The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 337 Selling Oneself

Chapter 337: Chapter 337 Selling Oneself

Before Wang Yongzhu could finish speaking, Wang Yonggui pulled out a document from his bosom.

"We have one, younger sister. Ahfu has one—this is a population registration document from Jing County. Ahfu lost her parents at a young age, married at fifteen, became a widow at twenty, and now at twenty-three, she is a free woman..."

The document bore a red seal, properly affixed.

The content was also clearly written.

As soon as she received the document, the voice of the Xiao Tiantian System echoed in her mind again: "Congratulations, host, for triggering a side mission: Business Spy Mission. Discover a business spy, control the spy within your grasp, complete the mission, and be rewarded with 30 Points. Identify the true identity of the business spy and the mastermind behind them, complete the mission, and be rewarded with 50 Points. This mission has no time limit. Host, do you accept this mission?"

Wang Yongzhu’s heart stirred. After completing the last reputation mission, she gained 20 Points, and with the original 20 Points, she now had 40 Points. Accomplishing the task of controlling a business spy would give her a total of 70 Points. Since there was no time limit, she might as well accept it for now.

She clicked to accept.

Wang Yongzhu looked at the document in her hand and then showed it to Wang Laozhu, Old Granny Zhang, Wang Yongfu, and Lady Jiang as well.

No one had ever seen a population registration document from the county office; they just felt that anything bearing the Government Office’s red seal should be correct.

This was indeed coming fully prepared.

Wang Yongzhu didn’t say much and accepted the document as proof for now.

"Alright, we’ll keep this document for now. Jinhoo, go fetch some ink and paper. Write up a concubine acceptance letter, stating ’Lady Sun, Ahfu, voluntarily sells herself to the Wang Family as a concubine. From now on, her life and death belong to the Wang Family, unrelated to her parents or anyone else.’ Have Lady Sun sign and affix her thumbprint, and after paying respects to the third wife by serving tea, she can be counted as a member of the third household. Lady Sun, you have no objections to this, right?"

"No objections, no objections at all. As long as you allow Ahfu to stay, we have no objections!" Wang Yonggui eagerly said.

Lady Sun’s face changed, and she looked at Wang Yonggui with a pitiful and sorrowful expression: "Sanlang, although I am a widow, I now belong to a decent family. I am willing to be inferior for Sanlang, willing to give my entire fortune to Sanlang. With such affection, won’t you even grant Ahfu the status of a proper concubine?"

Upon hearing the word ’fortune’, Wang Yonggui’s mind went fuzzy, and he was just about to say something.

Wang Yongzhu shot a glare at him: "Shut up! Lady Sun, either sign this contract of servitude or take your Sanlang and scram. You can also take his wife and children with you if you’d like, it would save our Wang Family quite a bit in expenses."

When Wang Yonggui heard this, he immediately jumped: "Little sister, what are you saying? Before father has spoken, why are you rushing to prevent it?"

Wang Yongzhu sneered, "Because now I am the head of the Wang Family! Will you sign or not? If not, take advantage of the fact that the coachman hasn’t left yet, pack up your things, and get lost!"

Since Lady Jiang couldn’t stand up for herself, she didn’t want to argue with the third household anymore. If Lady Sun was willing to go to such lengths for the dye recipe, even risking herself, then she can’t be blamed for being ruthless, letting her sign the contract of servitude.

She had given them a choice and an opportunity for Lady Sun to take a way out.

But if they insisted on courting death, she wouldn’t interfere with so much misplaced kindness.

Previously, she was mistaken, too soft-hearted, thinking to manage a good household. But soft-heartedness is a big taboo.

"Father? Is what little sister saying true? Is she really in charge of the household now?" Wang Yonggui was flabbergasted and looked towards Wang Laozhu.

Wang Laozhu took a puff of his pipe and nodded his head.

"Big Brother, you? You..." Wang Yonggui looked toward Wang Yongfu, had his family lost their minds? Instead of the capable father and brother taking charge of the family affairs, they were letting their sister do it? What kind of reasoning was that?

"Our little sister managing the affairs is quite good, everyone in the family listens to her," Wang Yongfu quickly declared his stance.

Now Wang Yonggui was at a loss and could only coax Lady Sun, "Ahfu, rest assured, it’s just a matter of signing a contract. Don’t worry, Xiao Lian won’t make things difficult for you, just put up with it for a bit..." Saying this, he whispered a few more words into Lady Sun’s ear.

A flash of resentment crossed Lady Sun’s eyes as she said, coquettishly, "Sanlang, I’m doing all this for you, for Sanlang, I can endure any kind of hardship..."

Jinhoo, with a dark expression, tossed the concubine purchase agreement towards Lady Sun, "Sign and press your thumbprint here!"

Lady Sun looked over the purchase agreement for a long time, her expression changing, "What’s written here? I can’t read, you wouldn’t deceive me, would you?"

"Jinhoo, read it to her!" ordered Wang Yongzhu.

Jinhoo thus started to read it aloud; the gist was that Sun Ahfu was voluntarily selling herself to the Wang Family for a certain amount of silver, from then on her life and death would be dictated by the Wang Family and the like.

After listening, Sun Ahfu found nothing wrong except when she heard about the silver payment her gaze flickered slightly, then she turned back to Wang Yonggui, "Sanlang, now I’m considered sold to your family, even my person belongs to you, so this money for selling myself should also be given to you, right?"

After saying this, she gritted her teeth and pressed her thumbprint at the end of the document.

As soon as Jinhoo saw that Sun Ahfu had pressed her thumbprint, he quickly took back the document and handed it over to Wang Yongzhu.

Wang Yongzhu looked over it with satisfaction and put it away.

"Alright then, Third Brother, go invite the coachman in and settle the carriage fee. Send him on his way, it’s getting late, we can’t keep him here for the night, can we?" Wang Yongzhu suggested with a smirk.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yonggui called over Wang Yongfu and Jinhoo to help move the stuff down.

Jinhoo did so reluctantly, and only after Wang Yongfu patted him on the back did he begrudgingly unload the luggage from the carriage, dumping it in the yard. There were several large packages that were very eye-catching.

After calling in the coachman, Wang Yonggui knew his mother wouldn’t be able to pay at this moment, so he had to whisper something to Sun Ahfu, who then reluctantly took out a small purse and gave it to Wang Yonggui to settle the carriage fee.

Once the carriage had gone, the front and back doors of the Wang Family were closed.

Old Granny Zhang then issued the order: "Move those things into my room."

At her command, Wang Yongfu and Jinhoo quickly moved the belongings, which prompted an anxious response from Sun Ahfu, "That’s my stuff!"

"Pah! You’ve sold yourself to the Old Wang Family; your belongings are now the Old Wang Family’s belongings!" Old Granny Zhang declared righteously.

This kind of maneuver completely bewildered Sun Ahfu for a moment; when she came to her senses, her eyes were brimming with tears, barely holding back the drops, she looked pitifully at Wang Yonggui, "Sanlang—"

Wang Yonggui had long been contemplating how to get his hands on all of Sun Ahfu’s belongings. Sun Ahfu always said nice things, willingly crafting new clothes for him, and was generous with food and drink. She even put a dozen copper coins in his pocket when going out, but he could never lay his hands on that significant amount of silver.

Seeing that his mother had in one move carried off all of Sun Ahfu’s belongings to her own room, he was also anxious; if the possessions were in Sun Ahfu’s hands, there was still a chance to fish them out and spend, but once in his mother’s hands, it was basically like throwing meat buns to a dog—there would be no return.

Licking his lips, Wang Yonggui knew it would be difficult to directly get them back, but then an idea flashed in his mind, "Mother, you keep these things for us first, but according to the contract, the silver used to buy Ahfu—shouldn’t that be given to Ahfu?"