Chapter 392 Going to the County Again
Gu Jiayue did have this thought in her mind.
She originally thought that these children who were put up for sale were all alone and helpless and were therefore sold away.
At this moment, he suddenly discovered that there was a child who was bought along with the mother.
If I only take the child away and leave the mother behind, separating the mother and daughter alive, how cruel would that be?
Just by picturing the scene in her mind, she couldn't help but frowning and her fingertips felt slightly cold.
She gathered herself and turned to look at Wang Danian beside her, her eyes filled with unquestionable determination: "I want to buy this woman. How much?"
In his heart, Wang Danian was actually unwilling to sell anyone to Gu Jiayue anymore.
In the previous transactions, the girl's bargaining attitude was too ruthless. She refused to let him make any extra profit. It was like she was cutting his flesh.
But out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of the county magistrate Zheng Qinghe standing next to him. He would never dare to do such a blatant act of disrespect.
His eyes rolled around in their sockets for a long time, weighing the pros and cons in his mind, before he slowly forced a smile on his face. "Five taels of silver!"
"Miss, you don't know this, but this woman is a great cook. If we really sell it to a restaurant or a wealthy family, the price will only be more than this, definitely not less! I'm only doing this for the sake of the county magistrate, not intending to make money from you!"
After hearing this, Gu Jiayue reached out and opened the box of money beside her.
When the box was opened, it was empty, with only two copper coins lying quietly, glowing faintly in the dim light.
Buying those children just now had used up all the money she had, and even the money Zheng Qinghe had given her before was invested in, and only then was the total amount barely made up.
She took a deep breath, without any embarrassment on her face, and said loudly: "One or two taels, no more!" Although she had no money at the moment, it did not prevent her from continuing to bargain.
"One or two?" Wang Danian's eyes widened instantly, as if he had heard a huge joke. Even though Zheng Qinghe was standing next to him, his voice rose several degrees. "How can you say that, little girl?"
"Four taels, I won't sell it for a penny less!" He stiffened his neck and spoke in a tough tone.
Gu Jiayue refused to relent, her tone threatening. "Two taels, no more. Any more, and I won't even want this child!"
Wang Danian's face trembled when he heard this, and then he revealed a scoundrel look. "Alright! Then I'll return the money to you. To be honest, this child is quite beautiful. I'll sell her to a brothel and she'll definitely fetch a good price!"
He didn't mean to scare anyone. The little girl named Jiaojiao was indeed very cute. Maybe because she was loved by her parents at home, she still had some baby fat on her face. When she smiled, there was a shallow dimple at the corner of her mouth, which made her look particularly endearing.
When Jiaojiao heard this, her face flushed crimson instantly, tears streaming down her face like beads from a broken string. She clutched Gu Jiayue's clothes tightly, raised her tearful face and begged, "Kind sister, can you buy my mother back too? Jiaojiao will be a good girl, work harder, and eat less..."
Gu Jiayue felt a surge of displeasure as she listened to Wang Danian's words, her brow furrowing even tighter. "Three taels. I know you only spent three taels of silver when you bought them both. Now that you've sold them separately, you've already earned four taels. You should be content!"
Wang Danian, however, shook his head like a rattle, refusing to give in. "No, I said four ounces, and that's it! Miss, why don't you try another place? I heard that guy named Zhao Ying has bought a lot of women lately."
He could see that the girl in front of him was soft-hearted. As long as he kept his mouth shut on the price, she would definitely be willing to spend more money in the end.
His guess was indeed correct. Gu Jiayue would never allow the mother and daughter to be separated.
She lowered her head and looked around herself, trying to find something that could be used as money.
But she was in a hurry to go out today, and for the sake of convenience and fear of being robbed on the road, she didn't bring any jewelry with her.
Apart from the relatively neat clothes he was wearing, he had nothing else worth showing off.
But now in public, she couldn't really take off her clothes and use them as money, right?
Zheng Qinghe watched her looking around anxiously, his eyes softening a bit as he asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Gu Jiayue's cheeks flushed slightly, and she replied in a low voice, a little embarrassed, "I'm looking for silver."
After hearing this, Zheng Qinghe couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't expect that she would be so helpless. She seemed a little silly.
Then he turned to look at Wang Danian, his tone returning to its usual calm. "We've taken the man away. Afterwards, go to the county government office and find my servant and collect five taels of silver." He then untied the jade pendant from his waist and tossed it to Wang Danian.
The jade pendant had a warm luster, and it was obvious that it was valuable. It was also engraved with the Chinese character "Zheng," clearly a token of identity.
Seeing that Zheng Qinghe said so, Wang Danian dared not stop them anymore and could only watch them take the person away.
But he was not a fool. He quickly told his servant to take the jade pendant and go out to find the county magistrate's servant to exchange it for silver.
When Gu Jiayue entered Taohua Village with nearly a thousand children, the villagers who were chatting and working at the entrance were stunned.
They stared with their eyes wide open and their mouths open, unable to speak for a long time, and even forgot to put down the farm tools in their hands.
A braver villager cautiously approached and gently tugged at Gu Jiayue's sleeve, his voice filled with uncertainty: "Jiayue, are you... changing your career? Are you no longer a mountain chief, but a human trafficker?"
As he spoke, he secretly looked at the children and muttered to himself: Then... then she wouldn't want to buy all the children in the village, right?
The villagers' words made Gu Jiayue burst into laughter, and her previous fatigue seemed to dissipate a little. "No, no, I rescued these children from the county. I plan to open an orphanage in the village to help these children."
So that's how it is.
The villagers finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the tension on their faces gradually faded away.
But then, when they saw the densely packed children in front of them, which seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, they couldn't help but worry about Gu Jiayue.
"How can we raise so many children? Even if each child only eats one mouthful of rice a day, how much food will they consume in a day?"
"Yes, you see, it's been so dry right now, and the water resources in the village are already pitifully scarce. With so many children, if each of them drinks a sip of water a day, they would have to drink several large jars of water a day!"
"And what about clothes and housing? Which one doesn't cost money? Xiaoyue, can you really afford it all by yourself with so many children?"
Everyone was talking at once, discussing loudly, with worried looks on their faces.
At this moment, people from the Gu family also rushed over after hearing the news.
Grandma pushed through the crowd and saw a sea of children in front of her. She suddenly felt her vision blurred, her head buzzed, and she fainted.
Oh my God!
What did she see!
It’s full of children, packed with children!
Some of them looked like they were still in swaddling clothes, being held by older children, their eyes looking around timidly.
"Oh, grandma! Grandma, please wake up!" Gu Jiayue exclaimed and rushed forward.
The villagers nearby also quickly gathered around and tried to pinch the grandmother's philtrum. Someone found some water, wet a cloth and put it on her forehead. After a while, they finally managed to save the woman.
As soon as grandma opened her eyes, she stared at Gu Jiayue. She pointed at her with a trembling finger, her lips quivering, and she couldn't utter a word for a long time. Her chest heaved violently, and she was obviously very angry.
Gu Jiayue knew that she was indeed in the wrong for not discussing this decision with her family.
But she really didn't expect to make her grandmother so angry. She quickly stepped forward and held her grandmother's arm, her voice filled with panic and guilt. "Grandma, Grandma, I was wrong, I was wrong, please don't be angry!"
Grandma looked at her, gritted her teeth, raised her hand and slapped her hard on the shoulder. There was a crisp sound of "pa".
The noisy crowd around suddenly quieted down, and everyone heard it clearly.
"You...what on earth are you going to do..." Grandma's voice was a little hoarse with anger, "Can't you just teach your lessons quietly? Why did you bring so many children back?!"
She had so much to say, to accuse, to question.
But when the words came to my lips, I felt confused and couldn't speak smoothly.
To sum up, she now really feels that she can no longer control her granddaughter!
"Grandma, they are so pitiful!" Gu Jiayue lowered her eyes, her voice low but with a hint of persistence.
"Pitiful?" Grandma raised her voice, her chest still heaving. "There are so many pitiful people in this world. Do you have to save every one of them? Can you save them all?"
"They can't be saved..." Gu Jiayue's voice lowered. "But if everyone stands by and watches their plight, then they really won't have any chance of survival."
She had a lot more to say in her heart, but when the words came to her lips, she felt so blocked that she couldn't say them.
She knew that her energy was limited, and there were still many people suffering in this world, and she really couldn't save them all.
But she could never bear to watch these children fall into despair.
She just wants to do more for the world within the scope of her ability.
She even had a mysterious feeling in her heart that these successive natural disasters seemed to have some inexplicable connection with her.
Feeling this way, she felt that if she didn't do something, she would be drowned in guilt.
Grandma looked at her like this, opened her mouth, but the accusation on the tip of her tongue suddenly stopped.
She sighed heavily, shook off Gu Jiayue's hand, turned around and walked home. "I'm old now, I can't take care of you young people anymore, do whatever you want!"
As soon as grandma left, no one else in the family came out to stop Gu Jiayue.
Gu Jiayue then secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly turned around, and led the children towards the school.
On a spacious hillside not far from the school is the house that Jiang Luli had built earlier. It is very large and is just right for accommodating these children.
She found a dozen skillful and attentive aunts from the village and asked them to temporarily help take care of the children's daily lives.
After running around for nearly three hours, he finally managed to settle all the children.
After doing all this, she found Hu Zi and said seriously, "Hu Zi, let's go to the county town again!"
Hu Zi was stunned for a moment, his face full of confusion: "Is... is there still a child who hasn't been brought back?"
Gu Jiayue shook her head, lowering her voice, her eyes filled with seriousness. "No. I suddenly remembered that there's something else I forgot to do. But this has to be done quietly, between you and me, and you must not tell anyone else!"
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