Chapter 525 Want to Choose Three
The money pouch was handed to the woman in white, who tossed it forward. "Here's five taels of silver. Release the person now!"
As soon as the woman in white finished speaking, the two burly men were dumbfounded, but Gu Renjie couldn't help but burst out laughing.
He never expected that there were such simple-minded people in the world. Five taels of silver was just enough to send a beggar away.
Gu Renjie's laughter was hearty, and the others couldn't help but look over. When the woman in white saw that it was Gu Renjie standing next to her, she couldn't help but blush.
She never expected to run into Gu Renjie here at this time, and even let him watch her show for quite a while.
"What brings you here, young master?" The woman in white lowered her head after speaking, not daring to meet Gu Renjie's gaze.
"Then what brings Miss Meng here?" Gu Renjie asked in return, leaving Meng Wei extremely embarrassed.
Fortunately, Gu Renjie didn't wait for her answer. Instead, he looked at the two burly men and asked, "You want five hundred taels? Do you really think someone like this is worth five hundred?"
Gu Renjie's cold eyes shot towards the three of them, and they all shivered at his gaze.
Gu Renjie didn't give them a chance to think or refute, and continued, "You say you want to sell her to a brothel. With her looks, an ordinary brothel would only pay twenty taels, and a slightly less expensive one would pay ten taels. But you're asking for five hundred taels. Are you trying to rob her?"
"I only wanted twenty taels, but she was stupid and acted like she was easy to fool. I thought I had met a rich young lady, but she turned out to be a penniless pauper who only gave me five taels of silver."
Once Gu Renjie had read the man's mind, the burly man immediately spoke his mind.
Meng Wei had at least dared to raise her head to look at Gu Renjie, but now she was completely humiliated. Her monthly salary was only three taels of silver, and this five taels was what she had saved up over the years. Now, she had taken out five taels of silver and was being laughed at by a vulgar man. What would Gu Renjie think of her?
Looking at Meng Wei's lowered head, Gu Renjie's eyes flickered slightly: "Twenty taels? A matchmaker only charges five taels of silver for a maid, and that's for a clean and innocent maid. This kind of mercenary is not even worth giving away. Miss Meng is being too generous by giving her five taels."
Meng Wei was surprised that Gu Renjie would speak up for her, and couldn't help but look up at him.
Seeing the surprise in her eyes, Gu Renjie nodded reassuringly to her, then looked at the three men. “You’ve been following me for the past two streets. You only appeared crying, pretending to be held hostage, after I sat down at the steamed bun stall. You thought I would stand up for you out of sympathy, but you don’t know that I noticed you the moment you appeared.”
Gu Renjie's words terrified the three of them. They had tried to be very discreet, but Gu Renjie had still managed to discover them.
This man looks frail and weak, but why is it that just looking at him gives you a feeling of fear?
"Young master, we're just trying to make a living, please forgive us this time!"
The three men realized they had bitten off more than they could chew, and immediately knelt down, begging Gu Renjie for mercy. Looking at their ragged state, Gu Renjie's eyes flickered.
"To be honest, I am Gu Renjie, a Grand Secretary of the Imperial Cabinet, and my father is Gu Jin, the Marquis of Yi'an. You have committed so many evil deeds and cheated others. If I let you go, how can I face the elders and folks of the capital? However, seeing that you are not habitual swindlers, I will give you two choices: one, go to the government office to turn yourselves in; two, work for me. You can choose one."
Gu Renjie spoke of two paths, but neither of them was a good choice for the three of them.
"Can I choose three?" The burly man, who looked bigger but was obviously a bit dumber, couldn't help but ask again.
Gu Renjie's cold eyes swept across his face, finally settling on the woman. "There is no third answer, but if you agree to the second one, I can guarantee you a life of plenty."
The final condition was an olive branch extended by Gu Renjie. Upon hearing this, the woman's eyes flickered, and before the other two could speak, she directly replied, "We choose the second option."
"Yes, we choose the second one."
The two burly men echoed in unison, and Gu Renjie couldn't help but smile.
He knew that this woman was actually the leader of the three. Although she was small in stature, she was quick-witted than the other two.
"Take this money first, find a place to stay, and I'll come to you if anything comes up."
As Gu Renjie spoke, he took out fifty taels from his pocket and handed it to the little girl. Then, with a wave of his hand, the three men immediately left, gratefully taking the money.
"Isn't the young master afraid they'll take the money and run?"
Meng Wei couldn't help but worry about Gu Renjie.
Gu Renjie turned back and smiled slightly at her, "Now that they know my identity, they naturally know they can't get far with that little money. Rather than worrying about being found by me, they might as well follow me and fight for a better future."
After hearing Gu Renjie's explanation, Meng Wei immediately understood. Gu Renjie wasn't giving them a choice; he was gambling on people's hearts.
Sure enough, none of the Gu family members are simple. Back then, my grandmother was so eager to scheme against the Gu family. I really don't know what was going on in her head.
"Miss Meng, what brings you here so early?"
Gu Renjie regained his composure and, looking at the growing crowd, asked curiously.
Speaking of this, Meng Wei's face showed a hint of sadness. Although her father and mother treated her very well, as a child, she couldn't stand the old lady's fussing.
As the saying goes, "a filial son is like a knife over his head." A few days ago, Madam Meng arranged another family for her. This family was neither a high-ranking one nor a wealthy merchant, but their son lived in a villa outside the city year-round and insisted that she make the trip to see him.
Madam Meng had already arranged a meeting for Meng Wei with a distant relative and was preparing to have the child come to the capital to take a look, but after Old Madam Meng made such a fuss, Madam Meng had no choice but to agree to take a look first.
After all, this family is a respectable one, and if they were to go against Madam Meng's wishes, it would be unfilial.
Gu Renjie didn't ask why Meng Wei went alone. Just by looking at her expression, he knew that it must have been that old hag from the Meng family deliberately tormenting Meng Wei!
"A villa in the suburbs sounds nice. I happen to have nothing to do today, so I'll go to the suburbs with Miss Meng."
As Gu Renjie spoke, he stepped into the Meng family's carriage. Meng Wei initially wanted to refuse, but seeing this, she had no choice but to follow him into the carriage.
It was inappropriate for a lone man and woman to ride in the same car, but for some reason, seeing Gu Renjie accompanying her, Meng Wei couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
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