After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 735 Can’t bear it

The matchmaker introduced the detailed situation of Li's mother and daughter to Ma and Haitang.

The mother and daughter were originally from a wealthy family in a farm outside Beijing. The mother, Li, lost both her parents, leaving behind two or three hundred acres of land and a house. Because she was an only child, her father found a husband for her before he died. But the choice was too hasty, and the husband was not a decent man with a conscience. As soon as her parents died, he changed his mind and refused to continue to be a live-in son-in-law. He wanted to turn over and become the head of the family. Li was originally a weak person. The Li family was a small family in the farm, and they had no one to rely on. Even if they had a few relatives and friends, they were not capable. The old servants in the family were old and weak, and could not withstand the fists of Li's husband, so Li had no choice but to surrender.

Later, she gave birth to her eldest daughter and then a son. Her husband did not beat or scold her. With the family's land, they lived a relatively rich life. When she was still a girl, her father had studied for a few years and was a student who had not yet passed the imperial examination. He loved his only daughter and taught her poetry and books for a few years. After she had her own children, she also taught them. She had originally planned to send her son to a private school in a nearby town to study and seek a future when he was two years old.

Who knew that the husband listened to someone's instigation the year before last, and was not satisfied with the two or three hundred acres of land and a comfortable life, and wanted to do business and make a fortune. He sold half of the land, used the money from the sale of the land as capital, and went to the capital to do business. In less than three months, he returned home in disgrace. But he was still unwilling to give up, and wanted to sell the rest of the land to avenge his previous shame. Li refused to sell the land, so he beat and scolded her, and even did not let his children go. The villagers couldn't stand it anymore, and they all tried to stop him, and he calmed down a little.

Later, he heard that someone bought high-quality spices in Chang'an, transported them to the capital and sold them at a high price, making ten times the profit. He was tempted again, and secretly stole the land deeds from his wife and sold them in the capital. When Li found out, it was too late. Not only did the remaining land not survive, but even the Li family's house was sold. Li's husband also asked her to take her child to seek refuge with relatives, and when he earned money and came back, he would buy a house and land and take them home.

Her husband insisted on coming to Chang'an. Li didn't want to ask for help from relatives, and was afraid that her husband would lose all his money like last time, or even abandon them and never come back. So she simply took her two children with him to Chang'an. The family of four rented a small courtyard. Li took care of their daily life at home, while her husband went out to look for business.

How could he be a businessman? He was easily cheated out of all his capital, and he also got into bad habits and owed a large amount of gambling debts. In order to pay off his debts, he sold his wife and daughter, leaving only his son to inherit the family line.

The most outrageous thing was that among the brokers who came to buy people, there was a big one with a good reputation. They usually dealt in the slave business of rich families and officials, and often sent the girls they bought to rich families to be maids and servants. For Li and her daughter, it was a better choice. But Li's husband thought the price was not high enough, so he sold her to another broker.

That brokerage was the one where the middle-aged fat broker who came to the Hai family today worked. Although they would sell people to officials and wealthy families, they mostly sold concubines and maids. Even servants were pretty and often sent to brothels. Some wives who didn't like concubines would take advantage of the absence of the man in charge to sell the concubines to other brokerages so that they could send the concubines to shameful places. As a result, the reputation of this brokerage was not very good.

Li had also been in Chang'an for a year or two. She knew her family's reputation very well and was afraid that she and her daughter would also fall into prostitution. She begged her husband desperately, saying that she would rather go to the first pawnshop. However, her husband refused in order to get a few more taels of silver so that he could have the capital to make a comeback in the casino.

Since the Li mother and daughter entered the pawnbroker, they cried all day and begged the pawnbroker to help them. They would rather be slaves in a rich family than fall into prostitution. The pawnbroker was very annoyed, but the middle-aged pawnbroker was kind-hearted and willing to inquire for them. He was familiar with the pawnbroker who sold the Qiu family to the Hai family. He mentioned the Li mother and daughter to the latter, and the latter recommended them to the Hai family.

The middle-aged agent smiled and said flatteringly, "Although I have been doing this business for more than ten years and have dealt with at least seventy or eighty women, I have never done anything shameful like forcing good women into prostitution! I always believe in mutual consent and never force anyone! Since the mother and daughter of the Li family are unwilling to be concubines, it would be their good fortune if they meet a kind-hearted master who keeps them as maids. I have also asked several nobles before, but the wives of those families heard about the Li family and were worried that Sister Li would miss her son and would not be willing to be a maid and would leave sooner or later, so they refused to even meet them, let alone buy them. Only Mrs. Hai is so kind and kind that she is willing to meet them in person and ask about their origins."

It was just for show. Only a fool would believe a prostitute who used to deal in prostitutes in brothels and said that he never forced women of good character into prostitution! Haitang was more inclined to believe that the middle-aged agent wanted to take the opportunity to curry favor with the Hai family, a new customer that she had never dealt with before, so that she could continue to sell people to them in the future.

She turned to look at her grandmother Ma to see what she thought.

Ma was a little hesitant.

The fate of the mother and daughter of the Li family is pitiful, which makes people feel sorry for them. They were born in a wealthy family and lived a stable and rich life, but because they accidentally married a bad man, not only did they lose their ancestral property and home, but they and their own flesh and blood were reduced to slavery. If the Hai family did not buy them, who knows where this pawnbroker would sell them to? Looking at the mother and daughter, although they are not stunningly beautiful, they are fair and pretty. They can be more beautiful after some grooming. It's okay for the mother, but she is old, and the daughter is of the right age. If the brothel sees them, how can they let her go?

However, it was reasonable for the wives of other wealthy families to refuse to buy them. The mother and daughter might have resented the man who sold them, but they must have been very concerned about the boy who stayed at home. Moreover, they still had relatives and friends in the capital. If they followed the Hai family back to the capital, could they really stay and work with peace of mind instead of asking to go?

Ma wanted to buy a good maid for her granddaughter, hoping that she would have a reliable person to help her after she got married. It would be best if the maid had relatives staying in the Hai family, so that it would be easier to control her. If the mother and daughter of the Li family could not stay in the Hai family for a long time, then there would be little point in buying someone...

Ma turned to look at Haitang: "What do you think? Do you like this girl from the Li family?"

Haitang looked at the pretty daughter of the Li family and smiled, "Grandma, let's buy the people. Just think of it as saving a life. Our family doesn't lack this little money. You can donate incense oil to the temple twice, which is about the same amount. As for the future... let's talk about it in the future. Who knows if the people we just bought can be used for a long time? At most, we can send them back to their hometown to help them reunite with their families. We can buy another one. But if you don't accept the people today, you will always worry about them when you think about it later. You are afraid that they will really end up in a bad end. You will feel bad, and won't it be even more uncomfortable?"

Hearing this, Ma stopped worrying and said, "That's true. It's just a few dozen taels of silver. I can afford it!" Then she nodded to the familiar broker and said, "I'll buy it."

The broker and the middle-aged agent were both delighted, and Mrs. Li was so happy that she cried and fell to the ground, sobbing softly.

Her daughter said nothing, but just bowed her head heavily towards Haitang.

(End of this chapter)