The maid's road to success

The old ancestor sympathized with the fact that they seldom went out to rest, and had a new house to tidy up, so he specially gave them three days of vacation.

Wen Niang and Bi He worked for two consecutive days to clean the yard. Fortunately, the yard was not big, otherwise it would have taken an unknown amount of time to clean it up.

"Niang Wen, why don't we go buy some flower seeds and plant them later? These flowers are a bit messy."

As Bihe was pulling out weeds, she thought of the clusters of roses in the garden of Huaiyuan Marquis's Mansion. She liked them very much. But she couldn't afford to grow the expensive ones, let alone the most common pink and yellow ones?

"Okay, we just got a lot of rewards a few days ago, let's buy some things for our home. We don't even have a teapot here."

Wen Niang washed her hands and pulled Bihe out of the garden. The previous owner was a eunuch, and no one knew why he sold the house.

But judging from the size of this house, he should be a eunuch of relatively high status, otherwise how could he leave the palace?

This house has been renovated to be particularly suitable for human habitation, convenient and exquisite.

But there were no tea plates, bowls, chopsticks, or any other ornaments of any size in the house.

But the furniture was still there. Wen Niang thought that the eunuch might have sold the house in a hurry to leave the capital. He needed money, so he took away everything he could. He couldn't take the big things like the bed, table, and cabinets, so he exchanged them for silver and left them there.

This is also a place where Wen Niang did not spend any money. Her ancestors were generous, otherwise how could she have bought this place in just six years.

Although he is not as good as the housekeepers in the house, who often go into the yard three times, he also orders the servants around in his own house.

But Wen Niang was already very satisfied.

"Niang Wen, I'll pay for a maid for us later. We can't stay in this house for more than a few days a month, so we need someone to take care of it."

Wen Niang thought that Bihe's idea was appropriate. Now that she was a good citizen, she could have servants to serve her according to the law.

Bihe always felt uneasy because Wen Niang bought the house with her own money. A servant only earned a few taels of silver, and Bihe was a wealthy woman now. Although she didn't know whether Wen Niang was still thinking about using the money to vent her anger on her family in the future.

But a few taels of silver could buy Bihe peace of mind and make things much more convenient for them.

"I'll ask a human broker when I go shopping later."

The two of them changed into clean cotton clothes and went out. Not far from their house, there was a street called Xiaohe Lane, which had clothing shops, snacks, study rooms and pawnshops. It was just not as prosperous as Zhuque Street, and the things sold there were more high-end.

"What do you think of this pottery jar? It will fit perfectly on the shelf."

"Mrs. Wen, let's buy this set of teapots. Although they have some flaws, they are beautiful and the glaze is bright."

Most of the time it was Bihe who was choosing and Wen Niang who was commenting. The shop owner saw that they were buying a lot of things and came over to introduce them to them.

I bought a lot of things, including tea sets, ornaments, pots, pans, and bowls. These are all things used by ordinary people. They are not expensive. It only cost three taels of silver to buy all these things.

Wen Niang took Bihe to look at needlework and cotton cloth, preparing to make two sets of clothes for home wear.

"You two girls, are you here to buy someone yourself?"

When the human trafficker saw that Bihe and Wen Niang were both young girls and dared to come here directly, he had some evil thoughts in his mind.

But their actions were not like those of small and medium-sized families, and they were not brave enough to take action.

"We are from the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion. Our family is short of staff, so we sisters should buy two to fill the gap first."

Bihe was smart and promptly revealed the wooden sign on her waist that only the maids in the inner courtyard of Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion had.

When the human trafficker saw that they were prominent people in Huaiyuan Marquis's Mansion, he dared not be rude and directly brought people over for them to choose.

"This woman is over 30 years old. She is a good cook. She is clean and hardworking, but she can't speak. She is dumb. She is 45 cents."

"This one, he's a little older, about forty, knows a little bit about needlework, is nimble, and has a lot of strength, five ounces and eight cents."

After mentioning several, Wen Niang and Bi He finally chose the first two. However, they were a little puzzled because the first one was slightly better than the second one in all aspects, and not being able to speak was not a big problem.

How come it’s cheaper?

“Why is this cheaper than this?”

Bihe pointed at the person and asked, and the man looked at the woman with some disgust.

"To be honest, this woman is pretty and should be sold for a high price, but she has a two-year-old daughter who can't do any work. But she insisted on bringing her daughter along. Who would buy someone here if it wasn't to make it easier for them to serve the family? She has a burden herself, so how can she serve him well?"

Although Bihe was a little clever, she was very soft-hearted and immediately asked someone to bring the child out for a look.

When Wen Niang saw the child, she thought of the Eighth Miss Chen Luozhu, who was also only two years old. The Eighth Miss was a daughter of the Marquis's family. She was plump and fair, like a jade doll.

There were a lot of wet nurses, nannies and maids serving him.

It was because I helped the Eighth Miss once that I was granted such a great favor as the return of my slavery.

The child in front of him was the same age, but very thin. He was held in the woman's arms and looked very pitiful.

He seemed to be still sick and his face was very red.

Bihe and Wen Niang looked at each other, nodded, and pointed at the mother and daughter.

"That's them. Bring me the deed."

The human trafficker didn't expect that they would insist on having the woman with the child after seeing her. However, the man had bought her for more than half a year and still hadn't sold her. He also spent some money on the child. Although he made little money by selling her now, it would be a good thing to be free of these two eyesores in the future.

The woman, holding the child, followed Bihe and the others back to the house with her head lowered. The grocery store boy had already delivered the goods. Bihe paid the remaining money and opened the door to let the woman in.

"I thank the two ladies for their kindness."

After entering the house, the woman knelt on the ground holding the child. She was despised by her husband and instigated by the evil people, who said that she had seduced the daughter of another man and sold them together. She suffered a lot in the past six months and her daughter almost died.

Finally, someone was willing to let her sell herself with her child.

"Aren't you mute?"

Wen Niang heard that although the man's voice was hoarse, he was still able to speak.

"That person wanted to sell me quickly and throw away my daughter. I couldn't bear to do that, so I pretended to be dumb so that people would despise me and no one would buy me."

Wen Niang nodded. She was also a pitiful person, still thinking about her children at this time.

"what is it call?"

"My original name was Su Wen Niang?"

Wen Niang and Bi He looked at each other and found it so coincidental and funny.

Su Wenniang was a little confused by the laughter of her two masters. She didn't know if she had made them dislike her. She dared not say a word and hugged the child tightly.

"Although we are not a wealthy family and do not care about taboos on names, but there are two Wen Niangs in the same family and we don't know what to call them. Why not change their names?"

Su Wenniang looked at the two of them in surprise.

"My name is An Wen Niang. I have a connection with Madam Su, so there is no need to change my name. We are also maids in the Huaiyuan Marquis's mansion. There is no need to make so many comments. From now on, we will all call you Madam Su, okay?"

Madam Su did not expect this coincidence. Her eyes welled up and she nodded. One reason was that these two men seemed kind-hearted and did not look down on their mother. Another reason was that her daughter would not have to go hungry in the future.

"In that case, don't kneel. We are not used to being served. We bought you back just to watch the door. We are the maids of Huaiyuan Marquis's Mansion. We usually stay in Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion and only come back a few days every month. You mother and daughter can take care of the house for us and clean it when you have nothing to do."

Madam Su nodded repeatedly, and Wen Niang took out a bag of copper coins and handed it to her.

"We have to go back home tomorrow. We don't have many houses at home, so you can clean up the small house in front and live in it. You can keep this money to buy some medicine for the children and for household expenses."

Madam Su burst into tears when she heard what Wen Niang said. Ever since they were sold, they had been starving and were often beaten. Her daughter cried all the time due to hunger and had a fever. She cooperated with the selection today because the human trafficker threatened her that if she caused trouble again, he would throw her daughter into a mass grave.

Unexpectedly, today they met two kind-hearted people who brought both mother and daughter here and left money for the child's medical treatment.

"Get up, we are really not used to this. Just take good care of the house from now on and you will be paid back for us."

Bihe couldn't stand this kind of person, who was even worse than she was. She pulled Madam Su up.

"It's not too busy now. Go take care of the child. There's a medicine shop not far away. Come back and clean up."

Madam Su wanted to kowtow to them, but she was pulled back. She could only wipe away her tears and take the child to see a doctor first.

As Madam Su walked on the road, she felt very grateful and determined to guard the yard for the two girls in the future, serve them attentively, and never let them come back feeling uncomfortable.

Madam Su came back at night. The doctor said that it was because she was not careful in her diet, which damaged her spleen and stomach, and she also had a cold. She was given some medicine and half of the money that Madam Wen had given was spent.

The medicine in the capital is so much more expensive than that in the countryside. I spent forty dollars just for three days of medicine.

I don’t know if Wen Niang and her husband would despise them for wasting money and regret it if they knew about it.

My uneasy heart finally calmed down when I saw the concerned looks in Wen Niang and the other woman's eyes.

Mrs. Su remembered the kindness of the two girls, so she quickly washed her hands and cooked two dishes and a soup. She bought the dishes on the way back.

Wen Niang eats very well. She has been feeling uncomfortable in her stomach after eating snacks and fruits for the past two days. It turns out that Madam Su bought the right things. She is efficient and the food is delicious.

Madam Su put her daughter on the bedding that Wen Niang had prepared for them, and looked at the small but warm room, feeling very satisfied.

Since she was sold and traveled all the way to the capital, she has never had a good night's sleep. If she hadn't been ugly, she would have been raped by human traffickers on the way.

Now all the hard work has paid off. Not only can I be with my daughter, but I also have my own house.

Madam Su felt full of strength. After feeding her daughter rice porridge and putting her to sleep, she rolled up her sleeves and tidied the room.

There was only a kang, a table, two stools, a peeling wooden cabinet in the corner, and a toilet.

Madam Su hugged her daughter as they slept on the clean and soft mattress, feeling very satisfied. Before she was sold, she could not live such a life.

My man is just a farmer in the country, but I have to learn from rich men to find women.

They found a widow and were very vicious. The two of them slept directly in her house and drove her to live in the woodshed.

I feed pigs and ducks, do laundry, farm, cook and clean up every day, and I get beaten at any time.

Even if there was no widow, her husband would still beat her when he was drunk.

Now we have finally found the wolf's den.

After a good night's sleep, Mrs. Su woke up when she heard the crowing of the rooster. Wen Niang and the other woman had already left, and some copper coins were left on the table in the main room.

Maybe he was worried that Madam Su still had a child and didn't have enough money.

After returning to the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion, Wen Niang and Bi He distributed the little things they brought back to everyone, and then changed into the turquoise dresses specially worn by second-class maids.

"Bihe, you are finally back. The old ancestor is not used to the tea made by Qiuyang, so he has rarely ordered tea these days."

When Yulan saw Bihe, she pulled her and went to check on the ward. Wen Niang smiled, took her bag and put it in their room.

They came back early so that they could serve the old ancestor before he woke up. However, Bihe was no longer around, and the old ancestor was not used to drinking tea made by others, so when he knew they were coming back today, he also got up early.