HCB Chapter 135 Selling oneself
Chapter 135 Selling oneself
At 9:00 p.m. the next day, Guo Xin prepared to go up the mountain with bamboo arrows that had not been used for a long time. His brothers and sisters behind him also followed with handy wooden sticks or bamboo arrows in their hands.
It has been a long time since I went hunting in the mountains. This time I decided to try my luck at seeing the little wolf and see if I could see any prey in this winter. But I didn't have much expectation.
In winter, the ground is covered with snow and animals naturally hibernate. Therefore, the biggest purpose of bringing bamboo arrows up the mountain this time is just to reminisce about the past.
The four of them chattered as they walked towards the hill that Liu You mentioned, just like this time last year.
"Dad, Mom, please, I really don't want to go." A little girl cried and begged, with despair revealed in her voice.
The little girl's house was not far from the road up the mountain. When the four of them heard this, they all stopped and looked at each other. Guo Xin waved his hand, signaling them to stop and listen to what was going on.
"How can you not go? We gave birth to you and raised you, do you think you can just eat free meals at home?" The man shouted angrily, making a dull sound like a stick hitting a person.
"I don't want it, I really don't want it." The little girl said hoarsely, "Mom and Dad, I beg you, I can work in Sister Guo Xin's workshop and earn a lot of money for my brother's betrothal gift."
"Be good, be obedient. I have asked around for you. That family is wealthy. If you marry into their family, you will be the wife of the young lady. And most importantly, you can get a lot of betrothal gifts for your brother. If your brother lives well in the future, you will live well too. We all prosper together and suffer together."
When everyone heard this, they all looked at Guo Ruo. If Guo Xin had not advised her at that time, Guo Ruo would have had the same fate as the little girl and married a landlord with a quirk, but her purpose was to exchange some food for it.
Guo Ruo looked at his brothers and sisters gently, smiled and shook his head to comfort them.
There was a hissing sound, like the sound of cloth being torn, followed by the man's angry voice: "You little bastard, where are you going to run to? I tell you, you can't even leave Guojia Village, and you still want to run!!"
Two sounds of running footsteps were heard. The little girl ran out of the yard, saw Guo Xin and the other three, and ran over directly. She knelt heavily on the ground with a "bang" and kowtowed heavily without saying a word.
Guo Ruo wanted to go forward and pull up the little girl, but he couldn't do it no matter what, so he had to let the little girl kowtow.
The little girl's father also caught up and saw Guo Xin and the other three. He recognized them at once. After all, this was the secret of Guojia Village's wealth, and he had received news that they had returned to the village yesterday. How could he not recognize them?
Looking at the weapons in everyone's hands, he knew he was embarrassed and said, "Ruo'er, Xin'er, this little girl is really outrageous. I'll take her away right now, so as not to disturb your fun."
As he said that, he tried to pull the little girl away. Seeing this, Guo Xin said in a deep voice: "Don't pull her first. Let me hear what's going on."
The little girl kowtowed for a long time, and when she heard the answer she wanted, she raised her head and looked at Guo Xin. Her eyes were already bloodshot and her forehead was red and swollen. Upon closer inspection, she was just a little girl about the same age as Guo Zhi.
"Sister Guo Xin, I, I, please help me." The little girl sobbed.
"Don't worry, what exactly happened?" Guo Ruo looked at the little girl and said gently.
"My parents want to sell me to a son of a family, but the son is disabled and stupid. Not only can he not eat or walk by himself, he also often beats people. If I am sold to that family, how can I live?" After saying this, the little girl couldn't help crying again.
"Xin'er, don't listen to her nonsense. Since ancient times, marriages are decided by parents and matchmakers. And she is so young, only eleven years old. How could she possibly marry? She would just serve in someone else's house for a few years. Besides, their family is rich, and they lived a comfortable life in the past. There is no need for her to be a servant."
Guo Xin looked at the man who didn't care about her daughter at all, and felt a little angry. She said coldly: "I can tell the truth from the lies in your words. But I don't understand why you have to sell your daughter for a betrothal gift when Guojia Village is considered wealthy now and you can make a lot of money with me."
The man was not angry when he saw that his words were exposed. After all, the man in front of him was the God of Wealth of Guojia Village, so how could he afford to offend him? He smiled and said, "It's not that our Guojia Village is gradually getting richer, and there are many good families willing to marry their daughters to our village."
"I thought, since we can marry into a better family, we might as well do it all at once, so I asked for a marriage for my son from a family of yamen runners working in the county government. They originally despised us for being from the countryside, but fortunately, our Guojia Village has benefited from your family's blessing."
"They said that Guojia Village was where the general of the cavalry had stayed, and it was also considered wealthy. They said that if our family could give twenty-five taels of silver and build a blue brick house, they would agree to let their daughter marry here."
"But our family has only been living well for a short time, how can we have that much money? It just so happens that a while ago, a family wanted to find a good wife for their son, and they took a fancy to our daughter."
Guo Xin couldn't help but sneer when he heard this. This was really ridiculous. It turned out that human greed was limitless. So he asked, "So you set your sights on your daughter?"
The man lowered his head and said nothing.
"As a father, you have failed miserably. I also know that outsiders cannot do much about this matter, but I think your daughter is destined to be with me, so I bought her."
When the man heard this, his eyes lit up instantly, and he looked at his daughter kneeling on the ground as if he was looking at a shining gold ingot.
Guo Xin changed the subject and said, "But this little girl will have nothing to do with you in the future. I wonder if you are willing." Guo Xin turned to look at the little girl kneeling on the ground.
The little girl kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Master, your kindness is so great, I have no way to repay you."
Seeing this, the man rubbed his hands and said, "Then, then I wonder if Xin'er will give us twenty-five taels of silver?"
Guo Xin nodded. To be honest, twenty-five taels of silver was a good deal for him to buy a servant, so he was naturally willing to pay the money. Besides, Guo Zhi just happened to be in need of a playmate.
"You can come to my house to get the money you want later. Just remember that every penny your daughter earns will have nothing to do with you in the future."
Although Guo Xin bought a slave, he did not have the concept of a slave owner in his mind. He just treated the girl as an employee who signed a long-term contract, so the salary was relatively generous. Naturally, he had to avoid the little girl's family members and suck her blood.