The Blessed Farm Girl Has a Spatial Storage
Chapter 88: Redemption

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Redemption

Sun Mei was very surprised and found it hard to understand. She frowned at Lady Zhao, asking, "Fourth Sister, what are you trying to do!"

Lady Zhao retorted indignantly, "Are you blind? Isn’t it obvious? My daughter needs a maid to serve her, and we just happened to pick Zhao Ya as her personal maid. We made the arrangement first. So, if you want to redeem her, you’ll have to go through me!"

Seeing Sun Mei’s increasingly dark expression, Lady Zhao’s heart filled with delight. If Sun Mei wants to redeem Zhao Ya from me, one hundred and fifty taels won’t be enough. I have to squeeze them hard to avenge my third brother! Hmph! Let them betray their own family, getting the prescription for an outsider instead of their own kin! They shouldn’t blame me for being ruthless then!

At this moment, Grandma Jin Hua, who was standing by, had already discerned the animosity between the two families. Her eyes flickered. Interrupting their quarrel, she smiled at Lady Zhao and said, "Madam, have you also decided to buy this young girl, Zhao Ya?"

Lady Zhao glanced at her contemptuously. "Of course. It’s merely one hundred and fifty taels of silver. Our family isn’t like some, so poor they don’t have two coins to rub together. It’s not even clear where they got the money for her redemption. Grandma Qian, you’d better be careful not to get entangled in a lawsuit." As she spoke, she cast a malicious look at Zhao Dong’s family.

Sun Mei was so furious she almost burst out cursing.

Just then, Grandma Jin Hua suddenly burst into laughter, exclaiming excitedly, "Well, isn’t that wonderful! I didn’t expect this girl to be so sought after. In that case, I won’t sell her for one hundred and fifty taels. At the very least, she should go for 400 taels! Madam, will you still buy her for 400 taels?"

Never imagining the human trafficker would suddenly hike the price, Lady Zhao was stunned, then instantly became furious. "You! You’re raising the price on the spot!"

Grandma Jin Hua, however, looked perfectly calm. "Madam, isn’t this how business is done? When something is in demand, naturally, one earns as much as possible. Four hundred taels. Are you buying or not?"

Lady Zhao’s expression turned sour. If she dared to spend 400 taels to buy a maid, her mother-in-law would eat her alive. So, she hesitated.

Meanwhile, Sun Mei, having caught Grandma Jin Hua’s cue, immediately pressed her advantage. "Fourth Sister, your family is so wealthy, 400 taels must be a pittance to you. Unlike our family, which is dirt poor, we can’t afford it. Why don’t I give you the chance to be the benevolent one this time? You can buy Zhao Ya. After all, you are Zhao Ya’s paternal aunt. You certainly wouldn’t mistreat her and would genuinely use her as a servant. Besides, your family has money; going to your home would be much more comfortable for her than staying with us."

With Grandma Jin Hua’s price increase and Sun Mei pressing her advantage, Lady Zhao found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Her face turned livid with suppressed anger. At that moment, her daughter, Niu Lili, still by her side, was whining, insisting on buying Zhao Ya. In a fit of temper, Lady Zhao pinched Niu Lili’s arm hard.

"WAAH! SOB SOB SOB!"

Pain shot through Niu Lili, and her miserable cries instantly filled the air. Lady Zhao immediately feigned a worried expression, "Lili, Lili, what’s wrong with you?"

Niu Lili, still unaware why her mother had suddenly pinched her, just closed her eyes, crying and screaming in pain.

"It hurts? Why would it hurt? It’s alright, it’s alright, don’t worry. Mother will take you to see a physician right now." Saying this, she picked up her daughter and said in a flustered manner, "Oh dear, Second Sister-in-law, look, my daughter has suddenly fallen ill. I must take her to the physician first. As for Zhao Ya, you can just buy her yourself."

After speaking, she practically fled, clutching her daughter and rushing out of the Human Trafficking Place.

Watching Lady Zhao’s retreating figure as she fled in disarray, Sun Mei sneered and spat, "What a piece of work."

Then, she thanked Grandma Jin Hua and gave her the redemption money for Zhao Ya.

Upon receiving the silver, Grandma Jin Hua handed the deed of sale to Sun Mei and then said coolly, "You don’t need to thank me. I just happen to like Zhao Ya. Alright, the deed of sale has been given to you. From this day forward, Zhao Ya’s status as a free civilian is restored."

Only after Zhao Dong and his party had left the Human Trafficking Place did Grandma Jin Hua withdraw her gaze. She had lived most of her life and had been in this trade for just as long; it was rare for her to soften up like this. She then chuckled, shook her head, and turned to leave.

---

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhitong and her group happily left the Human Trafficking Place and began to wander around the county town. Zhao Dong wanted to see if any fruit tree seedlings were for sale in the county town, but after looking around, he found none.

However, this was within Zhao Dong’s expectations. Usually, only wealthy families bought seedlings to decorate their courtyards, and such things were hard to find in their small county town.

What did surprise them, though, was finding a shop on South Street selling flowers, plants, and potted arrangements.

This was the peak season for peonies, and since the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty had always adored peonies, the shop was filled with a great many blooming ones, none of them cheap.

Just as they stopped to look, a well-dressed, middle-aged man spent 100 taels on a pot of peony flowers and took it home.

Little girls naturally love pretty things like flowers and plants. Zhao Zhitong had already climbed down from the flatbed cart, scampered into the shop, and was now squatting in front of a peony flower, completely captivated. "Wow, so pretty things are this valuable!"

Hearing the child’s voice, the shopkeeper looked over. He saw a tiny tot squatting before a peony, observing it intently, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "Eh, where did this child come from?"

Zhao Zhitong looked up at the shopkeeper. Seeing he was about her father’s age, she grinned and said sweetly, "Uncle Shopkeeper, did you grow all these beautiful flowers yourself?"

At first, the shopkeeper had been somewhat displeased by the sudden appearance of a little girl in his shop, worried she might damage the flowers and plants. But now, seeing the little girl’s sweet smile, he couldn’t bring himself to be angry.

So, he shook his head and said, "I didn’t grow them. These are all grown by flower farmers. I just handle the buying and selling."

"Wow, is that so?" Zhao Zhitong’s eyes sparkled. She then asked, "Uncle, do you sell fruit tree seedlings in your shop?"

The shopkeeper found Zhao Zhitong’s boldness quite novel. "You’re quite the brave little girl. Why do you ask that?"

Zhao Zhitong replied in her childlike voice, "Our family wants to plant fruit trees. We need lots and lots of fruit tree seedlings."

Just then, Zhao Dong also walked in and, hearing Zhao Zhitong’s words, quickly smiled and said, "Excuse us, Shopkeeper. Our family is indeed planning to plant some fruit trees. Do you happen to have any fruit tree seedlings here?"

Seeing the child’s father had arrived, the shopkeeper began to speak with Zhao Dong. "My shop only deals in flowers and ornamental plants; I don’t have fruit tree seedlings."

At this point, Zhao Zhitong asked again in her sweet, childlike voice, "Uncle Shopkeeper, then you must know many, many flower farmers, right? Can you help us buy fruit tree seedlings?"

The shopkeeper looked at Zhao Zhitong in amazement, thinking the little girl was truly clever to have thought of that. He immediately chuckled. "Indeed. Being in this line of business, I know quite a few flower farmers. Some of them also cultivate fruit tree seedlings. I just need to know what kind of fruit tree seedlings you want, and how many?"