Thinking of how realistic and snobbish those people were, Gu Yanzhang thought about it and said to Chen Xuanxuan, "I will take my sons to Tongzhen tomorrow to meet those families..."

Chen Xuanxuan listened and nodded with a smile, "We still have to ask those neighbors about the situation of those families. However, when we ask, don't be too straightforward."

Gu Yanzhang nodded vigorously.

The next morning before dawn, Gu Yanzhang took his eldest son Gu Dazhu and Gu Erzhu to Tongzhen to sell buns.

Today, as usual, Gu Yanzhang and his sons first went to Yanji Restaurant to deliver 300 buns. 100 pumpkin buns, 100 green pepper and minced meat buns, and 100 pickled cabbage buns.

After collecting 600 wen from the shopkeeper, Gu Yanzhang simply packed up his things and started walking around the streets with his two sons.

After a while, he bought two kilograms of soybeans in a grocery store...

After asking all the questions he needed to ask, Gu Yanzhang returned home with his two sons, feeling very worried.

When the three of them got home, it was already completely dark outside.

Chen Xuanxuan saw that he was exhausted and frowned, as if he was worried about something, so she couldn't help asking.

"Boss, you've worked hard all day. I hope nothing happened to you?"

Gu Yanzhang shook his head gently while eating vermicelli with sour beans and minced meat.

"Today is fine. It's just..."

Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Chen Xuanxuan couldn't help but ask, "What is it? Why are you hesitating?"

Gu Yanzhang thought about it and told him the truth.

"It's just those families in the town. I asked around..."

Chen Xuanxuan immediately became interested when she heard this. "What did you find out? Tell me in detail now. I have to compare what you heard with what the matchmakers said, and see if there is a big difference..."

After Gu Yanzhang took a big sip of noodles, he finished the soup at the bottom of the bowl.

There was nothing left to eat, so he made a bun and ate it while saying, "One of these families is the one you favored the most. The daughter surnamed Jiang, her father is indeed a scholar. But, her father is a bit pedantic. It seems that he doesn't think much of a family like ours. When I went to buy soybeans near his place, I asked the shop owner, and the shop owner said that the Jiang family was actually from a wealthy family. After a change happened in the Jiang family a few decades ago, the family situation has been getting worse day by day. Her father studied for decades, but he was only a student. Now, her mother works day and night to wash clothes for those bag carriers. As for her brothers, they are actually studying at home every day like their father!"

When Chen Xuanxuan heard the news, she couldn't help but frowned.

"I remember that matchmaker Yuan in that town said, isn't her family well off? How come the mother of the daughter of the Jiang family has fallen to the point of washing clothes for others every day?"

Gu Yanzhang couldn't help laughing when he heard this, "Matchmakers can't always tell too much truth."

"The current situation of the Jiang family is indeed not bad. Her family is large, and four generations of grandparents and grandchildren have not separated. There are eight houses built next to each other in a small courtyard with a deep entrance. There are more than 30 people, all crowded together..." "

I asked my son to sell buns. He has a sharp eye. He can see the layout of the yard clearly by standing at the door."

When Chen Xuanxuan heard him say this, she instinctively felt that the Jiang family seemed to have a lot of things going on.

There are more than 30 people from four generations, and they haven't divided up yet...

This means that the father of the daughter of the Jiang family should not be an only child. According to the rules here, the one who can study and inherit the family business should be the eldest son.

There are several brothers, and the brothers have some children...

After Chen Xuanxuan muttered in her heart, she began to ask Gu Yanzhang, "What about the other families? What's their situation?"

After taking a sip of tea, Gu Yanzhang said softly, "I remember that matchmaker Yuan introduced a family surnamed Wang. She said that her family used to be from Wangjiazhuang, which was a few dozen miles away. After the family made a small fortune, the whole family moved to Tongzhen. Her family also has a lot of children."

"I asked Erzhu to find out. There are about 50 people in the Wang family. There are only six houses in total. Some time ago, seven or eight daughters of the Wang family were sold..."

Chen Xuanxuan was stunned at this moment, "Selling daughters of the Wang family? Is the Wang family selling daughters of the Wang family?"

Gu Yanzhang nodded, "Yes, I heard from the neighbors that the daughters of the Wang family are clearly priced. As long as you can afford more than five taels of silver, the daughters of the Wang family will be at the buyer's disposal. Several brothels in the town have been bought. Some people say that they are all beauties..."

Chen Xuanxuan couldn't help shaking her head after hearing this.

"This family is not good. The family tradition is not right, the family tradition is too wrong..."

Born in such a family, those daughters of the Wang family are pitiful.

Thinking that the Wang family might make a living by selling their daughters, Chen Xuanxuan asked again, "By the way, does the Wang family do business?"

"I mean, like us, selling food like buns. Or doing odd jobs when you have nothing to do?"

Under Chen Xuanxuan's expectant gaze, Gu Yanzhang touched his head, then shook his head seriously.

"No, I didn't ask around. They sell food."

"I just heard that many people in Wangjiazhuang, when they run out of money, will bring their daughters to Tongzhen and ask this family to sell them. The money they get is basically split 30% to 70%. When I was walking around the Wang family with Dazhu and Erzhu today, I saw with my own eyes seven or eight men from the Wang family arguing with some people from their clan."

"I asked around with people around me, and the neighbors said that they had been arguing for days over the money for selling the bodies of several daughters of the Wang family. One side said the money was not proportional. Another side said that the madam in the county only gave that much..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuanxuan's face turned pale.

After looking at Gu Dazhu and Gu Erzhu for a few times, she pulled Gu Yanzhang's sleeve and said, "We can't touch the daughters of this family!"

"If our family dares to become relatives with their family, they might take advantage of the situation to climb up the ladder and use my mother and my godfather's names to open brothels with those people in the town or the county. By then, who knows how many daughters of his family will be harmed..."

Gu Dazhu, who was sitting nearby, suddenly showed an expression of sudden realization when he heard this.