Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 340 - 340 341 Coming to Ask for Someone_1

Chapter 340: Chapter 341: Coming to Ask for Someone_1 Chapter 340: Chapter 341: Coming to Ask for Someone_1 “Should Lady first go retrieve Qingmei?”

“If we openly take her back, won’t Mrs. Liang demand her return eventually? Sooner or later, she’ll have to be sold again,” Muniang said coldly. “Never mind, I might as well go myself.”

After ordering the carriage to be readied, Muniang set out directly for the town.

As it happened, the human trafficker Muniang knew quite well was Lai, from whom most of the servants in Muniang’s household had been purchased. It was Shopkeeper Zhang from Dongxing Building who had originally introduced them, and through repeated dealings, they had become old acquaintances.

Upon seeing Muniang, Lai greeted her with a cheerful smile, “Oh, my Lady, you’ve come again? Is your household short of servants? I’ve just received a new batch you can choose from at your leisure.”

“Then show me the most recent batch of new arrivals you’ve got,” commanded Muniang.

“Alrighty!” Lai responded at once and immediately went to summon the girls.

One by one, the newcomers were presented to her, but Muniang didn’t spot Qingmei anywhere. She said sternly to Qingya, “Didn’t you say you were watching the person? Where are they now? Surely they haven’t been sold already?”

Qingya quickly replied, “No, she definitely hasn’t been sold yet. Otherwise, there would have been news from Zhu Zi.”

Muniang’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, realizing that Lai had not shown her all the people.

“Lady, what do you think?” Lai asked with a smile.

Muniang snorted coldly, “Lai, we’ve done business so many times, why are you still insincere with me? You give me these low-quality girls when I come to choose a maid, do you really think I’m blind?”

Chilled by her tone, Lai shivered and said, “Oy, what are you saying? How could I possibly be insincere to you, my Lady? Haven’t we done business numerous times?”

“So, are these really all the fresh goods you’ve recently acquired?” Muniang demanded.

Lai chuckled sheepishly, “These are not all, there are a few maids meant to be sold off to brothels in distant places.”

Then she quickly lowered her voice and said, “Lady, you’re not aware of the rules of our trade. Some households, you see, they sell their daughters but don’t want others to find out and tarnish the family’s reputation, so they do it secretly. Of course, the girl can’t stay in Chatu Town. When we draft the servant’s certificate, we stipulate that the child must be sold far away. This batch I’m planning to send directly to the brothels in Puhai.”

Muniang’s expression darkened, and then she said, “Lai, I won’t hide it from you today, I’ve come to you looking for someone, a maid you’re planning to sell off to Puhai.”

Lai replied, somewhat troubled, “This might be difficult, we have written agreements already. If I give you that maid, and she’s later seen, the buyers will come after me.”

Muniang’s lips curled into a slight smirk as she said, “Naturally, I have a way to ensure you won’t be troubled, Lai.”

“What’s that?”

“Turn the tables.”

Muniang said, “Lai, we’ve known each other for a long time. If this goes through, consider it as if I owe you a favor, and naturally, you will benefit from it.”

As Muniang spoke, she took a small bag of silver from her sleeve. Lai’s eyes lit up and she hurriedly took it, “No problem at all, it’s all negotiable.”

Qingmei was brought out. Muniang thought it over and decided not to take her back to the village, as it would have been easy for people to see her. Instead, she placed her temporarily in the Embroidery House in town. There were rooms in the backyard of the Embroidery House where people could stay, and after tidying up a bit, Qingmei was settled there.

As for Mrs. Liang, heh, by now, there must have been quite the commotion.

Lai, the Human Trafficker, was not someone who could be trifled with easily. She had connections far and wide, involving both the underworld and the law-abiding, and her enforcers were indispensable. This time, she led a group of thugs straight to Tupo Village.

Upon reaching the doorstep of the Wang family, she began pounding on the door, “Open up! You shameless wretch, dare to fool me? I’ll show you what I’m made of! Don’t believe I’ll break it down?!”

Her voice was exceptionally loud, immediately drawing a crowd of onlookers. Moreover, considering that Lai was followed by a group of thugs, which looked quite intimidating, all the onlookers were at a loss, and could do nothing but stare blankly.

Mrs. Liang didn’t understand the situation initially, but when she heard a woman smashing her door so rudely, she promptly got angry: “Who on earth dares to smash my door without valuing their own life?”

However, when Mrs. Liang opened the door, she was stunned. Wasn’t this the Human Trafficker she had sold Qingmei to? Why had she come to her house? Glancing at the onlookers around, Mrs. Liang feared that Lai would let something slip, and immediately started winking at Lai.

“What are you doing here? You even came to my house? We have a written agreement; our business must not be known to others. Aren’t you trying to embarrass me by making such a fuss?” Mrs. Liang whispered urgently, lowering her voice.

Lai “heh”ed sharply, raising her voice, “You’re worried about me embarrassing you? Why didn’t you consider how you’ve embarrassed me? Have the nerve to bring up our agreement? Do you want me to tear your mouth apart?”

Mrs. Liang was flustered, “I… I… What have I done?”

The onlooking villagers were also utterly confused, what agreement? They all pricked up their ears, waiting to hear more.

Lai threw the agreement in Mrs. Liang’s face, “This is the Servant’s Certificate for selling Wang Qingmei, right? You agreed to let me sell the child to a brothel far away. But what did you do? No sooner had you sold the child, than you stole her back from me. And now you still have the nerve to speak?!”

Upon hearing this, the villagers gasped in shock—sold to a brothel? Wasn’t Qingmei supposed to have wandered off on her own?

Mrs. Liang’s face went pale, “What nonsense are you talking about? When did I sell a child? It must have been you who abducted her. How can you say it was my doing if the child ran away on her own?”

As Mrs. Liang spoke, she kept desperately signaling Lai with her eyes, but unfortunately, no matter how fervently Mrs. Liang squinted, Lai acted as if she didn’t see a thing, and bellowed, “Stop lying to me! My people saw with their own eyes someone stealing the girl. If it wasn’t you, who was it? The brothel is already demanding the girl from me. If I can’t deliver, do you think I will send you in her place?”

Mrs. Liang was so frantic she was almost jumping up and down, surrounded by villagers, and with Lai’s fierce temper, she didn’t know what to do with herself.

Lai, however, didn’t care about all this, and immediately gave the order, “Search! If we can’t find her, smash everything, continue until they hand someone over! Did you really think you could trifle with me, Lai? Wanting the child back after selling her, no way. I’ll certainly show you what I’m made of!”

No sooner had Lai’s words fallen, than the thugs behind her stormed into Wang’s house, searching and smashing everything. Instantly, Wang’s house was thrown into total chaos.