Chapter 8 of Volume 1: Choosing People

  When Zhen'er and her family arrived, several families were already gathered at the entrance of the village, some with one daughter, others with two.

  Going through this scene again, Qizhen felt a little suffocated. Some of these people were only eight or nine years old, even younger than her, and didn't even know what it meant to sell themselves, yet they were about to go to the Qi manor to suffer at the hands of that young master. Although she pitied them, she also knew she couldn't help them. Those who were willing to sell their daughters were all from poor families who had no other choice, and they knew that once they sold their daughter, she was no longer a member of their family, and the master could beat or scold her at will, or even resell her. And among them, only those like Ping'er, who encountered a good master and were allowed to return home once a month, were considered lucky; otherwise, they would never be able to see their relatives again until death.

  Qī Zhēnér was placed in front because of Qī Qiáng's relationship, but actually Qī Zhēnér thought that if she were to be chosen in her past life, the Liú family must have put in a lot of effort.

  The first pass is Wu Guanshi on Zhuangzi's side, who selects one side and sends back the unsuitable ones. The second pass will be selected by the manager from the Qi government.

  Qī Zhēnér passed the first round without any surprise. After entering the Zhuāngzi, Qī Zhēnér saw that several girls who had been selected earlier were all standing in the courtyard, and she also found an inconspicuous position to stand.

  Everyone had made their choices, and the steward from the Qi manor came out accompanied by Young Master Wu. This steward, Qi Zhen'er, was a second-rate steward in the inner courtyard of the manor, with the surname Zhan. He wasn't highly valued within the manor, but since no one else wanted to come to this remote place, he volunteered for the task. Although he wasn't respected back at the Qi manor, here people showed him respect, and he put on a big show of being an important steward.

  He slowly walked past each small stall, carefully selecting and picking out those that were unqualified. Every time he came to a person's face, Wu Shaoyu would loudly say whose daughter this was, how old she was, what she could do, etc.

  There were still two people, and Zhan Guanshi came here by himself. Qi Zhener's heart couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Why hasn't Qi Feng'er come yet? Didn't her words yesterday take effect? Or was she really stopped by Liu Shi?

  Just then, when they were about to arrive at Qizhen's place, a pleasant voice came over, and Qizhen finally let out a sigh of relief. She had never thought that Qifeng's voice sounded so good.

  "Brother, mother wants you to go back, she has something to do with you." Qi Feng'er shouted as soon as she came in from the doorway, her voice crisp and pleasant, attracting people's attention.

  She actually wore that new dress today!

  Zi Feng'er was originally quite good-looking, and being spoiled by Liu's family, her skin was fair and delicate, looking like a small jade. Today, wearing this new dress, those who didn't know would think she was the young lady of some wealthy family.

  Zhan Guanshi's eyes lit up when he saw Qi Feng'er. This time, he came to recruit maids and thought that everyone would rush to the county town of Qi Fu, but unexpectedly, all the people who came were useless, not even worthy of his consideration, let alone the discerning people in the mansion. However, this little maid in front of him was not bad, young and with a good figure, if he took her back and trained her well, she would definitely turn out to be excellent.

  Zi Qiang didn't expect his mother to look for him at this critical moment, but he didn't think too much about it either. Anyway, he had already promised Wu Shao Ye that he would leave a spot for his family, and even if he wasn't there, Wu Shao Ye should still be able to take care of it.

  Qizhong responded with a "yes" and then followed the steward and Wu Shao to report their mistake and return home. He walked in front of Qifeng'er, but saw that she was staring at the steward who came from the Qi mansion, without moving her feet, and asked: "Aren't you going back?"

  Zi Feng'er just wanted to get rid of him so she could talk to Guan Shi, and vaguely said: "I want to join in the fun here, you go back first, your mother is looking for you urgently."

  Qizhong thought his mother should want to hear the result, and didn't care about Qifeng'er, he just left. In his mind, he was thinking that if he could handle this matter well, he would let his mother go to Lixiang's house to propose a marriage, and with the money from selling Qizhen'er, they would have enough money for family expenses.

  Qī Zhēn ér saw Qī Qiáng leave, and she felt relieved in her heart. She had been thinking of ways to avoid him since she decided to leave, no matter what method it took, it would have taken some effort. Now that Qī Fèng ér had gotten rid of him, it saved her the trouble.

  Qifeng saw Qi Qiang's figure disappear and walked to Wu Shaoyu's side with a curious expression, asking this and that.

  Wu Shaoyu was familiar with Feng'er due to Qi Qiang's relationship and patiently answered her questions.

  Zhan Guanshi was also seriously looking at the little maids, but in his heart, he was also paying attention to Feng'er's side. Seeing that she was very concerned about the Qi Manor's affairs, he felt that there was hope.

  At this time, it just so happened that they arrived at Zhen'er's place. Qi Feng'er deliberately exclaimed in surprise to attract the attention of the person in charge: "Zhen'er, how are you here? I just saw Hu Zi heading towards Dapeng Mountain, and I thought you were also there, so I didn't bother with him. He won't get into any trouble going alone, will he?"

  Dapeng Mountain is the mountain where Qi Zhen'er used to dig wild vegetables, because the mountain is relatively large, the small mountains on both sides are like wings, and the villagers call it Dapeng Mountain.

  Qifeng's tone conveyed a sense of urgency and concern that was just right, making people feel her care for Hu Zi while also sensing the emergency of the situation.

  Qī Zhēnér heard her words and felt a sudden jolt in her heart. How did Qí Fèngér know that Hǔ Zǐ had gone to Dà Péng Shān? After careful consideration, she thought it was impossible. If Qí Fèngér really saw him, wouldn't she have stopped him? Moreover, since she knew clearly that she would be sold today, why would she pretend not to know? What did Qí Fèngér mean by saying this?

  Qizhen only took a moment to think of the answer, Qifeng thought she was going to deceive her. Originally, she was still looking for an excuse to leave, and Qifeng's words just gave her an excuse. She quickly adjusted her expression, anxiously pulling Qifeng and asking: "Fengjie sister, did Hu zi go alone? What is he doing in this season?"

  Qifeng saw that she had been deceived and felt very pleased in her heart, but pretended to be concerned and said: "I don't know either, do you want to go take a look?"

  This sentence reminded Qi Zhener, she hesitated to look at the manager and then looked at Feng'er, finally biting her teeth and saying to the manager: "I won't sell myself, I want to go find my brother."

  Zhan Guanshi hadn't figured out what was going on, but Wu Shaoyu suddenly spoke up: "Qizhen, you'd already agreed to sell yourself into servitude, how can you go back on your word now? Being able to enter the Qi manor is a great opportunity, are you really willing to give it up?"

  Qī Zhēn ér gritted her teeth and said the same thing: "I won't sell myself, I'm going to find my brother." After saying that, she didn't care about their reaction and ran away.

  Wu Shaoyu saw that she couldn't catch up with her, so he had to strike out her name.

  At this time, Zhan Guanshi finally understood what was going on. When he saw Qi Zhener, he was also slightly surprised. Although Qi Zhener appeared to be timid, her manners were impeccable. Upon hearing that she was from the Qi Xingwen family, he was quite satisfied. Last night, when drinking with Wu Guanshi, he had already agreed to sell his brother's favor to the Qi Xingwen family for a quota, thinking it was just an ordinary girl. Unexpectedly, although her appearance was not ideal, her etiquette was still good. Who would have thought that at this time, the person ran away?

  "Shao Yu Xian, nephew, didn't you ask me to reserve a spot for the Qi Xingwen family? I gave your father face and reserved the spot, but this person ran away. How can I explain this when I return to the manor?" Zhan Guan Shi thought he could use this matter to put pressure on both the Wu and Qi families, so he publicly started causing trouble.

  Wu Shaoyu was after all young and didn't understand the twists and turns, bluntly saying: "She ran away then she's gone, anyway there are many girls here, pick one to replace her quota and that's it."

  Zhan Guanshi heard him say this, and roughly understood his level, knowing he wasn't anything special yet. He thought to himself, "I'll give him some face since his father is also a manager at the Qi Manor, but I didn't expect him to get so arrogant. Is he really thinking he's in charge here? Can he even control the small tenant farmers, let alone the Qi Manor's purchase of maids?"

  Wu Shaoyu finally understood the meaning of Zhan Guanshi's words. He spoke harshly, if the people of Qi Fu really thought that his father was bullying in the village, taking it as their own village, they would not let them off easily. After all, their family was also a slave. There were also the Qis, who were also tenants of Qi Fu, relying on them to have food to eat. If things went wrong, none of them would end up well. Thinking of this, Wu Shaoyu couldn't help but blame Qi Qiang, it was all his fault for insisting on leaving a name for their family, now that he had run away, he left them with a difficult problem.

  Seeing Qi Feng'er beside him, Wu Shaoyu couldn't help but come up with an idea.

  "Zhan Guanshi, I didn't mean to offend you with my words. Please don't take it seriously because of my young age." Wu Shaoyu had followed his father out a few times and knew how to be careful with his words. He said, pointing at Qi Feng'er, "Isn't there also someone from the Qi Xingwen family here? Zhan Guanshi, what do you think of her?"

  Zhan Guanshi was originally very satisfied with Qifeng, and now that his goal had been achieved, he was overjoyed in his heart. However, on the surface, he pretended to be nonchalant and didn't reveal even a hint of it, only asking: "Can you guarantee that she is selling herself willingly? You should know that our Qi family is a good and virtuous household, we never engage in forced buying or selling."

  Wu Shaoyu listened to him and still didn't understand, turned his head to Qi Feng'er and said: "Feng'er, I'm good friends with your brother, it's because he asked me that I left a spot for your family. Now that Zhen'er has run away, I don't want to be held accountable either. You see, the Qi household is a big family, although they're looking for a maid, but even so, she's much stronger than the daughter of a small family. Are you willing to enter the Qi household?"

  Qifeng pretended to hesitate and couldn't make up her mind, looking at Zhan Guanshi and then at Wu Shaoyu, stuttering and unable to speak.

  That Zhang was acting high and mighty, seemingly indifferent to what was happening here, just waiting for them to reach an impasse so he could report back to the Qi mansion and shift the blame onto them.

  Wu Shaoyu steeled himself and pointedly threatened Qi Feng'er: "Feng'er, don't forget that your family is also renting land from the Qi Manor. If you offend them, do you think your family can still live a peaceful life?"

  It seemed that Zhi Feng'er had just realized how serious the matter was, and with great determination said: "If I enter the Qi manor, will they not bother my parents?"

  Wu Shaoyu put his mind at ease when he heard her say that, and a smile appeared on his face: "Feng'er, I knew you were a woman of great righteousness. Don't worry, she absolutely won't cause trouble for your parents, but will instead give them silver and reduce their rent."

  Feng'er made it clear that she was in danger, so Wu Shaoyu let her go back. Zhan Guanshi will return to the Qi Mansion tomorrow, and these selected little maids will also be taken away. After all, it's unknown whether they'll have a chance to meet again in the future, so tonight let them go home and say goodbye to their families properly.

  Zhan Guanshi saw that things had been settled, so he continued to look at Xiaoyutou. Wu Shaoyu accompanied him carefully on the side, not daring to be careless again.

  At night, I told his father about what happened and gave a big gift to Zhan Guanshi to shut his mouth, but that's another story.

  As for Qi Feng'er, she had achieved her own wish and was over the moon with joy, bouncing and jumping as she ran home, but she didn't know that a storm was already waiting for her at home.