Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 170 Selling Oneself

It seems that their hope to find work is likely to be dashed.

If they want to work for money, both husband and wife have to sell themselves into servitude.

Mo Chunyue is very smart; she already knows this.

Her eyes are a bit red. She is unwilling to sell herself, but right now her family is in debt, He Sanlai is a good-for-nothing, and no one in town dares to hire him for hard labor. Her maiden family is a bunch of bloodsuckers. If she wants to survive, wants to prosper, she can only rely on the Gu Family.

Fortunately, the term Gu Jinli offered is only ten years. If she and her husband work hard for ten years, their days will get better.

After finishing her breakfast, Mo Chunyue has prepared herself for the fate of servitude.

Therefore, when Gu Jinli and her family finished their breakfast, she took the initiative to stop her and said, "Sister Xiao Yu, about what you mentioned the other day, my husband and I have thought it over. We are willing to sell ourselves for ten years and work for your family."

Gu Jinli held a bowl of soy milk, sipping from it bit by bit, glanced at Mo Chunyue, and said indifferently, "When did I say I wanted to buy you?" She thought to herself that she must look just like a female thug from a TV drama, especially irritating.

Mo Chunyue was shocked: "Didn’t you agree with San Lai to buy our husband and wife to work?"

Gu Jinli said, "What I said that day was that there was no work to offer, and my family would not hire a loafer. As for buying people, our family can go to the Prefecture to buy. The Prefecture is full of refugees now, you can buy a servant for one or two taels of silver. Those servants have been trained and disciplined by brokers, ready to be put to work on purchase, and are much less of a hassle than buying you."

Gu Jinli’s words completely dumbfounded Mo Chunyue. Originally feeling aggrieved about selling herself into servitude, she didn’t anticipate that she wanted to sell, but the Gu Family didn’t even want them.

What to do now?

Mo Chunyue panicked, looking at He Sanlai and then at Gu Jinli. In the end, without any solution, she fell to her knees in front of Third Grandpa, sobbing, "Third Grandpa Gu, please do us a kindness and buy us husband and wife. We promise to work diligently, without any deceit or laziness, and will not betray the family for the sake of silver. Please give us a chance to live."

He Sanlai also knelt down, looking at Third Master Gu and said, "Third Grandpa Gu, please buy us, we can work."

"This..." Third Grandpa Gu was at a loss and didn’t know what to do.

Having been a farmer all his life, he had never thought about buying people. To him, buying servants was something government officials and landlord families did, not related to ordinary farmers like them.

Gu Jinli said to them, "Stand up. Are you begging or trying to force someone’s hand by kneeling?"

He Sanlai knew Gu Jinli’s temper; the girl was adamant in her words. Hearing this, he quickly pulled Mo Chunyue up.

Gu Jinli looked at them and asked, "What do you have that is worth my purchasing?"

This question stumped both Mo Chunyue and He Sanlai; they really had no special skills to offer.

Mo Chunyue racked her brain and said, "We husband and wife can help you grind soybeans to make tofu, and also help you farm the land."

Gu Jinli laughed, "Grind soybeans, grind spices, farm the land, we can hire honest and upright people to do that."

Mo Chunyue and He Sanlai choked up upon hearing Gu Jinli’s words.

Did they firmly decide not to buy the husband and wife?

Mo Chunyue, in her desperation, actually started crying.

Third Grandma Gu felt pity for Mo Chunyue and saw her cry so miserably that she couldn’t help comforting her, "Child, don’t cry for now, you can find work without selling yourself."

What work could they find?

Mo Chunyue was well aware that she and her husband lacked both skills and reputation, and on top of that, they had offended the Lu Family. Who in the ten miles and eight villages around them would dare to hire them?

If the Gu Family didn’t buy them, she and her husband could only leave their hometown and seek a living elsewhere.

Having suffered enough from fleeing famine, Mo Chunyue had finally settled down, and would rather die than be on the run again.

Gu Jinli let Mo Chunyue cry until she had no pride left, then turned to He Sanlai and asked, "Do you know Zhang Niu?"

He Sanlai paused for a moment, then nodded, "I know, I know. Zhang Niu is from Yushu Village ahead of us. Their village has a century-old elm tree, the village..."

"Get to the point!" Gu Jinli interrupted He Sanlai: "I want to know about Zhang Niu’s background, not the history of Yushu Village."

Getting the hint, He Sanlai quickly corrected himself, "Zhang Niu is twenty-six this year, and has been working for the Lu Family for ten years, taking on some shady tasks. The Lu Family is very good to him; tsk tsk tsk, for those of us who work for the Lu Family, performing one evil deed only earns us at most one hundred copper coins, plus a meal of meat and drink. However, Zhang Niu gets paid monthly by the Lu Family, earning five taels of silver a month!"

As He Sanlai stretched out his hand and mentioned the five taels of silver, his eyes glinted with envy.

"Why would the Lu Family give him such a high price?" After the incident with Lu Dezhu, Gu Jinli had heard of this Zhang Niu and knew that the Lu Family kept more than just He Sanlai’s gang of riffraff.

"It’s said to be because of Zhang Niu’s brother." He Sanlai looked towards the courtyard entrance, and seeing no one around, he lowered his voice and said, "Zhang Niu’s elder brother, Zhang Huzi, took to the bandit life with a group, doing business on the waterway from Linhe Prefecture to Jiangnan. Rumor has it they’ve even killed people."

Gu Jinli frowned. Had he just disclosed a gang of prominent river pirates?

He Sanlai’s words had greatly frightened Third Grandma and Third Grandpa.

"There are such evil men in the nearby villages? Why doesn’t the government capture them?"

He Sanlai replied to Third Grandma, "Zhang Huzi and his gang take care of business from Linhe to the Jiangnan Waterway, which has nothing to do with He’an Prefecture, and our officials here aren’t keen on meddling in extra affairs."

"So the Lu Family values the connection with Zhang Huzi, that’s why they pay silver to keep him close." He Sanlai mentioned Zhang Niu again with disdain, "Zhang Niu himself has no real talent; he solely relies on his brother’s reputation to intimidate people."

Yet, it was this reputation that scared many people, benefiting both the Lu Family and County Magistrate Zou. freёweɓnovel.com

"But, just watch. Now Zhang Niu is riding high, but the day Zhang Huzi is no longer around, this little brother will suffer too," He Sanlai said with schadenfreude.

Third Grandma and Third Grandpa were relieved to hear Zhang Huzi was not in He’an.

Third Grandma prayed toward the east, "May God ensure that Zhang Huzi dies in a foreign place and never comes back."

He Sanlai said, "Third Grandma can rest easy; Zhang Huzi wouldn’t dare return and is too busy hiding."

"That’s good, that’s good," Third Grandma patted her chest, still shaken.

After inquiring about Zhang Niu, Gu Jinli asked He Sanlai about the riffraff in the ten miles and eight villages.

He Sanlai knew quite a bit and spoke of many matters, reminding Gu Jinli of which villages hosted riffraff and who stood behind those scoundrels.

Gu Jinli was pleased with this, as the sole reason she valued He Sanlai was his familiarity with local riffraff, allowing her to take precautionary measures.

After finishing her inquiries, Gu Jinli said, "At least you’re somewhat useful."

He Sanlai’s eyes lit up: "Young Mistress, does your comment mean... you are willing to buy us?"

Gu Jinli replied, "It’s not for me to decide; I have to ask Third Grandpa and Third Grandma as well as my parents."