Su Qing heard that and turned her head to look at the woman.
Then she smiled and said, “Sorry, I don’t need a maid…”
“My girl is very obedient, and very capable too. Miss, could you consider it?” the woman said.
Su Qing was helpless. She spread her hands and said, “I truly don’t need a maid. I just arrived here myself, and I haven’t even decided where I’ll settle down yet!”
Su Qing was no saint, so naturally she wasn’t going to buy that little girl.
If she had already settled down, maybe she would have considered it. But right now she was still staying at an inn, and there really was no need to buy a maid.
Hearing that, the woman sighed and could only nod.
Su Qing shook her head and turned to leave.
But after staying silent for a moment, Ao Yiyi quietly left behind a string of copper coins, then followed Su Qing.
Su Qing naturally knew what the girl had done…
But she didn’t stop her.
And she didn’t say much about it either.
She only asked, “Do you think what I did was pretty cold?”
Ao Yiyi heard that and shook her head…
Ao Yiyi was kind, but not naïve, and she certainly wouldn’t point fingers at Su Qing just because Su Qing didn’t buy that child.
Guanyin Bodhisattva hadn’t only taught her Buddhist teachings, she had also taught her many principles.
This was one of them, perhaps.
Seeing that, Su Qing smiled and nodded, then said, “Right now we can only help for a moment. If we can’t change the situation itself, then everything is pointless.”
Ao Yiyi nodded, then lifted her gaze toward the distant, dazzling imperial city…
That was the root of the problem.
Or rather, the demon Prime Minister there was the true root of it all.
Time passed quickly while shopping.
Su Qingyu had a happy afternoon.
In the blink of an eye, it was sunset.
And Su Qing and the others had long since returned to the inn.
After returning, Su Qing asked the innkeeper about where the brokerage was, so that tomorrow they could go there to buy property.
After all, the urgent priority was to stabilize their footing here first.
Only after they were settled could everything else proceed step by step.
The next day.
Su Qing and the others followed the original plan and went to the brokerage to buy a house.
“Please sit, please sit! What kind of house do you ladies want? Our brokerage, let me tell you, we’ve got connections everywhere, and business everywhere. No matter what kind of property it is, we’ve got it. There’s nothing a miss can think of that we don’t have!” the agent said with a grin, boasting to Su Qing and the others.
After hearing that, Su Qing was a bit speechless… he bragged better than a singer.
If she really said the things she could think of, his brokerage truly wouldn’t be able to produce them.
But complaining was just complaining. Su Qing definitely wasn’t going to do something that boring.
Doing that would only leave the other person confused, and make Su Qing’s explanations a hassle, with no benefit.
So Su Qing simply told him her needs.
After hearing her requirements, the agent chuckled and said, “We do happen to have properties that fit what you want, but… the price…”
Su Qing waved her hand and said, “The price isn’t a big problem, as long as it’s reasonable.”
“Hehe, of course it’s reasonable, of course. Our brokerage values integrity the most, we would never deceive a miss,” the agent said with a smile.
Su Qing laughed inwardly, she didn’t believe a single word…
But she still said, “Then take us to see the house.”
“Easy, easy! We’ll go now?”
“We’ll go now,” Su Qing nodded.
“Got it!”
After that, Su Qing and the others followed the agent around and looked at several properties that met her needs.
To be fair, this brokerage really did have some capability…
Those properties were all quite nice.
But Su Qing wasn’t about to buy them all.
After thinking it through, she chose a courtyard residence near the river…
It was quiet, and close to a small river. When she had nothing to do, she could fish, so it was very nice.
And the courtyard wasn’t small at all. Even after Su Qing and the others moved in, it would still feel spacious… compared to the place in Linzhou City, it was at least as good, if not better.
Once she confirmed that this was the one…
Everything else, aside from paying, didn’t require Su Qing and the others to handle.
If there was one thing, it was probably buying furniture and household items, which would take a bit of thought.
But those were small matters, not troublesome…
In the blink of an eye.
Several more days passed.
After those days, Su Qing and the others finally received the deed.
And the day after receiving it.
Su Qing came to the brokerage again…
The one who received her was the same agent as before.
“Hey Miss, you’re back? Looking to buy something else?” the agent said with a smile. “Our brokerage doesn’t just handle property. Maids, stewards, and the like, we’ve got plenty too. Old, young, pretty, we’ve got stock.”
After hearing the words “we’ve got stock,” Su Qing couldn’t help glancing at him…
Clearly, in his eyes, those people counted as merchandise.
Thinking of that, Su Qing could only sigh inwardly.
Still, she didn’t say much. In the mortal world this was common, especially in a country rotten to the bone like this one…
“I need some maids,” Su Qing said, giving her requirements, “I only want them young, and obedient and sensible. Experience doesn’t matter. They just need to be younger, and also, their looks can’t be too bad.”
Hearing her requirements, the agent put on a troubled expression, but in the end he still said, “That… that’s not a problem, but there aren’t many that fit what you want. And these little girls usually can’t do anything at all, you’ll have to train them yourself afterward, it’s quite a hassle. Miss, do you really not want maids who already know everything?”
“No need. The maids in my household will teach them what they need to learn,” Su Qing said calmly, shaking her head.
What she wanted weren’t adults with fully formed minds. She needed children she could train gradually.
Someone raised from childhood would definitely be more loyal than an adult maid.
Seeing that, the agent tactfully said, “Then I’ll bring over the newest batch of little girls for you to choose from. Please wait a moment, Miss!”
The agent was a middleman, doing business…
If he annoyed a customer and the deal fell through, he wouldn’t earn anything.
The customer was the boss.
If he could meet the requirements, he would.
Su Qing nodded.
Then the agent went to call someone.
He moved quickly.
Su Qing didn’t wait long before he brought the maids over.
There weren’t many, only twenty or thirty children…
Most looked around ten or so, with a few only seven or eight.
They all looked thin, clearly children from poor families…
“These are all newly taken in, so they look a bit skinny. But if you raise them for a while, they’ll improve,” the agent said helplessly. “If you want girls who’ve been trained a bit, I can find those for you too.”
Su Qing shook her head and said, “These are fine…”
“Good, then choose for yourself,” the agent said, scratching his head. “If you’re not satisfied with this batch, you’ll have to wait a few more days. Or I can bring some older ones.”
Su Qing ignored him and simply looked over the girls.
Suddenly, among them, she saw a familiar face.
It was the little girl she had met that day, the one her mother had tried to sell.
Su Qing raised an eyebrow, beckoned her over, and asked, “Ao Yiyi gave your mother a string of copper coins, right? How did you still end up being sold?”
The girl looked at Su Qing and recognized her as the miss who hadn’t bought her before.
So she explained, “My mother needed money. That string wasn’t enough, so she sold me.”
“You’re not sad?”
The girl shook her head. “I didn’t starve to death. I should be grateful to my mother.”
“…” Su Qing was speechless for a moment. She laughed helplessly and said, “You really can take it in stride…”
That child’s words were far too mature…
Even adults might not be able to say that, yet a child said it.
It was hard to imagine what she had gone through to become this mature.
The girl said nothing, then asked, “Miss, will you buy me to be your maid? I don’t know much, but I can learn anything!”
She seemed to notice Su Qing’s interest…
So she seized the chance to sell herself.
She didn’t want to stay in the brokerage.
If a maid stayed unsold for too long…
A pretty one would be sold to a brothel to become a prostitute.
An ugly one would have an even worse fate.
So she didn’t want to remain here.
If she had a chance to leave, she would take it.
Even becoming a miss’s maid, no matter how bad, was better than staying here, unable to see any future.
Even if a lowly person like her had no future to begin with…
She still didn’t want to miss a chance to live a little better than she did now.
Su Qing fell silent. Honestly, this girl really had surprised her. She was far too mature for a child.
But whether to choose her still made Su Qing hesitate.
Because…
Back then, when her mother tried to sell her to Su Qing, Su Qing didn’t buy.
Now, the girl was in the brokerage as a maid for sale, and Su Qing was about to buy her after all.
It felt a bit like getting slapped in the face.
Still, after a moment of silence…
Su Qing decided to take the girl home.
Meeting her twice might be fate.
If it was fate, then she would go with it.
Besides, this little girl had genuinely surprised her…
So Su Qing said, “I’ll take this one. Also, those two little girls over there, I’ll take them too. That’s it. Three maids are enough.”
Since Su Qing had spoken, the agent naturally nodded with a beaming smile and calculated the price.
“These girls were specially selected, and they don’t look bad, so the purchase price wasn’t low,” the agent said with a grin. “You’re an old friend of our brokerage, so we’ll sell them to you at cost. Twenty taels of silver in total. How about it, Miss?”
Su Qing looked up at him.
She knew perfectly well it wasn’t truly “at cost.”
But she couldn’t be bothered to haggle.
It was only twenty taels of silver.
As for how much profit he made, she didn’t care to calculate.
After paying, Su Qing still couldn’t take the girls away immediately.
Their indenture contracts were still held by the brokerage.
To take them, the contracts had to be transferred into Su Qing’s hands.
But this process was much faster than buying a house.
After all… human lives were worth less than property.
That was this damned world’s kind of “logic.”
Before long, everything was done.
And Su Qing could take the girls away.
On the way back, Su Qing asked, “What are your names?”
The first to answer was naturally the most mature little girl.
She said, “My father gave me the name Ji Xiaoxiao. The nanny at the brokerage gave me the name Rendong, she said a name like that fit a maid’s status.”
Su Qing nodded and said, “Keep the name Ji Xiaoxiao for yourself, don’t forget it. From now on, I’ll call you Rendong.”
With Ji Xiaoxiao, or rather Rendong, speaking first,
the other two girls also answered.
The smallest one spoke timidly, “I… I’m called Moli. The nanny at the brokerage gave me that. My parents never gave me a name. They said I was a money-losing burden and didn’t deserve a name, so they didn’t name me…”
And the tallest girl said, “I’m called Qiujv. The nanny gave me that too. I don’t have a name from parents, because I don’t have parents, so I don’t have one.”
After hearing them, Su Qing nodded slightly…
She didn’t comment on their pasts. She only said, “The names are all pretty good. That nanny is good at naming, using flowers as names, it won’t sound ugly.”
Su Qing’s words made Moli and Qiujv smile, but only Rendong remained calm, following behind Su Qing obediently.
Seeing that, Su Qing didn’t say more…
She just felt that this child really was special.
Just like that, Su Qing brought the girls back to the courtyard.
The brokerage wasn’t far, so it didn’t take much time.
Seeing Su Qing return so quickly, Ao Yiyi was surprised. “Su-jiejie, you’re back so fast?”
She had thought buying maids would take longer than buying a house.
But it was done so quickly.
Li Yichou wasn’t surprised…
She knew very well that in this era, human life was cheap. Buying people was much simpler than buying other things.
Su Qing nodded with a smile. “Yes, I’m back. The brokerage works efficiently.”
“Also… I brought a familiar face back for you.”
Ao Yiyi froze a little, then tilted her head and looked at the girls behind Su Qing…
And with that look, she went blank.
“Su-jiejie, you bought back that child we saw a few days ago too? Her parents still sold her?”
Su Qing nodded, then used Sound Transmission to briefly tell Ao Yiyi what had happened.
“How could they… didn’t they already have money?” Ao Yiyi murmured. “Why did they still sell the child in the end?”
Su Qing smiled. “Silly girl, sometimes you think things are too simple.”
Ao Yiyi fell silent for a moment, then sighed helplessly.
Seeing that, Su Qing shook her head and smiled. “Alright, don’t shut down. This isn’t your fault.”
“But we really do have fate with this girl…”
“I thought we’d never meet again, but when I went to the brokerage to buy maids, I ran into her again. So I bought her along with the others.”
“Also, she’s very smart, and very mature…”
“She gave me quite a surprise.”
Ao Yiyi nodded slightly. “I understand that too… I just feel helpless that the child still got sold. But maybe meeting you, Su-jiejie, is a kind of luck for her. At least it’s better than being bought by someone else.”
Hearing Ao Yiyi say that, Su Qing nodded, finally reassured.
Then Su Qing said to the three girls, “Introduce yourselves to everyone.”
The girls repeated their names like before.
And so, they officially became part of the household.
After everyone was acquainted,
Su Qing said to Hu Lin’er, “Lin’er, take them to bathe, then change into clean clothes, and take them to their rooms.”
The girls had just come back. Su Qing naturally wouldn’t have them work or study right away…
Their bodies were in poor condition. They needed to be fed and raised for a while first. Only once they were healthier could they become real help in the household.
So before that, Hu Lin’er would have to handle more.
Hu Lin’er nodded, then said to the girls, “Come with me.”
Rendong lifted her head to look at Hu Lin’er, then obediently followed. After Rendong moved, the other two hurried after her.
Bathing and changing didn’t take long…
Soon they were washed and dressed, and Hu Lin’er took them to their rooms.
After finishing everything,
Hu Lin’er returned to Su Qing and said, “That child called Rendong really is different.”
Su Qing smiled and nodded.
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