"Have you ever heard of selling oneself into servitude? I'm a female household head, and I've left my indenture with her," Xiaoyue said seriously to Li Qianqian.
“Your father won’t be able to control you then. If you want to get married or find a good place to go, I’ll just give you the indenture.” Xiaoyue then thought of a serious problem and said, “If you give me all the indentures, won’t I become a slave? No, I have to go ask Village Chief Xu.”
Li Qianqian was annoyed to have such a father. She was inwardly agreeing with Xiaoyue's statement when Xiaoyue suddenly overturned her suggestion. To uphold Xiaoyue's opinion, she blurted out, "I don't care about being a slave. I'd rather never get married than have my father sell me off."
Xiaoyue put down her chopsticks and said, "I'll go ask Village Chief Xu. Being a slave is not acceptable; it's related to your marriage."
She reached the door, then turned back. "Li Qianqian, come with me. Let's hear what Village Chief Xu has to say."
Li Qianqian put down her rice bowl and said, "I don't care about being a slave or not. As long as I'm with you, it's fine even if I don't get married. I just don't want to be sold by my father."
Li Lei's gaze also fell on Xiaoyue, and he said, "Me too, right? Otherwise, if Li Qianqian were freed from my father's control, who knows how many more troubles she could cause to deal with me."
Xiaoyue stood on the ground anxiously urging Li Qianqian and Li Lei to eat quickly, and then went to the snowdrift to pick up a bag of steamed buns, intending to deliver it to Village Chief Xu.
Li Lei put down his chopsticks, grabbed Li Qianqian, and dragged her out the door. He even gave her a dog-skin hat. The three of them braved the howling northwest wind without saying a word, and arrived directly at Village Chief Xu's house.
Village Chief Xu was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) playing cards, while Xu Fanyuan was chopping firewood in the woodshed. When they saw Xiaoyue and the others arrive, they tidied up and invited Xiaoyue into the house.
Xiaoyue handed the steamed bun to Xu Fanyuan, and before she could even sit down, she told Village Chief Xu her purpose.
Village Chief Xu glanced at Li Qianqian, then turned to Li Lei sitting on the north side and asked in a low voice, "You've agreed to this too. You should know that once you hand over your indenture to Xiaoyue, she will have the right to dispose of you as she sees fit."
Li Qianqian nodded blankly and said, "I believe in Xiaoyue." Li Lei also nodded.
Village Chief Xu looked at Xu Fanyuan again and smiled, "What's your opinion on this matter?"
Xu Fanyuan shook his head and said nothing more.
Village Chief Xu smiled and said to everyone, "Xiaoyue's idea is correct; at least it prevented your father from forcing you to marry. This matter needs to be reported to the government office first. If you don't want to remain a slave in the future and want to be freed from your lowly status..."
"As long as Xiaoyue provides a handwritten letter, I'll provide one too, and we just need to report it to the authorities. It's not difficult at all."
Li Qianqian jumped off the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and onto the floor. She ran to her brother's side, hugged him, and laughed until tears streamed down her face.
Village Chief Xu said to Xiaoyue, "When the two of them go to process the slave contracts, each of them should pay five qian of silver, which can be given to Xu Fanyuan to handle."
Li Qianqian hurriedly said, "I'll pay for it. Xiaoyue is protecting us, so we can't let her pay any more money."
Village Chief Xu sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and laughed heartily.
Xiaoyue took out one or two taels of silver from her pocket and handed it to Xu Fanyuan, then asked, "What kind of work does Brother Xu Fanyuan do at home?"
Xu Fanyuan laughed and said, "I'm just busy with something, there's nothing much to do."
Xiaoyue glanced at Village Chief Xu sitting on the kang, then at Xu Fanyuan, who was so thin he looked like a stick. So she mustered up her courage and said, "I still need one more person here to manage the warehouse. He also needs to review the contract with me."
Xu Fan, Brother Yuan, are you interested?
Xiaoyue's eyes never left the face of the Xu family member. Seeing that the village chief did not have a gloomy face, Xiaoyue smiled and said to Xu Fanyuan, "One tael of silver a month."
"Sure, when are we going?"
Xiaoyue then said tactfully, "In the spring, there will be more work to do. I need to build a big house in the backyard of my house, and I plan to open up another ten acres of land in Xiaoma Hutou. I will also need to build a small house there to raise chickens, ducks and geese."
Village Chief Xu pointed at Xiaoyue and laughed: "I never expected you to be so capable, little girl."
After agreeing with Xu Fanyuan that he would start working at Xiaoyue's house in January, Li Lei and Li Qianqian were asked to take Xu Fanyuan to their home for a visit. Coincidentally, Li Qianqian also had the key to the warehouse.
Xiaoyue sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked at Village Chief Xu, saying, "Village Chief Xu, can the village set up a school?"
"Yang Xu, Shui Yue, Xiao Dou Ding, Ge Daming, Niu Er Zhuang, and Chun Yue, plus myself, I also want to learn some knowledge, at least to be able to read. I can't afford all the money, but I can afford one or two taels of silver a month," Xiao Yue tentatively said to Village Chief Xu.
Village Chief Xu put away the playing cards and said, "When the weather gets warmer, I'll go to Wangjia Village to see how that pedantic scholar is doing. If he comes to Niukou Village, the village will pay for a house for him."
"Just bring him to the village and teach the children to read; we don't expect him to become a top scholar."
Xiaoyue smiled and bowed to the village chief before going home. As she left the village chief's courtyard, Xiaoyue glanced casually at Liang Qi's house. There was an oxcart parked in front of the house, and out of curiosity, Xiaoyue took a few steps toward it.
Suddenly a group of people came out of the courtyard. Liang Qi and Uncle Liang were in the middle of the group. Uncle Liang was walking in front of a man of similar age. The two of them were talking animatedly. Despite the strong wind, they couldn't hide their hearty laughter.
Liang Qi was walking slowly behind the crowd with a woman. The woman would occasionally cover her mouth and laugh. Xiao Yue was watching this scene from not far away, and her heart inexplicably clenched.
Perhaps it was because Xiaoyue's gaze was too intense that Liang Qi followed her gaze.
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