Hearing this, the woman sighed deeply and said, "If I don't sell her, what else can I do? Even if I keep her with me, there's no way to survive! Selling her to a wealthy family, even as a maid, at least offers a path to life. If she stays with me, this girl has nothing but death waiting for her."
After all, she was flesh of her own flesh. Unless forced by desperation, who would willingly sell their own child?
Seeing this situation, the broker could only nod helplessly and say, "I will do my best to help you sell the child... however, I cannot guarantee if anyone will buy her. Also, according to the rules, we will take a ten percent commission as a fee... please understand that."
Seeing how determined she was, the broker knew that saying anything more was useless. Aside from helping, there was no other choice. Thus, he nodded and accepted the task.
However, he also made everything clear to the woman beforehand to avoid any disputes later, which would be bad for everyone.
Upon hearing this, the woman also nodded and said, "As long as you can sell this child to a good family, anything is fine..."
Seeing this, the man said no more. He simply gave a slight nod and led the child away to handle the paperwork.
A child being sold naturally required a deed of sale. Otherwise, it wouldn't be according to the rules, and any future disputes would be quite troublesome.
To the side, Su Qing and the others watched quietly, not making any immediate plans. Only Ao Yiyi seemed slightly moved, but seeing that Su Qing hadn't expressed anything, she didn't speak up either, merely watching in silence.
As for the others, they were also waiting for Su Qing's decision... they had no intention of deciding ahead of her.
After waiting for a short while, the manager finally came out. He held several thin ledgers in his hands; it seemed these were the items he had spent so much time looking for.
"Ladies, these are the houses that meet your requirements. Would you like me to have someone take you to see them?" the manager asked with a slight smile.
Upon hearing this, Su Qing naturally nodded and said, "Yes, take us to see them! By the way, besides houses, do you have any maidservants here? I plan to buy one or two—obedient ones with superior looks."
As soon as Su Qing said this, the others roughly understood her plan. Su Qing always had a reason for her actions, especially when she suddenly made a decision that differed from her usual habits; it meant she had some other motive.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't add any maidservants to her residence. After all, was there anything they couldn't do themselves? The existence of maidservants was nothing more than cooking, cleaning, and doing small chores for them.
Therefore, such people didn't have much significance by their side. On the contrary, in certain situations, they could become a burden, making them hesitant when they needed to perform magic.
So generally speaking, Su Qing wouldn't need any maidservants. Now that she had spoken about wanting one or two... it was clearly because the previous scene had given her the idea.
Of course, everyone also understood that Su Qing's decision definitely wasn't a sudden impulse... she was certainly well aware of the trouble that would come after buying maidservants. Therefore, she must have considered those potential complications. If not, she wouldn't have made such a decision so casually.
As for how she would solve those troubles, they didn't know; they simply trusted that Su Qing had her own plans.
Returning to the matter at hand, the manager hurriedly nodded upon hearing her request and said, "Yes, yes, of course we do! No matter what you wish to buy, our brokerage has the connections... whatever requirements you have, you can state them. As long as it exists in this world, our brokerage can get it for you."
Hearing this, Su Qing just chuckled, shook her head, and said, "It's better to talk less big... if I wanted to be the emperor, could your brokerage get that for me too?"
"Hehe, that... naturally not." The manager broke into a cold sweat. What normal person would make such a request? However, he didn't want to offend the major client before him, so he just smiled apologetically and said, "The lady is right, one indeed shouldn't talk so big! Then, Lady, shall we go see the houses first or..."
Seeing his reaction, Su Qing glanced in the direction where the broker had left and said, "Let's go see the houses first. Also, keep that woman's daughter for me; I'm a bit interested in that girl."
Hearing this, the manager looked in the direction Su Qing pointed and immediately understood. He nodded hurriedly and said, "Of course, of course. But... shouldn't that child be trained for a while before being sent to you? After all, if she knows nothing, when she arrives at your place, I'm afraid..."
"I'll consider that point later," Su Qing said with an 'mm', then added, "Alright, let's go! Let's see the houses first."
Seeing this, the manager said no more. The customer was king, after all. Whatever she said was what went. However, before leaving, the manager still went to give instructions about the matter, lest the person the client wanted be bought by someone else.
Of course, the possibility was very small. After all, she was a child who had just arrived; how could she be sold so easily? At the very least, she would need to wait until she had learned some skills before anyone would talk about selling her. Not everyone was like Su Qing, willing to buy a maidservant who didn't even know how to serve people.
He gave the instruction just in case, and also to show his sincerity.
After leaving the brokerage, Su Qing and the others visited houses in several locations. Finally, they settled on a place on the west side of the county town, near the mountains. It might not have met every single condition, but it was very close to what Su Qing had in mind.
Of course, another important reason was that Su Qing was getting a bit lazy to put in more effort. After searching for so long, finding something 'close enough' was sufficient. It was only for a few years of living, anyway.
Once the property was confirmed, Su Qing and the others returned to the brokerage and began selecting maidservants.
One of them was the one Su Qing had pre-selected, so naturally, nothing more needed to be said. But the other one was someone Su Qing selected carefully. It took a bit of time before she decided who to take with her.
"Alright, just these two. As for the remaining procedures, leave them to your brokerage. If there's anywhere I need to sign or leave a thumbprint, send them to the courtyard. I assume I don't need to tell you where I am again?"
Su Qing spoke calmly to the manager while placing silver ingots on the table, asking, "Two should be enough, right?"
"It's certainly enough, there's even a surplus."
"Then consider it a tip for you... when I need anything in the future, I'll speak to you again. I hope you'll be as diligent then as you were this time." Su Qing gave a slight smile and said with narrowed eyes, "Also, I don't like being cheated. If I find out... then there will be no more deals between us."
Su Qing paid the money very freely, but she also gave the manager a warning.
Hearing these words, the manager swallowed hard. Heaven and earth be his witness, he really hadn't cheated Su Qing; all the prices were absolutely fair.
"Please rest assured, Lady. I could never cheat you! If I dared to do such a thing, may heaven strike me with lightning!" the manager said with a serious face, raising his hand.
Seeing this, Su Qing chuckled and nodded, saying, "Then I'll take your word for it."
The manager breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Please put your heart at ease! I have my own rules in business and have always operated with integrity. Also, regarding the follow-up procedures, please rest assured that I will handle them; I won't let you down."
Su Qing gave an 'mm' and said, "Good, then I'll be going. I'm taking the people with me! As for training... I'll do it myself when I get back, so I won't trouble the brokerage."
Hearing this, the manager nodded hurriedly and said, "Just leave it to me."
Seeing this, Su Qing said no more. She simply nodded and turned to leave with the others.
On the way, Ao Yiyi finally used Sound Transmission to ask Su Qing the reason for taking in these two children.
Hearing the question, Su Qing glanced at her and replied via Sound Transmission: 'There's no major reason. It's just that this happened right in front of me, and I happened to have the ability to do something, so I lent a helping hand. Besides, didn't you also want to help? Of course, there's also a secondary reason...'
Su Qing knew her friend very well and naturally knew that she also wanted to help that child. The reason they hadn't proactively suggested it was because they were considering her own thoughts. Therefore, she had taken the initiative to take the child in.
Of course, taking in that child was also the result of careful consideration. It wasn't purely out of pity.
'There's another reason?' Ao Yiyi's brow twitched slightly as she asked curiously via Sound Transmission, 'What is it?'
Su Qing smiled slightly and replied: 'This child is a half-blood demon. There are obvious demon traces on her body, so I want to take her in... after teaching her well for a few years, she might become a help to us, helping us stabilize the Incense Power here...'
This child had decent cultivation talent and was a half-blood demon. That was why Su Qing had taken her away so simply. As for what realm this child could reach under Su Qing's guidance, only heaven knew. All Su Qing could do was teach her with care.
Upon hearing this, Ao Yiyi understood Su Qing's considerations and said, 'I see. You still think further ahead, Sister Su... but what about the other child?'
Hearing this, Su Qing also smiled slightly and explained calmly: 'As for the other child... well, she's also a child with some cultivation talent. Although not as good as the half-blood demon, she can still cultivate... it's just that she won't reach any particularly high achievements. Originally... if I hadn't found a talented child, I planned to just take the half-blood demon. But I didn't expect to actually encounter another one, so I brought her along as well. After all, one more doesn't make a crowd, and one less doesn't make a difference!'
This answer left Ao Yiyi slightly helpless. However, she didn't criticize Su Qing for anything. For her, being able to take away one more person meant changing one more person's fate. In a sense, it was a quite remarkable good deed. What was there to criticize?
The Sound Transmission chat between the two quickly ended, and their conversation went unnoticed by anyone else.
"By the way, I haven't asked for your names yet! Tell me, what are your names?" Su Qing asked the two children with a smile after thinking for a moment.
Hearing Su Qing's question, the older child immediately replied, "I... I don't have a name. Please bestow one upon me, Master."
For maidservants like them who were sold, names weren't important. What mattered was satisfying the master; only if the master was satisfied would their future life not be too miserable.
Hearing this, Su Qing stroked her chin, understanding the child's thoughts. However, she didn't say much, merely thinking that perhaps changing to a new name was a good thing. After all, it signified a brand new beginning.
Su Qing nodded and said, "Since you don't have a name, then from now on, you shall be called Yueji. If one day in the future you think of a name you want for yourself, it won't be too late to change it then."
Su Qing spoke with complete indifference.
Hearing this, the child said no more. She simply nodded silently, then lowered her head and followed Su Qing quietly.
"And you?" Su Qing turned her head to look at the half-blood demon child and asked.
Seeing the question directed at her, the half-blood demon was silent for a moment. Then, she followed the other child's example and said, "I... I also don't have a name. Ma—Master, please give me one."
Hearing this, Su Qing couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Really... fine. Bestowing one is bestowal, bestowing two is also bestowal. In that case, you shall be called Chuju."
Hearing this, the half-blood demon nodded and said, "I... I understand."
She couldn't say she was satisfied with the new name. But if this new name could satisfy her master and keep her from being scolded, then she was very happy.
The group didn't chat much after that. They just walked in silence. Before long, they arrived in front of the gate of their residence.
Rate on N.U.
