Mrs. Xie looked unhappy. "You are sisters. How can you say this about your own sisters? Don't you understand the principle of sisterly love? I usually ask you to study and learn reason, but seeing you like this, you seem to be turning a deaf ear to all my words."
Gu Yue felt extremely aggrieved and was about to cry, "Mother, I..."
Mrs. Xie showed no mercy and said, "Apologize to your second sister first."
Gu Yue looked towards Gu Jiu with vicious eyes.
Gu Jiu looked so heartbroken that her body could not support her. She leaned against the back of the chair, his face pale and bloodless.
On the other hand, Gu Yue had a ruddy complexion. Although she was half a year younger than Gu Jiu, she was taller than Gu Jiu.
Anyone who saw this scene would naturally think that Gu Yue bullied Gu Jiu and caused Gu Jiu to fall ill.
What's wrong with Gu Jiu?
Of course it's a problem of physical weakness!
What are the characteristics of this problem?
Of course, she can't stand the slightest bit of anger. Once she gets angry, she feel very uncomfortable; her body is so weak that she can't stand up, and she have to lie down for several days.
It is not clear whether Gu Jiu had this problem before.
Anyway, Gu Jiu now definitely has a problem of not being able to stand being bullied. She is very delicate.
"Second sister, has someone bullied you?"
Gu Ting rushed in anxiously.
Gu Jiu's heart skipped a beat. Why did his brother come? He came at a bad time.
Gu Ting looked at Gu Yue fiercely. "Third sister, did you bully the second sister?"
Gu Yue burst into tears and took the opportunity to escape from the embarrassing situation.
"presumptuous!"
Xie took the opportunity to attack, slammed the table, and angrily scolded Gu Ting, "San Lang, are you behaving like that? You rushed in without notifying me. Do you have any rules?"
Gu Ting has a stubborn temper and only listens to Gu Jiu.
Gu Jiu quickly winked at him, telling him to stop making trouble.
Even though Gu Ting was dissatisfied in his heart, he lowered his head and said, "Greetings to the Madam. I was just too worried about my second sister, so I was a little anxious."
Mrs. Xie was furious. "Ridiculous! How dare anyone bully the second girl here? I think you just don't follow the rules. The master needs to discipline you."
Gu Ting lowered his head and said nothing. He looked at Gu Jiu secretly, very concerned.
Gu Jiu felt warm in her heart. Although her brother was reckless, it was all because he was worried about her.
"Madam, my brother knows he is wrong."
Gu Jiu sighed secretly and decided to let Gu Yue go for now. Otherwise, she would strip Gu Yue of her true colors.
Xie stared at Gu Jiu with a half-smile, "Isn't the second girl feeling uncomfortable?"
Gu Jiu said weakly, "I still feel bad. But when I saw my brother, I felt happy, and I didn't feel so bad anymore."
"I see. You two have a very strong brother-sister relationship."
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "Just like my third sister, sixth brother, and eighth brother. Siblings naturally have a deep bond."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Xie raised her eyebrows and smiled. Gu Jiu understood the difference clearly.
"Since San Lang is here, please sit down. The mansion is short of manpower, so we are planning to hire a few smart and sensible maids. Second girl, do you have any favorites?"
Gu Jiu looked at the new faces and said, "Madam, please allow me to take my time choosing."
Xie smiled and said, "Don't worry."
Gu Jiu was not in a hurry to make a decision. She wanted to see what Xie's plan was first.
There were more than 20 girls of different sizes, but the most stunning one was the skinny girl standing in the front row. She was truly a natural beauty, naturally charming.
Why would she sell herself into slavery when she is so beautiful? With her looks, it would only take her a few minutes to become a concubine for a rich master. Why would she become a slave?
Could it be that this girl has some background?
Gu Jiu couldn't help but be more careful about the girl.
Jiang Yan lowered her head and didn't dare to look around.
The previous verbal battle among the girls had already opened her eyes and made her realize that the words of advice given by the nanny were not groundless.
It is indeed not easy to work in a wealthy family.
Jiang Yan has been beautiful since she was a child, and she is also good at using her beauty to benefit herself.
Her parents were honest farmers, not good-looking, but they gave birth to such a beautiful daughter.
Everyone said that a golden phoenix had flown out of the chicken coop and the Jiang family was going to become prosperous.
Also because of her beauty, the whole family treated her like a baby and never let her go to work in the fields.
Everything was fine originally, but since last spring, my hometown has suffered a disaster.
By the beginning of this spring, the family could no longer make ends meet.
Mr. Li, a wealthy man in the town, wanted to marry her as a concubine and promised to give her a betrothal gift of 100 taels.
With this hundred taels, the Jiang family can survive. They can also buy land and houses and marry the eldest and second brothers.
But Jiang Yan did not agree, because she thought Mr. Li was old and ugly.
Even if she really wanted to be a concubine to the old man, she wanted to be a concubine to a wealthy family, a high-ranking official, or a nobleman.
A mere wealthy man wants to marry her? You're dreaming.
Jiang Yan is very opinionated, and her family can't persuade her at all.
Seeing that the whole family was about to run out of food and flee from famine, Mr. Li pressed them more and more.
Jiang Yan simply gritted her teeth, took the initiative to find a human trafficker, signed a five-year working contract, and exchanged herself for ten tons of silver, thus solving her family's livelihood.
After finally arriving in the city and receiving training from a nanny for three months, he was finally going to work for a wealthy family.
Jiang Yan cherished this opportunity very much. She was also smart and had already figured out that the second girl that everyone was talking about was not the wife's daughter.
But the second girl is very courageous and resourceful.
Jiang Yan couldn't help but look at Gu Jiu twice, and her eyes met here's.
Jiang Yan was a little flustered and lowered her head quickly.
Standing next to Jiang Yan is her fellow villager, Guo Tao Hua.
Guo Tao Hua is of average appearance, short in stature, very thin, with yellow hair, and looks malnourished.
There are still calluses on his hands, which are left by years of heavy and tiring work.
Guo Taohua's family was very poor, so poor that they had to sell their children.
Guo's parents originally wanted to sell their two younger daughters, but Guo Taohua couldn't bear to see her younger sisters become slaves at such a young age, so she sold herself, signed a death contract, and entered the city.
She didn't think much, just wanted a rich man to buy her, give her work, food, and monthly salary, and then save the money and send it back to her family.
Xie took a quick glance and had a rough idea of these twenty or so girls.
The trafficker waited in front of Mrs. Xie, "Madam, do you like any of them? If not, I will change to another batch tomorrow."
Xie asked calmly, "Have they all been trained?"
"Don't worry, madam. They are all trained. You can use them right away."
"Um!"
Mrs. Xie took a sip of tea and said, "Stretch out your hand."
About twenty girls stretched out their hands.
The nails were trimmed, and the hands were washed clean. There were a few pairs of white and tender hands that caught the eye, among which was Jiang Yan's.
There were also a few pairs of cracked and calloused hands that were equally eye-catching.
Xie raised her hand slightly and pointed casually, "This, this... leave these behind."
The human trafficker was overjoyed and said, "Madam, you have good taste. You guys, why don't you thank Madam right away?"
"Kowtow to the madam."
Guo Tao Hua was chosen. She was confused and kneeled down and kowtowed mechanically.
Jiang Yan looked calm. She was a little disappointed not to be chosen, but if this one didn't work out, there were always other options.
Mrs. Xie added, "I remember that San Lang still does not have maids in his room. Why not pick two of them now and take them home to serve you personally?"
Then, Mrs. Xie pointed at Jiang Yan and said, "San Lang, do you like this maid? She's very pretty."
Gu Jiu looked at Jiang Yan; her face was naturally charming. She immediately understood the purpose of Xie's trick.
Xie bought the maid not for her but for her brother.