The Shen family's dinner tonight was quite a feast, that is, compared to the meager meals they've been having for the past few days. In the Shen household, men and women sat at separate tables during meals, with boys joining the men's table at the age of 15. Each table held a large plate of green beans, a large plate of vegetables, a large plate of meat-stewed radishes, a bowl of chicken soup, and the men's table had an additional fish. The staple food was sweet potato rice.
Having fasted for a few days, Xiao'er saw food on the table for the first time. Though there was more sweet potato than rice, at least it was a dry meal! She first brought a portion to Mrs. Liu's room, then returned to the main room to take her seat for dinner.
Mrs. Shen served everyone half a bowl of chicken soup. As soon as she announced dinner, the young boys from the second branch, like hungry ghosts reincarnated, grabbed recklessly for the meat. Within a few moments, the meat-stewed radishes on the table were meatless. Shen Bao'er disdainfully looked on, then gracefully began consuming her share of green beans.
Mrs. Lin, Shen Jingjie's mother, quickly helped him scoop two pieces of meat into his bowl.
Jingrui also managed to just pick up a slice of meat for each, Xiao'er and Jinghao, before the meat was all gone: "Xiao'er, you've been hurt recently, eat some meat to recover."
Xiao'er returned the meat to Jingrui: "Brother, I don't like fatty meat."
Jingrui didn't believe her, as Xiao'er used to eat a lot. He pushed the meat back onto her plate, which almost brought tears to Xiao'er's eyes. Why couldn't he understand that she really didn't want to eat it?
"Brother, I really don't want to eat it now."
Upon hearing this, Shen Jingzhi said, "If you don't want to eat it, give it to me. I happen to like it."
Hearing this, Jinghao pitifully said, "Sister, if you don't want to eat, give it to me. I've been craving meat for a long time. Just now, the fourth brother snatched away the meat I had picked up."
"That's because you were too slow." Shen Jingzhi gave Jinghao a glare.
Xiao'er passed the meat to Jinghao, and Shen Jingzhi gave a grunt before picking up other dishes.
Mrs. Li, recalling her plan to sell Xiao'er as a maid to the Hu Mansion, said to Mrs. Shen: "Mother, I heard that the Hu Mansion is buying maids for 20 silver each. I think our Xiao'er, who's always busy around the house, would certainly be accepted by the Hu Mansion. Plus, she would earn a monthly wage of 100 coins."
Mrs. Shen, hearing of the 20 silver and the additional 100 coins every month, was intrigued: "Which Hu Mansion is this?"
"The wealthy Hu Mansion in the town." Mrs. Li replied vaguely.
There were two Hu Mansions in the town; one was involved in the brothel business, and the other was related to the Magistrate. The latter ran restaurants and managed cloth mills all over the country and was known as a charitable family, with its patriarch known as the Great Hu. Both Hu Mansions were wealthy, but the latter was wealthier.
Mrs. Li deliberately spoke so vaguely to confuse things.
Upon hearing this, Xiao'er sneered inwardly. Despite not speaking up in recent days, it seemed that Mrs. Li really thought she hadn't overheard their conversation. If she dared to do this, Xiao'er was prepared to make her eat her own words.
"That seems like a good family indeed. I'll discuss it with your father tonight," Mrs. Shen said, clearly convinced. The thought of bringing in 20 silver and an additional 100 coins every month was simply delightful.
As the two women discussed selling someone else's daughter, without considering the parents' consent or the girl's opinion, it became evident how little they truly respected the third branch of the Shen family.
Seeing their greedy faces, Xiao'er lost her appetite. Since they loved money so much, she would let them lose a significant sum and feel the pain.
The two brothers had both become anxious upon hearing this. They looked at Xiao'er, concerned, but she reassured them with a glance signaling for their patience.
After dinner, Xiao'er took her brothers to her room, and revealed what she had overheard Mrs. Li and Shen Chengzong discuss, as well as how she got hurt.
"Absolutely outrageous! I have to tell mother and father!" Jingrui pounded the table and stood up.
Jinghao, his eyes welling up with tears, expressed his anger and concern, "We absolutely cannot let them sell sister!"
Xiao'er was quick to appease the two, "Don't worry yet, listen to me, we're not going to tell our folks about this right now, we..." Xiao'er voiced her plans at a volume only the three of them could hear.
"But by not telling them, won't they get scolded once they find out?" Jingrui seemed hesitant. He was used to playing the obedient child role.
"We can't tell them. If we did, our plans will fall through. This is a teachable moment for them, to know we're not to be messed with. Now they'll think twice before harming our family again." Xiao'er was familiar with Shen Chengyao and Mrs. Liu's character. They were too soft and would only try to prevent the incident from happening but wouldn't think to teach a lesson to others.
"Right, we're not pushovers that anyone and everyone can boss around! We can't tell mom and dad." Jinghao nodded vigorously.
Xiao'er chuckled at his seriousness and his 'anyone and everyone' comment, "Well now, you've learned terms like 'anyone and everyone,' I should tell grandma and Auntie No. 2 that you're calling them 'anyone and everyone.'
Jinghao pouted and looked at Xiao'er with a wronged expression, "Sister, you're bullying me!"
Xiao'er pinched his nose, "Of course I like to bully you, so what?"
Jinghao pouted even more and turned his head, ignoring her.
"Hehe, okay okay, I was just kidding. I love you too much to hurt you. Sister knows that you're worried about her."
Jinghao made a face at Xiao'er immediately. After this bit of banter, the atmosphere lightened quite a bit, and the mood of the two brothers improved considerably.
The next day, Mrs. Li found an excuse to go pick up Shen Bei'er from the town after having breakfast. As soon as Xiao'er and the boys saw each other, they quickly finished breakfast and found a hiding spot at the town gate before Mrs. Li got there, waiting for her.
Sure enough, before long, Mrs. Li appeared. The trio quietly followed her, she went into an alley off West Street and had a conversation with a middle-aged man. They exchanged words for a while and the man handed over two bars of silver to Mrs. Li, then the two parted ways.
Jingrui followed the middle-aged man, "Uncle, please wait."
"Are you calling me, young man?" The middle-aged man turned to look at Shen Jingrui. His clothes were shabby but clean. He definitely wasn't a beggar. Why would he stop me? "Can I help you?"
"Uncle, are you from the Hu Mansion? I just saw you with my second aunt."
So, he was a relative of Mrs. Li from just now. Hu Daicai nodded, "Yes, and?"
"Uncle, did my second aunt tell you that my parents have agreed to sell Xiao'er to your family as a maid?"
Hu Daicai frowned, "Yes, she did. I already paid her the deposit too. You aren't trying to back out now, are you?"
"Uncle, you've been deceived by my second aunt. My parents don't know anything about this and haven't agreed to sell Xiao'er as a maid. Even if they knew, they wouldn't agree to sell my sister."
Upon hearing this, Hu Daicai's brows furrowed even deeper. That Mrs. Li, she said the parents of the girl had agreed and had explained the situation clearly, promising there wouldn't be any trouble. That was simply a lie to fool him. Being the housekeeper of the Hu Mansion, he had pocketed quite a lot of silver from this deal for a maid. He usually only bought girls from poor families in remote areas, where the terms were clearly explained to avoid any troubles. Otherwise, his deceitful income could easily be discovered. This angered him even more.
He couldn't go through with this deal, but they should pay him some sort of compensation. "I can cancel this deal, but you'll have to compensate me some silver."
"Uncle, I have a plan that will get you an even better maid. If that fails, you can at least get more silver as compensation."
"You're all family, right? Want to compensate me more silver? Do you think I'm a fool?" Hu Daicai was even angrier now.
"We are family, but would family hide from their own brothers and sell their own nieces? Since they don't treat us as family, we can't let them take advantage of us."
Hu Daicai's anger subsided a bit after hearing this. He looked skeptically at Shen Jing Rui. "What's your plan?" He wanted to hear what plan a boy his age could have to save his sister.
Jingrui looked around, saw no one was watching them, and then relayed Xiao'er's words verbatim to Hu Daicai in a hushed voice.
Hu Daicai nodded after hearing it, "Good. You're smart for someone your age. Let's do as you say. If Mrs. Li dares to deceive me, she should be prepared to compensate me with some more silver. If she doesn't agree, I have a maid in exchange."