Chapter 23: Fighting Over the Maid

  Qizhen'er entered the upper house, greeted one by one, and everyone began to take their seats.

  Just as everyone had sat down and before dinner was served, Ye Shi Xuan sauntered back in.

  "Wow, just in time for lunch, I'm really lucky today."

  Everyone seems to be used to his appearance, looking at him with a mixture of surprise and indifference. Although Qizhen extremely disliked such a smooth-talking person, especially since he was an elder, she endured it, only silently warning herself in her heart that from now on, she would let Huizi keep a distance from him.

  The Ye family was different from those big households, where men and women sat at separate tables. After all, the elderly still liked to see their sons and grandsons sitting together in a lively scene. Of course, when there were many people, they would still have to sit at separate tables; otherwise, there wouldn't be enough seats.

  "Hey, who are these two siblings?" Ye Shixian asked upon seeing strangers at the dinner table.

  Ye Shixie loves to gamble, apart from that matter on top, he doesn't care about anything else. As for Sanfang Yijia, they went to the town a few days ago, Qizhen'er was taken away by the old master's family, they all knew about it, but also didn't take it seriously, thinking that the siblings had been taken away by their family long ago.

  Ye Shixie returned home with the three families and went to the upper house to discuss taking a concubine, but was stopped by the old master. He felt suffocated and went to gamble at the village entrance. No one told him about Qi Zhen'er's sister and brother, so he didn't recognize them at first glance. Now that he saw them, he opened his mouth to ask.

  Ye Lao Yezi glanced at him lightly and said, "These are two children I rescued."

  Ye Baihe still remembered the grudge she held against Qi Zhener for ignoring her earlier, and now that the topic was on them, she asked casually: "Zhener sister, where are you from? Are there any other people in your family? Why hasn't anyone come to pick you up after so long?"

  Zijin knew that this meal was not so delicious from today's affairs, Ye Baijiao is a sweet-mouthed and bitter-hearted little girl who doesn't talk reason.

  After some thought, she decided to tell the truth about her background, not that she had planned to deceive anyone, and of course, she couldn't fool some of the clever people present, at least from the moment she started speaking, Ye Shiyan and her husband were full of distrust.

  "That's to say, you don't know where your uncle is? And can't go back home either?" Ye Baihe asked after hearing that Qi Zhen'er's parents had passed away and she had no relatives at home to rely on, so she was going to throw herself into the care of a distant uncle.

  Qī Zhēn ér nodded, thinking of her deceased parents, and from then on she wouldn't be able to go see them again, her eyes reddened.

  "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, let's eat."

  Just as everyone was about to change the subject, Jiang received a hint from Ye Baihe and asked: "What are your plans for the future, Zhen'er?"

  Qī Zhēnér raised her head and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

  Jiang thought she was still young and didn't know what consideration meant, after all, Zhen'er's appearance was very deceptive, looking like she was only eight years old. Thinking of her own eight-year-old Bai Guo who only knew how to act spoiled beside her, Jiang felt that Qi Zhen'er was just a child who didn't understand anything.

  "What will Zhen'er do?" Jiang's words were abrupt.

  However, looking at the table, except for Ye Baiqi, Hu Zi and Ye Lao, who were all seriously eating their meal, everyone else was staring at her intently. Qi Zhen'er knew that they all wanted to know the answer, and if she didn't say anything, they wouldn't let her off easily.

  "My brother and I are both children of a farming family, we can do some work at home and in the fields." Qizhen said vaguely.

  Jiang's eyes lit up. She understood the phrase "the poor man's children are early housekeepers". She had just noticed that Qi Zhen'er and Hu Zi both had many calluses on their hands, so she knew what was said was true.

  After tonight's dinner, she finally understood that her elder sister-in-law didn't know when she would return, and the second sister-in-law was ill. As long as the matter of taking a concubine wasn't cancelled, she could be ill for as long as she wanted, and if no one helped her, she could even die from exhaustion. Moreover, she also disliked the smell of oil smoke in the kitchen, so it would be good to find someone to help. Most importantly, this helper didn't need to be paid.

  Ye Baihe thought the same as Jiangshi at this moment, but of course she had another layer of thinking. This Qizhen didn't look down on her, did she? She would let this little girl be her maid, and later she would still want to surpass her, letting her know who was the heavenly proud daughter!

  "In cases like Zhen's, if no one takes them in, they can only be sold to human traffickers. If they are sold to a bad place, it would be a disaster." Ye Baihe said with a gloomy tone, which sounded frightening.

  Jiang saw Qizhen'er tremble and thought she was scared, so he smiled to himself. He took over the conversation, "Isn't that right? Such things happen countless times in the city. Let alone those who are single and childless, you still have a younger brother with you. If you were sold, it would be miserable." Then his tone changed, "Zhen'er, what do you think of our family?"

  Qizhen'er understood their intentions upon hearing this, wasn't it similar to what Liushi had threatened her with? She looked like she was truly destined to be a servant girl. Yet, she still pretended to be concerned and asked: "Of course we're fine. Doctor Ye saved my brother's and my life, and let us recover here. Baiju Sister and Aunt are also very kind to us."

  Jiang heard a smile like a flower, "That's so good, why don't you and your brother stay at our house?"

  "I'm not Grandpa Ye's granddaughter, how can my brother and I stay here?" Qizhen asked innocently.

  What a thing, still wanting to be a child of the Ye family? How shameless! Ye Baiji scolded in her heart, unable to bear standing up and scolding Qi Zhen'er, but was pulled down by Ye Baiping.

  Jiang's heart was equally disdainful, but she still pretended to be harmless, "Zhen'er can also stay in another way, you and your brother will be sold elsewhere, who knows if you'll be separated, but if you're a maid in our house, we'll take good care of you, just like now, how about it?"

  "What are you talking about?" Old Ye scolded. Thinking that Lao Sanjia had just returned today and had already made a scene in the afternoon, he wanted to have a peaceful meal, so he gave them some face and didn't stop them at first, but unexpectedly Lao Sanjia's words became more and more unpleasant.

  "Dad, look at our family, there are so many people, and cooking is always a bit too much to handle. Besides, Bai Zhi, Bai Miao, and Bai Ji sisters have all grown up, and they've never been asked to do these things before. It's almost time for them to get married, if their hands become rough, it won't be good. So I was thinking of buying a maid for Bai Miao, she can go to the city to see her sisters and not feel too poor, right? This Zhen'er has acknowledged our family's kindness and likes our family, but there's no such good thing. Letting her be a maid in our house is still her good fortune."

  This time Qizhen and Ye Laoyezi didn't speak up, but someone else took the lead.

  "Third sister, I say you're not speaking properly. What's the meaning of giving your family's White Peony as a maid? Our White Orchid is still several months older than White Peony! If we were to buy a maid, it would be for our White Orchid first. Besides, they just thanked my wife and daughter, and the one they liked was from our house, so of course the maid should also be from our house." Ye Shixian retorted. He didn't say this out of genuine concern for Ye Baiyu, especially since Ye Baiyu had argued with him that afternoon; he intervened solely because such a good bargain shouldn't go to the Third House, after all, he was the second son.

  "Second brother, it's not like that. You guys didn't plan on buying a concubine in the first place, and now you're coming to fight over it just because we mentioned it? That's not how things are done?" Even the usually silent Ye Shiyan spoke up.

  Zijin was still wondering when she had become so popular, while Ye Lao and Ye Baiju beside her couldn't help but feel restless.

  "Who told you that Zhen'er wants to sell herself? Get rid of those petty thoughts at once. I'm putting my words here, I treat Zhen'er and her brother like my own grandchildren. Whoever has any more restless ideas in the future, get out of the Ye family!" He slammed down his chopsticks and went back into the house.

  Ye Lao's outburst was enough to stun people, and Qi Zhen'er was also shocked by Ye Lao's words. Regardless of whether Ye Lao truly loved them or not, when the siblings were in a difficult situation, he stood up for them and became their pillar of support, which was better than what Qi Zhen'er's own grandfather had done, and more like something an elder should do.

  Qizhen'er couldn't help but think, why did Master Qi treat her and her brother so poorly?

  Ye Shi Xie brothers and Jiang family were all trained to be a bit sulky.

  Ye Baiji let out a hum and pulled over Qizhen'er and Huozi to leave as well. If it weren't for Zhen'er holding her back, she would have made a scene long ago!