Chapter 391 Jiaojiao
Gu Jiayue summoned the same energy she had when she was a child, watching her grandmother bargain. As she retreated towards the door, she raised her voice and said, "Brother Zheng, just now at Boss Zhao's place, the girls were only one or two taels of silver each. The price over there is more reasonable. Why don't we go back there and buy them? They are just children after all, so it doesn't matter where we buy them."
After saying that, she didn't wait for Zheng Qinghe's response, grabbed his wrist and walked out.
His steps were decisive, leaving Wang Dalian no room for bargaining.
Zheng Qinghe only felt the warmth of her grip on his wrist, his heart was beating wildly, his mind full of thoughts like "Jia Yue held my hand! She took the initiative to hold my hand!"
Could it be that she is also somewhat interested in me?
The thought had barely entered my mind before I could even process it, when I heard Wang Dalian behind me, like a deflated ball, quickly change his tone: "Hey, young lady, please come back! One or three taels is one or three taels. I agree, isn't that enough?"
Wang Dalian cursed Zhao Ying a thousand times in his heart: This bitch, sooner or later I have to find someone to teach her a lesson!
These children were all refugees. When they were taken in, they could have been bought for only one or two taels of silver. However, she bought them, raised them for a few days, and then sold them at the original price.
What's the point?
Do you think it's fun to move people around?
Hearing Wang Dalian's offer, Gu Jiayue's lips curled up slightly, and a glimmer of "the plan succeeded" flashed in her eyes. But when she turned around, her face changed to a solemn expression: "No, one tael and three qian was the price just now. Now I'm only willing to pay one tael of silver each."
"You, you call this bargaining? How can you do business like this!" Wang Dalian was so angry that his hands were shaking. He pointed at Gu Jiayue, his face turning red and white.
"This is my final bottom line. What do you think, Boss Wang?" Gu Jiayue said calmly, but in her heart she was thinking: How could there be no bottom line? Grandma and all the aunts and uncles in the neighborhood all bargain like this!
She still remembers her grandmother taking her to buy a quilt when she was in high school boarding school. The owner said 180 yuan wasn't a penny less, so her grandmother bargained down to 60 yuan. The owner, having had two-thirds of the price slashed, immediately waved his hand and said he wouldn't sell it, saying the price wasn't enough to buy the goods.
Grandma didn't argue, turned around and walked away. Just after she took two steps, the boss hurriedly called out to her, "Hey, here you go! It's not easy for you old and young, so I won't make any money from you. But if people ask you when you go back, you have to say you bought it for 180 yuan!"
Grandma agreed readily, smiling so much that her eyes narrowed. After returning home, she showed off her bargaining skills to the grandparents in the village.
At this moment, Gu Jiayue imitated her grandmother, quoted the price and turned to walk away without even glancing at Wang Dalian. As she walked, she counted quietly: "One, two..."
Before he could count to three, Wang Dalian's voice caught up with him: "Okay, okay! For County Magistrate Zheng's sake, one ounce is one ounce!"
In fact, Wang Dalian did not suffer any loss, after all, he picked up many of the children on the roadside.
It is very common to leave behind a few children and women who cannot be supported due to lack of food while fleeing famine.
He picked up these women and children along the way without spending a penny.
Only then did Gu Jiayue reveal a look of delight, with the corners of her mouth raised high, like a little mouse that had stolen oil.
It was the first time Zheng Qinghe saw her like this.
Whether in Kyoto or Annan, she has always been calm and dignified. At this moment, her lively and lively appearance made the girl in his memory suddenly become three-dimensional, making him look a little dazed.
But Wang Dalian is not as open-minded as Zhao Ying.
Boss Zhao was willing to use the pawnshop's carriage to send the children, but Wang Dalian drove the children into the yard and stood by with his hands behind his back, showing no intention of helping at all, as if staying even a second longer would be a bother.
Gu Jiayue frowned slightly as she looked at the hundreds of children standing in front of half of the yard.
It was indeed more than expected, and I was a little confused for a moment.
But there was a way. She turned to Hu Zi and said, "Go to the carriage and horse shop and rent some ox carts and horse carriages. If they are not enough, see if you can borrow a few from other shops."
Before coming, she expected there would be a lot of children, but she didn't expect there would be so many. It was her own inconsiderateness that made her a little flustered now.
Hu Zi was very efficient, and since the carriage and horse business was right on this street, the owner beamed when he heard someone wanted to hire all the carriages and horses.
There has been a drought recently and business is very slow. No one has rented a carriage or horse for a long time.
This is a big deal and the destination is not far away, so why wouldn’t I agree?
He quickly asked his men to harness the carts, and soon several carts came out.
Seeing the children being helped onto the carriage one by one, Gu Jiayue finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that today's events could finally come to a successful conclusion.
But at this moment, a heart-wrenching cry suddenly broke out from behind him: "I won't leave! I don't want to be separated from mother! Mother, mother! I want to be with you!"
Gu Jiayue turned around and saw a woman frantically covering the child's mouth. Her own tears were like beads that had broken off the string, and she couldn't stop falling. "Don't cry, child. Keep your voice down. If you displease the nobles, they will beat you."
She wiped the child's tears while choking with sobs and admonishing him, "Be good and obedient when you get there. Do more work and talk less. Got it?"
The child was still sobbing, but his voice was softer than before.
Gu Jiayue walked over. The woman shuddered when she saw her stop in front of her. She thought she and her daughter had offended the nobleman and fell to her knees with a plop. "My lady, the child is still young and naive. She didn't mean to refuse to go with you. I've already told her that she will behave herself from now on and won't cause any trouble."
As she spoke, she pulled the little girl who was still wiping her tears to her side, pressed her shoulders and was about to push her down: "Jiaojiao, kneel down quickly and let the noble man accept you."
"Don't do that." Gu Jiayue quickly reached out to stop him, "Are you this little girl's mother?"
She looked at the woman carefully. Her clothes were patched with many patches and made of the coarsest linen. It was obvious that her family was poor. But such a family named their daughter "Jiaojiao", which showed that they really loved the child.
The woman nodded and quickly added, "But don't worry, Miss. I would never dare to look for the child." She was afraid that Gu Jiayue would see that the child had a mother and would be blamed in the future, so she made it clear first.
Although his future is uncertain, he still hopes Jiaojiao can have a good home.
This young lady looked approachable and certainly not the type to bully others. She also had the county magistrate as her guarantor, so her character was trustworthy. Jiaojiao could rest assured that she could follow such a master, even if she was sold to a shabby place in the future.
"Where is the child's father?" Gu Jiayue asked again.
The woman's eyes darkened, and her voice was filled with tears: "Gone... I was caught grasshoppers for my second uncle's child and was killed by a rock rolling down the mountain. Later, when there was a drought, my second uncle and mother-in-law sold Jiaojiao and me for three taels of silver, and they fled to the south..."
As she spoke, she could no longer hold back and burst into tears, covering her face.
If the head of the family was still alive, she and Jiaojiao probably wouldn't have ended up in this situation, right?
Seeing her mother crying, Jiaojiao also burst into tears. Her little hands tightly grasped Gu Jiayue's clothes, and she looked up with tears in her eyes and begged: "Kind sister, can you buy my mother back too? Jiaojiao will definitely be good, work more, and eat less..."
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