“I don’t dare to hope for the family to split up. Even if it does, given the current situation, my parents won’t give us much.”
“If our whole family were to separate, we would probably have even less chance of survival.”
"Instead of doing that, I'd rather work for Daya."
The more Zhang listened, the more she realized how reasonable his words made, and she began to genuinely consider the idea.
Jiang Anshan wasn't as open-minded as her. He lowered his voice and said, "Mother of my child, this is no joke. Once a slave, always a slave. If we really do this, the children and grandchildren of Daqiang, Ernong, and Xiange will be slaves for generations to come."
"Right now, we just don't have enough food at home. If all else fails, we can follow Daya's example and go up the mountain. If we can find other food, we can get through this year."
"Selling oneself into slavery is unacceptable."
Jiang Anshan originally worked hard for Jiang Bai hoping that she would teach Xian Ge'er to read in return for their help.
If their second branch of the family could also produce a scholar, his parents would naturally value Xian-ge'er.
With the support of a family, they might even have a chance to rise from the ranks of commoners to scholars, which would truly bring glory to their ancestors.
Before Jiang Anshan could finish his daydreaming, Zhang pinched him, making him gasp in pain.
"You're so stubborn."
Zhang cursed at him.
"Da Ya is your own niece. As long as we save enough money to buy her freedom, will she still hold onto our indenture?"
"Besides, we only found out about Third Sister-in-law's matter afterward." Zhang lowered her voice and glanced disdainfully at the main house, which startled Jiang Anshan, who quickly covered her mouth.
“I don’t care. The boys are fine, but I’ve made up my mind to send Lan and Zi to Daya’s place. I don’t mind suffering myself, but I can’t let them suffer with me.”
Zhang ignored Jiang Anshan's thoughts and turned her back.
On the other side of the room was a bed made of boards. Jiang Lan and Jiang Zi lay on the bed, the two sisters holding hands, their feelings a mixture of complexity and longing.
In just a few days, the two girls lost a lot of weight.
Regardless of what Zhang and Lin were thinking, let's talk about Wang and Jiang Minchang, the main wives.
As Wang counted the family's silver, her face grew increasingly grim.
"Old man, there are only three taels of silver left."
Wang put the strung copper coins into the jar, her face full of worry.
First, it cost one tael of silver to treat her hand, then Jiang Bai took ten taels, and Chen Qiaohui took another ten and a half taels. In addition, fearing that Jiang Bai would cause trouble, she lost another two taels, and now another tael of silver has been spent.
The money just kept flowing out like water; if you count it carefully, more than a dozen taels of silver went into Jiang Bai's hands.
Thinking of this, Wang felt a surge of hatred.
"Qian is pretty. With Chen Qiaohui's connections, we should be able to get her into the Chen family."
"It's just a pity that the Chen family only accepts those of low social status and only gives six taels of silver, which is two taels less than that damned Jiang Bai," Wang said with a sigh.
Of course, the main problem is that the household registration documents are not in her possession, so she cannot sign a contract of servitude and therefore cannot receive the money.
"Why don't we tell our elder brother about this? You know how much grain we have at home. While we can still buy grain in the county town, let's save up some money to buy more grain, so that we won't run out of money to buy anything later."
"I think it's only rained a few times, who knows if it will rain again later."
"Those bean sprouts are still so small, it's a long way from harvest. With so many girls, they'll need to eat more grain. And when they reach marriageable age, we'll have to provide dowries to get them married off..."
At this point, Ms. Wang suddenly stopped.
Jiang Minchang's gaze also fell on her face.
"There's a widower in Zhujia Village who I heard wants to remarry, but he's a bit old, over forty."
"You handle these matters as you see fit."
Madam Wang understood. If the betrothal gifts offered by that person were higher than the money given by the Chen family, they could simply refuse to provide a dowry and marry Jiang Qian off.
She simply refused to believe that when they got married and transferred their household registration, that brat Jiang Bai would dare not produce the household registration documents.
With just a few words, the elderly couple decided Jiang Qian's future, while Jiang Qian remained completely unaware of it.
The next morning, Zhang had just left with Jiang Lan and Jiang Zi when Lin left with Jiang Qian and Jiang Cui.
"Boss, where did your wife take those girls?"
Just as Wang was getting ready to leave, she saw Lin and the others going out.
"I don't know!" Jiang Anlin's eyes flickered, but he smiled and was already waiting for Lin to bring back the money they had been sold into servitude.
He had a good plan: once the Lin family got the money from Jiang Bai, he would make a big fuss about it, ask the clan chief to intervene, and force Jiang Bai to hand over their family's indenture. Then he would marry off Qian'er and get some money in return.
In this way, their family will have enough food to eat next year.
Lin was unaware of his thoughts; otherwise, she would have definitely given him a piece of her mind.
The two sisters-in-law met at the door of Jiang Bai's house. Seeing the two maids following behind each other, they understood each other perfectly.
"Sister-in-law, what brings you here too?"
Zhang glanced at Jiang Qian and noticed that she was looking down as if she had been crying, which puzzled her.
This girl is the most arrogant and proud. She looks down on her sisters in the family because she has learned embroidery in the county town and can earn money. She even agreed to sell herself into slavery.
Lin gave an awkward smile without saying anything, and then raised her hand to knock on the door.
After a while, Jiang Lu came to open the door. When she saw Lin Shi and the others outside, her face immediately fell.
"What are you doing here? What brings you here?"
Lin forced a smile and said gently, "Er Ya, we're looking for your older sister."
"My older sister isn't here, you should go back!"
Jiang Lu replied and was about to close the door when Zhang Shi quickly stopped it, smiling as she continued, "We can wait for her. Where did your sister go?"
Considering that Jiang Songzong had just been injured, and these people from the old mansion came to the door, Jiang Lu thought they might be up to something bad again, so she had no intention of paying them any attention.
"Er Ya".
At this moment, Jiang Bai's voice came from inside the room. Jiang Lu's expression changed, and she lowered her head as if she had done something wrong.
"Da Ya, we have something we want to discuss with you."
Zhang's eyes darted around, and without thinking of complaining that Jiang Lu was lying, she spoke up before Lin could.
Jiang Bai was a little surprised to see only a few of them at the door and not the men from the old house.
"Come in and talk!"
As he spoke, he ushered the group into the main room.
Zhang and Lin, being the elders, managed to get two stools to sit on, while Jiang Qian and the others had to stand.
Water, of course, is absent.
After a moment of silence, Madam Zhang and Madam Lin finally spoke first: "Qian girl, kneel down before Bai girl."
Jiang Qian was startled, her face turning deathly pale. Seeing Lin Shi glare at her, and remembering what Lin Shi had said to her, she suppressed her humiliation and pain, stepped forward and knelt down in front of Jiang Bai.
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