Chapter 198 One person, one item; cannot collect money twice.
When Shi Yuan makes a decision, he always acts quickly. Setting up a school in Shanghai requires connections, buying land and bricks, and finding people to build houses. It can't all be done in a short time, so Shi Yuan focuses on the girls first.
When it comes to money, even without much publicity, the news spreads very quickly, because the information provided by Shi Yuan spreads rapidly.
The Lian family lived in a remote village in Shi Yuan's hometown. That morning, as usual, Granny Lian went to work in the fields, and Granny Shi came over to chat.
"I heard your daughter-in-law is pregnant again, and it's a girl?"
Old Mrs. Shi asked in a low voice. Old Mrs. Lian subconsciously wanted to deny it, but she knew that the news could not be kept secret. After a moment of silence, she sighed and nodded.
So, are you planning to stay this time?
Granny Lian's hand trembled, and she ruined half of the cabbage with her hoe. She simply pulled the whole cabbage out, intending to take it back to cook after she finished her work.
"If we don't keep them, we can't afford to raise them."
Granny Lian said this, but her voice was very hoarse. The addition of a new member to the family is a joyous occasion, but the family already has a granddaughter who can be exchanged for a dowry. They can't afford to raise a second girl who will require taxes. Even if girls are not more precious than boys, they are raised on a bowl of rice porridge when they are young and a bowl of dishwater when they grow up.
"I heard that someone outside is buying girls. As long as they are over five years old, they will give five yuan for each one."
Old Mrs. Shi said mysteriously, and Old Mrs. Lian's eyes widened. Even though she knew her family didn't have a suitable candidate, she subconsciously pressed for an answer:
"Why would you take someone so young?"
Girls from poor families aren't valued; it's common for them to start working at two or three years old. No one would find it strange if a five-year-old stood on a stool to cook. But wealthy families are particular; even the youngest girl has to be around seven or eight years old. Such a young age and such a high price... Granny Lian didn't want to think of anything else, but the only place that could absorb so many girls was a brothel...
"What are you thinking? This is a respectable place."
Seeing through Granny Lian's thoughts, Granny Shi said with a wry smile, not realizing that her first reaction to the news was exactly the same as Granny Lian's.
"A proper place would be fine, but it's a pity my family doesn't have any girls."
Granny Lian breathed a sigh of relief, but regret welled up again. If she had known that someone would want the young girl, she would have insisted more back then and managed to save a few.
However, even though that's what she said, Granny Lian knew in her heart that even if she were given another chance to choose, she wouldn't protect the girl—if she dared to speak up, the Lian family could really kick her and her granddaughter out together, and then the old woman and the young girl would die together, and she wouldn't even live to see Granny Shi chatting now.
"Of course you have one, isn't your daughter-in-law about to give birth?"
After much preamble, Old Lady Shi finally got to the point.
"They want a newborn baby too?"
Granny Lian didn't take it seriously. If it were a boy, it might take some effort, but a girl could walk around while it was still light out and find someone she liked without spending any money. Why would she insist on going to her family?
"We don't want a newborn, but we can raise it until it's five years old before sending it over."
Seeing the look on Lian Pozi's face as if she were crazy, Old Lady Shi belatedly realized that she hadn't explained things clearly, and quickly explained:
"They said that if the family is willing to sign a contract, they can take the child away when the child turns five. It's like they've bought the child in advance. For every year the child is short of five, they'll provide money and food for that number of years. But if the child dies before they can take the child away, they'll have to pay compensation."
Seeing that Granny Lian still didn't quite understand, Granny Shi used examples from her own life to illustrate her point:
"If your daughter-in-law's baby girl is willing to be given to them, as long as the contract is signed and the fingerprint is pressed, the child will still live at home until she is five years old, but she has already been betrothed to them. She will just be temporarily fostered in your home. Do you understand?"
Granny Lian stared blankly for a while, then nodded.
"Foster care costs money, so from the time a child is born until they are five years old, they send fifteen kilograms of rice every year, plus five cents as foster care fees. When the child is five, they take them away directly. But if the child dies or is injured, the foster care fees have to be returned, and compensation has to be paid. Do you understand?"
Granny Lian thought for a moment and then spoke:
"When you took him away at five years old, didn't you give him any money?"
Old Mrs. Shi shook her head; it had taken her a long time to understand the difference.
“Being betrothed at birth is essentially like selling your granddaughter. The other family is just temporarily unable to take care of her, so they're leaving her with you for now. They'll take her away when they have time later. If someone from another family dies in your house, shouldn't you return the money you received and provide compensation?”
Granny Lian subconsciously shook her head, understanding the difference in her own way: she had bought a cabinet from the carpenter, but because there was no room in her house, she had given the carpenter some money to deposit first, and would take the cabinet with her when there was room in her house.
Although no money was paid when the cabinet was taken away, money was paid when it was finished. If the carpenter felt that the cabinet had become his property after being in his possession for a long time, or if he wanted to pretend that the cabinet never happened because it was broken and refused to refund the money, Granny Lian would not agree to that.
"Fifteen catties of rice plus fifty cents wouldn't even be enough to make one Yuan Shikai silver dollar."
Old Lady Lian hadn't studied arithmetic, but she still knew how much money could buy how much goods. Although the official price was ten 10-cent silver coins to buy a dollar, that wasn't the market price. Eleven cents to buy a dollar was already considered a bargain; most of the time, it took twelve cents to buy a silver dollar.
A genuine Yuan Shikai silver dollar could be exchanged for more than 30 catties of rice. Fifteen catties of rice were not worth half a silver dollar, and a five-cent silver dollar was not worth half a silver dollar either. Other families could get five silver dollars for raising a girl for five years, but her family could not get the same amount of money, which always made her feel awkward.
Old Mrs. Shi understood what Old Mrs. Lian meant and rolled her eyes inwardly. This was why she sometimes didn't want to talk to Old Mrs. Lian: she always felt that she belonged to that big family and wanted me to take more things into the house, but the money never reached her hands, and she had no say in the money. Only the blame and punishment were truly placed on her.
“This is foster care. If you think the money is too little, you can have your family raise the girl until she is five years old, and then bring her to them. You will also receive five yuan.”
People who take in children who are underage are already taking a risk, so it's normal for them to charge a lower price. Besides, she doesn't believe that the so-called foster care fees will actually go towards the child. Newborn babies can be fed with milk, and mothers can survive on rice gruel even if they don't have enough milk. When the child is a little older, how much would it cost to give them some water to wash dishes so they won't starve?
"What if it's a two-year-old girl..."
After being glared at by Old Woman Shi, Granny Lian finally understood the key to the matter, but she still had some doubts and couldn't figure it out.
"They'll accept us for free, and we'll pay for three years of foster care."
These were all rules that had been set in advance, and Old Lady Shi had found out everything clearly.
"Isn't it true that the bigger you raise them, the more you lose money?"
After finishing her calculations, Granny Lian's eyes widened, while Granny Shi remained quite calm.
"If you feel it's a loss, just raise it until it's five years old. Then you'll get a big sum of money and it won't be a loss anymore."
Old Mrs. Shi didn't believe such talk. Unless it was the family's precious daughter, a girl wouldn't cost much in five years. The so-called loss was just an excuse for seeing others earn more while they earned less.
"Moreover, they have to check girls under the age of five before they accept them. If they don't pass the check, they can't get money or food."
As the saying goes, things that are fought over are the best things. As soon as Granny Shi said this, Granny Lian's eyes widened and she tried to win Granny Shi over with a big smile. It took her a lot of effort to coax Granny Shi into agreeing.
“I do have a spot available, but this is a big deal. Go back and talk to your family. Once they're sure you can accept it, have your partner bring you and your son to put your fingerprints on the form.”
Old Mrs. Shi was also afraid that Old Mrs. Lian would mess things up again when she got back, so she set a time directly.
"I can wait for you for three days at most. If you don't come in three days, I'll find someone else."
Granny Lian nodded vigorously, then ran home. After a few steps, she hurriedly returned, tucked the cabbage into her arms, and rushed home again. The next morning, Granny Lian led her family to find Granny Shi, made the sign of the cross, and pressed her handprint. In fact, they had wanted to come the night before, but the reputation of looking for Granny Shi late at night was not good, and most importantly, Granny Shi did not open the door at night, so they had delayed until now.
As Old Lady Shi watched the Lian family members walk towards the edge of the field, she unconsciously hid the contract even deeper: the baby that Lian's daughter-in-law gave birth to this time should survive, right?
...
Similar scenarios occurred in more than one place, and the impact extended beyond that: many families of girls who were not selected quietly abandoned their plans to abandon their daughters, preparing to try again next year, or simply raising them until they were five years old and receiving a lump sum of money. The girls' lives may not have been easy, but they survived.
The chain reaction brought about by Shi Yuan stirred up wave after wave of trouble in his hometown. Meanwhile, Yao Xiaoyu, who had put all her working capital into the Feng Lei campaign, was writing furiously in the Wutong Courtyard to prevent her employees from not receiving their wages due to her momentary impulse.
The pace of "Life Abroad Diary" isn't slow, but the three women are following three different paths, and several other choices are interspersed throughout. So even though a lot has been written, what Yao Xiaoyu hasn't written is still like an iceberg beneath the surface, and it's even growing larger with the weekly letters Pi Kangxiu sends—
After the book was published, many readers, for reasons unknown, shared their daily lives abroad. Some of these stories were obviously fabricated, while others were hard to distinguish. In order to expand her library of real-life material, Yao Xiaoyu selectively copied some excerpts and sent them to Ye Junshu, hoping that this student who had returned from Germany could use his mutual understanding to distinguish between the real and fake Monkey King.
Ye Junshu was indeed very helpful. Although it was unclear why his intuition was so strong, ninety percent of the information he confirmed was true. Because of the continuous flow of letters, the two rekindled their connection, and Yao Xiaoyu realized that she and Ye Junshu got along quite well.
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Author's Note: Only a little bit left until the end.
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