Chen Qiaohui sat in the main room, while the two thugs she brought stood like door gods at the entrance of Jiang Bai's main room.
There was a bowl of cooled boiled water next to her.
She wondered if she had misheard and asked Jiang Bai uncertainly, "Are you really going to sell your uncle?"
I've heard plenty of stories about uncles selling their nieces, but this is the first time I've heard of a niece selling her uncle.
"Take a look at how much silver my uncle is worth. He's a strong laborer, so he must be quite expensive, right?" Jiang Bai smiled as he looked at the matchmaker in front of him, his eyes filled with a mysterious light. He wondered what this woman had to do at the old house today.
"This...can you really make decisions for them?"
"Don't you think having the household registration documents here is enough? Or should we get an estimate?"
Chen Qiaohui's heart skipped a beat. She picked up the glass of cold water, took a sip, hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand and made a three-pointer.
"Three taels? Sure." Jiang Bai raised an eyebrow, then nodded.
She then asked, "How much silver would it cost to buy this person back after selling them?"
Chen Qiaohui was even more confused, but she still answered truthfully: "A strong laborer like this would cost at least five taels of silver."
Good heavens, someone bought three taels of silver and immediately resold it for five taels, making a net profit of two taels.
It's truly a business with no initial investment; they're incredibly good at making money.
“In your case, even if you buy the person, you’ll still need to care for them for a while. How about this: we’ll go and sign the indenture today, and then you can sell the person back to me. I’ll give you two coins. You just need to come with me to the yamen once, and you can make a net profit of two coins.”
Chen Qiaohui wasn't stupid. As soon as Jiang Bai said that, she understood that he wasn't trying to sell her uncle at all. He was clearly using her to draw up a contract of servitude.
All you need to do is go to the government office once, and you can make a net profit of two taels of silver. Should you do this business or not?
Chen Qiaohui's small eyes gleamed with calculation as she thought about how the old house had ended up paying compensation, causing her plans to fall through. She felt somewhat annoyed.
"How could I possibly refuse such a good deal? Shall we go now?"
With a smile on her round face, she saw Jiang Bai actually get up and couldn't help but wonder to herself, "I didn't expect this little girl to actually get her uncle's household registration documents."
After the two left, Jiang Bai chatted with Chen Qiaohui from time to time on the way. Chen Qiaohui was also cautious. She seemed to answer all the questions Jiang Bai asked, but in reality, she didn't say anything important.
Simply put, they learned about her background; she used to be a maid in the Chen family, which was common knowledge in the county and not exactly a secret.
Jiang Bai felt a pang of regret, thinking that as expected of someone from a wealthy family, it was difficult to get information out of them.
Upon arriving at the county town gate, one sees several cloth sheds erected outside, with some people lying haphazardly inside.
They were dressed in rags, with chapped lips, and numbered about twenty or thirty.
"Sir, please have mercy and give me some food!"
"Madam, please have mercy and give me some food!"
"Please, miss, have mercy and give me some food!"
An old man led a child who was not yet five years old to Jiang Bai. The child was carrying a broken bowl and his face was covered in dust.
Chen Qiaohui glanced at Jiang Bai, thinking that the little girl was about to soften her heart. She gave a wink to the two people behind her, who were ready to run away as soon as things turned sour.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Bai didn't even glance at the old man and the child, and simply walked around them.
After the two finished signing Jiang Anlin's indenture and came out, Chen Qiaohui asked Jiang Bai, "Miss Jiang, don't you think those two people at the city gate were pitiful?"
“Look at what you’re saying, ma’am. There are so many pitiful people in the world. I’m a pitiful person myself. I don’t have time to care about others.”
"Take the money, and we'll consider this matter settled."
Jiang Bai took out two qian of silver and stuffed it into Chen Qiaohui's hand. Without lingering, he carried the pheasants and rabbits in his basket and left.
After selling the wild animals in his basket, Jiang Bai weighed the copper coins in his hand and set his sights on a few beggars at the street corner outside the Chen residence.
"Grandpa, I have something I'd like to ask you about." She bought a few steamed buns from the bun shop, squatted down in front of the beggar at the street corner, and put one of the buns into his bowl.
The beggar had been starving for several days. Upon seeing the food, he grabbed it and devoured it.
Jiang Bai wasn't in a hurry. After he finished eating, she gave him another one.
The beggars nearby watched with envy, but dared not come over to snatch it.
“Miss, please speak freely. I will tell you everything I know without reservation.”
Wow, he's got some culture.
Jiang Bai raised an eyebrow.
"That place, the Chen residence, do you know a man named Chen San who lives there?"
"I know, I know."
"That man is the nephew of Granny Xu, the head of the kitchen in the Chen family. He usually helps Granny Xu run errands, and we often see him here."
In the city, beggars often have prominent ears. People like Jiang Bai often get information by giving them food, so they develop a habit of gathering information everywhere.
"Oh? When does he usually go out? When does he return home?"
"They usually leave home around 9 am and return home around 1 pm."
Jiang Bai gave the cornbread in his hand to the beggar and then waited aside.
Sure enough, around 1:15 AM, a short, dark-skinned servant walked out from the side gate of the Chen residence.
Jiang Bai's eyes sharpened, and he followed in his footsteps.
Chen San was a quick-witted person. Normally, he would have noticed that someone was following him, but today he seemed to have something on his mind. He was only focused on walking with his head down and did not notice Jiang Bai following him.
Jiang Bai followed him to Osmanthus Lane.
Seeing him enter a house in the alley, Jiang Bai had a guess in his mind.
This must be the home of Ji Lao Liu.
Only after Chen San went inside did she step forward, press her ear against the gate, and listen to the sounds inside.
"What should we do? Those two haven't come back."
"Could it be that they took the money and ran away?"
"Impossible, I only paid the deposit, there's still a full two taels left."
Inside, Jiang Bai could hear Chen San talking to a woman. His gaze turned cold, and he stopped listening. He assumed that the woman inside was Ji Laoliu's wife, the matchmaker who had bought Song Shi.
The two inside discussed inviting a few more people to Jiangjia Village before Chen San left.
Jiang Bai hid in the corner, and after Chen San left, she covered her face with a cloth and went up to knock on the door.
"Didn't we already agree on this?"
Chen Qiaojuan's impatient voice rang out, and the courtyard gate in front of her opened. She saw that the person outside was not Chen San, but a strange girl with her face covered. She was shocked and opened her mouth to shout, but Jiang Bai covered her mouth and pushed her into the house.
They tied the person up in the yard, gagged them, and then tied up the two little children who were playing in the yard as well, and threw them aside.
After locking the courtyard gate, Jiang Bai took out a dagger from his pocket and pressed it against the face of the slightly older boy.
"Next, I'll ask you questions, and you answer them without shouting, or I'll send your grandson to the underworld. Do you understand?"
Jiang Bai looked at her, brandishing the dagger in his hand at the child, and Chen Qiaojuan nodded repeatedly in terror.
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