before and could tell that the man was deliberately provoking Errui in an attempt to extort money.
Although Aunt Jiang is no longer afraid of fighting, she can't let anyone extort money from her.
Ma Guan also stepped forward to stop Er Rui: "Now that I'm here, Master doesn't need to do it himself!"
Jiang Zhi sighed as she looked at the mess.
She had originally intended to put up with the man for a while, but even after all that, the woman just kept crying while holding the child, without uttering a single defiant word.
The man has no shame, and even if he buys it later, he won't be able to have peace of mind.
"Let's not drag this out any longer," Jiang Zhi said. "I'll buy it if you want, but I'll only ask you three questions. If you answer them truthfully, I'll consider the money."
The man perked up immediately upon hearing about the money: "Ask away, I promise I'll tell the truth! We agreed on sixty taels, otherwise you're a hypocrite."
By this time, many refugees had gathered, and Ma Guan was keeping a close watch on their surroundings.
The crowd stirred.
The clerk in charge came over and ordered the soldiers to use sticks to push the man away: "Yang Laosan, if you dare to cause trouble again, get out of Ba County. Village Chief Jiang, you don't need to buy any more men, just leave!"
Jiang Zhi didn't leave; if she left, the mother and her two daughters wouldn't survive.
But she couldn't pay money either. Originally, she wanted to buy out the deal with a few taels of silver, but now she didn't want to pay a single coin.
Rather than giving the money to such a heartless person, it would be better to keep it to buy rice and flour for the mother and her two daughters to take good care of them.
She stared at the man and said, "I ask you, is this woman your wife? Are these two children your own flesh and blood?"
The man answered without even blinking, "Of course! What does that have to do with you buying people?"
Beside her, a cold-faced old woman squeezed in and said, "This is the wife my son paid to marry. He treats her like a beast of burden, doing whatever he wants with her."
Oh, that's the man's biological mother. Behind her is a suspicious couple; they don't look like good people at all.
Jiang Zhi ignored the old woman and asked the second question: "Why were you willing to spend money to marry her in the first place? You have to tell the truth!"
The man hesitated for a moment, then said casually, "Back then, I saw that she was hardworking and capable, with a slim waist and a big bottom, so of course I bought her to have a son!"
In the crowd, the mother and her two daughters were still hugging and crying.
Jiang Zhi smiled and asked, "Did you give birth to a son?" This was her third question.
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