Chapter 95: The Girl for a Price and the One for Free
Hearing the girl’s words, Ms. Qian suddenly grabbed a fire poker and began beating Lian’er with it heedlessly. Lian’er turned her back, raising her arms to shield her face.
"You shameless little hussy! How dare you ask me for a *dou* of grain! I never should have bought you! All you do is eat and never work!"
"I must have been cursed with eight lifetimes of bad luck to end up buying a jinx like you!"
Gu Fei frowned. Mrs. Chen nudged her. "Don’t say a word. Just watch. In a minute, she’ll be trying to make you buy Lian’er."
Just as they were speaking, Ms. Qian tossed aside the fire poker and said to the other girl, "You, wait here."
She walked over to Gu Fei and said with a fawning smile, "Little Fei, didn’t you say a few days ago that you wanted to buy this girl, Lian’er? Your auntie won’t make a single cent off of you. Just give me one *dou* of cornmeal, and she’s all yours."
Mrs. Chen pursed her lips and said to Gu Fei, "What did I tell you? That woman’s got it all figured out."
Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes at Ms. Qian but secretly poked Gu Fei. "Not interested. We can’t afford her. You keep her for yourself."
"What, am I crazy? Why would I spend a *dou* of cornmeal on your girl when there’s one right here for free?"
Mrs. Chen beckoned to the other girl. "Come here, let me get a look at you."
The girl was sharp as a tack. Her eyes flickered to the white-flour pancake in Gu Fei’s hand as she hurried over. She spoke obediently to Mrs. Chen, "Ma’am, please let me go with your family. I can do any kind of work, and I eat very little."
Ms. Qian was livid. She rushed over. "This girl is mine! Don’t you try to snatch her from me, Sister-in-law!"
Mrs. Chen snorted. "My, Sister-in-law, your family must be so prosperous, taking in two girls at once. Aren’t you afraid they’ll eat you out of house and home?"
Ms. Qian looked at the new girl, then back at Lian’er, her mind racing.
’I definitely can’t afford to feed two girls. I can only keep one.’
’That damned girl Lian’er has become so disobedient lately, even daring to steal food from Bao’er.’
’And when she thought of the *dou* of cornmeal she had spent to buy Lian’er, her heart ached with regret.’
’If only I’d known, I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry. Who would’ve thought a free one would just show up!’
Her eyes darted about. "Sister-in-law, how about this? You give me half—five *sheng* of cornmeal—and you can take Lian’er. That works, right? I’m still losing half a *dou* on the deal!"
Mrs. Chen secretly shot Gu Fei a look before snorting. "In your dreams. I don’t want her. It’s not like our family has grain to spare."
Gu Fei then turned to Mrs. Chen with a look of feigned pleading. "Mother, why don’t we just give her half a *sheng* of millet and get Lian’er? I... I have a soft spot for her."
’If we don’t give her something,’ she thought, ’Ms. Qian will never agree. Besides, it’ll keep her from going back on her word later.’
’Half a *sheng* is just a token amount.’
Ms. Qian shrieked, "Half a *sheng*? I paid ten *sheng* for her!"
Mrs. Chen glared, keeping up the act. "Absolutely not! I won’t agree to it. I won’t give a single grain. If I want a maid, isn’t there one right here for free? This one looks plenty sharp!"
"Besides," she added, "from now on, I bet there will be plenty of girls available for free."
Ms. Qian started to panic. ’She’s right,’ she thought. She was now filled with immense regret for not selling Lian’er to Gu Fei for ten *sheng* of cornmeal back then. Who could have known that girls would be available for free now!
’Such a huge loss! What a disaster!’
Ms. Qian’s heart was aching, but then she considered that she could at least recoup half a *sheng* of millet. She gritted her teeth. "Fine, half a *sheng* it is! You’ve got a deal!"
Ms. Qian shoved Lian’er toward Gu Fei. "The girl is yours. You can give me the millet whenever you like."
She knew that with Gu Fei’s temperament, she wouldn’t have to worry about her backing out of the payment.
With that, Ms. Qian grabbed the other girl’s arm. "Alright, you’ll work for my family from now on. I’ll see to it you have food to eat." The girl looked back at Mrs. Chen, her eyes full of longing.
Gu Fei and Mrs. Chen exchanged a glance. Mrs. Chen raised an eyebrow, her expression seeming to say, ’See? Your mother knows what she’s doing. Look at how much we saved.’
Gu Fei smiled. ’When it comes to the ways of the world, I still have so much to learn. I’ll have to learn more from Mother from now on.’